How can a conscience be determined?

1. 2018-11-05 at 10:51 PM UTC

   #1
   

   esbity African Astronaut
   With all of the different beliefs and mindsets, how can anyone be sure?
   
   I mean what is it really?
   
   Is it really that bad to be a psychopath?
2. 2018-11-05 at 11 PM UTC

   #2
   

   gadzooks Dark Matter [keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]
   Ok, there are two different things at play here:
   
   1. A psychological conscience.
   2. Morality.
   
   A psychological conscience is the result of millions of years of evolution. Altruism has evolved in humans in order to create cohesive bonds built on reciprocative acts of goodness.
   
   Now, when it comes to an objective source of morality, that is a much thornier issue.
   
   One could argue that whatever nature gave us as a moral compass (i.e. a psychological conscience) should define morality, and that's that.
   
   But of course, centuries of debate have arose surrounding such definitions of objective morality, or even if there can ever be such a thing.
   The following users say it would be alright if the author of this post didn't die in a fire!

   • Obbe
3. 2018-11-05 at 11 PM UTC

   #3
   

   Zanick motherfucker [my p.a. supernal goa]

   Originally posted by esbity How can a conscience be determined?

   
   Are you asking how it develops or how it is recognized?
   
   

   With all of the different beliefs and mindsets, how can anyone be sure?

   
   Well, as you've said, there are a lot of different beliefs and mindsets. If you look at all the conflicting beliefs and mindsets, I wouldn't blame you for being unsure.
   
   

   I mean what is it really?

   
   We can be reasonably sure it's not a substance.
   
   

   Is it really that bad to be a psychopath?

   
   Maybe not for the psychopath.
   The following users say it would be alright if the author of this post didn't die in a fire!

   • gadzooks
4. 2018-11-05 at 11:11 PM UTC

   #4
   

   gadzooks Dark Matter [keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]
   Zanick, I just knew you'd join the party in this thread.
   
   This thread has the potential to be an incredibly interesting discourse.
   
   But then again, what is NIS's overall user-pool.
   
   Shitposting might just be par for the course.
5. 2018-11-05 at 11:15 PM UTC

   #5
   

   cupocheer Space Nigga [unwillingly condescend the dp]

   Originally posted by gadzooks Ok, there are two different things at play here:
   
   1. A psychological conscience.
   2. Morality.
   
   A psychological conscience is the result of millions of years of evolution. Altruism has evolved in humans in order to create cohesive bonds built on reciprocative acts of goodness.
   
   Now, when it comes to an objective source of morality, that is a much thornier issue.
   
   One could argue that whatever nature gave us as a moral compass (i.e. a psychological conscience) should define morality, and that's that.
   
   But of course, centuries of debate have arose surrounding such definitions of objective morality, or even if there can ever be such a thing.

   
   *arisen*
6. 2018-11-05 at 11:19 PM UTC

   #6
   

   OG_GREENPLASTIC_JOHNSON_III African Astronaut
   you cannot be considered consciese til u pull up in a drop top w/ a pocket full of ketamine methamphetamine
   The following users say it would be alright if the author of this post didn't die in a fire!

   • Glokula's Homabla
7. 2018-11-05 at 11:20 PM UTC

   #7
   

   gadzooks Dark Matter [keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]

   Originally posted by cupocheer *arisen*

   
   Is that targeted at my use of "centuries of debate have arose"?
   
   I suppose arisen may make more sense.
   
   But after looking into it a bit, I'm not so sure.
8. 2018-11-05 at 11:20 PM UTC

   #8
   

   cupocheer Space Nigga [unwillingly condescend the dp]
   *conscience*
9. 2018-11-05 at 11:23 PM UTC

   #9
   

   cupocheer Space Nigga [unwillingly condescend the dp]

   Originally posted by gadzooks Is that targeted at my use of "centuries of debate have arose"?
   
   I suppose arisen may make more sense.
   
   But after looking into it a bit, I'm not so sure.

   
   plural v singular
   
   simple math
10. 2018-11-05 at 11:23 PM UTC

    #10
    

    gadzooks Dark Matter [keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]

    Originally posted by cupocheer *conscience*

    
    Okay, now I have no idea what you're doing.
11. 2018-11-05 at 11:25 PM UTC

    #11
    

    gadzooks Dark Matter [keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]

    Originally posted by cupocheer plural v singular
    
    simple math

    
    Oh, so we have an intellectual in our midst.
    
    Care to offer your own position on the topic at hand?
    
    Or are you just going to sit there and correct everybody's typos and grammar mistakes?
    
    You know, machines are fully capable of doing that.
12. 2018-11-05 at 11:25 PM UTC

    #12
    

    cupocheer Space Nigga [unwillingly condescend the dp]
    'Splain, please.
    
    Your comment is broad spectrum.
13. 2018-11-05 at 11:26 PM UTC

    #13
    

    gadzooks Dark Matter [keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]
    I also just realized that I may have been reacting too harshly if your intent is merely to educate and not to agitate.
    
