Genetic Variation (Introduction)

by xeno6696 , Sonoran Desert, Sunday, September 26, 2010, 18:08 (5172 days ago) @ Balance_Maintained

What it all boils down to for me, is that we always, whether in war or business, use the ends justify the means. Under that paradigm, we can justify anything. I could justify going on a full scale blood bath, killing every aids victim in the world with the justification that killing those millions of people would keep the disease from spreading to millions more. And, worst case scenario, if I didn't get them all, I would still be saving someone else's life. Or perhaps, knowing about genetic inheritance, we should kill everyone with a genetic disease so that they couldn't pass it on to their unborn offspring. All of this falls under the same logic as we know we will not be able to keep aids patients from screwing around or genetically diseased people from breeding.-Right, but my point was that especially in times of crisis, Consequentialist ethics always rears its head. It's part and parcel of who we are--humans are by nature a tribal people. We always make distinctions about the other "tribe." -But in the business of war and international conflict, the ONLY thing that motivates other tribes to stay in line is to carry that big stick. The only way for any nation to hold on to power is to be the one holding the biggest stick. Rome. Byzantine. Pontus. Spain. France. England. The Ottomans. All of these nations fell when they were unable to maintain their military presence. The same will happen to us, if we're not proactive.-To me you're arguing over the ideal of how humans "should" be vs. how we actually are. Say we never initiated the Manhattan Project. Lets say we just decided that we couldn't do it because we could predict the forces unleashed would kill billions. I promise you, we would be speaking Russian. By dropping the bomb on Hiroshima, we gave a clear example of what could possibly happen if you crossed us, and the result was a Cold War instead of a real war where nuclear weapons were used indiscriminately. Again, I have empathy for the human costs, but it is a price that I would retrospectively pay again. Once science at large is ready for a

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\"Why is it, Master, that ascetics fight with ascetics?\"

\"It is, brahmin, because of attachment to views, adherence to views, fixation on views, addiction to views, obsession with views, holding firmly to views that ascetics fight with ascetics.\"