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Part 43: GET PSYCHED!!!  Everyone keeps testing negative for psychic power effects except for Cam, Annette and the Furies. Bizarre. Everyone working for XCOM was someone we selected as possibly having the right kind of psychic potential we needed. My apologies. Perhaps with another year of research I could reproduce the effects on everyone, but as it is…  So, you talked to them, right? It was very, very hard for me. And for them. Not the sort of thing you can sort out with a few words. But… it went far better than I expected. I don’t know. Maybe next month I’ll look more Japanese. Hey, that’s great!  So me and Cam were camping one day, and this huge bear sneaks into our camp, looking for food. We don’t have any, because we’ve secured our food, and the moment we hear him sniffing our empty boxes I turn around and yell, “Beat it!” Bear runs and falls butt-first into a hole full of rocks. Ouch. He was fine, but he went “oof” and rubbed his butt like a human. It was so hilarious, hahaha.  Naomi, what are you doing? Disabling my filtration system so I get piss-drunk extra-fasssh... extra-fast. Someone loves me. Nobody’s ever loved me. I’m a hardass killer bitch from a backstabbing spy agency. What the hell am I gonna do? What if we’re too different? What if I’m too screwed-up for it to work? Clearly she wants it to work as much as you do. You said “yes,” right? This is ssssho ssshtupid. I can kick cars over with my feet and blow up tanks with a giant gun, but I can’t handle a little… a little… a little affection.  Now, Evie, there are certain things you need to know if you’re becoming part of my family. First off, you have inheritance rights to the family arsenal. You know how to drive a tank? No. drat, we’ll have to fix that. Secondly, there’s some Brazilian ninjas who have a family feud with us every two years or so. Nonlethal sparring for the purpose of keeping up appearances, but you’re expected to be able to win a throwing-weapons contest. I’m pretty good with grenades! Excellent! Yeah, that might be considered cheating in a shuriken competition, but whatever.  Queen’s ready to extract, and this time without incident. Seriously? Seriously. For once, we are extracting an operative without an army on their tail. Though she’s still in enemy territory, but she wants a stealth extraction rather than a hot one. Then I’ll just go and pick her up in the Skyranger. She said she had something to discuss with me anyway. Sure is lonely in here. Good thing I’ve got my tablet to game on during the trip… *tap tap* Yes, make more stimpacks for me, Vault Dwellers… Train yard, lots of blind corners and hiding spots. Hilda, you there?  Yeah. Look, we are completely surrounded by EXALT. None of them have seen us yet but the mission isn’t over. I got a hot tip on some data stored in two relays. Oh, gently caress, now you tell me? Look, we can turn invisible, right? We can finish the mission without firing a shot. I dunno, I’m used to having backup and firing a lot of shots. And I have that itchy trigger finger, if one of them gets too close to me I might turn and shoot without meaning to! I know you can do this, Cam.  Ugh, I hate getting shots. Why don’t we have permanent gene mods again? So we can pass medical examinations during our day jobs, you dolt! I… *sniff sniff* wait. I smell something… familiar. I smell it too! Smells like… two women. And a plasma battery. XCOM! Start searching! (Aaah, poo poo, I can’t get past them without revealing myself…) XCOM! I know you can hear me. Two invisible soldiers, according to intelligence that makes you Hilda Van Doorn and Cameron Watkins. (poo poo!) Perhaps you misunderstand EXALT’s mission. You should join us. Ours is a mission of international prosperity. Join you? Hah! And if you’re so international, how come you’re all white dudes? Hey. It’s not like that. Yeah, EXALT’s actually about maintaining human purity while achieving human supremacy! That’s why our gene mods can be switched off! (Cam, if you’re telepathic enough to hear my thoughts, keep ‘em talking…) Still haven’t answered my question, rear end in a top hat. Where’s the POCs and women? Would we be the first in your vast, vast organization of peace and love? (Making a break for it. poo poo, they saw me!) We’ve got a reaction to the south. Guns up! (Better get psyched, literally.) Try to understand, Cameron. This technology will bring chaos and destruction to the world if left in the hands of fools, and world governments have been very foolish indeed. That’s why all the real power in the world has been going corporate for decades. Money is social power, and we’re better at accumulating it than those glorified popularity contest winners you call “elected officials.” Then why are you helping destabilize the world? All your money will be worthless if civilization as we know it falls. They’re going to fall one way or another, if not to the aliens than to each other. That’s why we’re trading our money for real power. Weapons