An inquiry concerning the efficiency of Emotion

[Fewmitz]

A condensed version of an essay I wrote:

It has long been said that in addition to superior information processing skills, it is their emotion and moral consciences that put the human race above and beyond the rest of the animal kingdom. This claim is erroneous, however. Obviously it differentiates humans from the animal kingdom, but emotions and morals often retard progress in almost all areas of society, drastically decreasing the efficiency of the entire human race.
Especially recently, scientists have proposed ways to create new medicines to cure anything from hair loss to Alzheimer’s Disease. The optimal method testing that has been proposed is either on animals or via Stem Cell Research. However, religious organizations and animal activists have loudly protested these methods, calling them cruel and inhumane. As a result, some of the most revolutionary ideas in the field of medical science have been effectively stonewalled, and millions will die because Susan didn’t want Fefe to get hurt.
These foolish ideals are not only applicable to lofty ideas we hope to pursue, but also to the here and now, things that are achievable and would greatly benefit the American population. Oil supplies are getting lower and lower every day, and oil prices are rising. Researchers have found a voluminous oil supply in Alaska. Tapping this supply will not only provide much needed relief in terms of how much oil is left, but it will also fully alleviate our dependency on foreign oil markets. The benefits are clear, and would be vast, but the expanse of oil could not be pursued because the oil is located largely in an animal reservation, and animal activists have fiercely opposed such drilling. These activists groups are willing to inconvenience millions of their brethren in order to save a group of animals they will more than likely never see. The US economy is deteriorating every day and could be helped, but relief will not come because some people decided providing a safe haven for animals in the middle of the wilderness is more important than their own kind.
Even when the correct logical decision is reached, a melee is caused by those who feel the actions were unjust. Several years into World War II the Japanese decided to flex their militaristic muscles by blindsiding the American Military and bombing Pearl Harbor, killing American soldiers with neither warning nor remorse. The American Military responded in kind by dropping two atomic bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. This seems like an over reaction, but the choice was simple: Either we end the conflict or we risk thousand more American deaths. Yet even the commander who issued the droppings regretted his choice. The dropping of the A-bomb not only ended the WWII conflict with the Japanese, but they haven’t tried to start another one since then, yet people still regret the choice.
The benefits of emotion, ethics, and morals are minuet. Throughout history wars have been caused, and are still going on, because of differences in opinions. The crusades were entirely caused because one group of people felt they were right, and another felt they were right. Because of this simple disagreement, thousands upon thousands died all because they couldn’t just forget what they felt and take the most beneficial course and share the territory.
To conclude, morals and emotion do not benefit a society, they perform quite the opposite. Meaningful advances are stifled, beneficial processes are retarded because what some people think is right gets in the way of what course of action should be taken.



Thoughts?

[KaosKinesis]

Oil supplies are getting lower and lower every day, and oil prices are rising.

That is not why oil prices are continually rising.

Tapping this supply will not only provide much needed relief in terms of how much oil is left, but it will also fully alleviate our dependency on foreign oil markets.

Wrong. The United States accounts for over 25% of the entire World's oil consumption. We use far too much energy to ever be "self-sufficient." The U.S. has become a nation of sheep whom are all dependent on foreign goods. American Flags are made in China. Most food comes from 3rd world countries that are paid 1/200th of what an American employee would be paid. The U.S. is an economical farm on which the rest of the world profits.

The US economy is deteriorating every day and could be helped.

Not really. The U.S. economy is controlled by the Federal Reserve. (Which BTW is a PRIVATE organization.) They control the power of the dollar.

Several years into World War II the Japanese decided to flex their militaristic muscles by blindsiding the American Military and bombing Pearl Harbor, killing American soldiers with neither warning nor remorse.

Why is it people don't ever remember (just like 9-11) that there was plenty of warning?

To conclude, morals and emotion do not benefit a society, they perform quite the opposite.

Alltogether, I think your essay is well thought out, and very opinionated. (Not a bad thing.) Some of the facts; however, aren't true. You are very right in the belief that emotion hinders advancement. How many times has emotion stopped a person from doing the most logical thing? How many girls have had their heartbroken over and over by the same guy because she trusts him? How many people have been murdered because of an emotional outburst?

You cannot have a society without emotions and so called "morals." Although a robot society would be more productive, it'd be a lifeless world. One which I do believe you'd not want to live in.

[ButtsecksMan]

It's a very well written essay though I do not completely agree with it.

First, the reason that the Japanese have been silent since the A-Bomb and WWII is because of the sanctions that were imposed on them after their surrender such as the only military they are allowed to have is defensive based in Japan.

The economy is actually designed to have recessions, it's a cycle.

If we did drill the Alaskan Pipeline, it would not really have that great of an impact on the current oil prices. There are many factors that affect oil prices. And just because oil companies may have the oil supply doesn't mean they want to release it all. Oil companies want profit, they increase supply the demand decreases therefore price decreases and they lose profit.

Though I do agree that testing is hindered by rights activists. There is a lot of testing done on animals, primarily mice or rats, as people tend to see those as pests and they reproduce at a fast pace. And stem cell research is a concern of moral issues, so basically yes emotions. I completely agree with stem cell research and it is also greatly misunderstood.

Though at same time you can counter argue that without emotion we would not be where we are today. If we were a robot society then we would be productive to an extent, but without the passion and thirst for discovery we would be no where near to where we are today. Many of todays advancements were discovered for a reason. Something affects a person in a way that motivates them to fix it. In a robot society we would have no feelings, we just do our jobs and don't search for more.

