Deeply moral and ethical quandary ~ | INFJ Forum

Deeply moral and ethical quandary ~

Skibidi Drift

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May 26, 2016
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For the sake of readership and patience, I'll try to be concise. (I failed)

I do not mean to be rude, I really don't, but I have zero interest in your skepticism or doubt, and do not care for your scientific belief on the matter, as I am at the forefront of this.
If you must, just play along "hypothetically" to help me address the ethical/moral issue.


I research, and produce(synthesize) human pheromonic molecules.

In short, the human body, without question, has a 6th sense. Not psychic, or what-have-you, but an incredible, incredible, pheromonic sense, distinctly separate from simple olfactory (smell).
(In 50 years time, public school literature will be updated, and New Age publishers will be revising their words. The "psychic" sense will be shifted to the "7th" sense. lol. How amusing.)

The effects are profound, potent, and biochemically domineering... More so than Ludwig Jacobson could have ever fathomed.

We have stumbled across some of the most manipulative and socially intimate molecules in history.

(worse yet, we still have over a 120+ individual molecules in this specific category which have yet to be researched and reproduced)


Skip the box if you're bored or just want to talk ethics -
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Some examples of effect, each describing a single(!) molecule or pheromonic putative, in concentrations far beyond normal human exposure:

A. Unnatural honesty, sense of deep emotional trust and comfort towards the source.
In extreme concentrations, causes people to perceive the user as mystical, genuinely otherworldly, and symbolically profound just in presence.
(At normal dosage,can literally make an ISTJ, INTJ, ENTJ, ISTP,etc pour their innermost feelings onto a total stranger. Scary stuff, with the high-end potential to be the quintessential "cult juice".)

B. Acute attention to surroundings, streamlined decisive speech and behavior, upright spine posture, vastly improved walking motion, and aggressively steered behavior of the user.
Two halves of blatant reaction:
People want to follow the user, uncannily look to him to decide group actions, and/or gain his favor (out of both fear and blind admiration). The other half find the source strongly intimidating and threatening in presence. Quiet blind resentment, sheepish 'ass' kissing, or an outright verbal/physical challenge to the source, are equally guaranteed.

C. Familiarity molecule. The epitomy of "Don't I know you from somewhere?". Constantly, creepily, and without fail, the user is approached with this very inquiry. Even after discovering that they, in fact, don't know the person, they treat the source literally buddy-buddy, offering to buy things for them, earnestly laugh at every inane joke, and putting their necks out to win-over an attractive male or female for their (new..but tenured ?) friend, above their own interests.

D. This list goes on and on, with ever diverse effects.
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The effects of these molecules are so manipulative, so intrusive, and morally questionable. They can alter ones own freewill, and make the steered behavior feel as if their own will.
Yes, if applied smart and justly (with full information & transparency), they can be used in ways to genuinely help lift the lives of people in amazing & unseen ways, but the potential for abuse, not just by individual users, but by corporate, government, and religious establishments... is just too much. The positive and negative applications are literally limitless.

I fear how this will go on to affect our society, having backed away from money and opportunity, even in my terrible circumstances and surroundings.
This is not the type of lightning-in-a-bottle that you proudly uncork, even for great scientific and financial acclaim. Even against all the pent up anger, and resentment I feel towards the status of my beautiful species, my inner longing to be accepted in academia, and my need to feel appreciated for once in my life.. I still can't allow myself to benefit from this.
It's just too dangerous in the collective human hands. And yet, it will get out anyway, and will be abused regardless of what I do.

In the longest of runs, we're ultimately talking about the key to human social behavior, and the sanctity of what it once meant to have true freewill.

I'm lost... and would like to hear your thoughts on this.

Thanks ~
 
That something can be abused does not make it inherently bad. Your involvement in this research is not a moral quandary, except for the element of intention, which is key to all morality.

If your intention is for advancing both knowledge, and biochemical technique, neither of these can be called immoral.

You may find new treatments for depression, addiction, anxiety, autism behavioral problems, etc.

My opinion is that you should keep at it, because virtually any advance in any field can be abused; you need only keep yourself from being an abuser.
 
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I agree w/ [MENTION=862]Flavus Aquila[/MENTION] that you should stick with it. This science will advance whether you are part of it or not. It needs ethical people like you to help keep it in check. Despite the ethics argument, this is fascinating and has the potential to help our society.

