"It would be wonderful to say you regretted it. It would be easy. But what does it mean? What does it mean to regret when you have no choice?"
The Hours
Wednesday 25 August 2010
Monday 23 August 2010
Palliation
Awais Aftab
Unlike me
You were the one
Advocating natural ends
Always against
Euthanasia
Who would have thought
That when we'd come to it
The roles would reverse
Unlike you
Why is it so
That I can't bring myself
To end this Stage IV relationship
Already on palliation
Suffering and sedated
Perhaps
Some pains are sacred
And some diseases
Deserve an honorable death
Awais Aftab
Unlike me
You were the one
Advocating natural ends
Always against
Euthanasia
Who would have thought
That when we'd come to it
The roles would reverse
Unlike you
Why is it so
That I can't bring myself
To end this Stage IV relationship
Already on palliation
Suffering and sedated
Perhaps
Some pains are sacred
And some diseases
Deserve an honorable death
Sunday 22 August 2010
"What is difficult is not to believe in God, but to believe that we matter to Him."
Don Colacho, Aphorisms
X: And it was then I realized that I resent you, I resent people for being depressed; for not taking control of their lives or not even trying or not trying as hard as I would like them to. Lurking beneath this was the idea of total freedom and responsibility. How could I reduce the complex lives of people to a fuckin' existential choice of authenticity vs inauthenticity? Is blaming someone for being depressed not like blaming someone for being poor? The condition can be changed with effort, but you can't really blame them for it, in most of the cases. But that's what I was doing, without even being aware of it.
"Those wounded in love, unlike those wounded in armed conflict, are neither victims nor torturers. They chose something that is part of life, and so they have to accept both the agony and the ecstasy of their choice.
And those who have never been wounded in love will never be able to say: “I have lived”. Because they haven’t."
Paulo Coelho, Convention for those wounded in love
[Hat-tip: Maham]
Sunday 15 August 2010
Wednesday 11 August 2010
Aati: I look around at my classmates, friends, relatives ... it's the same story: you believe in what everyone else believes; if you can't do that, then you believe a watered down apologetic version of what everyone else believes; and if you can't even do that, then you pack your bags and go elsewhere because there is no place for your here....
Awais, you give me the false hope that there are others out there like you, like me. When actually we're both more like solitary islands in an endless sea. Everyone and anyone we love may at some point choose to leave us, unless they are trapped just like us.
I'm talking in Ifs. Just thoughts, questions. The way society's radicalizing, there's less tolerance for alternative views. Maybe someday they'll have to make a choice. Maybe they won't. If they do, maybe they'll choose us. Maybe they won't. What are the odds?
Awais, you give me the false hope that there are others out there like you, like me. When actually we're both more like solitary islands in an endless sea. Everyone and anyone we love may at some point choose to leave us, unless they are trapped just like us.
I'm talking in Ifs. Just thoughts, questions. The way society's radicalizing, there's less tolerance for alternative views. Maybe someday they'll have to make a choice. Maybe they won't. If they do, maybe they'll choose us. Maybe they won't. What are the odds?
Sunday 8 August 2010
Friday 6 August 2010
Related to the previous post.
Virtue Ethics gives the following reason to be moral: If you want true inner peace and happiness in life, then you have to be moral, because moral virtues are by definition those traits which lead to an inner state of health, happiness and peace.
The statement seems to have empirical correlates: If we can show the presence of a psychopath who is happy and at peace, then the virtue ethics hypothesis would be refuted.
Can a psychopath be truly happy and at peace?
Does a psychopath even feel the need to be happy and at peace?
I don't know.
I guess not.
--------------
The only reason for moral behavior that you can give to a psychopath, that comes to my mind, is that of social functioning. Behave morally because it would allow you to function in the society, get access to food and sex, and avoid being jailed or punished: that is, behave morally because it will further your own interests in some way. But that would only motivate a psychopath to perform the minimum possible of moral behavior that is needed, and at any opportunity that he can get away with, he'll relapse to being manipulative.
It doesn't sound like a reason to be moral; it sounds like a reason to pretend to be moral.
--------------
If there was a purely rational reason to behave morally, then we could convince a psychopath to be moral.
It appears that we cannot convince a psychopath to be moral by reasoning with him.
Therefore, it appears that there is no purely rational reason to be moral.
