Freepost #4

In a book, it had an interesting scenario, which was that if you had the power to kill anyone you wanted mentally, so that there were no consequences, would you use it? I asked my friends this question and reflected upon their answers for my free post.

Many people would probably say yes to this question, rationalizing that there are always people that deserve to be killed, such as terrorists and murderers. In theory, this seems like a very good thing, you can better the world by ridding it of evil, but if you began punishing those that are evil, where would it end? Once you’ve killed every murderer, would you start killing people who steal? And even though you say now that you could just stop, isn’t it possible that, like a drug addict, you couldn’t live without controlling other people’s destinies. This entire scenario is similar to a Japanese manga called “Death Note.” In the story, the main character, who was a brilliant, morally decent person, obtains a notebook that allows him to kill anyone he chooses. He decided that with it, he would rid the world of evil. He eventually became power crazy, and in the end, his former-self was lost forever. So to me this scenario not only brought up the idea of killing evil people, but also brought up the idea that obtaining a power like this would change you forever.
When I brought up this question to my friends, practically all of them said they would use this ability. They probably believe that they have a strong enough sense of righteousness that they could never abuse these powers, but there are countless cases of people winning lotteries and changing drastically, having obtained wealth and with it the power to buy anything. If we can change so drastically over a physical thing like money, imagine what the power to kill can do to you?
If I were given this power, even knowing the consequences, I couldn’t safely say that I wouldn’t use them. In the Japanese manga, “Death Note,” in a short scene where the main character loses his memory, he reasons that there is no way that he would have used the notebook since he believes that he has strong morals. It is because of this that I cannot assume that I wouldn’t use the powers. My ignorance towards the subject allows me to be able to say that I wouldn’t use the powers, but when I rationalize the motives, I can’t say for sure that I won’t be a victim to the allure of such powers.
I found it interesting that this scenario brought up such different ideas in my friends’ and my own mind. To them, they were just contemplating the killing of people, whereas I contemplated the change to my personality that it would bring, since I had been introduced to the idea from before hand. I guess my friends’ contemplation are from the fear of going against their morals, whereas I, having read a story where these morals were so easily ignored, focus on the effects that these powers will have on me, already knowing that ignoring these morals are insignificant compared to the devastating effects these powers could have on your mind. So in the end, I believe that while the idea of eliminating evil seems noble, will become distorted if actually practiced. Therefore, I am glad that such powers will never exist in the real world.