    If it's the former, I apologize for my harsh tone.
    
    If it's the latter, fuck you.
14. 2018-11-05 at 11:31 PM UTC

    #14
    

    cupocheer Space Nigga [unwillingly condescend the dp]

    Originally posted by gadzooks Oh, so we have an intellectual in our midst.
    
    Care to offer your own position on the topic at hand?
    
    Or are you just going to sit there and correct everybody's typos and grammar mistakes?
    
    You know, machines are fully capable of doing that.

    
    So...if you have a machine to correct your grammatical errors, why not engage it?
    
    But, no. I shall comment on the topic at hand when you all tire of each other's conversation.
    
    Just thought I'd let you know I was here reading and fixing a couple of mistakes for ease of reading?
    
    Would you rather I didn't?
    
    No problem.
15. 2018-11-05 at 11:34 PM UTC

    #15
    

    gadzooks Dark Matter [keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]

    Originally posted by cupocheer So…if you have a machine to correct your grammatical errors, why not engage it?
    
    But, no. I shall comment on the topic at hand when you all tire of each other's conversation.
    
    Just thought I'd let you know I was here reading and fixing a couple of mistakes for ease of reading?
    
    Would you rather I didn't?
    
    No problem.

    
    Read my most recent post in this thread.
    
    Your intent can easily be construed as sheer rudeness.
    
    Correcting people's spelling mistakes and grammar takes some finesse if you want to avoid coming off as a pompous, pedantic ass.
    
    Just sayin'.
16. 2018-11-05 at 11:41 PM UTC

    #16
    

    Sophie Pedophile Tech Support
    From a purely Darwinian perspective being a psychopath is a winning strategy. However, being as we are hyper-social creatures most of us evolved this thing we collectively know as morality or ethics. I don't know what is objectively good or bad. And i understand the Universe doesn't care one way or another but i feel that most human beings can agree on a couple of behaviors we all think are bad.
    
    I don't know.
17. 2018-11-05 at 11:49 PM UTC

    #17
    

    gadzooks Dark Matter [keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]

    Originally posted by Zanick We can be reasonably sure it's not a substance.

    
    You know what, just for fun, and I'll bet you'll totally get the motivation being a philosophy guy...
    
    Maybe conscience is a substance.
    
    I mean, if it's an evolved trait, a particular configuration of neural networking is essentially a physical substrate for a conscience.
    
    A psychopath, by definition, is one who is missing this particular substrate.
    
    Therefore, one could argue that conscience, even morality, is a physical thing.
    
    But then of course this opens up the pandora's box of the mind-body problem.
    
    Is that which is represented by that substrate a physical thing (i.e. does the brain === the mind?), or does it lie in some intangible dimension, much like the mind is said to exist in?
18. 2018-11-06 at 1:20 AM UTC

    #18
    

    esbity African Astronaut

    Originally posted by Zanick Are you asking how it develops or how it is recognized?

    
    How its developed and recognized being that everyone has different beliefs.
    
    Does a conscience matter if everyone has different beliefs and a different moral obligation(except for me)?
    
    How can I use my condition to further myself in life?
19. 2018-11-06 at 3:54 AM UTC

    #19
    

    gadzooks Dark Matter [keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]

    Originally posted by esbity Does a conscience matter if everyone has different beliefs and a different moral obligation(except for me)?

    
    Actually, a pretty strong case can be made for universal (human) morality.
    
    The only reason we have any controversy over certain matters only comes down to how we prioritize each of those fundamental moral principles, as well as differences in non-moral beliefs that will still influence morality.
    
    For example:
    If there were a train approaching quickly and there was a baby on the tracks, pretty much any (non-psychopathic) human being would make every reasonable effort to save that baby.
    
    However, if there were two train tracks with two oncoming trains, one of which has a baby on it, and the other has an adult on it (tied to the tracks so they can't save themselves), and for whatever reason, only one of the two can be saved, it might cause some contention, but most people would save the baby.
    
    Now, imagine that the baby is actually a teenager, and the adult is instead another teenager.
    
    One of these teenagers is a troubled kid with a criminal record, and the other is an honor student.
    
    It might not be an easy decision to make, but many would sacrifice the "bad kid" for the "good kid".
    
    The more nuanced you get with these hypothetical scenarios, the more variation you will find in morality.
    
    But this isn't because morality itself lacks any firm universal foundation, it's because different people have different priorities when it comes to evaluating moral dilemmas.
20. 2018-11-06 at 3:58 AM UTC

    #20
    

    Glokula's Homabla African Astronaut

    Originally posted by Sophie From a purely Darwinian perspective being a psychopath is a winning strategy. However, being as we are hyper-social creatures most of us evolved this thing we collectively know as morality or ethics. I don't know what is objectively good or bad. And i understand the Universe doesn't care one way or another but i feel that most human beings can agree on a couple of behaviors we all think are bad.
    
    I don't know.

    
    yeah because doing something impulsive and dying from it is beta tier dispersion of genes.
    
    i like how you think you can analyze the conditionals of evolution in your computer chair