A poem for all (I think that you have never got, A poem as lovely as this zot)

me | 09/24/2005 | Creeper, as told to Joyce Killmore-Trolles

[creeperdavis]

A poem

[NicknamedBob]

The question asked was, "What kind of underwear do you prefer? Boxers or briefs?"

The answer has been reworked for comedic effect, often with a different questionee, as "Well, ... Depends!"

The truthful answer, which we did not receive, was, "Unoccupied."

[NicknamedBob]

Thanks!

"... one should not commit murder in a state that has abolished the death penalty either."

I think it was Keith Laumer who wrote about a fellow in just this position. Apparently, he had been in prison so long no one knew what he was even in for. When he escaped during a transportation accident, they looked it up, and discovered he had been accused of killing his superior officer, during the Civil War!

[calrighty]

GADZOOKS !

[Tax-chick]

you must be a very good listener as well

I even hear things that people don't realize they're saying :-).

[Tax-chick]

What's really indicative about the underwear question is that someone would ask it. Who the freep wants to know that kind of stuff? (I know, someone who doesn't do laundry for six males.)

[fanfan]

Define one.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

One pint five.

One pint five is what I need to dull the pain of even thinking about that time. ;-)

Let me guess, Darksheare was lurking?

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Today, Church of Bob -- One Commandment ... (Harm No One)

I still want to know what No One did that he should be harmed

[Tennessee_Bob]

I still want to know what No One did that he should be harmed

Easy. He was hanging out with Will - that guy they're always firing at.

Pass me a beer.

[fanfan]

Believe it or not, there are disadvantages to being an immortal.

It would be really hard on your love life.

Watching people wither away, and all that.

[fanfan]

LOL.

[King Prout]

I look forward to hearing from ya, bud!

[NicknamedBob]

"Define one."

Most people see intuitively that the definition of harm allows a lot of latitude in the dictum, "Harm no one."

It is perceptive of you to wonder about how "one" should be defined.

I would define it, forgive the word, liberally. One individual, one family, one dog, one nation.

Obviously, it bears a relationship to the Hippocratic Oath, "First do no harm."

But it is more akin to Hippocrates' Cousin's Oath, "Do no harm first."

However one defines "one" the real crux of understanding is in the word "harm."

That I define broadly as well, concentrating on Heinlein's old-fashioned gentleman's standard -- that if what a person needs is a bit of mid-course correction, it isn't necessarily "Harm"ful to apply it.

One has to be careful in applying such lax definitions that they do not spin completely out of control. Therefore, some concrete examples may be instructive:

Your right to swing your fist ends where my nose begins.

I believe you have a right to do with your property what you wish. If you happen to have the last living remnants of the once great herds of unicorns on your property, and you decide to harvest them for the powder in their horns, I might try to talk you out of it, but it is your property.

Unfortunately, the Asimovian corollaries also enter the picture: You will be allowed only a little latitude in how hard you beat your wife, and being distinctly harmful to your children is not a neighborly thing to do, in my neighborhood. The species' instinct to survival tends to trump my normal disinterest in what you do.

Nothing in my hard and fast rule keeps me from being somewhat hypocritical occasionally.

Keep in mind -- it's for your own good.

[Tax-chick]

That was nuanced, Bob.

[King Prout]

funny... of the various forms of classical and modern Hippocratic Oaths I have read, not one includes the famous line "first, do no harm"

it IS a dictum of Hippocrates' school of medicine, but not a part of the oath.

[King Prout]

harm is measurable damage

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Here you go.

[NicknamedBob]

"harm is measurable damage"

True. If you snatch a kid away from an imminent fall off a precipice, and the little brat says, "Ow, you hurt me!" -- Did you do harm?

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

True. If you snatch a kid away from an imminent fall off a precipice, and the little brat says, "Ow, you hurt me!" -- Did you do harm?

Yes, however harm must be measured against what motivated the harm being committed. And the harm caused by inaction must be considered as well.

In your example the harm is justified.