From: "Alberto Monteiro" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > Michael Harney wrote: > > > >> No, evil implies [Heinlein's definition, or some paraphrase] causing > >> unecessary pain to sentient beings. > > > > Hypothetical: > > > You are so literal. Are you sure you are not a mathematician? :-P No, I'm not a mathematician, I'm a programmer (who are often just as literal, if not moreso, than matematicians). My formal degree is in Biology, but I did minor in math. :-) > > Malicious > > intent means, quite litterally, wanting to do harm to another. For an act > > to be evil it requires intent to do harm to another, ie: malicious intent. > > > But you can also be Evil without any intention to do harm anyone. > Imagine that you are the Overlord of a MegaCorporation, and this > MegaCorpororation owns a Research Laboratory on drugs. Some > of your employees are researching a vaccine that prevents Alzheimer: > take it once and Alzheimer is avoided for another 10 years. Other > employees are researching a drug that slows down the advance > of Alzheimer by a factor of 10, but it requires a pill that must be > taken once a day. You decide to decomission the vaccine and > focus the research on the drug. This is Evil, even if you are chosing > an outcome that benefits millions of people. Actually, I think it can be argued that knowingly withholding something that can reduce the pain of another can be considered intentional infliction of pain unless you can argue that the person doesn't know that the people are suffering by withholding a cure (which is a stretch). > <paranoid> > I believe a cure of Cancer or AIDS hasn't been found because > the Pharmaceutical industries prefer to create drugs that > create a lifetime addiction by slowing down the effects of the > diseases. You might be right, but considering that the company that comes out with the cure first stands to make a whole lot of money, and would essentially squash their competitors, that seems unlikely. > Capitalism is Evil. > </paranoid> Capitalism isn't evil, greed is. Michael Harney [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
