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Post by Aqua on Jul 3, 2008 1:34:41 GMT -5
"I would have understood the complaint had I been mutating consciously," Emily said. "But you wanted to have green eyes and were instead born with brown eyes, there's no sense in developing a dislike towards the green-eyed."
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Post by Odin on Jul 3, 2008 1:39:49 GMT -5
"Having known my fair share of emerald-eyed people, they as a group, don't render the larger, brown-eyed population obsolete," ::Odin replied with a mild shrug.::
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Post by Aqua on Jul 3, 2008 1:59:27 GMT -5
"My point exactly," Emily shrugged as well. "No one said the human population would go extinct. Mutant genes are not always dominant, not every child of a mutant parent becomes a mutant." It wasn't anything she'd encountered personally, but the Internet and various other media sources provided enough information and speculations about these topics. She absorbed that information avidly.
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Post by Odin on Jul 3, 2008 14:09:56 GMT -5
"One can be obsolete without being extinct," ::Odin countered. Jealousy and uncertainty of position contributed of course.:: "Powers that mutants have are natural, as opposed to the technology needed by humans to do what, in the end, is only a pale shadow of what the innate ability is."
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Post by Aqua on Jul 3, 2008 15:26:59 GMT -5
Emily again leaned back against the bench. "Well, then humans can't really be blamed for their attitude, can they?" she asked.
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Post by Odin on Jul 3, 2008 15:31:21 GMT -5
"Of course they can," ::Odin replied. To him, it was quite simple, but then again, he'd had more than his fair share of encounters between humans and mutants to see the pattern.:: "Feelings and attitude aren't the same. It's a choice to act of their feelings; it's a choice to try and deny rights to mutants from an inferiority complex, no matter how legitimate a complex it is. And it's a choice to delay progress because of it."
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Post by Aqua on Jul 3, 2008 16:00:29 GMT -5
"There is progress and there is progress," Emily said. "Influenza virus advances constantly, creating newer and more developed mutations. Ethically, it's not the kind of progress that should be approved of. But technically, this is nature improving itself, which is a positive thing. However, where do you draw the line, then? What progress should be suppressed and what sustained?"
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Post by Odin on Jul 3, 2008 16:07:09 GMT -5
::Odin quirked his eyebrow at her. Opinions aside, he prided himself on not growing emotional during discussions, even when he should.:: "For the sake of argument or not, you can't possibly compare mutants to a virus. On a level of pure existance, viruses of those types pose a threat, it's a necessary condition of being Influenza. Mutants by and large don't pose that threat, certainly not on that level. The point at which a threat becomes real rather than perceived is also in the realm of choices. We don't choose to have abilities; we choose how to use them. If we don't act as criminals, to treat us that way is bigotry, pure and simple. No matter the cause, how legitimate the fear is based on perceived threat, branding us all for something that isn't a necessary condition of being a mutant is politically and morally reprehensible."
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Post by Aqua on Jul 3, 2008 16:18:25 GMT -5
"You're mixing ethics and facts together," Emily remarked. "A threat is an emotional assessment. A virus is a threat from the point of view of someone or something that doesn't want to die. A threat or not, good or bad - that is ethics. From nature's point of view, objectively, a virus is merely a very adapted form of existence. So are, apparently, mutants. Which gives me the grounds to compare them. Not the fact that one is essentially a weapon and the other has a choice whether to be a weapon or not. That wasn't my point at all." She frowned.
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Post by Odin on Jul 3, 2008 16:33:41 GMT -5
"We were speaking from a human's point of view when this aspect of the discussion began, which is why it's legitimate to bring the distinction between choices and necessary versus sufficient conditions for existance into the conversation," ::Odin replied. She frowned; he didn't. He saw where their miscommunication had come along, partially due to different meanings associated with terms; it would make for good conversation, and whatever unease he'd had a moment ago evaporated mentally. She had a great deal of intellectual potential, he could see, and if she let herself pursue it, knew she could go far in life. Invigorated, he continued,:: "If you take it purely from nature's point of view, rather than from the perspective of mankind, there's nothing to discuss about drawing lines. Nature doesn't draw those sorts of lines; if it exists, it hasn't crossed a line. We exist, the Influenza virus exist, and nature's keen with it all.
"To question where we should draw the lines brings in a question of ethics, because it invites the perspective of a decision-making populace. Humans are the dominant species, it has to come from their point of view. Threat becomes a question of perceived facts, while the choice of what to do about what is considered a fact is the realm of ethics. Crossing over into what's morally reprehensible or not bridges into ethics, but my point of perspective remains without it.
"If mutants were viruses, and our very existance depended on siphoning energy from mankind to fuel ourselves, then the analogy becomes apt. But mutants won't supplant the entire human population. They simply have the inherent ability to do more than human beings, and because we also have the ability to invent, it grates on them, more so than it does that the elephant is stronger, the mosquito more prolific, and the jaguar faster. But that's one man's opinion."
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Post by Aqua on Jul 4, 2008 1:53:01 GMT -5
"What I meant was to ask where you personally drew the line," Emily explained, "it wasn't a theoretical, abstract 'you' of a mankind, just you yourself. But since you say that your perspective doesn't take moral aspects into account, you've basically answered that question already."
She thought about the last bit of what he said. "However, humans remain the dominant species not only in numbers, but in that they are still the decision makers. The society at large, the scientists, the government... When they look at how mutantkind grows and evolves, they are forced to make some adjustments. And mutants, surpassing as they are, still depend on what the decisions about the adjustments will be. It might be acceptance as humans grow accustomed to us, or it might be Mutant Registration Act and whatever follows next."
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Post by Odin on Jul 15, 2008 10:12:37 GMT -5
"Which is where I begin to draw morality into the equation," ::Odin replied, aware of where the line had been drawn to make the distinction, but necessary to make nonetheless. If the Registration Act were passed, for the safety of his entire species, he would need to go underground. A thought which did not appeal to him in the slightest.
If the human government got their hands on his powers...he thought of that metallic behemoth, that sentinel that he had seen, and it made him ill. It was also the reason he pushed for mutant isolationism. They would be better off with their own homeland, run by mutants, for mutants, much like the X-Factor Magazine. The humans could have their territory, and mutants could have their own. And all would be better.:: "Because they have to make decisions, and those decisions affect others, and morality becomes a factor. It's also why I advocate voting on anything that might affect us, lest we lose the right down the line."
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Post by Aqua on Jul 15, 2008 10:20:16 GMT -5
Emily had never given it much thought. To be more precise, she had never been too interested in politics, voting, participating in social shifts and the like. She did keep an eye on the ongoing events by watching the news and reading the newspapers, but always tried to remain off to the side from the center of the changes. She was far better at adapting than at introducing.
"I've never thought about it from such point of view," she admitted aloud. "Being socially and politically active has never been my cup of tea."
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Post by Odin on Jul 15, 2008 10:28:33 GMT -5
::It was a tendency which Odin had noticed in mutants as a whole, particularly those in his age group and younger than he was. It was also a shame.:: "I won't preach the merits the political participation."
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Post by Aqua on Jul 15, 2008 10:41:09 GMT -5
"But?" Emily asked with a small smile. "Surely there has to be a 'but' following."
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