Human beings are creating their own downfall. That downfall could be any number of things (weapons, computers, philosophies, chemicals, pheromonic manipulation....) There are so many "inventions" that have the potential to either help us immensely, or destroy us (or destroy our values, such as freewill). It is our nature to push the limits. The potential for your work to become immoral is the same as the potential for (for example) artificial intelligence to become immoral, but computers are also invaluable....
 
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These molecules and reactions to them exist whether or not you are part of their discovery or sharing the results with the world. It's not solely your decision to make. If you don't release it or do whatever it is that you do someone else will.

There are always people who want to abuse the tools available to them for the sake of their own power and glory just as there are others who want to benefit the human species by using a more measured application of the tools.

If one person had to decide what was or was not moral all the time it would be a pretty bleak world. You cannot keep knowledge secret exclusively for the fear that a few people or corporations would take it and immediately and irreversibly abuse it.
 
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"Would like to hear your thoughts"

"Not interested in scepticism or doubt"

You obviously don't want to hear my thoughts, then.

I'd also like to point out that no legitimate man of science would use a belief to come to any meaningful conclusion unless it was presented with evidence.
 
There is hope.
We are all part of a computer program that can be reprogrammed to exclude these dangerously powerful molecules.
 
"Would like to hear your thoughts"

"Not interested in scepticism or doubt"

You obviously don't want to hear my thoughts, then.

I'd also like to point out that no legitimate man of science would use a belief to come to any meaningful conclusion unless it was presented with evidence.

I purposely haven't provided any and stated why, so why even..? This is a post about my feelings, with which I selected a specific forum, to hear from a specific range of people, on matters of the heart.
I wouldn't come to any typology mbti forum, or any other forum, to prove or debut possibly ground-breaking evidence. That's what labs, academic peers, and academic journals are for.

PM me your address, and I'll ship you a fresh batch personally. Low concentration and metered to a reasonable, human standard of potency.
I'll send you a light, upbeat, chatterbox molecule that highlights your presence in the room. Mild dopamine & choline interactivity.

Harmless and lifts people's spirit around you. Great for introverts.

I want you to have a sharp negative bias towards it, like the voodoo, pseudo-science, snake-oil bs that it is.
Use it for 30 thirty days, with the simple instruction I'll PM you, and report your observations and results. Simple enough. :)
(I know you can't replicate the substance, I'm not worried. One on the house.)
 
There is hope.
We are all part of a computer program that can be reprogrammed to exclude these dangerously powerful molecules.

Curious, unrelated question. What is the implication of an ultimately membrane-less existence? (in terms of spatial-totality)
 
That something can be abused does not make it inherently bad. Your involvement in this research is not a moral quandary, except for the element of intention, which is key to all morality.

If your intention is for advancing both knowledge, and biochemical technique, neither of these can be called immoral.

You may find new treatments for depression, addiction, anxiety, autism behavioral problems, etc.

My opinion is that you should keep at it, because virtually any advance in any field can be abused; you need only keep yourself from being an abuser.

True. I feel that my intent is, and has been, in the right place. I just want to understand the universe, and this is a facet of it.
But now that the journey has gotten here, I'm sharply split between "This should never get out without stern oversight and care", to all the ways I can't control it anyway, that I could be making easy money off of this. Other great minds in the field are already profiting off this. I'm afraid this may be my one chance to be free(as an INTP who struggles with bouts of chronic fatigue) and never look back.

Like you, and Asa said, there's an inevitable nature to these things. And thus, maybe I should take the opportunity to build capital, gain freedom and pursue my true dream, instead of kicking myself in 40 years. I also have a deep sense of vengeance against a close ENTJ friend of many years, who ripped my idea(biotech), convinced my close ENFP to follow him, ran off to Biyo, and is rising in life because of it.
I want to crush him at his own game(business) along the way to my dreams... I know it's not healthy. This, and my relative poverty, are clouding my judgement. And I feel wrong for it.
How convoluted, sigh.
 
Hi [MENTION=5511]ruji[/MENTION] When is the book coming out? Seems like a good read.
 
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The only ethical thing to do is to make it available to all so that all are equal.