and upgrades to our bodies, power that can’t be taken away from us with a simple bank transfer or a freeze on our assets. (They’re pulling back to the north, good, that gives Hilda a better run to the comm device.) This technology can make the world whole. I’ve seen the way. Race, gender, ethnicity, tribal connections… even our faces will become meaningless in a world where DNA can be customized at will. (Moving closer… whew, lost ‘em. Just another minute to reach the array and I’m good). So, wait, you’re going to bring world peace by making us all the same? Why not? It’s the simplest solution. (poo poo, they’re getting closer…) And we are aware of who and what you were before this all began, Cameron Watkins. Male, African-American. Wouldn’t you say that your chances of survival in your own home country went up now that you’re no longer a demographic likely to be targeted by police for attack? …What did you just say to me? The aliens have the right idea. Purity. Solidarity through uniformity. There can be no prejudice where there are no differences. No one can be singled out for harassment when they look the same as everyone else, when they speak and do the same as everyone else. So, you’re telling me… you’re telling me the reason I got bullied in high school wasn’t because Roger Green was racist, it was just because I wasn’t white enough. Is that what you’re saying, rear end in a top hat?! You can hardly help how you were born, Cam. Or you couldn’t have, until Meld came to the earth. Now that appearances can be customized, there’s no reason to not take steps to fit in. (More reinforcements. poo poo! Work fast, hands…) You assholes. You are literally Nazis. This poo poo can make anyone into anything they want to be and you’d just use it to make everyone into a boring conglomeration of circle-jerking white supremacists. Come on, Watkins. We can’t be Nazis, we fought against them in the war. So did America, and they put Japanese immigrants in concentration camps! They’d have put Yoko’s grandparents in a cage. But they didn’t put white German-Americans in camps, now did they? Sheesh. You’ll gripe about anything, won’t you? Were you this whiny before you got mutated? Oh, you son of a bitch. gently caress it, I am breaking the perfect stealth mission and killing you for that. It’s hacked! Finally! Always wanted to kill Nazis! RAAAH! DIE! Anyone else want some? Huh?! There they are! Open fire! *click* What? No! They hacked our guns again! Ahahahahahaah! BEHOLD! GUNS OF THE PATRIOTS! Good, I can sprint to the next comm relay before they’re done resetting their guns. It’s a straight shot to the extraction zone then. poo poo, none of our guns work! Anybody here know martial arts? Shut it! Just keep them surrounded! poo poo, you were right next to me the whole time?! I’m outta here! No so fast, you walking pusbag! Seriously, our mission is actually about human supremacy while maintaining purit— SHUT THE gently caress UP! gently caress! Ow! More of ‘em! Hell. There, got the second one! C’mon, try to see things our way. If you think about it, we’re the victims here! GO TO HELL! *punch* OW! Cam, make a break for it! Sure… sure… but first… Let me say “goodbye.” Nazi rear end in a top hat! My gun finds you very offensive! Garruugh. Seriously, we’re not Nazis! It’s just a coincidence that we’re all white guys. Activating my regen pheromones! Come on, stick your face in my armpits and heal up! Ugh, it always makes me feel weird when you say it like that. More of ‘em keep coming and I’m all out of ways to keep ‘em from shooting us! Hurry, Cam! Right, right! Ha! Fools. Run from us, if you like, but not from the truth. How much can you really trust your commander? Ask him, for me, if he knows the meaning of the name “Origin.” Whuh? Cam, go, NOW! Little more for you on my way out… Wait! I— Not in the mood today, pal!  “Guns of the Patriots?” Hee hee. You’re such a nerd. Well, I… I always wanted to say that. Hee. Great job. Maybe stealth isn’t the right line of work for you, but we got out of there without a scratch. So, Leroy proposed to Mimi… She did? Oh, that limelight-stealing, vain… Ergh. Huh? It’s nothing! I’m very happy for them! Some of the data here lets it slip where they mention that their headquarters are in a small country. We can check off any highly-populous nation from our list of suspects. That just leaves… Argentina, Egypt, South Africa, Nigeria, France, Germany or Japan. Hmm. Commander… what’s “Origin?” The leader of the Zudjari, from the 1960s invasion. They wouldn’t know what that means unless… someone in their organization came from the old Bureau. That’s… troubling.To Be Continued! “Commander’s Poll” posted:
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Jul 1, 2015 05:47
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| # ? Apr 24, 2024 21:26 |
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Clowning Exalt I: Secondary armament only. Clowning Exalt II: Extraction team of 1. (Valkyrie cheevo  )Clowning Exalt III: ??? E: I am Death incarnate!