[KaosKinesis]

Originally Posted by ButtsecksMan

The economy is actually designed to have recessions, it's a cycle.

The way something is designed and it's actual usage are rarely similar.
The U.S. in essence was designed to be a Constitutional Republic, not a "2 wolves and 1 sheep deciding what's for dinner," democracy.

Oh yes, your username made me lol. Seriously. :P

[ButtsecksMan]

The US economy goes through a economic cycle once every so many years, if the economy starts to get too high the greater the fall so the government basically imposes a recession to prevent the greater fall. Look back at history, in the 1920's the economy was booming, but then it came to a sudden crash and we went into the Great Depression, without controlling the peaks and lows of the economy the government risks having great falls such as that.

[KaosKinesis]

Originally Posted by ButtsecksMan

The US economy goes through a economic cycle once every so many years, if the economy starts to get too high the greater the fall so the government basically imposes a recession to prevent the greater fall. Look back at history, in the 1920's the economy was booming, but then it came to a sudden crash and we went into the Great Depression, without controlling the peaks and lows of the economy the government risks having great falls such as that.

The United States is not near old enough to even consider that it goes through regular economical cycles.

In reality the government doesn't view the Great Depression as a bad thing. It provided many Private Enterprises, and organizations such as the Federal Reserve, the ability to buy up competitive banks and businesses (for pennies on the dollar - ripping the average private owner off). Thus eliminating competition for the most part. Free country, yes. Enslaved in debt and materialistic desires, as well as driven by self-centered motives, for the most part.

[ButtsecksMan]

The US does have economic cycles tho, a cycle last like 10-30 years. and we've seen them.

[KaosKinesis]

Originally Posted by ButtsecksMan

The US does have economic cycles tho, a cycle last like 10-30 years. and we've seen them.

Such as what?

The price of literally everything has continually risen, and never decreased.
And since when does a cycle last a given amount of years? Economies go through inflation, birth/death, and even climatic cycles over peroids well over 50+ years. o.O

If you're saying a cycle such as "Things are good, then get bad," then yeah...that's a universal truth. lol.

[ButtsecksMan]

The First Cycle Following the end of The Revolutionary War in 1783, the U.S. economy experienced rapid development and growth. This was a period when the population was growing rapidly and there was expansion to the West. Even though the manufacturing and agricultural processes were primitive by today's standards, the country was full of new activities. There were new outlets for goods and services, and trade opportunities were enhanced. This new growth and expansion lasted until the beginning of the Civil War.

The Second Cycle Rapid growth in economic activity continued in the period between the beginning of the Civil War and the start of World War I. This was caused in part by the steady increase in population growth, with immigrants arriving in the United States virtually daily. During this time, manufacturing became more dominant and replaced agriculture as the primary industry. At the beginning of this period, about 30 percent of production in the United States was from agriculture; and at the end of the period, it had declined to about 20 percent.

This period wasn't without setbacks, however. In 1873 a major depression began that lasted until the middle of 1879. This depression resulted from a financial panic that caused banks to call for repayment of many of their loans. Very few banks failed, but in the wake of the panic many businesses were affected and did fail.

The Third Cycle The third cycle of economic activity began in 1914 and lasted through 1950. This period was one of major economic variations. Following World War I, demand for goods and services was high, so the economy flourished. Manufacturing continued to flourish and grow, and mechanization in agriculture increased the efficiency of production and reduced the demand for labor. People who were farm laborers became laborers in the manufacturing sector, especially after the introduction of the gasoline-powered tractor.

In 1929, signs of a troubled economy began to surface. The stock market was greatly affected because investors were borrowing large amounts of money to purchase stocks. In late October, the stock market crash had a profound effect on all business activity. Business activity continued to decline through 1932. This was the Great Depression—a worldwide depression. In 1933, a recovery began that lasted until 1937. There was again a decline in economic activity and a recession, which lasted until late in 1938.

The United States entered World War II in December 1941. Because of military operations, the demand for goods and services rose dramatically, employment levels increased, and consumers had more money to spend. The economy was on the mend but rising too rapidly, causing fears of inflation. These fears caused the government to set price ceilings on some products and to ration others. Following the war, the country converted from wartime to peacetime production, causing many industries to slowdown; but the economy continued to grow.

The Fourth Cycle This period, which began with 1950, has been characterized by many economic cycles. The first twenty years of this period saw satisfactory economic growth. The Korean conflict and the Vietnam War greatly influenced the economy. There were some downturns in the economy, but they were minimal. These occurred in 1953, 1957, and 1960. During this period, unemployment was becoming a problem because the demand for unskilled labor was decreasing and the labor force was growing at a rate faster than the demand for employees.

In more recent years, the economy has grown and prospered. There has been a shift to a service economy, which has largely resulted from rapid changes in technology. In this last cycle, there have been recessions that have been relatively short but have caused hardships for some business sectors. There was a period of recession from 1973 to 1975, in 1980, and again in late 1981. Inflation was a severe problem in 1981, and recovery didn't start again until late in 1982. Then, in late 1987, the stock market crash caused problems for many businesses and investors. In addition to those events, there have been several smaller cycles.

[Fewmitz]

Concerning my essay: Some of my facts are..."altered" to increase semi-dramatic effect.