Seasons

sick bastard who can get things done Hitler made the trains run on time, but it was a terrible price to pay. The Machiavellian idea that people will respect you is true, but I will take mediocrity over evil any time. If you look at most leaders you will find they were mediocre. Yet somehow the general population was able to have a good life under their rule. It was the evil ones that made life a living hell.

The Chinese have a curse, "May you live in interesting times!" Also, "May you marry an interesting (man|woman)!" Perhaps it is better to have an ineffective, bumbling leader.

What's your take on mediocre evil?

It's better than virtuosic evil!

I don't believe in evil genius concept, i.e. all evil is mediocre, a sign of deprivation, and of being disconnected from larger reality, emotionally disconnected, in the first place.

Currently, the evil in the world operates at border mental deficiency level, and it rules by sheer brute force, no sign of intelligence there at all.

Oh, there are evil geniuses out there.

I somehow agree with both of you. The evil person is missing something. But some evil people are quite good at what they do.

I am amazed that someone else will say there is "evil". Last time we had this topic, few would agree that evil existed.

Prob, evil as an emergant phenomenon is quite evident. I still have my doubts about metaphysical foundations of evil, though.
["In the philosophy of mind, the primary candidates for the status of emergent properties are mental states and events"]

Clerk and Irina, can you give me one example of an evil genius. I'd like to try to debunk him/ her along the lines of how I think about the subject matter

I can be a pain-in-the-ass genius, though not in the Forge. Just a pain in the ass here. Hmm.

Richard III? I dunno whether he's a genius or even evil -- the jury's still out on him. I just think it's POSSIBLE to be evil and a genius. Explain to me why it's not again? I want the RIGHT to be an evil genius.

Were all the smart kids at your school the nicest ones?

Clerk Oh, there are evil geniuses out there.

I may not believe in "absolute" evil (or inherently evil people who all evil, all the time), but I do believe sometimes people can have an evil-savant mojo going for them. You see, they laughed at me when I mentioned using rat neurons to power my Roomba--laughed! But when I finish my Great Work and the lightening strikes them before they a sucked into my giant Vacuum of Doom, they will respect me! Oh Yes! They all will see the filth of their puny little ways being cleansed before my brilliance! Muhahahaha!

It works in Second Life. Now I need a 3-d printer and a colony of rats. I must hide that "I will destroy the world, ask me how" pin before people start to look at the lab in my attic.

Now I need a 3-d printer and a colony of rats

I think you'll find all you need here: http://reprap.org/, and here: http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=buy+rats&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=firefox-a

Mwwahaahaahaaaa! Bring it on