LmL Posted February 25, 2015 Author Share Posted February 25, 2015 Try thinking about it like this: you are Aegon. Your family owns Dragonstone. You make a good living slanging Valyrian swords, the last ones in existence - you can name your price. You have two wives, one beautiful and the other strong and cunning. Your keep is unassailable, so you have total peace of mind and security. Would you decide to invade an entire continent and kill everyone who doesn’t obey you? Would YOU do that? If so, what in the world is the moral justification for all the people who will die because of your war of choice, your invasion? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Arryn Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 Try thinking about it like this: you are Aegon. Your family owns Dragonstone. You make a good living slanging Valyrian swords, the last ones in existence - you can name your price. You have two wives, one beautiful and the other strong and cunning. Your keep is unassailable, so you have total peace of mind and security. Would you decide to invade an entire continent and kill everyone who doesn’t obey you? Would YOU do that? If so, what in the world is the moral justification for all the people who will die because of your war of choice, your invasion?I have less ambition than a houseplant, personally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LmL Posted February 25, 2015 Author Share Posted February 25, 2015 The only moral war is a war of defense, in my opinion. Invading another country is an act of aggression which results in mass violence and death and suffering, and the people who rationalize such acts of aggression are the definition of sociopaths. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Arryn Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 Damn. Color me psychopathic.It's not uncommon to think that when you first see the criteria. Don't worry about it; odds are low unless you're in business/finance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LmL Posted February 25, 2015 Author Share Posted February 25, 2015 *chuckles* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hodor the Articulate Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 Ooh, ooh! Psychoanalyse me next!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LmL Posted February 25, 2015 Author Share Posted February 25, 2015 Ooh, ooh! Psychoanalyse me next!!! Have you done any violent conquering? If not, you don’t quite meet the criteria, I’m afraid. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LmL Posted February 25, 2015 Author Share Posted February 25, 2015 Let’s think about Dany - what right does she have to “bring fire and blood to Westeros?” How’s that going to go? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Arthur Hightower Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 History is all about people killing eachother for personal gain. Doesn't make them psychopaths. Exactly, most people can find some kind of rationalisation for their actions no matter what they are, Aegon might have felt he was creating a long term piece, or that it was simply right that dragonlords ruled over other men. No psychopathy required for him to act as he did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Arthur Hightower Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 It's not uncommon to think that when you first see the criteria. Don't worry about it; odds are low unless you're in business/finance. politics. Fixed it for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LmL Posted February 25, 2015 Author Share Posted February 25, 2015 Exactly, most people can find some kind of rationalisation for their actions no matter what they are, Aegon might have felt he was creating a long term piece, or that it was simply right that dragonlords ruled over other men. No psychopathy required for him to act as he did. Really? It doesn’t require a lack of empathy to up and decide to invade and conquer a whole continent with fire and blood? Really? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SweetPea Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 Really? It doesn’t require a lack of empathy to up and decide to invade and conquer a whole continent with fire and blood? Really?It doesn't. You're judging him by todays standards. Aristotle thought slavery was a natural thing, that some people were born as slaves, to server their rulers. Do you think he was a psychopath? Or maybe, he was just living in a time period where that was the norm? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hodor the Articulate Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 Have you done any violent conquering? If not, you don’t quite meet the criteria, I’m afraid. ;) I squashed a fly this morning, without any consideration to how it would feel being smooshed between the swotter and the wall. What does Wikipedia say about that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LmL Posted February 25, 2015 Author Share Posted February 25, 2015 Fixed it for you. Politicians are involved in business and write rules to suit their agenda, and businessman and funding the politicians to get the legislation they want. There’s really no distinction between business and politics anymore. The politicians are the ones currently taking the bribes, while the businessman are the ones making money and paying the bribes. Every so often, they switch, and the politicians become shareholders and the shareholders become regulators and politicians. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LmL Posted February 25, 2015 Author Share Posted February 25, 2015 I squashed a fly this morning, without any consideration to how it would feel being smooshed between the swotter and the wall. What does Wikipedia say about that? not sure but it has nothing to do with invading a country and waging wholesale slaughter, now does it? If you’re not interested in psycho-analyzing Aegon the Conqueror, you’ve stumbled upon the wrong thread. If you don’t want to participate, don’t be a troll and go find a thread you like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramsay Gimp Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 Yeah, there are no libertarians in ASOIAF.But I wouldn't call Aegon any more psychopathic than the typical ruler, in any time period. He was just more ambitious and had dragonsPsychopathy is an actual condition, with requirements Aegon doesn't meet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LmL Posted February 25, 2015 Author Share Posted February 25, 2015 It doesn't. You're judging him by todays standards. Aristotle thought slavery was a natural thing, that some people were born as slaves, to server their rulers. Do you think he was a psychopath? Or maybe, he was just living in a time period where that was the norm? I don’t see the problem with judging this basic issue according to any standards of any age. I am saying that all people in history who have led armies to invade other nations are psychotic. You HAVE to be psychotic to decide to do that. Just because you rationalize it doesn’t change that - it just means you’ve constructed an elaborate set of fantasy to assuage the last gasps of your deadened conscience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LmL Posted February 25, 2015 Author Share Posted February 25, 2015 Yeah, there are no libertarians in ASOIAF.But I wouldn't call Aegon any more psychopathic than the typical ruler, in any time period. He was just more ambitious and had dragonsPsychopathy is an actual condition, with requirements Aegon doesn't meetDid you read the definition I laid out above? I think he does meet all the requirements, at least to some extent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SweetPea Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 But I wouldn't call Aegon any more psychopathic than the typical ruler, in any time period. He was just more ambitious and had dragons Psychopathy is an actual condition, with requirements Aegon doesn't meetAgree, this is what I meant. People can be evil without having a personality disorder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LmL Posted February 25, 2015 Author Share Posted February 25, 2015 Agree, this is what I meant. People can be evil without having a personality disorder. Actually I don’t think so. It’s mattter of opinion, I suppose, but in order to do evil to others, you have to basically kill your sense of empathy - that is the DEFINITION of sociopathy. Committing great evil is PROOF that a personality disorder is manifesting. That’s not to say “personality disorder” in terms of something that is necessarily genetic - just that he is, for whatever reason, exhibiting all the hallmarks of a sociopath, or a violent psychopath, whichever you prefer. It’s a degree, not a line you cross. Everyone exhibits mild sociopathic tendencies - basically any time you are mean to someone else. To be able to rationalize mass scale violence, you gotta be kind of fucked up in the head, to put it crudely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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