draliman on life

Here is my post for Melanie’s Share Your World. It’s a day earlier than usual as I’m busy tomorrow and I can’t afford to run out of time as Monday will bring a new SYW!

Is any one person’s life worth more than another’s? Why or why not?
No. Or, if you like, you could measure someone’s life by the number of other lives it would affect. Like, if someone were to die, how many other’s lives would get better/worse? If, just as an example, off the top of my head, some random dictator, from Eastern Europe, say, fell in the bath tub tomorrow and broke his (or her) neck, would a whole lot of people’s lives suddenly get a lot better?

Can a good person do evil things and remain a good person? Under what circumstances?
I don’t reckon so. A good person can do bad things and remain a good person, but “evil” takes a certain sort of person.

Is somebody morally culpable if they take a morally wrong action at the orders of a superior? What if their life is at stake?
Ooh, the “I was just following orders” defence. According to the war crimes court, yes, they’re culpable.

People had widely mixed opinions about illegal bananas, so let’s take that a step further this week: What would be the worst thing for a government to make illegal?
The world wide web. I’d have to, like, talk to people. IRL. Urgh 😦

Here is my post for Melanie’s Share Your World.

What’s the most useful thing you know?
How to find the toilet.

What impact do you think it would have on the world if bananas were illegal?
Bananas? Illegal? What madness is this? What mad despot has passed this law?

I expect it would make quite a difference to the banana growers and pickers.

What social stigma does society need to just get over?
Wearing red and green at the same time. Okay, it’s not nice, it makes you look like a Christmas elf, but just get over it, people.

Do you prefer the moral viewpoint of consequentialism, which focuses on the consequences of actions, or deontology, which focuses on the innate rightness or wrongness of the actions themselves?
This sounds like “do people avoid wrongdoing because they’re afraid of getting into trouble, or because it’s actually wrong”. The latter is preferable, we have laws and police for the former.

Here is my post for Melanie’s Share Your World.

Which traditional Valentine’s Day gift would you rather receive: chocolates, flowers, or a card with a personal message?
I’d like a card with a personal message. And chocolates to seal the deal. I literally don’t have a free surface to put flowers on.

Do you like romantic movies?
Yes, if they’re also comedies, for example “There’s Something About Mary”, that kind of thing. Otherwise they’re just boring.

Is Valentine’s Day only about romantic love? Or is it a good occasion to celebrate friendship as well?
Let’s keep it to romantic love. We’ve just had Christmas with all its expense and expectations, let’s not expand yet another day out of control.

According to Wiki (font of all knowledge) St Valentine is also the patron saint of beekeepers. So let’s show some love for the keepers of our stingy little insectoid friends.

How do you deal with unwanted romantic attention?
I’ll let you know if it ever happens.

Here is my post for Melanie’s Share Your World.

What would be the most surprising scientific discovery imaginable?
That we’re all actually robots, with perception filters to make us all believe we’re organic.

You’re going to worry about that all day now, aren’t you bwhahahaha 🙂

If aliens landed on earth tomorrow and offered to take you home with them, would you go?
No. I’m sure they’d have ulterior motives. I wouldn’t want to sign a “take me with you” permission slip only to end up in an alien zoo 😮

What breed of dog would you be? If you’re more a cat person – what breed of cat?
I’d just want to be a moggie, no particular breed. They’re far cuter than most breeds, and the cuter and fluffier you are, the more food and treats you get 🙂

Bubble gum? Yea or nay?
Nay. I used it as a kid, but it gets everywhere, sticks to everything and then you have to work out how to get rid of it.

Here is my post for Melanie’s Share Your World.

What is one topic you love to talk about?
My mind has suddenly gone blank. Which probably means there isn’t anything specific. I expect I’m a conversation leech, latching onto other people’s conversations and making them my own. You know, that guy at the party who steams in and arrogantly offers unsolicited advice on a topic he knows nothing about.

Suppose there was a magical wizard standing right in front of you and you could turn your life into anything you wanted, what would you do?
Ooh, I’d get him to make me half an inch taller. That would sort me out nicely.

Or maybe my “usual” – Lord Master of the Universe. Hard to choose between those two.

Could you adjust to life without any internet?
Yes. We never had any of that when I was growing up. I’d prefer we had it, but I could adjust to life without it. I’m assuming here the “World Wide Web” rather than the “internet”. Obviously the WWW needs the internet to work, but the internet’s just wires and devices, so not so useful by itself.

What do you think is unique about the human ‘animal’ (homo sapiens)?
I used to think it was it was our “ability” to hurt others “just because”, but apparently various animal species do that as well so we’ve lost our one defining unique feature.

