Re: Ethics
Posted by Amaranth Rose on Feb 04, 2004 at 16:40
(65.172.150.222)Re: Ethics (Measurement)
I think you are right in that no behavior persists without it serving a function. Without some kind of selective force, such as those who exhibit "behavior x" living to produce more progeny than those who do not, thus enforcing the survival value and increasing the probability that those exhibiting the behavior will be more successful reproductively, there is no cause for any behavior to persist or desist in a given population. The gun need not be a contraption of steel and gunpowder therefore; it may be any form of predation which has lethal or reproductively stifling consequences.
And yet there comes a time when the one on whom the gun is trained must judge the wielder and decide if life in front of the muzzle is worth more than the freedom that being gunned down might give, and choose to call the bluff and walk away, while giving the holder of the gun ample opportunity to use it if they so choose.
It's hard to describe the experience to one who has not had a similar one; it's like trying to explain color to a person who has been blind all their life.