If a person could read minds, control thoughts/actions

Umbran said:

We could quibble over the ethical implications of using mind-reading to construct pleasing lies, such that the people are there under false pretenses - but I can cut to the chase to say that I don't think it is acceptable behavior.

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Are you honestly saying that you've never pretended to like (as an example) Jazz to get a woman (or a man, if that's your thing) to go out with you in the hopes of getting lucky? If you say you haven't I'll accept that, but you'd be the only person I know who could make that claim.

Now, the mind-reading part makes the whole thing sketchy in a major-invasion-of-privacy type of way.


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Dude, they didn't get the joke because they don't know your taste in women. Your harem is already big.

Umbran said:

When the people are there by mind control, so they aren't there of their own free will, it becomes a rape scenario. We could quibble over the ethical implications of using mind-reading to construct pleasing lies, such that the people are there under false pretenses - but I can cut to the chase to say that I don't think it is acceptable behavior.

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Meh, mind-reading, reading body language, not a lot of differences.

Umbran said:

When the people are there by mind control, so they aren't there of their own free will, it becomes a rape scenario. We could quibble over the ethical implications of using mind-reading to construct pleasing lies, such that the people are there under false pretenses - but I can cut to the chase to say that I don't think it is acceptable behavior.

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I think we can all pretty much agree on the mind control scenario. So far no one has said otherwise.

For mind-reading, that's a bit different. Sure it's murky waters at best, but is it really that different than all the other things people do to get laid? Some people are really good at reading body language or picking up on other cues and telling others what they want to hear. Some people go ask around (usually if they both share the same circle of friends) and basically research what that person likes so that they can make themselves a more ideal match.

I'm not saying everything people do is ethical, but it does bring up a good question: how far is too far? This reminds me of a news article a while back where a woman in Israel accused a man of rape because he had lied and said he was Jewish when he was in fact Muslim. Now I really don't think it's the best way to go about things, but I also don't think it even approximates rape. So I see mind-reading in a similar fashion. Sure you won't get any gold stars that week for good behavior, but it's a pretty minor breach of ethics.

And I just read about another good example. A Chinese man just sued his wife and won. They had three kids and originally he claimed that they were all too ugly to be his (to be fair they are pretty ugly and look nothing like him). After the DNA test confirmed that they were all his, the wife revealed that she used to be ugly and had a lot of plastic surgery to make herself look hot. The judge ruled in his favor stating that the marriage was built on false pretenses.

Again, honesty probably would have been better, but I'm not sure I would award anyone money in a lawsuit over it.

[video=youtube;xEx147n9G1A]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEx147n9G1A[/video]
Appropriate.

goldomark said:

Honesty?

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icwutudidthar. And I approve.

Hand of Evil said:

How do I know I am not being controlled even now?

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Are You a member of the Battlefield Earth Fan Club?