Thursday, April 12, 2012

“There are many things of which a wise man might wish to be ignorant.”

Conquering the world doesn’t sound like a bad idea. However, I always wonder why would a person want to do that, after all, what would one do with a conquered world? It’s not as if one could simply barter with it… and a simple life is possible without taking over the whole world. Money isn’t everything, and one certainly doesn’t need a world to become rich anyways. Sure, it is a very elegant way of proving a point, if one had a point to prove. Such as people are simple mindless obedient sheep who need a shepherd. In which case, one doesn’t need a whole world.

Perhaps it is to gain an opportunity to be condescending towards the whole of humanity, after all, it would mean outsmarting the most vicious and cunning opponents. It’s a nice challenge, but it is hard to think of a way to continue the success. Sure, proving to be the most effective and intelligent human on the planet may be awesome, but it feels empty. Everyone wants to be the best, but nobody knows what to do once they are the best. Without anywhere to progress, a whole greater aim of a person’s life becomes insignificant. And that sounds rather depressing to me.

Granted, conquering the world is an interesting pastime, something original to do for a while. But it shares the problem of proving one’s wits – once you’ve done it, there is nothing greater to aspire to. “This world is not enough.”

Spreading out to distant worlds is an option, but at our current state of technology, it is an insurmountable goal, so unless we meet the Centauri or someone else who gives us some nifty tech, there really isn’t a reason to become the boss, head man, top dog, big cheese, a head honcho.

Evidently I am sort of an utilitarian point of view – I want actions and consequences to have practical value. Things gain value by being utilized. And that is only possible when there is untapped potential. But I, like God, do not play with dice and do not believe in coincidence, therefore I am not quite an utilitarian. Categorical imperative still sounds too… good.

Since TED videos display very awkwardly when embedded here (I guess the code ain’t the best and I really can’t bother myself to check it), I’m just going to put the link here in the hope that you will listen/watch anyways. It’s rather good with a few funny bits. It’s monkey business with morality. Basically something one could very easily use at a certain Olympiad.

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