Seasons

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

Bev, who laughed at you? They had no idea...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2552973/Rats-brain-used-to-power-robot.html

Thank you my minions. I shall have a special filter to keep you from the Giant Dustbin of the Unworthy (TM). Just remember to carry some cheese, just in case. Also, do not confuse my great Roomba of Doom with the continuing work of that hack cyborg from the UK. I did not steal his idea. He stole mine. With a time machine. That he stole--from me!

Evil genius: Hitler.

He came to power entirely on his own account. He fooled an incredible number of people into thinking he was on their side. He got Germany out of the depression. He managed to re-arm Germany in spite of provisions to the contrary in the Treaty of Versailles. He came very close to winning the war.

Interzone writes:

Prob, evil as an emergant phenomenon is quite evident.

If it's emergent, there it is! It still exists.

Emergence may well be only a relative phenomenon anyway. If one starts one's exposition with properties A, B, and C taken for granted (primitive terms), then E, F, and G may be emergent. But if one starts with E, F, and G, then A, B, and C will be emergent.

Bev:

I'm inclined to agree that no human is ineradicably totally evil. If things had been different, Hitler might have turned out to be quite benign. On the other hand, I strongly suspect that sociopathy is partly hereditary, and it is known, I believe, that certain brain injuries make a person promiscuously homicidal.

It has been fashionable in recent decades to believe that all evil people are so because they were abused in childhood. But a lot of people have terrible childhoods and become saints, while others have privileged childhoods and become slimebags.

Irina, The source or evil from a nature verses nurture question is interesting, but it does not mean that absolute "evil" exists per se. In fact, if ones view of "evil" is dependent on certain biological components, then there is no universal "evil" is there? What is considered "evil" is relative and I personally think situational ethics makes more sense than absolute rules. Then again, I may have no problem embracing "evil" at times.

Sorry to but into these deep moral discussions with a change of subject but for all the robot nuts out there, I just saw the coolest robot today I've ever seen in my life (and after working with Hanson's Einstein that's saying something!)

I was wandering around the Haverfordwest Show today (rainy as ever,) and just came across "Titan" - 8 feet tall, self-powered, and built like a terminator! performing in one of the hangars. I managed to get some nice video, so I've put a clip up at http://www.be9.net/titan1_hi.avi for anyone who wants to be amazed and astounded like I was (it's 21.5Mb, so you'll need broadband or a great deal of patience!)

I also found a website with a few more videos and further details:
http://www.robotx.co.uk/video.php - the 4th video on that page (Titan Uncovered) is definitely the best

If I ever win the lottery, I'm gonna buy me one of those to mount Brother Jerome in!