What's So Great About Ushas?

Jeff Wilson · 10 Jul 2008, 16:44 · from 2008-July.txt.gz

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From: jwilson at io.com (Jeff Wilson)
Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2008 11:44:27 -0500
Subject: (urth) What's So Great About Ushas?
In-Reply-To: <3e1fa2e90807100906v5b77bd87tcbe3aabebf26e13b at mail.gmail.com>
References: <63FB9AC7E0AEC7459DBCC99DC44247CA016C3611 at BOSIDEXDB.Bankofscotland.ie>
	<3e1fa2e90807100906v5b77bd87tcbe3aabebf26e13b at mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <48763C6B.1060403 at io.com>

Paul B wrote:
> The fundamental moral facts in this case are that 1.) we know they can 
> save the population of Urth and 2.) they choose not to.  This makes any 
> outcome morally suspect according to most ethical frameworks.  As long 
> as 1.) and 2.) are facts, the Hierogrammates cannot be good guys.

I'm stuck by the parallel to the original Trek episode, "Empath", where 
the crusty, mean aliens torture McCoy within a whisker of death to see 
if the mute healing empath woman can/will cure him at the cost of her 
own life, before deciding to use their limited resources to save the her 
planet instead of others in danger.

Remember that the Hierogrammates are long-lived aliens from another 
dimension with rather fluid individualism, as at least some of them 
merge and split off intelligent parts of the greater whole. This and the 
whole time travel issues can give them such a skew outlook or moral and 
ethical values that they can be grim benefactors while still pushing 
humanity's evil buttons early and often.   C.S. Lewis might compare them 
to parents adopting a wounded war orphan from some distant land and 
forcing them to undergo painful medical procedures without explanation 
because they don't yet share a common language, lest the child die 
before one or the other can learn.

-- 
Jeff Wilson - jwilson at io.com
< http://www.io.com/~jwilson >

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