The value of a clean conscience
I think a clean conscience is the essential prerequisite for a peaceful mind. By peace of mind I mean the ability to sleep well without dreams, the ability to concentrate, and more important to empty the mind of all thoughts and have a calm empty mind, as if it is resting. I have done a few things against my conscience, and they have always haunted me, to the point of depression, to the point of wanting to drill holes in my head to cull out those remoreseful thoughts. I wish sometimes it were as easy as that, lesson learnt, please leave the lesson and erase the slate, I need a fresh beginning. It is never possible though.
A simple life, preceeds a peaceful life, no I take that back. A truthful life preceeds a peaceful life, its not the lack of doing but rather the act of doing things right that is important. There is a saying "you can get peace and hapiness from being at the lower end of a ladder, but not the extacy of achievement" In as much as I believe in that, I think a safe conscience preceeds all in being the basic requirement for anything to do with happiness or peace.
Can the conscience be something bio-chemical, considering how feeling bad, good etc are all chemical reactions in our body the conscience has to be a complex bio-chemical reaction. A state triggered off by certain chemicals that get released when the nurons have a certain configuration. Also can we control this chemical, that would be interesting. This is what we will have to simulate if we are to create machines with emotions.
Everybodies limits are different, its like saying whats the least count of a conscience, and then the quesion arises, how does it get set, and how does it change over time. How can some commit a murder and still sleep and other tell and lie and have nightmares. When does this least count get set and how, is it in the genes, is it from practice and does it vary based on past experiences and exposures.
How come other animals dont have conscience, a lion doesnt feel bad that it ate the deer, well that a wrong analogy, maybe the lion does feel bad that it killed a deer when it wasnt hungry, if you notice animals only kill when there is a need, they dont kill for pleasure, hence they have a clean conscience. Maybe this conscience is something behaviorial, something we created ourselves, a human started crying and shouted ouch I am bleeding, and someone said, you are not bleeding, those are tears and those came out because you are feeling sad.
What ever it is, we are stuck with it, and trust me, a clean one is the essential ingredient for a peaceful mind, I keep telling myself I am going to keep a cleanconscience and then I go and do something stupid and it basically leaves a scar for life. The effects of the scar stay on for ever, though they thankfully dull over time, but we do keep getting visits from the demons in our closet, reminding us about how we have been.
Can the conscience be killed, is it a good policeman. Considering its an afterfact, rather than a warning during the act its not a good policeman. We need to design a better crime punishment scenario, if the basis for punishment is to prevent people from performing crimes, then it isnt serving its purpose, as people keep commiting crimes. Only a person who has been punished might remember what punishment is and might shy away from doing it, but a person who hasnt been punished, i.e. the first time criminal, there is nothing to stop him. Similarly the conscience, instead of kicking in, should give a taste of the act before the act, maybe thats a more rational approach to designing humans, something that never happened. We do not completely thing the results of our actions, there is not if then flow chart, adarsh if you do this you will be ok, otherwise there will be many sleepless nights and tears every time you see a long letter.
It will be interesting to analyze crime and punishment someday, i will do so sometime
A simple life, preceeds a peaceful life, no I take that back. A truthful life preceeds a peaceful life, its not the lack of doing but rather the act of doing things right that is important. There is a saying "you can get peace and hapiness from being at the lower end of a ladder, but not the extacy of achievement" In as much as I believe in that, I think a safe conscience preceeds all in being the basic requirement for anything to do with happiness or peace.
Can the conscience be something bio-chemical, considering how feeling bad, good etc are all chemical reactions in our body the conscience has to be a complex bio-chemical reaction. A state triggered off by certain chemicals that get released when the nurons have a certain configuration. Also can we control this chemical, that would be interesting. This is what we will have to simulate if we are to create machines with emotions.
Everybodies limits are different, its like saying whats the least count of a conscience, and then the quesion arises, how does it get set, and how does it change over time. How can some commit a murder and still sleep and other tell and lie and have nightmares. When does this least count get set and how, is it in the genes, is it from practice and does it vary based on past experiences and exposures.
How come other animals dont have conscience, a lion doesnt feel bad that it ate the deer, well that a wrong analogy, maybe the lion does feel bad that it killed a deer when it wasnt hungry, if you notice animals only kill when there is a need, they dont kill for pleasure, hence they have a clean conscience. Maybe this conscience is something behaviorial, something we created ourselves, a human started crying and shouted ouch I am bleeding, and someone said, you are not bleeding, those are tears and those came out because you are feeling sad.
What ever it is, we are stuck with it, and trust me, a clean one is the essential ingredient for a peaceful mind, I keep telling myself I am going to keep a cleanconscience and then I go and do something stupid and it basically leaves a scar for life. The effects of the scar stay on for ever, though they thankfully dull over time, but we do keep getting visits from the demons in our closet, reminding us about how we have been.
Can the conscience be killed, is it a good policeman. Considering its an afterfact, rather than a warning during the act its not a good policeman. We need to design a better crime punishment scenario, if the basis for punishment is to prevent people from performing crimes, then it isnt serving its purpose, as people keep commiting crimes. Only a person who has been punished might remember what punishment is and might shy away from doing it, but a person who hasnt been punished, i.e. the first time criminal, there is nothing to stop him. Similarly the conscience, instead of kicking in, should give a taste of the act before the act, maybe thats a more rational approach to designing humans, something that never happened. We do not completely thing the results of our actions, there is not if then flow chart, adarsh if you do this you will be ok, otherwise there will be many sleepless nights and tears every time you see a long letter.
It will be interesting to analyze crime and punishment someday, i will do so sometime
posted by adarsh adarsh at 10:11 PM
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