One can say that a surgeon stabs a person with a sharp knife, similar to a murderer stabbing with a knife. But obviously there is a moral difference. This difference lies in the motive and intent, and result.
The first scenario takes place in a “civilized” and compassionate society. This also is comparable to mutuallly beneficial symbiotic relationships taking place in nature, where seperate species have a cooperative realtionship (flowers/bees), which stimulate growth.
The second takes place in a “primitive” and predatory society. The hunter, the prey (wasp in a beehive), which control growth.

The results may present their own moral questions. In “nature”, there seems to be not much survival difference between the two options.

Pambania - 07 May 2011 08:00 PM

First of all, that is only my signature and isnt suppose to be a part of the discussion at hand. Secondly, you’ll have to understand that you are overstretching the analogy that the metaphor draws—that it’s an initiative doesnt mean it has to be conscious or even concerted. It’s the same as saying you play your part and I play mine.
(By the way, the quote’s from one of many H. G. Wells books, can’t remember which exactly )

yeah, sorry to pick on you—mostly i just find it really distracting.  The color, the size… but mostly i just find everyone’s signatures to be a bit like spam, after i’ve seen them once or twice.  I should post instead in the feedback forum, i guess…

I hope mine’s a reminder.

Occam

Occam. - 08 May 2011 06:00 PM

I hope mine’s a reminder.

Occam

Yo.

Write4U - 08 May 2011 12:56 AM

One can say that a surgeon stabs a person with a sharp knife, similar to a murderer stabbing with a knife. But obviously there is a moral difference. This difference lies in the motive and intent, and result.
The first scenario takes place in a “civilized” and compassionate society. This also is comparable to mutuallly beneficial symbiotic relationships taking place in nature, where seperate species have a cooperative realtionship (flowers/bees), which stimulate growth.
The second takes place in a “primitive” and predatory society. The hunter, the prey (wasp in a beehive), which control growth.

You have to consider the survival of the recipient of the knife.

Hey! You go control someone else’s growth. 

My morality goes towards promoting the survival of those things that I value. There’s no guarantee that it’ll promote the survival anything in particular that you value. It’s likely to if we have common interests. There’s just no guarantee.

I just reread my original post in this thread.  And boy does it make me sound evil.

I wish that it was easier for me to discern everyday opportunities for good or evil.  I hope most of us don’t have to spend much effort on the really egregious stuff, genocide, torture, etc.  It’s just that the long term consequences of small decisions are so hard to discern, and mostly we only get to make small decisions.  I have a suspicion that often, the most powerful decisions we can make seem really trivial, like remembering to turn the lights off, or deciding if you flush after #1, or just after #2, or calling a friend on a prejudiced remark.  These little kinds of choices are the only opportunities we have to make important moral choices on a day to day basis.

It may just be that my life is exceptionally banal, but I have this poorly documented idea that the great wrongs, from the ascent of dictators to global warming are the cumulative result of millions, or billions of very small bad decisions. 

Damn, I think I’ve just defined myself as morally obsessive.  I was sort of thinking I wasn’t, but if I’ve been spending energy thinking about the moral value of exceedingly trivial decisions…...

I’m going to pick 7.5,  Any higher and I feel like I’m labeling myself a nutcase.

I don’t really spend a lot of time figuring out what the right thing to do is.  I have two rules that, I hope, keep me on track.  They are:

1.  Err on the side of generosity.

2.  Take no pleasure from pain, and stay very far away from people who do.