NationStates Jolt Archive

Knowledge is power. Everybody agrees with me there. Correct? Well this has got me THINKING (OH NOES SSSSSSCCCCCCCAAAAAAAARRRRRRYYYYYYYY). Maybe knowledge should be granted to un-evil members of society. That way only the good people have access to knowledge in which to do good with whilst all the evil people remain as dangerous as Homer Simpson in a wheelchair.

Yup, yet another bright idea from the people who brought you STAINLESS STEEL UNDERPANTS! :D

DISCUSS!

Right.... and who better to decide who is not evil than .... LG!

how about the exact opposite? Evilocracy anyone?

Right.... and who better to decide who is not evil than .... LG!

http://www.gsnocc.org/gsnocc%20seminar%20002%20copy.gif
Hear hear! :tongue:

how about the exact opposite? Evilocracy anyone?

Those already exist, but not officially. The evil people in power through some elaborate conspiracy, dumb down the populace that way said populace can't notice teh ebil one's gaining power and riches. Third world nations do it all the time.

Surely Santa Claus is the only truly qualified arbiter of who is naughty and who is nice?

You are suggesting Laplandic tyranny!

Surely Santa Claus is the only truly qualified arbiter of who is naughty and who is nice?

You are suggesting Laplandic tyranny!

OH NOES! *runs to a payphone and whispers*

uhhhh Mr. Clause sir? One of them is onto us....uhuh uhuh I understand sir *cocks gun*

Those already exist, but not officially. The evil people in power through some elaborate conspiracy, dumb down the populace that way said populace can't notice teh ebil one's gaining power and riches. Third world nations do it all the time.

No, but I mean really evil. Like Heath Ledger as the Joker evil.

http://blog.news-record.com/staff/culture/Culture%20Shock%20-%20The%20Joker-thumb.jpg

Joker 08

No, but I mean really evil. Like Zombie Heath Ledger as the Joker evil.

http://media.movieweb.com/galleries/4381/2780/lo/joker1.jpg

Zombie Joker 08

Corrected. Heath Ledger died. He'd need a little help from a friendly necromancer in order move forward in his political career. ;)

Corrected. Heath Ledger died. He'd need a little help from a friendly necromancer in order move forward in his political career. ;)

can't I just slay 16 different giants instead?

http://uk.gizmodo.com/shadow-of-the-colossus-20050927025333795.jpg

Where there is no knowledge, evil is not tamed at all; it just uses cruder methods.

IMO knowledge should be spread to as many as possible, regardless of whether they're currently "good" or not. Without "access to knowledge in which to do good," how can the evil reform? It's far from guaranteed that knowledge would get them to change their ways, but if they don't have the knowledge they need to do good, what other way do they have besides brute force or tricks?

Dumb evil: Mugs you, takes whatever you have on you, and leaves you for dead.
Educated evil: Comes up with embezzlement plan, "misappropriates" your money, becomes a fugitive.

It boils down to different means to the same end. But you're more likely to end up dead or maimed if you meet the mugger. So I'd rather have the educated crook, if for no other reason than to limit the physical damage.

The evil people in power through some elaborate conspiracy, dumb down the populace that way said populace can't notice teh ebil ones gaining power and riches. Third world nations do it all the time.No elaborate conspiracy needed to make a dumb populace! Just don't fund any schools. And if anyone seems to have any sense, shoot him/her. However, that won't make those palaces third-world dictators have any less visible. They are noticed. What the leadership hopes to do is get the people to agree that it's OK that the leaders have the palaces.

But in many third-world countries, the leaders aren't any smarter than the people. They rule through plain brute force. And when someone finally overthrows them, the new ruler is often just another ignorant brute with no sense.

And that doesn't even get into the issue of who decides who's evil, or when in a person's life this determination would be made. It would cause a lot of lost educational ground if societies waited to start teaching kids until they were old enough for it to be obvious whether they were evil or not (barring extreme exceptions).

It doesn't take much education or intelligence to be evil. All it takes is a strong arm, good running shoes and a willingness to set kittens on fire before throwing them at small children and/or old people.

The main fallacy with this idea is the assumption that because knowledge is power, knowledge is the only power. This is not necessarily the case, even if it were granted that knowledge is power. You would need some sort of statement along the lines of "knowledge is the logical equivalent of power" which would likely not be axiomatic enough to be accepted without justification.

Knowledge is power. Everybody agrees with me there. Correct? Well this has got me THINKING (OH NOES SSSSSSCCCCCCCAAAAAAAARRRRRRYYYYYYYY). Maybe knowledge should be granted to un-evil members of society. That way only the good people have access to knowledge in which to do good with whilst all the evil people remain as dangerous as Homer Simpson in a wheelchair.

Yup, yet another bright idea from the people who brought you STAINLESS STEEL UNDERPANTS! :D

DISCUSS!

It falls down, unfortunately.

Libertarians have access to the same knowledge as everyone else, but they TWIST it to evil.

Corrupt powers! Absolute corrupt powers absolutely!