Posted on 18 May 2017 - 09:56 PM

Hello everyone, My name is Purpkey and I am here to talk about ethics and social interaction. A while back I created the psychology thread here https://www.badlion.net/forum/thread/155778 and I very much enjoyed answering those questions. The point of this thread is basically the same as the previous, ask me questions about social interaction and human and moral ethics. Please go as deep and detailed as you like.

Last edited on 19 May 2017 - 05:56 AM by Magiclz

Is my discord interesting?

but just to kick it off, Do you think assisted suicide should be allowed?

Posted on 19 May 2017 - 06:57 PM

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Posted on 19 May 2017 - 08:38 PM

"the suicide of a patient suffering from an incurable disease, effected by the taking of lethal drugs provided by a doctor for this purpose."

I do not believe this is a thing that should happen, The medicine is there to protect them yet it may be the thing that kills them. I know this may be something hard to do or stop however I do not agree with it. It is something horrible to accept especially since the doctor may be the one who is ignorant on the idea of the patient do this action yet it does not change, I feel the medicine distribution needs to be monitored.

For your question, I do not feel it should be allowed because of the fact that countless people are trying to help the patient and let them get better. I feel that the very action should be stopped if not possible at least monitored and controlled. The emotional distress this may cause is something most people are unable to imagine and it would be unbearable for the family and friends. I do not feel this should be allowed, I wish to see it be monitored and stopped if possible.

Posted on 19 May 2017 - 09:12 PM

I will go one by one on your ideas.

I believe all disabled persons incapable of contributing to society should be wiped out holocaust style. Do you agree? If not, please say why.

Absolutely not, all people are born as equals and all life has meaning to and endless point. Babies are unable to control what they are born with and it would be beyond unfair the kill them for such a action. All people have family and friends who care about them, all people are loved by someone else, it would be heartbreaking to find out they were killed because of how someone else saw them. You would be wiping out millions of people and it would cause an uproar on a global scale, It is beyond cruel and inhumane to kill people for how they were born because they have zero control of it. Also, who would be allowed to say what contributing is? Would one person be in charge to say if someone does enough or would it be a group of people. No one people or group of people should have that power.

I also believe all persons serving rape sentences and have overwhelming evidence against them should be gassed, rather than us wasting our time and resources on them serving their life sentences. Do you agree? Again, if not, please state the reasons why.

Well this one is quite controversial, Yes I agree rapists are horrible people and they do not deserve mercy by any point, however if we start killing them would that make us let human? Just because they are the worst kinds of people does not mean we should start killing them, all life has meaning and prison may possibly show them their error in the ways of the actions they took. As I said previously, all life has meaning and it should be cherished due to the fact that we only get one life and it would be unfair to them. There is always the possibility that people can change for the better and killing them helps no one.

One other point involved in this topic, Causing the death penalty is very expensive. This would cost a large amount of money and would help no one in the end.

Is it right to use egg cells to help cure diseases that are already existing in people? i.e. Muscular diseases confining people to wheelchairs for the rest of their lives. How about other problems such as blindness? Deafness?

The one problem with this is that you have to identify when an egg actually becomes a human. You have to ask yourself what you consider a person and if the action is right. People may be paralyzed for the rest of their life and it may be their fault but should we take a life of another human away to cure them? You have to ask yourself and others what is the right reason to take one life to help fix another. You have to ask yourself if one person is worthy of that action. I thin it only depends on the case of the person, but also what they did to get like this and if they deserve that right.

Do I have issues if I watch people dying on the news every day and not really care (i.e. 18 year old girl killed in NYC Times Square)? Or has constant repetition and images of death et cetera made me desensitized to such things? I'm also somewhat disappointed by small death counts?

I do not think so, I see everyone has their own interests and hobbies so you are free to watch whatever you please. You are you because of your genes and your environment, You are free to watch as you please and let it have the effects it does.


Furthermore, is it morally wrong for me to want war to happen? As in, I want North Korea and US to fight, and there to be casualties on both sides. Is this wrong of me to think so?

It is not wrong, people are allowed to have their own feelings on everything. If you want to see the countries fight you most likely have your own reasons for that and they may drive you. People want to see violence every day, there are casualties every day. I can understand why some people enjoy violence and want to see it happen, everyone has the right to support whoever they wish and have hopes for whatever they may. There is nothing wrong with it and it is perfectly normal for all people to have wants.