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Jul 1, 2015 06:14
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pun pundit posted:Clowning Exalt III: ??? Speedball posted:
Speedball posted:What’s your flavor?
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Jul 1, 2015 06:19
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Speedball posted:
Sorry. Not sorry.
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Jul 1, 2015 06:28
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FredMSloniker posted:Sorry. Not sorry.  Also, "I am Death incarnate!" Bring 'Em On is too easy, Uber is too bullshit hard.
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Jul 1, 2015 07:09
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silentsnack posted:Space Jam. Get dunk'd. Space Slam.
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Jul 1, 2015 07:10
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Speedball posted:Part 43: GET PSYCHED!!! Oh, are we getting Wolfenstein? quote:
Yesssss. quote:
And some  too, huh?As to the poll? Bring 'em on. I'm not fool enough to punch over my ability, but I am decent.
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Jul 1, 2015 07:17
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Warrior! ...I admit I was more of a Curse Of The Catacombs (AKA: Catacomb Armageddon) guy for "My first non shareware edition shooter"  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4FSBszILng It taught me valuable lessons. Like "Don't trust rabbits. They turn into giant rabbit monsters" and "Don't kill a tree monster in the middle of the tree maze, walking through their burning remains hurts"
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Jul 1, 2015 09:12
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"I am death incarnate" Harder than the default difficulty, but not quickload-every-time-you-take-damage hard.
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Jul 1, 2015 09:53
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We are death incarnateSpeedball posted:
Exalt really isn't an issue at this point, is it? Fitting, considering they're just a bunch of assholes with delusions of grandeur that are messing with things way over their head, pretty much like actual fascists. What are those Brazilian ninjas called? Because I'm suddenly imagining the Brazilian equivalent of McNinja.
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Jul 1, 2015 11:05
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Alright, can someone kindly explain to me, what's the problem with the "end all -isms and discrimination as we know it"? Because that kinda sounds pretty great actually.
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Jul 1, 2015 12:32
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DmitriX posted:Alright, can someone kindly explain to me, what's the problem with the "end all -isms and discrimination as we know it"? Because that kinda sounds pretty great actually. The problem is that it usually leads to an ends justify the means mindset. Trying to end discrimination against black people by removing all black people isn't something you can really sell.
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Jul 1, 2015 13:38
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dscruffy1 posted:The problem is that it usually leads to an ends justify the means mindset. Trying to end discrimination against black people by removing all black people isn't something you can really sell. Mandatory re-meldenings and ECT every week until everyone forgets what colour/race/gender they are!
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Jul 1, 2015 13:58
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DmitriX posted:Alright, can someone kindly explain to me, what's the problem with the "end all -isms and discrimination as we know it"? Because that kinda sounds pretty great actually. It's eliminating discrimination by destroying diversity - forcibly, too, since not everyone is going to be happy about jumping onto the cloned appearance bandwagon. Wouldn't work, anyways. Eliminate all physical differences, and people are going to double-down hard on the cultural differences in order to not feel even MORE like an identical, replaceable cog in the machine.
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Jul 1, 2015 14:47
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Tomn posted:It's eliminating discrimination by destroying diversity - forcibly, too, since not everyone is going to be happy about jumping onto the cloned appearance bandwagon. Ah, but then you eliminate culture and replace it with consumerism! Easy!
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Jul 1, 2015 14:54
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DmitriX posted:Ah, but then you eliminate culture and replace it with consumerism! Easy! Two words: Console wars.
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Jul 1, 2015 14:59
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Tomn posted:Two words: Console wars. Console wars are like sporting events. We don't need to eliminate competition, just hostility. You don't beat down a person because he has an XBOX, you do so because he is a dirty immigrant stealing all your jobs ALL OF THEM.
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Jul 1, 2015 15:19
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DmitriX posted:Alright, can someone kindly explain to me, what's the problem with the "end all -isms and discrimination as we know it"? Because that kinda sounds pretty great actually.
