Flashbacks of being taught to kill...
- Thread starter WR3ND
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There's no inconsistency between being a social animal and also having a lot of violence in our evolutionary history.
Social and cooperative within one's in-group, hostile and aggressive towards outsiders.
For instance, among zillions of studies discussing the differences between in- and out-group behaviour, the male warrior hypothesis.
Also not at all inconsistent with cultural trends whereby violence declines over time - as we work to overcome racism, for instance, we gradually see people that were once in the out-group, as being in-group.
So yes we're a cooperative primate, and yes we're violent.
No inconsistency at all.
Social and cooperative within one's in-group, hostile and aggressive towards outsiders.
For instance, among zillions of studies discussing the differences between in- and out-group behaviour, the male warrior hypothesis.
Also not at all inconsistent with cultural trends whereby violence declines over time - as we work to overcome racism, for instance, we gradually see people that were once in the out-group, as being in-group.
So yes we're a cooperative primate, and yes we're violent.
No inconsistency at all.
Most of us old vets just want comfort food.
Don't forget the homebrew.
Never got into that myself. Too many hobbies as it is any way, and I don't have the real estate for too many organics, but yeah, a nice brew or similar is nice from time to time.
About the best I can mange at our townhouse is some growing of chili peppers.
Anyway, getting a bit off topic, but plus one virtual rep.
And this post saved me the trouble. Have some rep.
Ways of interacting with others in the game, maybe other Commanders, maybe NPCs, and our options for combat, ways of helping each other, or otherwise.
I'd like more ways to do that. I save an NPC from criminals and they just fly around silently. Where is the "thank you" and why do they stay there? Lol
Maybe helping the criminals would be a funny option for some players.
I’m under no illusion regarding the nature of humanity and morality (I’d probably qualify as a Nietzschean in this regard), but I think that generalisations in either direction should be avoided. The truth is, both our violent and our social instincts have proven to be expedient in evolutionary terms, and both will be present in varying proportions within all of us. That said, I agree that environmental factors and social signifiers play a huge role in how and to what extent these instincts manifest themselves. Similarly, there will be those that submit to group conformity and social authority and those who instinctively rebel – and it’s not always obvious which of these two groups is capable of the greatest “evil” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment). The Universe couldn’t care less either way, but I do believe that genuine empathy exists.
As a side note, I’m wary of using the term “we” too loosely and without caveats. In my view, strictly speaking there are no “species” in nature. Our classifications are merely that – convenient and necessary generalisations that mask a more fluid and nuanced reality. In truth there is a continuous and heterogeneous process of variation and divergence. This is no less true of humanity – each of us is a unique piece of chance and with each of us there is the possibility of something genuinely new being introduced into the world. Evolution as observed would not function if this wasn’t true.
“Pursue your best or your worst desires, and above all, perish!” as Nietzsche once wrote. So yes, it would be cool if Elite catered for as many paths as possible.
Nietzche was a nutjob with a crush on his sister (I know it's apocryphal, I just like saying it, lol).
On the subject of empathy, ah, yes, now we're getting somewhere, some people have it, some people don't (I do, I always imagine worst case scenario of my actions in relation to others, to the point of stalling my own progress to avoid ruining someone else's day, but am I the norm? My observations tell me I'm not).
Troy_McClure
Banned
Hitler was 'supposedly' greatly influenced by Nietzsche's works, since he referenced him in 'Mein Kampf': "Apollonian v Dionysian...Westen culture is Socrates' fault...overman & underman...correcting nature's errors...eugenics....blah blah blah"
Hmmm, I think you could say Hilter took his own interpretation a bit too far! [blah]
Anyway, enough of this controversial subject - I'm off to listen to a bit of 'Wagner's Ring'
That’s given me an idea for the name of my Chieftain… The Valkyrie!
[video=youtube;3YOYlgvI1uE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YOYlgvI1uE[/video]
There actually seems to be a natural aversion to killing. The phenomenon of soldiers firing over the enemy rather than at them in wartime was the subject of serious analysis by the Pentagon, and even led to changes in how soldiers are trained to dehumanize the enemy.
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This is all a bit deep, I am here for gaming ! Anyway I just believe that everything just respawns, I see ships explode never life forms, I imagine that they always escape in some manner. I cannot debate death/killing with no ironman mode !
I’m sure that this is true, but isn’t it also true that there are bona fide sadists?
That’s fair enough.
It’s interesting to consider how a game might reflect and elicit meaningful moral agency though, which is what the OP is asking essentially (or indeed moral ambiguity and complexity). In my view, one of the barriers that prevent games from attaining the status of a genuine art form is that we expect so little from them.
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That’s fair enough.
In time this may change, photo-realistic graphics ,better vr displays and immersive audio systems hopefully will evolve to really provide literal heart stopping moments ! I mean would you shoot somebody in a duel in full vr gear knowing that they could pass out in fear !