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Be honest: if you had the power to stop time, your morals would go out the window. (lemmy.zip)

submitted 1 year ago by balderdash9@lemmy.zip to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

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Pretty much the title. I've been watching more realistic super hero shows like The Boys and Invincible. The reoccurring themes is that with great power comes great immorality.

I think it's easy for us normies to respect other people and their property because there are clear consequences for violating social norms. But what would the average person do if they had super powers?

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[-] GreyShuck@feddit.uk 10 points 1 year ago

This is an idea that has been around for very long time. Plato used the Ring of Gyges to talk about it - which went on to inspire Wells' The Invisible Man - and influenced Tolkien among others.

[-] balderdash9@lemmy.zip 15 points 1 year ago

The Ring of Gyges is a hypothetical magic ring mentioned by the philosopher Plato in Book 2 of his Republic (~375 BC). It grants its owner the power to become invisible at will. Through the device of the ring, this section of the Republic considers whether a rational, intelligent person who has no need to fear negative consequences for committing an injustice would nevertheless act justly.

So many ideas trace their roots back to ancient Greece/China. I guess there's nothing new under the sun.

[-] zloubida@lemmy.world 11 points 1 year ago

I guess there’s nothing new under the sun.

And that's some old hebrew wisdom 🙂

[-] _haha_oh_wow_@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 year ago

They go further back than that for sure, but a lot of stuff has been lost to history.

this post was submitted on 30 Nov 2023

247 points (81.7% liked)

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