27 Nov 07
Originally posted by Merkwhy stop there? 😲😲😲😲😲😲
Would you feel that way if people were killing themselves to protest the Global Warming theory?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berserker_%28Saberhagen%29
The Berserker series by Fred Saberhagen is a space opera in which robotic self-replicating machines intend to destroy all organic life. These berserkers, a doomsday weapon left over from an interstellar war 50,000 years ago, are killer spaceships furnished with machine intelligence, operating from asteroid-sized berserker bases where they are capable of building more Berserkers and auxiliary machines. The name is a reference to human berserkers, reflecting the Berserker's violence and singleness of purpose.
27 Nov 07
Originally posted by MerkYes, I would. Committing suicide as a form of protest is not a good thing, no matter what the protest is about, there is a fine line when it comes to hunger protests, but even in that case, I disagree with the use of suicide as a form of protest.
Would you feel that way if people were killing themselves to protest the Global Warming theory?
27 Nov 07
Originally posted by zeeblebotApparently, in Viking society, if someone killed a relative of yours, you could choose between killing them as punishment, or agreeing on a fine, called 'blood money'. Under Viking law, only berserkers (a recognised caste in Viking society) were exempt. Berserkers always got the blood money option.
why stop there? 😲😲😲😲😲😲
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berserker_%28Saberhagen%29
The Berserker series by Fred Saberhagen is a space opera in which robotic self-replicating machines intend to destroy all organic life. These berserkers, a doomsday weapon left over from an interstellar war 50,000 years ago, are killer spaceships furnished with machi ...[text shortened]... a reference to human berserkers, reflecting the Berserker's violence and singleness of purpose.
Picked it up from this great little book in the viking museum in Dublin.
27 Nov 07
Originally posted by agrysonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weregild
Apparently, in Viking society, if someone killed a relative of yours, you could choose between killing them as punishment, or agreeing on a fine, called 'blood money'. Under Viking law, only berserkers (a recognised caste in Viking society) were exempt. Berserkers always got the blood money option.
Picked it up from this great little book in the viking museum in Dublin.
Weregild
(alternative spellings: wergild, wergeld, weregeld, etc.) was a reparational payment usually demanded of a person guilty of homicide or other wrongful death, although it could also be demanded in other cases of serious crime.
Overview
The payment of weregild was an important legal mechanism in early Northern European societies, such as those of the Vikings, and Anglo-Saxons; the other common form of legal reparation at this time was blood revenge. The payment was typically made to the family or to the clan. If these payments were not made, or refused by the offended party, a blood feud would ensue. The word literally means "man price" (wer meaning man as in werewolf).
The size of the weregild in cases of murder was largely conditional upon the social rank of the victim. In early Anglo-Saxon Britain, an elaborate tariff was prescribed. An aetheling, or prince, was worth 1500 shillings. A yeoman farmer was worth 100 shillings. A laet, or agricultural serf, was worth between 40 and 80 shillings. Thralls and slaves technically commanded no weregild, but it was commonplace to make a nominal payment in the case of a thrall and the value of the slave in such a case. A shilling was defined as the value of a cow in Kent or elsewhere, a sheep. As the Northern European tribes were a nomadic people, great importance was placed on the survival of women and children, as they were integral to the propagation of the tribe. The killing of both women and children were also dealt with severely, usually bringing on the larger of the fines.
A classic example of a dispute over the weregild of a slave is contained in Egil's Saga.
Weregild was also known to the Celts, who called it ericfine in Ireland and galanas in Wales, and to Slavic peoples, who called it "vira" ("вира"😉 in Russia and główczyzna in Poland.
Etymology
The word weregild is composed of were, a word meaning "man" (as in werewolf) and geld, meaning "payment." Etymologically, were is related to the Latin vir. Geld is the root of English gilt and cognate with gold. Geld is still the Dutch, Yiddish, and German word for money. In Danish the word is gæld and means "debt".
27 Nov 07
2 edits
Originally posted by MerkIf there is any genetic component to the part of her personality that led her to make this decision -- guess what -- it has already been selected against.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/femail/article.html?in_article_id=495495&in_page_id=1879
Had Toni Vernelli gone ahead with her pregnancy ten years ago, she would know at first hand what it is like to cradle her own baby, to have a pair of innocent eyes gazing up at her with unconditional love, to feel a little hand slipping into hers - and a voice call gain, that she begged the doctor who performed the abortion to sterilise her at the same time.
And if all the people who think this way do this -- guess who is left? The people who don't!
Reminds me of the Shakers. They believed sex was against God's law. How many are left now...?
edit: Sorry...didn't answer the question. WAY too far!
27 Nov 07
Originally posted by spruce112358That assumes this behavior is a product of genetics.
If there is any genetic component to the part of her personality that led her to make this decision -- guess what -- it has already been selected against.
And if all the people who think this way do this -- guess who is left? The people who don't!
Reminds me of the Shakers. They believed sex was against God's law. How many are left now...?
edit: Sorry...didn't answer the question. WAY too far!
27 Nov 07
Originally posted by agrysonAnd it coul dhave been even likely if she had delivered the baby, adopted it out to DsR, then killed herself. 😀
I think that's why the Shakers were mentioned. Whether it's genetics or memetics, by not having children, such ideas are less likely to propogate as much as they would have.