Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Alastair Cruciatus: Experimentation

I hear tell that darling Adra has requested I write about a certain night we spent together. No doubt, she was expecting to hear some heartwarming tale about how I realized my capability to be kind and care for others. She will be disappointed. It is certainly true that I could have kicked her injured leg rather than healing it; that would have been much more satisfactory, and it certainly would have required less energy.

It has been my long held belief that human beings are inherently cruel creatures, and any apparent kindness in their nature is forced. It may seem effortless, yet when we are physically and/or emotionally exhausted and can no longer afford to pretend, we always leap to violence and anger. When a human has lost something important, his first compulsion is to seek revenge. While vengeance is not actually productive in any way, we still want it. We're selfish creatures, who like to think ourselves better than others, and even the most admired among us feel some desires to watch those they dislike, for whatever reason, suffer.

Yet it is also undeniable that most people feel compulsions to assist each other and alleviate pain. I am convinced these compulsions come from impressions and standards pressed on us from a very young age, and perhaps also from the desire to reproduce programmed into every surviving species. From what I can tell the only impulse we are born with that serves no purpose beyond personal enjoyment, satisfaction, or entertainment, is sadistic.

But the fact remains that every now and then, a human comes along who fights their own sadism so well, I am forced to consider the possibility that compassion is equally ingrained in basic human nature. So, every now and then, I experiment. I do something that benefits only a person other than myself, and I see whether or not I feel like doing it again. Niccolò would argue that such experiments are heavily flawed and negate just about every basic principle of scientific method, but I didn't write this to argue with him. I wrote this because the lovely Miss Dark was curious. Now, she has her answer.

1 comment:

  1. Well jeez that took long enough-

    Curious though... It's interesting to see his theory, but honestly- again- I'm confident I could combat it with another kick ass argument. *nods* I liked it

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