Last edited on 22 May 2017 - 07:21 AM by Jinxful

People claim that God is:
-All Good
-All Powerful

But there's still suffering in the world. This means that God is:

A. If he's all powerful but he allows suffering, that means he isn't all good
B. If he can't control our suffering that means he isn't all powerful




Thoughts ?

Posted on 22 May 2017 - 07:15 AM

And

Do you think it's actually realistic that AI could outcompete with humans and pose a danger to us?

Posted on 22 May 2017 - 08:32 AM

that stuff is known under the theodicy question, the islam has a pretty logic answer; the suffer is just a trial by allah. christian religion fails to have any arguments, there are a few attemps but none are really proven.

Last edited on 22 May 2017 - 09:58 AM by Kimojiiiiii

Don't bring reiligous topics to the forums.

Posted on 22 May 2017 - 11:09 AM

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Last edited on 22 May 2017 - 11:52 AM by Jinxful

I'm just asking purkpey for his insight on this specific debate.

I don't know why you're trying to start a fight with me by looking at my posts and criticising them lmao. As I said I have no idea who you are so…

Posted on 22 May 2017 - 04:22 PM

1. How can I motivate myself to do things that I really don't want to do?
2. How does one become a better friend to one's self?
3. Do nice guys actually finish last?
4. How do you get over bad feelings (worry/anger/sadness/etc.), and learn how to control them instantly when they appear?
5. How do I find more interesting topics to talk about when I'm talking to an acquaintance? (I'm really bad @ social stuff, as you can probably tell considering the fact that I'm a Badlion sweat.)
6. Are you going to get a degree in psychology? You're really good at answering questions.

Posted on 22 May 2017 - 05:51 PM

Here is something not a large amount of people know about me, I am an atheist. I honestly do not believe in the religious doctrine but I still try to understand it for questions such as these. I see too many problems with the Christian religion and you brought up a few good examples on why. I will discuss the two separate ideas one at a time to make it simpler to read. I will discuss this from the point of view as a religious believer to the best of my ability but as I am not one, please do not hold me to everything I say.

-All Good

I claim this statement to be completely false, According to the Bible god gave the people free will over our lives.

"But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one." This quote here comes from 2 Thessalonians 3:3 NIV
If this were true why must people endure so much suffering on a daily basis, why has such level of evils come to inflict pain upon the human race? I do not believe this "God" is all good because he simply looks the other way at the death and torture of "his people" If he was all good and could create people like "Jesus" why does he not make all or more people like the example he set? My honest answer would have to be "God" does not truly care about the people he makes, He set us out like rats to do as we please and can not be bothered to do anything about us killing each other. If he was all good why would he create people with such dark hearts and evil intentions? If he was all good why would he allow such hideous thoughts and actions take place among the common person? I do not see "God" to be all good or even close due to the fact that he simply lets us ruin each other's lives to any extent.



-All Powerful

Another false claim, too many contradictions to put in one thread for this idea. If "God" was all powerful and wanted to create a world full of believers and the faithful why didn't he? The answer is that he is not all powerful and he is nowhere near being that.

"But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Luke 11:20"

Here is a nice contradiction, If he really was all powerful, he could cast out the "Demons" anytime he wanted to. If he had all the power in the world he could easily mold it to his want and way but he does not, why? Because his power is strong at best, The false claims are simply there to make people feel safe. You brought up the point that he can not control our suffering, You are correct. If he really cared about people and wanted to control suffering, he would have stopped events like The Holocaust from happening. If "God" really did care for his people, he lacks the power to do anything about it.

Posted on 22 May 2017 - 05:56 PM

This is a complicated question to answer, the combination of immense Internet-connected networks and machine-learning algorithms has yielded dramatic advances in machines’ ability to understand spoken and visual communications, capabilities that fall under the heading “narrow” artificial intelligence. Can machines capable of autonomous reasoning—so-called general AI—be far behind? And at that point, what’s to keep them from improving themselves until they have no need for humanity? AI-based systems are already making our lives better in so many ways: Consider automated stock-trading agents, aircraft autopilots, recommendation systems, industrial robots, fraud detectors and search engines. In the last five to 10 years, machine-learning algorithms and advanced computational infrastructure have enabled us to build many new applications.

