What's So Great About Ushas?

Paul B · 10 Jul 2008, 17:03 · from 2008-July.txt.gz

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From: pb.stuff at gmail.com (Paul B)
Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2008 13:03:55 -0400
Subject: (urth) What's So Great About Ushas?
In-Reply-To: <48763C6B.1060403 at io.com>
References: <63FB9AC7E0AEC7459DBCC99DC44247CA016C3611 at BOSIDEXDB.Bankofscotland.ie>
	<3e1fa2e90807100906v5b77bd87tcbe3aabebf26e13b at mail.gmail.com>
	<48763C6B.1060403 at io.com>
Message-ID: <3e1fa2e90807101003tf251b72l7e91cc5667f8d0e2 at mail.gmail.com>

It seems like you're challenging point 1.)
However, remember that the Hierogrammates have performed stellar
engineering, and have the ability to time travel to boot.  They are not
likely to be resource constrained, and they are shown to be able to evacuate
Urth as further proof.  The examples you give are only interesting in a
constrained scenario.

It is the contention of many, and I'd bet the author to be one of them, that
"ethics" is not a strictly human concept.  The only ethical system according
to which the thing the Hierogrammates are doing is a good thing is
utilitarianism - which has more flaws than most.  If they wanted to be moral
in any other sense, they'd have to try harder.

On Thu, Jul 10, 2008 at 12:44 PM, Jeff Wilson <jwilson at io.com> wrote:

> 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 <http://www.io.com/%7Ejwilson> >
>
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-- 
Paul Borochin
PhD student, Fuqua School
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