@dot_Sp0T As far as I can see, it's story based. The OP is asking people for input on possible storyline outcomes or reasons why the wizard won't act against the king. an opinion based question would be "what colour should the wizard's robes be?"
Oh, I like your booze rats, nice idea. Something you might want to use at a later date is cannibalism. I used to have Arabian Spiny Mice as a kid - when food was or one of their number was weak and old, they used to eat the weakest. Sometimes late at night, I used to hear the chewing and crunching...
Well I hate to admit it, but the booze-rat is mostly a rep farm... The idea of an animal producing alcohol and using it to intoxicate/kill other animals was really interesting to type up though
@Pete now that hurt. I am proud of my default avatar pic even though it has been resetted in that bewitched reset that happened some time ago; I miss my grassgreen
Geez, my "how to kill the thought-crime killer" thread has been up for almost a week now, and no one has really got to a decent solution yet, despite a healthy bounty...
@Pete It's made impossible by the phrasing. By definition anyone trying to kill him (whether by proxy or otherwise) dies before attempting to. It's fairly easy logic to then prove that the set of successful killings is zero (accidental death being different but that's not what you asked for). There are lots of tricks you can do like hiding your intent, using intermediaries, etc...but as phrased even doing that as soon as you first think of it you drop dead...
It's impossible. Murder/assassination/etc whatever you call it by definition requires intent to kill. Intent to kill = instant death for the person with the intent. Time in which to turn into into action = 0.
Your question essentially says "I have an unclimbable wall, how do I climb it". The only possible answers within that premise are "knock it over", "fly over", etc...none of which actually answer the question as phrased.
The key thing really is to try and prevent Joe from killing others as much as possible. You don't have to kill him immediately, or even put plans in to kill him.
Well your question title and premise was "how to kill him", "how to prevent the threat" has already been well answered. "New identity" followed by censorship of all references to his existence being the one I would go with.
If that failed I'd just put him in a medically induced coma (permanent vegetative state) and then start performing non-lethal brain surgery until his ability stopped working.
@dot_Sp0T Yeah, that would be a bad answer. Answers assume our world except where specified otherwise. Without that you could just invent any opposing mutant you like, way too broad and opinion based.
dot, this is WB. Implicit in the questions is asking people to collaborate on your stories. You don't have to post a question already knowing the answer (which I guess more than a few do).
I plead guilty. I often have at least one solution in mind when asking a question on here. Then I mostly ask to see if my solution is common consensus or if there's obvious (for others) things that I haven't thought of
@Raisus I am glad you mention this. The answer is: No it would not. The person eating joe actually thinks they are freeing him from his earthly shackles, releasing him to become a newborn angel
@dot_Sp0T - I'd consider another mutant, one who has a psychic inhibitor such as Magneto's helmet; he can't kill them with his telepathic and telekinetic powers if he can't receive the telepathic response
One of the starred comments for a long time said something along the lines of "For a site about building worlds we sure end up destroying a lot of them".
Isn't that the point? I don't feel I've done a day's work unless I've stripped someone's world bare
Anyway. I'd actually come on here to introduce myself to the chat community, so "Hi everybody" and to ask anyone to check my answer on worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/56648/… - I just want to make sure I've gotten it all right and I haven't missed anything glaringly obvious
Thanks rek. Still a few more days until the bounty expires. Interesting idea about the computer. Although in doing that, you're going against Asimov's laws. It's the same thing as killing a dog in a blockbuster movie - it's just not the done thing on SE.
Would this quesiton be too opinion-based?: Is there any reason for a sane psychopath to programm the three laws of robotics into his mass-murdering creations?
Asimov's laws are easily subverted by layers of substitution within the programming. Just don't let the AI know it's talking about killing a human; swap out the relevant variables when inputting or outputting the data and orders.
If we're talking about "robots" as a concept more or less we know today the three laws of robots can't be programmed in as laws. The theories and concepts they provide and imply can be used to guide coding the robots, but they can't directly be inputted.
So if we're dealing with modern robots the question becomes "would a psychopath value the principles as a way to guide and limit the instruction set/learning algorithm he codes in?"
Psychopaths see themselves as exceptions to the rules of society, but they still need everyone else operating by those rules. That principal could be extended to the Three Laws of Robotics; he wouldn't want robots programmed to kill him, or to upset the social order of the people he preys on.
In which case I'd say that'd be like trying to design the concept of water repellant into a sprinkler system. I mean... I guess you could, but you're going out of your way to make things harder on yourself to no foreseeable purpose.
I think they used to be more different terms, but as the medical/psychology world drifts away from the terms they've blended together. Traditionally, most psychopaths are sociopaths, most sociopaths aren't psychopaths. However like I said their meanings have kind of melded together over time.
huh, is there really not a difference between a psychopath and a sociopath? I thought they were separate terms, but wikipedia is making it sound like they're synonyms
@Pete No, it's nothing to worry about. Basically more than X questions on an answer is unusual so the system flags it for a moderator to take a look at and make sure nothing untoward is going on.
If you want some excellent books, check out the Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss. Pretty big books, but so well written that you can't put them down.
I did try some Peter F Hamilton, but I found it pretty tedious. After an hours worth of reading, I still hadn't found the plot. Sadly, I gave up and moved onto something else.
quick, someone think of a memorable yet unique phrase to use so I can search for these recommendations like a year from now when I need more books to read
you boss is calling your home trying to find out where you are, your family has declared you missing, and you've eaten more mcdonalds than any sane man should
@Pete I'm a big fan of torrenting that sort of stuff :P
@AndreiROM originally I read a german translation of the second book that I bought from a box of remaindered books at the super market. Then some years back I bought the complete series in english and since then I am on the verge of reading them
For one of the novels I am writing, I want to create a race based off of the Chinese Zodiac. However, I don't know exactly where to start with creating said race, so I was curious to see if there was any tried and true way to go about creating a new race.
Clarifications:
What I mean by "creat...
There are these areas on the map that are "strongholds" where orcs continually roll-in to gang up on you. Sometimes I wander in and just see how long I can last before I die.
For one of the novels I am writing, I want to create a race based off of the Chinese Zodiac. However, I don't know exactly where to start with creating said race, so I was curious to see if there was any tried and true way to go about creating a new race.
Clarifications:
What I mean by "creat...
The Factory Floor
The Factory Floor