However, it’s important to realize that those algorithms can only go so far. More complex symbolic systems are needed to achieve major progress—and that’s a tall order. Today’s neuroscience and cognitive science barely scratch the surface of human intelligence. The initial programming is likely to be a function of our knowledge of physics—and we know that’s still incomplete! Should we find ourselves in a position where we need to specify to an AI, in program code, “Go on from here and build a great future for us,” we’d better be very certain we know how reality works.

As to your question, it could be a serious problem. It is important to retain some control over the positions of atoms in our universe [and not inadvertently give control over them to an AI].

Any discussion of risk has two sides: the risk of doing it and the risk of not doing it. We already know the practical risk today of decisions made with incomplete information by imperfect professionals—thousands of lives, billions of dollars and slow progress in critical fields like health care. Based on IBM’s experience with implementing Watson in multiple industries, I maintain that narrow-domain AI significantly mitigates these risks.

Cognitive systems, like other modern computing systems, are built using cloud-computing infrastructure, algorithmic code and huge amounts of data. The behavior of these systems can be logged, tracked and audited for violations of policy. These cognitive systems are not autonomous, so their code, data and infrastructure themselves need to be protected against attacks. People who access and update any of these components can be controlled.

The data can be protected through strong encryption and its integrity managed through digital signatures. The algorithmic code can be protected using vulnerability scanning and other verification techniques. The infrastructure can be protected through isolation, intrusion protection and so on.

These mechanisms are meant to support AI safety policies that emerge from a deeper analysis of the perceived risks. Such policies need to be identified by bodies like the SEC, FDA and more broadly NIST, which generally implement standards for safety and security in their respective domains.

I would honestly have to say that it may be a yes, That is if humans are not careful to over do things in the future.

Posted on 22 May 2017 - 06:09 PM

1. Determine what kind of day it's going to be. …
Get dressed like a big boy (or girl). …
Don't create and consume at the same time. …
Use a timer. …
Do your work on one device. …
Have a reset button. …
Know when you're going to stop working. …
Get out and go do something.
Find a purpose. …
Embrace your desire. …
Create the space. …
Surround yourself. …
Make the accountability. …
Take a small action.
Go from there.

2. We often focus on building relationships with others that we forget the essential first step: being friends of ourselves. That is the crucial first step if we are to have good relationships with others. How can we have good relationships with others if we don’t even have good relationship with ourselves?
The problem might be worse than we expect. Maybe we don’t like ourselves without realizing it. Here is a simple checklist; is there anything you don’t like about yourself from these list?

Your past- Maybe you have made mistakes in the past which you feel bad about. You might be disappointed with yourself on why you could make such mistakes. Even if that happened in distant past, your subconscious mind still has a reason not to like yourself.

Your background- You might wish that you were born in different family, or that you have different background. Maybe you could not accept the fact that you are not as lucky as others, who seem to get whatever they want effortlessly because of their background.

Your personality traits- You might have some personality traits that you don’t like. For example, you may be an introvert and you don’t like it; you wish you are an extrovert.

Your achievements relative to others- Others might have better achievements than you, and no matter how hard you tried, it might seem impossible for you to match them. You might then think that it’s because you are not smart enough or don’t have enough talents.


Is there anything that resonate with you? All these give reasons to you not to like yourself. That in turn makes it difficult for you to be a good friend to yourself.
Fortunately, there are always things you can do to fix the situation. Here are some tips:

1. Forgive yourself

You may have made those mistakes in the past, but is there anything you can do about them? I don’t think so, except learning from them. It’s true that you are not perfect, but neither is everybody else. It’s normal to make mistakes, so do yourself a favor by giving yourself forgiveness.

2. Accept things you can’t change

There are some things you cannot change, such as your background and your past. So learn to accept them. You will feel much relieved if you treat things you can’t change the way they deserve: just accept them, smile, and move on.

3. Focus on your strengths

Instead of focusing on your weaknesses, focus on your strengths. You always have some strengths which give you a unique combination nobody else have. Recognize your strengths and build your life around them.

4. Write your success stories

One reason we may not like ourselves is we are too focused on what we don’t have that we forget about what we have. So make a list of your achievements; write your success stories. They do not have to be big things; there are a lot of small but important achievements in our life. For example, if you have some good friends, that’s already an achievement. If you have a good family, that is also an achievement.

