Re: Lethality of events

Thinking about it a bit more, I think the reason I'm reluctant to pass 
judgement on those who want to play evil characters is because I'd end 
up having to pass judgement on pretty much the entire human race.

People explore the dark side of human nature in so many ways. They read 
fiction - and non-fiction! - that explores the actions and mindset of 
serial killers from the inside. They watch movies in which people are 
mutilated and dismembered. They pay news services to scour the world for 
tidbits of foulness while ignoring the virtue in their own neighborhoods 
- I'm damn near the only person I know who doesn't do that. Is there 
anyone who's never done any of those things? Not me.

Sure, we could say it's specially bad if you're roleplaying a character. 
But we could equally choose to slice it other ways: we could say it's 
specially bad if it's real life news re****ts rather than mere fiction in 
which one chooses to wallow; and let's be honest, the main reason we 
don't choose to do the latter is because the numbers wouldn't be in our 
favor in that case. It's psychologically natural to define the norm in 
terms of the majority, but it doesn't have a lot of moral weight.

At the end of the day I find the only solution that really hangs 
together is the difference rule: people are welcome to indulge in 
whatever fantasies they please as long as everyone's okay with it and 
nobody's getting hurt in real life - whether or not I would personally 
find said fantasies disgusting if I were present.

-- 
"Always look on the bright side of life."
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