So, um… wearing clothes?

Here is my post for Melanie’s Share Your World.

What’s the worst day of the week for you? Why?
Tricky. Monday’s pretty bad because the week has hardly begun. Tuesday’s got the week properly started but there’s loads to go. Wednesday is halfway through! Thursday’s a good way through the week but there’s the lingering thought that it’s not Friday. Then Friday arrives!

I reckon Monday or Tuesday.

Would you ever consider posing naked or semi-naked for the camera or a live audience (acting in a play)?
With my bod and stunning movie star looks? It would be a crime not too.

😉

With the recent energy crisis here in the UK, would you prefer electric, gas, oil or some other means of heating your home?
I would prefer some sort of efficient eco-friendly solution but since I’m not rich I’ll have to stick with electricity.

In your household, who takes care of the bills, taxes, and other financial stuff? Is one person responsible or is it a shared chore?
I took care of setting up the direct debits and now they take care of themselves. The government takes care of the taxes, I’m not self-employed so I don’t have to do anything myself.

If you can have any one job (real or fiction) in the galaxy (yes, the galaxy, I’m widening the search radius, imagining relocation to other planets possible), what is that job?
Intergalactic Traffic Enforcement Officer. “You can’t park your flying saucer here, mate, this is a no-parking moon.”

Here is my post for Melanie’s Share Your World.

Fill in: ‘If I were really completely honest, I would say that …’ (This is a question for ‘radical honesty’)
… “radical honesty” is a great way to really upset people and get your face smashed in.

Have you ever broken anything? What about rules?
I’ve broken lots of things, though not as many as you might expect by my age. I’ve never broken any “significant” bones (just potentially little toes, apparently they break all the time I’ve heard).

As for rules… me? I’m a little angel, me…

Are you also afraid of spiders? What is your biggest fear, other than spiders? (if you’re not afraid of spiders, use your biggest phobia instead).
I don’t know if “afraid” is the right word. I know they can’t hurt me. Screaming and rushing across the room is just a result of being “startled”.

Do you think time goes faster as you get older?
Yes, because it does.

Here is my post for Melanie’s Share Your World.

Who do you think is an example of a successful person?
You’re successful if you believe yourself to be successful. That’s a determination people have to make for themselves. Everyone has a different metric. A great job, a successful relationship, power, a shit ton of cash…

I’ll have all of those, please.

Why are you doing what you’re currently doing?
It’s Sunday morning and that’s when I do my Share Your World post 🙂

What is your personal theme song?
I don’t have a theme song. Sounds a bit weird, like “new age motivation”. Singing it to myself in the mirror every morning before tackling the day 😮

What do you think about tofu?
I don’t think about tofu. I think about steak, burgers, bacon and sausages.

Here is my post for Melanie’s Share Your World. This week we have more questions from the Nest critters.

What frivolous, but annoying thing that people do be considered a sin (crime)? And how should violators be made to repent (be punished) for it?
I’m with Dawn on this one. Littering. Okay, it’s technically a crime but even so. There’s no need for it. The punishment? The bin men make a delivery rather than a collection, and dump a load of rubbish in their living room. See how they like it.

Imagination IN and impracticality and logic aside, if you could pick one animal to have as an exotic pet based solely on how cute and adorable it is, what would it be?
One of those cute baby animals, like a baby panda or one of those baby wild cats.

Do you have any siblings? If so, where do you rank in birth order? And do you think either of these facts contributed to the person you became?
I’m the older of two brothers. I don’t know if that has contributed to my current state of being.

We all have things that make us happy, but what makes you deliriously, giddily, tail wagging-ly happy?
I don’t get that happy. I have quite stable moods. I like to keep things somewhere in the middle.

If you had an alter ego, who or what would it be? Describe some fun or interesting things about them!
I would be Dre’Zar, lord of the universe. Living incognito on Earth for whatever reason, I would have many special powers. For example, if I saw someone doing something absolutely frivolous but annoying (like littering) I would be able to instantly obliterate them.

Here is my post for Melanie’s Share Your World.

At 12 a.m. on December 31st/Jan 1st, what will you be doing?
Since that has been and gone, I can tell you exactly what I did! I watched TV and played Assassin’s Creed Valhalla until just before midnight, at which point I read until the year had passed.

Is there a tradition you have for New Year’s Eve?
Just to stay up late and have some nibbles in to eat.

Do you have any hope or reason you find that next year will be better?
Nope.

What’s the biggest personal lesson you learned during 2021?
I don’t do “personal lessons”. I just keep making the same mistakes over and over again. It’s how I roll.