Is Humiliation More Powerful Than Reward?

Discussion in 'Free Thoughts' started by Carcano, Feb 19, 2015.

  1. Carcano Valued Senior Member

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    So tonight I was watching a few 'gold digger' prank videos on youtube. These are stunts where the actors try to get dates with girls simply by exposing some form of material wealth...like a flasher!



    In more extreme versions, fat ugly guys magically turn nice demure upper middle class girls into common whores simply by offering enough cash. Everyone it seems...has a price for almost anything.

    It started me thinking about whether human ethics can be quantified...thats is measured numerically simply by using money as the unit of calibration.

    How much money would it take to turn a life-long law-abiding citizen into a criminal for a day?

    But wait, perhaps there is a more powerful motivator than reward...that has already been discovered.

    Is it not rather easy to convince young men to murder unarmed civilians including women and children in the context of war?

    Is this not performed through the miracle of humiliation...accusations of unpatriotic cowardice?

    Is humiliation a more powerful motivator than fear or desire?
     
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  3. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

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    If their families were in need of food, shelter or other necessities then they would turn to the dark side if no one helped them.
     
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  5. cluelusshusbund + Public Dilemma + Valued Senior Member

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    Of course it woud depend on the individual... but over all... i woud guess that fear woud be number 1... followed by humiliation an then desire.!!!
     
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  7. Carcano Valued Senior Member

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    You make a good point as always CT.

    But perhaps you have heard the expression...'Death before Dishonor'.

    This really means a preference for death over humiliation.

    If judges could sentence criminals to walk for a month through the streets of New York in a pink tutu...there are some who would prefer the electric chair.

    By humiliation I dont mean humility.

    The Victorian sage Aleitster Crowley used to write about mountain climbing as pervading his soul with a 'quiet humility' as he stood in the great valleys surrounded by vast and ancient peaks...older than Bethlehem and Babylon, older than Memphis and mankind.
     
  8. Carcano Valued Senior Member

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    Frank McCourt (author of Angela's Ashes) once wrote that growing up poor in Ireland was unpleasant, but the worse part of it was the humiliation...how others reacted to his poverty.

    In most cases, even your own parents consider your income more important than your life....and certainly more important than your happiness.

    Note in this video of a Japanese sword maker...he states that his own parents told him never to return home if chose the path of a traditional craftsman.

    http://digg.com/video/one-of-the-last-professional-sword-makers-on-earth

    Try this...tell your parents that you fully intend to become a garbage collector, and observe how they respond.

    Stand way back and watch them turn into reptiles, crawling, slithering on their soft white underbellies, groveling before their true idol.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moloch
     
  9. cluelusshusbund + Public Dilemma + Valued Senior Member

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    When i was about 6 i was watchin the trash bein picked up by men who got to ride on the back of the truck... plus they had access to all sorts of good free trash... an i told my parents that when i grew up i wanted to be a garbage man... they kinda chuckled but it looked like a dream job to me.!!!

    I was out front at a nabors house playin in the dirt when i was little... an a truck wit a big wood bed full of metal came to a stop... the guy got out an said "i will give you a quarter for that car bumper" (layin on the ground)... i said oK an the deal was done (easy money)

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  10. Ophiolite Valued Senior Member

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    My parents assured me that if I failed to study harder at school I would wind up as a rubbish man (I've decided to stop switching idiom for the benefit of those raised in North America. It's called English for a reason.) My reaction was, "that's good, so I can always get a job".
     
  11. Trooper Secular Sanity Valued Senior Member

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    Do men provide goods and services, e.g., status, protection, food, shelter, etc.? Do they lease our bodies for sexual pleasure? If so, how long has this practice been taking place, since the agricultural revolution, perhaps? Was it consistent throughout the world? When was the agricultural revolution and how long have humans existed? We don’t have sex simply to reproduce. We’re more like the bonobos. We’re not magically turned into common whores, we are common whores. We’re great apes. Get over yourself.
     
  12. Carcano Valued Senior Member

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    Bonobo sexuality seems to be quite rare in the animal kingdom...and the human trend toward emulating this behavior is rather recent, overlooking the grand vista of history.

    Conspiracy theorists have already analyzed this as a plot to distract and dumb-down the citizenry for nefarious purposes.

    The Occult Origins of Butt Worship:
     
  13. Dr_Toad It's green! Valued Senior Member

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    Off-topic for a moment. If I might offer another interpretation from another view, when I saw the thread title I assumed something else: Why do internet trolls simply dote upon the abuse they get for being who they aren't on the street?

    That behavior would certainly be repaid with social coin there, but here on the 'net they're treated with some sort of "special person" status. They kiss ass repeatedly just to spread stupidity, but to what end?

    Why is that different from this topic?
     
  14. Carcano Valued Senior Member

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    Malicious people including internet trolls are not humiliated by being identified as malicious.

    Being completely ignored is the ultimate humiliation in this case.

    The smartest trolls will always contribute the occasional worthwhile post as a way of prolonging their career on any particular forum. Sometimes it takes the mods several months to get wise to the scam.

    Why are they given some sort of 'special person' status?
    Because in any drama, there can be no heroes without villains.
     
  15. iceaura Valued Senior Member

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    Bonobos are our closest relatives - and we share many very rare features, such as large brains and tool-manipulating hands as well as quite non-violent socisl organization.

    The human behavior involved is very common everywhere and throughout history, and seems to be restricted or rare only in oppressive, poor, hierarchal, and insular agricultural communities. Note, for example, that the first documented cases of syphilis in Europe showed up around a year after the return of Columbus from his first contact with the Americas, and within a generation was a leading cause of death and social disruption across the entire continent. Or look at the murals on the walls of Pompeii, the carvings on the temples in SE Asia, and so forth.
     
    Last edited: Mar 3, 2015
  16. pluto2 Banned Valued Senior Member

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    I've been humiliated and ignored on several online communities multiple times and I'm not a troll.

    From my experience most people on the Internet tend to be rude and toxic.

    Some guy even told me that he'll go medieval on me just because I do not agree with his Capitalist economic ideology.

    Another guy called me ugly and said that no woman will ever want to date me.

    The Internet has turned into a very toxic place.

    That's why I no longer come to Internet forums because I know that the people there will treat me horribly or just ignore me so these days I just stay away from online communities and believe me it's for the better.
     

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