Preferences

[cavalier973]

Suppose you are approached by a mysterious figure who offers you a chance for greatness...

[Turd Ferguson]

I think if I had the power to force freedom on everyone, I would do it. Wouldn't even have to be persuasive political power either......just brute force (just for me and me alone) would be fine. Wouldn't feel the slightest bit bad about it either, no matter how much everyone hated me. That also includes peoples freedom to form little communes with each other and create their own set of rules within said commune. Once they tried forcing someone into, or staying in the commune though, that's where id step in with my giant axe and start lopping off heads.

Yeah, that would be nice.

[Cognitive Dissident]

I'm going to cry "false premise." You cannot give away freedom (because it will be unappreciated and forfeited by most, and you cannot force them to be free, because that's not freedom), and I'm not interested in the other two alternatives.

That said, I hold out hope that humankind matures to appreciate freedom and guard it vigorously.

I think if I had the power to force freedom on everyone, I would do it. Wouldn't even have to be persuasive political power either......just brute force (just for me and me alone) would be fine. Wouldn't feel the slightest bit bad about it either, no matter how much everyone hated me. That also includes peoples freedom to form little communes with each other and create their own set of rules within said commune. Once they tried forcing someone into, or staying in the commune though, that's where id step in with my giant axe and start lopping of heads.

Yeah, that would be nice.

Don't you think if you had total freedom, and it was only you who had it, that you would become a tyrant? I'm thinking, of course, of "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

I think I mentioned before that I didn't really want to be an admin on this site, for this reason. Fortunately, because the site's been so dead, it really hasn't been an issue. I haven't found myself being a "tyrant" because there really hasn't been any tyranny to conduct (and really, no benefit to tyranny.)

[Turd Ferguson]

I think its possible, yeah. Knowing myself though, I think its safe to say I wouldn't be corrupted.

I just want people to be free to do whatever, as long as it doesn't involve direct physical harm or force being applied to someone else.

I think I'd be a pretty good benevolent dictator.

[CertainQuirk]

Suppose you are approached by a mysterious figure who offers you a chance for greatness...

Likely a CIA agent (or DHS, TSA, FBI, DEA, etc.). Tread carefully.

[Dalebert]

The choices seem fairly loaded. The first one, for instance, seems to call for a tremendous personal sacrifice compared to the second one. "Hated and despised"... by everyone? By the general public who doesn't know me personally? My gut response is to say "fuck that". Sounds like I might even have to fear for my life. If it were just like the 2nd, I'd pick it without a thought, i.e. You achieve tremendous freedom for the world but get no credit for it. Presumably I'd get to enjoy that freedom for myself as well. No downside, really. But I'm no altruist. I'm not going to throw myself onto the altar of freedom to be sacrificed for you guys.

So I picked the 2nd one. Next best thing. Just wouldn't get credit. Once again, presumably there would be new technologies in the world that I could also benefit from. I think the point is that I would like those things more than the associated praise that might come from achieving them but I feel your first answer in particular is really loaded and/or too ambiguous.

[Dalebert]

The result of the first one is far superior in my opinion because substantial freedom would almost certainly result in a rapid advancement of new technologies. Government have most certainly suppressed advancements. I just am not a fan of the personal price it demands as worded.

[Turd Ferguson]

The first one, for instance, seems to call for a tremendous personal sacrifice compared to the second one. "Hated and despised"... by everyone? By the general public who doesn't know me personally? My gut response is to say "fuck that".

For me, the trade off would be worth it. The negative aspect of being hated by everyone would be balanced by the fact that I got to see all the control freaks of the world writhing, kicking and screaming because they could no longer control other people.

I'm sick like that.