Virtue Ethics gives the following reason to be moral: If you want true inner peace and happiness in life, then you have to be moral, because moral virtues are by definition those traits which lead to an inner state of health, happiness and peace.
The statement seems to have empirical correlates: If we can show the presence of a psychopath who is happy and at peace, then the virtue ethics hypothesis would be refuted.
Can a psychopath be truly happy and at peace?
Does a psychopath even feel the need to be happy and at peace?
I don't know.
I guess not.
--------------
The only reason for moral behavior that you can give to a psychopath, that comes to my mind, is that of social functioning. Behave morally because it would allow you to function in the society, get access to food and sex, and avoid being jailed or punished: that is, behave morally because it will further your own interests in some way. But that would only motivate a psychopath to perform the minimum possible of moral behavior that is needed, and at any opportunity that he can get away with, he'll relapse to being manipulative.
It doesn't sound like a reason to be moral; it sounds like a reason to pretend to be moral.
--------------
If there was a purely rational reason to behave morally, then we could convince a psychopath to be moral.
It appears that we cannot convince a psychopath to be moral by reasoning with him.
Therefore, it appears that there is no purely rational reason to be moral.
Thursday 5 August 2010
What would humans be without the sense of morality? [Not the moral doctrines. The innate sense we possess.]
Theoretically, they should be amoral.
But practically, it seems they turn into psychopaths.
Should amoralism always manifest as psychopathy?
There can be two aspects of a moral sense. One is Positive and the other is Negative. Positive is which leads us to acts which we wouldn't normally do without a moral cause (for example, giving a donation). Negative is what prevents us from doing acts which the moral sense recognizes as immoral (for example, resisting the impulse to steal.)
Now, normal average people seem to have a weak positive morality and a dominant negative morality. Someone we would call a "moral person" would have more positive morality than is average.
When people talk of "amoralism", the picture they usually have in mind is that of an absent positive morality, but an intact negative morality, which they seem to regard as being the natural default condition.
In the absence of negative morality, the natural tendencies of selfishness, aggression, sexual promiscuity and manipulation would dominate.
Strict amoralism should be an absence of both positive and negative morality. Which isn't practically possible... except in psychopaths.
Below is Hare's Psychopathy Checklist of the characteristics of psychopaths. In bold are the features which i think are a consequence of strict amoralism, and in italics are those which i think are not a direct consequence of strict amoralism. Neither in italics nor in bold are those about which i am unsure.
Theoretically, they should be amoral.
But practically, it seems they turn into psychopaths.
Should amoralism always manifest as psychopathy?
There can be two aspects of a moral sense. One is Positive and the other is Negative. Positive is which leads us to acts which we wouldn't normally do without a moral cause (for example, giving a donation). Negative is what prevents us from doing acts which the moral sense recognizes as immoral (for example, resisting the impulse to steal.)
Now, normal average people seem to have a weak positive morality and a dominant negative morality. Someone we would call a "moral person" would have more positive morality than is average.
When people talk of "amoralism", the picture they usually have in mind is that of an absent positive morality, but an intact negative morality, which they seem to regard as being the natural default condition.
In the absence of negative morality, the natural tendencies of selfishness, aggression, sexual promiscuity and manipulation would dominate.
Strict amoralism should be an absence of both positive and negative morality. Which isn't practically possible... except in psychopaths.
Below is Hare's Psychopathy Checklist of the characteristics of psychopaths. In bold are the features which i think are a consequence of strict amoralism, and in italics are those which i think are not a direct consequence of strict amoralism. Neither in italics nor in bold are those about which i am unsure.
Aggressive narcissism
1. Glibness/superficial charm
2. Grandiose sense of self-worth
3. Pathological lying
4. Cunning/manipulative
5. Lack of remorse or guilt
6. Emotionally shallow
7. Callous/lack of empathy
8. Failure to accept responsibility for own actions
Socially deviant lifestyle
1. Need for stimulation/proneness to boredom
2. Parasitic lifestyle
3. Poor behavioral control
4. Promiscuous sexual behavior
5. Lack of realistic, long-term goals
6. Impulsiveness
7. Irresponsibility
8. Juvenile delinquency
9. Early behavioral problems
10. Revocation of conditional release
Tuesday 3 August 2010
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