THOUGHT EXPERIMENTS IN PUBS
BERLIN
FORCE
1 PEACEKEEPER
Two toddlers are squabbling over a toy. They both want to hold it.
One of them hits the other.
The second tries to pull the first’s hair.
You gently separate them.
You have stopped the violence they were doing to one another by using your superior physical strength. You have forced a cessation of violence.
Have you created peace?
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER:
Can peace be kept by force?
Is the term “peacekeeping forces” an oxymoron?
What else might need to be done to bring true peace to the situation?
SOURCE: Bonny Astor, creator of THOUGHT EXPERIMENTS IN PUBS. If you’d like to read more of her thought experiments and other writing you can find it here :-)
2 DEFYING GRAVITY
Enzo the envoy from outer space is on a research mission to understand humanity.
He has come across two new artefacts that he wants an explanation for:
The first is the hit song from the musical Wicked, “Defying Gravity”.
Enzo has highlighted some lyrics:
“I'm through accepting limits
'Cause someone says they're so
Some things I cannot change, but 'til I try, I'll never know
Too long I've been afraid of
Losing love, I guess I've lost
Well, if that's love, it comes at much too high a cost
I'd sooner buy defying gravity
Kiss me goodbye, I'm defying gravity
And you can't pull me down”
The second artefact comes from NASA’s article on the Four Fundamental Forces:
Gravity is one of the “4 fundamental forces [that] dictate interactions on the largest and smallest scales, from planets to particles [and] are responsible for shaping the universe we inhabit.” (NASA)
“Gravity is an attractive force that draws two objects together. Its strength approximately increases with the masses of the two objects but decreases with the square of the distance between them. That means that if the Moon were twice its current distance from Earth, the gravitational tug between the two would be just one fourth of what it is now.
Despite being the weakest force, gravity works across infinite distances, making it responsible for the formation of the universe's structure.” (NASA)
Enzo is struggling to understand why humans would write a song about defying gravity.
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER:
How could you explain ‘defying gravity’ to Enzo?
What does gravity represent in the song?
Are we free-er if we can resist force?
How might limiting forces help us?
By: Bonny Astor, creator of THOUGHT EXPERIMENTS IN PUBS. If you’d like to read more of her thought experiments and other writing you can find it here :-)
NASA - https://science.nasa.gov/universe/overview/forces/
3 WHEN TO USE FORCE
George is an immensely strong and skilled fighter. He has spent a significant portion of his life training in combat sports, and fighting in other, less controlled circumstances. However, due to a recent religious revelation, he is also strongly considering the philosophy of pacifism.
Lately, George has had a few opportunities that have made him question whether his previous life of utilising force on other people can ever be justified.
1) George is in his local, family-run deli. He has gone there regularly for the past 5 years, and enjoys the focaccia sandwiches. He notices a well dressed woman surreptitiously slip a bottle of the deli's most expensive wine into her bag. Nobody else has noticed her, she is walking towards the exit and will be out in a matter of seconds. George wonders what to do.
2) Later, George gets on the tube to go home. It's the Jubilee line, and quite busy. He feels a gentle bump, and sees for a second that a man next to him is holding the same phone as him, before stowing it in his bag. George checks his pockets and find that his phone has been stolen. The man is looking at George nervously, and there are 3 minutes until the next stop. George wonders what to do.
3) On his walk back from the tube, George sees two men arguing. One is clearly bigger than the other, and has backed him into a corner. The smaller man's arms are raised defensively, and his eyes appear to be darting around, looking for a way out. From George's experience, it is clear that violence will erupt imminently. George wonders what to do.
4) George arrives back home and goes through the door. Inside, he finds his wife's ex-partner who has held a grudge against him since their marriage. He is furious, shouts threats and balls his fists. In his hand, George spots a small kitchen knife. George wonders what to do.
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER:
In which, if any, of these circumstances would George be justified in using force? Why, or why not?
Does the fact of George's strength and skill factor into when he would be justified in using force?
Are there any circumstances where it is ethical to use force on somebody who does not pose a physical threat? If so, does this hold true if they also have not stolen anything?
Are there any instances where it is more ethical to be forceful than to be pacifistic?
Do the ethics of use of force change depending on whether the force is lawful or not?
SOURCE: Liam, THOUGHT EXPERIMENTS IN PUBS Group Member
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