Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The Whispering Earring

croissanthology.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 99 posts

Re: The Whispering Earring

#71

Post by klipt »

throwanem wrote: post #70
klipt wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> parents facing what I understand can be one of a lifetime's more difficult decisions. Do you believe that parents who choose to terminate a downs fetus are evil/utilitarian? Or are the doctors who perform the testing/abortion the evil/utilitarian ones? Or the lawmakers who allow such testing/abortion to be legal? Where exactly is the responsibility for being evil/utilitarian in your mind?

What? How does any of this follow from anything I've said? What's utilitarian about demanding a scapegoat for something that isn't even indictable? I'm not criticizing parents' decisions, but yours. This specifically includes your using the sorrow of others, in this case parents faced with a harrowing dilemma, as an excuse for your own behavior, rather than demonstrate anything resembling the courage of your supposed…

> I'm not criticizing parents' decisions, but yours.

I don't know man, if you think it's fine for parents to abort downs babies, I think that means you're the utilitarian.

You can try deny it, but in your heart of hearts you think it's fine to value avoiding the inconvenience of a downs baby higher than the value of a fetus's life.

That's pretty damn utilitarian.

Re: The Whispering Earring

#72

Post by throwanem »

klipt wrote: post #71
throwanem wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What? How does any of this follow from anything I've said? What's utilitarian about demanding a scapegoat for something that isn't even indictable? I'm not criticizing parents' decisions, but yours. This specifically includes your using the sorrow of others, in this case parents faced with a harrowing dilemma, as an excuse for your own behavior, rather than demonstrate anything resembling the courage of your supposed…

> I'm not criticizing parents' decisions, but yours. I don't know man, if you think it's fine for parents to abort downs babies, I think that means you're the utilitarian. You can try deny it, but in your heart of hearts you think it's fine to value avoiding the inconvenience of a downs baby higher than the value of a fetus's life. That's pretty damn utilitarian.

> I don't know man, if you think it's fine for parents to abort downs babies, I think that means you're the utilitarian.

> You can try deny it, but in your heart of hearts you think it's fine to value avoiding the inconvenience of a downs baby higher than the value of a fetus's life.

> That's pretty damn utilitarian.

Thank you for conceding that utilitarianism trivially entails arrogating unto oneself the right to decide universally who lives and who dies, in quite literally every imaginable case - this being obviously true to so reflexive and unreflected-upon an extent that you can only conceive of even an overtly hostile and disdainful interlocutor arguing he should instead be given that power, rather than that no one should.

Is there anything you'd care to add to that, or are you content with having revealed your vicious ideology in all its bare-fanged, blood-soaked glory?

Re: The Whispering Earring

#73

Post by klipt »

throwanem wrote: post #72
klipt wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm not criticizing parents' decisions, but yours. I don't know man, if you think it's fine for parents to abort downs babies, I think that means you're the utilitarian. You can try deny it, but in your heart of hearts you think it's fine to value avoiding the inconvenience of a downs baby higher than the value of a fetus's life. That's pretty damn utilitarian.

> I don't know man, if you think it's fine for parents to abort downs babies, I think that means you're the utilitarian. > You can try deny it, but in your heart of hearts you think it's fine to value avoiding the inconvenience of a downs baby higher than the value of a fetus's life. > That's pretty damn utilitarian. Thank you for conceding that utilitarianism trivially entails arrogating unto oneself the right to de…

> be given that power, rather than that no one should

So you believe that red states which disallow aborting downs babies are more moral than blue states that allow aborting downs babies?