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Jul 1, 2015 15:26
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I fail to see how changing a skin color would cause a cultural genocide. Not that it isn't necessary as discussed above, but that's a separate issue that's already being worked on right now in the world.(By worked on, i mean actively implemented)
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Jul 1, 2015 15:27
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DmitriX posted:Console wars are like sporting events. We don't need to eliminate competition, just hostility. You don't beat down a person because he has an XBOX, you do so because he is a dirty immigrant stealing all your jobs ALL OF THEM. Sporting events have provided a ton of violence in the past and nearly brought down an empire if the Emperor's ex-prostitute wife hadn't threatened him with sleeping on the couch if he fled.
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Jul 1, 2015 15:53
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DmitriX posted:I fail to see how changing a skin color would cause a cultural genocide. It's because exalt's response to discrimination is not to address the mindset of the discriminator, but to literally ask the discriminated to become one of the same class. The same white-washing that would cause all people to be treated equally also prevents non-white populations from being able to identify each other and thus cannot form a community to pass along and reinforce their cultural heritage, which would quickly become subsumed into the mainstream or lost.
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Jul 1, 2015 16:12
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Tribalism is really deeply embedded in the human psyche. We are constantly looking for ways to set up a "this is my tribe, everyone else is Wrong and Different". We do it with where we live, who we look like, who we talk like, what shows we watch, what sports teams we follow, what politicians we favor, our sexual kinks (and sexuality in general), how poor/wealthy we are, what religion if any we subscribe to, what schools we attend, and on and on and on. Some of these are more conscious choices than others, some differences are "more important" than others (typically, religion and sports teams), and some people are more aware that they're doing it than others, but it's a really deeply-ingrained reflex. I guarantee you are at least a little racist, automatically. You don't have a choice in the matter; the best you can do is catch your brain trying to sabotage you and consciously try to correct for it. You aren't going to fix tribalism by removing one of the myriad ways in which people can separate themselves from other people.
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Jul 1, 2015 17:04
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LeschNyhan posted:It's because exalt's response to discrimination is not to address the mindset of the discriminator, but to literally ask the discriminated to become one of the same class. The same white-washing that would cause all people to be treated equally also prevents non-white populations from being able to identify each other and thus cannot form a community to pass along and reinforce their cultural heritage, which would quickly become subsumed into the mainstream or lost. Their plan would (not) work equally well if they made every human black or hispanic or chinese or blue with fluorescent polka dots. Their first and only choice was white.
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Jul 1, 2015 17:11
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DmitriX posted:You don't beat down a person because he has an XBOX You do if that's the only difference between you and any other identical drone. (Though, it might not come to that. I predict a lot of tattooing, absurd clothing, and even ritual scarification to ensure that we look at least somewhat different from one another.)
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Jul 1, 2015 17:12
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quote:“Can I play, Daddy?” What's Uber? I recognise all the difficulties but that one. Was it introduced in a remake or something?
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Jul 1, 2015 17:48
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It's the harder-than-hard difficulty in Wolfenstein: The New Order.
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Jul 1, 2015 18:24
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FredMSloniker posted:Sorry. Not sorry. Kill all GGers on sight. I play on bring em on because I'm a pansy that can't handle the harder difficulties.
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Jul 1, 2015 19:21
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Tomn posted:You do if that's the only difference between you and any other identical drone. Can't do that! 2 of three are removed in mandatory melding, while clothing can easily become standard-issue either entirely same, or varying by profession. quote:Their plan would (not) work equally well if they made every human black or hispanic or chinese or blue with fluorescent polka dots. Their first and only choice was white. quote:also prevents non-white populations from being able to identify each other and thus cannot form a community to pass along and reinforce their cultural heritage Well not being to identify formerly non-whites is kind of the whole point here. As for cannot form a community: are you just suggesting that people are better off sorted into communities by their skin color? I know a guy who believed that too, his name was Adolf i believe.
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Jul 1, 2015 20:00
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DmitriX posted:As for cannot form a community: are you just suggesting that people are better off sorted into communities by their skin color? I know a guy who believed that too, his name was Adolf i believe.  More seriously, tribalism is the source of most of the ills in the world today. Our brains are just not capable of comprehending a society of billions, and so we divide the world into smaller and smaller groups of Us and Them. I sometimes envision a sci-fi scenario in which a group of about 100 people is isolated and, by some means, prevented from increasing their number (only as many births as deaths). In a number of ways, I think they'd be happier.