You don’t like other people lying to you, right? Similarly, you won’t like yourself if you know that you lie to yourself. Whether you realize it or not, that gives your mind a reason not to like yourself. That’s why it’s important to always be true to yourself. In whatever you do, be honest and follow your conscience

3. Nice guys always finish last.

4. I am going to focus on anger for this one. Anger is a natural and mostly automatic response to pain of one form or another (physical or emotional). Anger can occur when people don't feel well, feel rejected, feel threatened, or experience some loss.
The type of pain does not matter; the important thing is that the pain experienced is unpleasant. Because anger never occurs in isolation but rather is necessarily preceded by pain feelings, it is often characterized as a ''secondhand'' emotion.

Pain alone is not enough to cause anger. Anger occurs when pain is combined with some anger-triggering thought.
Thoughts that can trigger anger include personal assessments, assumptions, evaluations, or interpretations of situations that makes people think that someone else is attempting (consciously or not) to hurt them.
In this sense, anger is a social emotion; You always have a target that your anger is directed against (even if that target is yourself). Feelings of pain, combined with anger-triggering thoughts motivate you to take action, face threats and defend yourself by striking out against the target you think is causing you pain.

Controlling emotions- I recall an old Zen master saying: "Your anger, depression, spite, or despair, so seemingly real and important right now; where will they have gone in a month, a week, or even a moment?"

Very intense emotions blind us to the future (1) and con us that now is all that matters. In fact, when we are incredibly angry or anxious, we can even momentarily forget that there is even going to be a future. I'm reminded of one guy I worked with who'd stuffed an ice cream cone in his boss's face when he was enraged. This momentary action had huge and prolonged consequences on this man's life; particularly finances.

We've all said or done things we later regret simply because, for a time, we let ourselves be dictated by our own emotion. If you get angry, think to yourself: "How will I feel tomorrow if I lose my dignity and tell this person (I have to see everyday) that they have a face like a cow pat?" If you are anxious about some imminent event, say to yourself: "Wow, how am I going to feel tomorrow/next week when I look back at this?" Look beyond the immediate and you'll see the bigger picture and calm down, too. Learn to observe your own attitudes and emotional ebbs and flows. One key first step to emotional control is to know when we are actually being emotional and also why.

If you catch yourself feeling unexpectedly strongly about something, ask yourself why. Controlling your emotions isn't about pretending they are not there. If you feel jealous, angry, sad, bitter, or greedy, label exactly how you are feeling in your own mind: "Okay, I don't like that I'm feeling this way, but I'm feeling very envious!" Now you've admitted it to yourself.

The next step is to identify why you feel the way you do: "I hate to admit it, but I'm feeling envious of Bob because he's just been complimented for his work and I haven't!"

Being able to exercise this self-honesty means you don't have to resort to what a large proportion of the human race do. You won't have to 'rationalize'. We rationalize by kidding ourselves that we are angry with someone not because they have got a raise at work and we haven't, but because of 'their attitude towards us' or some other made up reason. Knowing what emotion you are feeling and being man or woman enough to identify the truth as to why you are feeling it means you're that much closer to doing something about it. We tend to assume that moods just 'happen to us' and, like storms, the best we can do is wait until they pass. But, unlike climatic storms, we can influence - even change - our moods without resorting to unhealthy means such as alcohol or drugs. Being able to manage and influence your own emotions is a powerful marker for good health, emotional maturity, and happiness.

One way to alter your mood is to instantly do something else. For example, if you feel flat and bored, continuing to watch uninteresting TV will deepen the mood. Switching it off and going for a walk in a new neighborhood will inevitably change your mood. If you feel cross, consciously focus on three things in your life for which you can feel grateful. If you are anxious, start to imagine that what you are anxious about has already happened and gone much better than expected.

The important thing is just to do or think something different. Don't be passively carried along by the current of the mood. The quickest way to do this may be to simply imagine not feeling the way you are feeling. So if I'm feeling hacked off, I might close my eyes and take a few moments to strongly imagine feeling relaxed and comfortable and even in a good mood. This will, at the very least, neutralize the bad mood and may even put you in a good mood. I hope this helped.

5. Read with something you know you can both talk about. …
Remember to use good "FORM." …
Ask open-ended questions. …
Recall previous conversations. …
Practice good listening skills as well as talking. …
Read the other person's body language for clues. …
Smile.

6. Yes, I am hoping to major in psychology after college and go from there.

Posted on 22 May 2017 - 07:47 PM

@Emogan Thanks, and good luck on your degree :)

Posted on 23 May 2017 - 10:22 AM

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