Since the red states are the only ones that try to ensure that "no one has that power" (to abort downs babies)

Re: The Whispering Earring

#74

Post by throwanem »

klipt wrote: post #73
throwanem wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don't know man, if you think it's fine for parents to abort downs babies, I think that means you're the utilitarian. > You can try deny it, but in your heart of hearts you think it's fine to value avoiding the inconvenience of a downs baby higher than the value of a fetus's life. > That's pretty damn utilitarian. Thank you for conceding that utilitarianism trivially entails arrogating unto oneself the right to de…

> be given that power, rather than that no one should So you believe that red states which disallow aborting downs babies are more moral than blue states that allow aborting downs babies? Since the red states are the only ones that try to ensure that "no one has that power" (to abort downs babies)

Would you like at any point to argue claims of your own, rather than inventing ones to falsely attribute to me? Not that you'll disembarrass yourself at this point, but one would hope to see you show the sense at least to stop digging.

Re: The Whispering Earring

#75

Post by klipt »

throwanem wrote: post #74
klipt wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> be given that power, rather than that no one should So you believe that red states which disallow aborting downs babies are more moral than blue states that allow aborting downs babies? Since the red states are the only ones that try to ensure that "no one has that power" (to abort downs babies)

Would you like at any point to argue claims of your own, rather than inventing ones to falsely attribute to me? Not that you'll disembarrass yourself at this point, but one would hope to see you show the sense at least to stop digging.

You're not making any coherent points. You vaguely refer to aborting downs fetuses as evil and "full of bloodshed" but then you're unwilling to support laws that would prevent that.

Do you actually believe in anything except misunderstanding what utilitarian means?

Re: The Whispering Earring

#76

Post by throwanem »

klipt wrote: post #75
throwanem wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would you like at any point to argue claims of your own, rather than inventing ones to falsely attribute to me? Not that you'll disembarrass yourself at this point, but one would hope to see you show the sense at least to stop digging.

You're not making any coherent points. You vaguely refer to aborting downs fetuses as evil and "full of bloodshed" but then you're unwilling to support laws that would prevent that. Do you actually believe in anything except misunderstanding what utilitarian means?

I'm not going to answer arguments you make up and assign me as though they were my own. Do people usually tolerate that in your experience?

Re: The Whispering Earring

#77

Post by klipt »

throwanem wrote: post #76
klipt wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're not making any coherent points. You vaguely refer to aborting downs fetuses as evil and "full of bloodshed" but then you're unwilling to support laws that would prevent that. Do you actually believe in anything except misunderstanding what utilitarian means?

I'm not going to answer arguments you make up and assign me as though they were my own. Do people usually tolerate that in your experience?

Look in the mirror pal. You've been nothing but rude and assuming this whole thread

Re: The Whispering Earring

#78

Post by throwanem »

klipt wrote: post #77
throwanem wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not going to answer arguments you make up and assign me as though they were my own. Do people usually tolerate that in your experience?

Look in the mirror pal. You've been nothing but rude and assuming this whole thread

Well, I haven't been willing to take you at your word when you showed up to tell me how wrong I am based on nothing but your say-so. Sure, I'll give you that.

Were you not expecting to have to convince anyone? If that really is so, then again I have to ask, do you imagine this sort of thing normal? Are you in the habit of letting harangue stand in for conversation in ordinary life also, or is this a special occasion?

Re: The Whispering Earring

#79

Post by [deleted] »

djoldman wrote: post #41

> It is not a taskmaster, telling you what to do in order to achieve some foreign goal. It always tells you what will make you happiest....The earring is never wrong. > There are no recorded cases of a wearer regretting following the earring’s advice, and there are no recorded cases of a wearer not regretting disobeying the earring. The earring is always right. > ...The wearer lives an abnormally successful life, usu…

[deleted]

Re: The Whispering Earring

#80

Post by klipt »

throwanem wrote: post #78
klipt wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Look in the mirror pal. You've been nothing but rude and assuming this whole thread

Well, I haven't been willing to take you at your word when you showed up to tell me how wrong I am based on nothing but your say-so. Sure, I'll give you that. Were you not expecting to have to convince anyone? If that really is so, then again I have to ask, do you imagine this sort of thing normal? Are you in the habit of letting harangue stand in for conversation in ordinary life also, or is this a special occasion?

Okay, tell me what your moral framework is, and I'll tell you how it's just a variant of utilitarianism.
Post reply on HN