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Jul 1, 2015 20:17
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DmitriX posted:Can't do that! 2 of three are removed in mandatory melding, while clothing can easily become standard-issue either entirely same, or varying by profession. People will set up cultural subgroups by password -- depending on how you respond to "Hello", you self-categorize into a certain group. And if you find a way to stop that, then people will find something else. Tribes don't have to be visually distinct to exist.
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Jul 1, 2015 21:18
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:People will set up cultural subgroups by password -- depending on how you respond to "Hello", you self-categorize into a certain group. And if you find a way to stop that, then people will find something else. Tribes don't have to be visually distinct to exist. Ah but that is easily changeable, you see! You can just respond to hello randomly, however you want. And since everyone looks the same, there is no way to trace if it's really you or someone else, so the issue of previous interactions doesn't exist! Brilliant! Basically as long as it can only be based on easily changeable things it's manageable. And if we make identity something you can easily change...
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Jul 1, 2015 21:41
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Empathy-enhancing pheromones for everyone.
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Jul 1, 2015 21:45
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DmitriX posted:Ah but that is easily changeable, you see! You can just respond to hello randomly, however you want. And since everyone looks the same, there is no way to trace if it's really you or someone else, so the issue of previous interactions doesn't exist! Brilliant! I'm not sure if you're joking, but my implication is that people will want to belong to the groups they identify with. E.g. I would willingly identify to you as being with Group A even though you're with Group B and Group B hates Group A, because of the need to belong in a tribe. Now of course with something as readily changed as a simple password, it'd be easy to pressure people to switch what group they're "in", but that doesn't make the groups go away nor does it make the in/out categorization less important to peoples' psyches. The problem you should be trying to solve is not one of "people belong to groups". It's "people treat people poorly based on what groups they belong to." Like I said, everyone's at least a bit racist, but if you learn to be aware of how you're responding to situations and how you're thinking, you can consciously correct for that racist impulse and treat people fairly. The goal is to make people equal, not to make them the same.
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Jul 1, 2015 21:48
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:I'm not sure if you're joking, but my implication is that people will want to belong to the groups they identify with. E.g. I would willingly identify to you as being with Group A even though you're with Group B and Group B hates Group A, because of the need to belong in a tribe. Now of course with something as readily changed as a simple password, it'd be easy to pressure people to switch what group they're "in", but that doesn't make the groups go away nor does it make the in/out categorization less important to peoples' psyches. Not created equal! Some people are inherently inferior, simply due to their genetic makeup. Upbringing is a huge factor too, and it can also make you inferior really fast. You can't make an alcoholic wife-beating plumber equal to a brain surgeon, the surgeon is clearly superior even if he happens to be a wife-beater too. You NEED to make people the same before you can push for equality. (USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)
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Jul 1, 2015 21:52
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 Your definition of the value of a human needs some work. People are not measured by their productive capacity, how smart they are, how strong they are, etc. People are people. You should treat people like people.
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Jul 1, 2015 22:04
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I'm just going to leave this one here.quote:My gift to industry is the genetically engineered worker, or Genejack. Specially designed for labor, the Genejack's muscles and nerves are ideal for his task, and the cerebral cortex has been atrophied so that he can desire nothing except to perform his duties. Tyranny, you say? How can you tyrannize someone who cannot feel pain?
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Jul 1, 2015 22:08
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:
Lacking any other means to feel superior, this will be used to create more 'tribes'. DmitriX posted:That guy? he knows what's what. He also doesn't admit that he himself is an impressive 'specimen'; he tricked the tests used in the selection process by sheer will. Many people could not do what he has done. Yet he remains convinced that anyone can.
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Jul 1, 2015 22:52
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Bloodly posted:Lacking any other means to feel superior, this will be used to create more 'tribes'. Of course it will, which is why I've been talking about the solution being a cultural one of teaching people to treat each other fairly, not a technological one of trying to eliminate differences.
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Jul 1, 2015 22:58
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Lol at this dude simultaneously godwinning and citing the loving Human Hive from a civ game.
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Jul 1, 2015 23:05
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:
Nihilism's pretty great because you can just embrace the fact that everyone is equally worthless. None of this people nonsense or human lives having value, just burn it all down and be done with it.
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Jul 1, 2015 23:09
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