un: xspire

[synthsized]

At what point does something get the right to be called a person? What do they need to do to deserve that?

Has anyone ever thought about it?

Comments

un: jaybird

[nor_iron_bars]

i swear to god i figured out the answer to this one last time i was high, but then i forgot like two seconds later.

if i'm gonna be honest, i got no clue how you'd tell for sure.
could fuck around and see if you come up with a soul, i guess?
or do a brainscan.
but honestly if they might be a person it's probably better to just assume they are.
worst-case scenario, you get scammed by a really good chatbot.
best-case scenario, you avoid committing war crimes.
it's just smarter to play the odds there.

not here

[deuteranope]

["worst-case scenario, you get scammed by a really good chatbot."

laughs hollowly, alone]

[nor_iron_bars]

[SOMETIMES CHATBOTS ARE ALSO PEOPLE. LIFE IS WEIRD LIKE THAT.]

[synthsized]

[Aha...ha...]

So you're taking a better safe than sorry approach.

[nor_iron_bars]

from an outside perspective, yeah.
kinda the only thing i can do, unless i get real good at telepathy real quick.
(side note: probably someone at this school can do mind-reading, but fuck if i know who. ps if anyone reading this can read my mind, tell me what number i'm thinking of.)
like, how the fuck do i know that anyone's actually a real person?
answer: i super don't.
so why not assume they are?

[synthsized]

So far the answer to "why would you assume someone is not a person" is "so you can hurt them".

[nor_iron_bars]

oh yeah, people do that sometimes.
not a problem i've had, personally?
being shitty to people isn't actually that difficult.
but hey, who am i to judge other people's coping mechanisms.

btw if this is a personal question, actually giving a shit about whether or not you're a person makes it pretty likely you are one, just fyi.

[synthsized]

I'm more interested in the repercussions of not being a person.

[nor_iron_bars]

that's legit.
hold on a sec, i'm gonna draw a chart.
they made me watch this video on "effective teacher methods" or whatever and it said visual aides were important.

[A couple minutes later:]

ok does this help at all?



tl;dr people shouldn't fuck with you just cause of the personhood thing, it's a bad idea.
if someone tries to start shit you can show them the chart.

[synthsized]

[They can't believe someone made a chart.]

It's a very informative chart.

[nor_iron_bars]

[Look, she's an engineer. Charts are just how she does things.]

thanks.
good luck with the whole journey of existential identity deal.