moses2792796
03-31-2008, 04:21 AM
A team of scientists conducting an experiment on human behaviour isolate two groups of 20 and 21 humans on separate islands, neither of which contain any food sources. On each island they provide enough food and water for 10 days, assuming that each person consumes their average amount, however they inform the test subjects that they will have to survive for twenty days. There can be no cheating as overfishing, pollution and unusual ocean temperatures have recently killed all the fish in the area.
Island 1: (Control Group)
Test Subjects
4 businessmen
4 politicians
2 drug dealers
2 policemen
4 teachers
4 priests
All of roughly average intelligence
During the first couple of days large arguments take place over how the food should be divided, the teachers and the priests say that if everyone could simply agree to take less than their average amount then they could last for the twenty days, however the businessmen and the drug dealers say that everyone should take what they can for themselves, and let the weak perish. The policemen and the politicians are evenly divided between these two viewpoints. Two groups are quickly formed who then decide that instead of having large scale arguments, they will represent themselves via the politicians. These politicians meet everyday to discuss how to run the island, but because the two groups are roughly even in size neither viewpoint takes hold, the island becomes divided on a petty ideological disagreement and everyone seems to lose focus on the future of the community. The teachers and priests try to grant their politicians more power to enforce equality, while the businessmen band together and attempt to hoard as much food as possible.
Meanwhile the politicians begin to realise that they no longer have any purpose, and decide to use their power to ensure that they are well looked after. They increase their food rations unnecessarily while decreasing the frequency of their meetings, and in their spare time use their extra food to pay the more amoral of the two policemen for his feces (too much anal sex meant that the politicians where no longer able to perform normal bodily functions after the 2nd day) which they give to the drug dealers who then process it into jenkem so the politicians can get high on their lunch breaks.
The food runs out completely on the 12th day, most of the teachers and priests have already gone with food for 48 hours. Two of the businessmen have died from overeating, and the remainder look rather overweight, for some reason so the the politicians (even those representing the teachers and the priests). At this point chaos ensues, everyone begins arguing about whose fault it was with the exception of one priest who simply sits in silence with his palms pressed together. On the 20th day when the scientists arrive 2 of the businessmen are still alive but (the others died from heart attacks caused by obesity), the politicians have all died from jenkem overdoses or ruptured colons, the two drug dealers survived thanks to their wit and manipulation of the politicians, both policemen died during a riot on the 13th day, all the teachers and three priests died of starvation, the remaining priest still sits in quiet contemplation and perfect health on an isolated corner of the island.
Island 2:
Test Subjects
4 businessmen
4 politicians
2 drug dealers
2 policemen
4 teachers
4 priests
1 reclusive university student who listens to Burzum and Beethoven. Advocates seemingly amoral politics
For the second test the scientists selected a group with as many similarities as possible, with the exception of a new inclusion, to test what effect he has on the group. This person had an an intelligence well above average.
The first five days progress similarly to island 1, the people divide into two groups but both fail to implement their system properly and subsequently retreat into binary oppositions without a holistic focus. During this time the university student has quietly observed the situation without conforming to either of the views held by the majority of the people on the island. He realises that most of the people on the island are in one way or another acting from an individualistic motivation, they are concerned either with feeling good about themselves by being charitable, or by simply accumulating as much material wealth as possible. After doing some thinking he decides that a higher degree of organisation is needed if the people on the island are to survive their time their. He spends the day talking to each individual on the island, explaining the danger that they are in and asking them to attend a meeting the next day.
When all the people are gathered around the next day he shows them his calculations on how much food remains for each individual and what it will require for each person to survive. The clarity with which he communicates this forces people to recognise the reality that without some degree of organisation, their community will be destroyed. He also explains that the differences in ideology are too great to be resolved, so each group should create their own community and should govern itself. If one ideology is unrealistic, it will gradually destroy itself, he claims, and thus we shall implement natural selection by allowing each to develop naturally. One of the businessmen and a drug dealer oppose this system, saying that it would violate their freedom, but they are silenced by the rest of the group, who now realise that creating a successful system is more important than whether or not they will be allowed to inhale drugs made from their own feces or perform acts of sexual deviance behind the nearest tree.
By the tenth day each group operates independently, with less conflict over politics in the groups they find it much easier to reach consensual agreements on the issues that confront them and thus are able to act with greater flexibility and speed. On the left side of the island the teachers and the priests divide their food up evenly, while on the right the businessmen and the drug dealers perform competitive tasks to determine who gets the most food rations. Gradually the weakest in the group become thinner and thinner until one drug dealer attempts to steal extra food rations. He is put to death immediately.
The university student now acts like a bridge between the two groups, he does not need to intervene in their daily actions and it would not be tolerated anyhow, however after two of the weaker members of the right side of the island (including the thieving drug dealer) are killed the others begin to move over to the left side of the island and become a drain on the food supplies. The former businessmen, accompanied by the two police officers and a former politician, who by this stage are fit and strong, explain to the university student that this new form of competition has made them realise that their previous life was meaningless. Now that they compete everyday, not for material comfort, but for their very survival they have begun to appreciate their place in the natural order and they no longer feel compelled to act from greed. They are concerned however, that the parasitic nature of the now rather weedy population of the left side of the island is increasing, and that it may be best to speed up what is already inevitable. Explaining to them that he has no power to stop them the student says he has already served his purpose by showing them the path to a holistic worldview, and that a war won by the strong is always a just war.
After killing off most of the left side of the island the remaining population continues to live in balance with their food rations until the 20th day. When the scientists arrive they find the group healthy and content.
Island 1: (Control Group)
Test Subjects
4 businessmen
4 politicians
2 drug dealers
2 policemen
4 teachers
4 priests
All of roughly average intelligence
During the first couple of days large arguments take place over how the food should be divided, the teachers and the priests say that if everyone could simply agree to take less than their average amount then they could last for the twenty days, however the businessmen and the drug dealers say that everyone should take what they can for themselves, and let the weak perish. The policemen and the politicians are evenly divided between these two viewpoints. Two groups are quickly formed who then decide that instead of having large scale arguments, they will represent themselves via the politicians. These politicians meet everyday to discuss how to run the island, but because the two groups are roughly even in size neither viewpoint takes hold, the island becomes divided on a petty ideological disagreement and everyone seems to lose focus on the future of the community. The teachers and priests try to grant their politicians more power to enforce equality, while the businessmen band together and attempt to hoard as much food as possible.
Meanwhile the politicians begin to realise that they no longer have any purpose, and decide to use their power to ensure that they are well looked after. They increase their food rations unnecessarily while decreasing the frequency of their meetings, and in their spare time use their extra food to pay the more amoral of the two policemen for his feces (too much anal sex meant that the politicians where no longer able to perform normal bodily functions after the 2nd day) which they give to the drug dealers who then process it into jenkem so the politicians can get high on their lunch breaks.
The food runs out completely on the 12th day, most of the teachers and priests have already gone with food for 48 hours. Two of the businessmen have died from overeating, and the remainder look rather overweight, for some reason so the the politicians (even those representing the teachers and the priests). At this point chaos ensues, everyone begins arguing about whose fault it was with the exception of one priest who simply sits in silence with his palms pressed together. On the 20th day when the scientists arrive 2 of the businessmen are still alive but (the others died from heart attacks caused by obesity), the politicians have all died from jenkem overdoses or ruptured colons, the two drug dealers survived thanks to their wit and manipulation of the politicians, both policemen died during a riot on the 13th day, all the teachers and three priests died of starvation, the remaining priest still sits in quiet contemplation and perfect health on an isolated corner of the island.
Island 2:
Test Subjects
4 businessmen
4 politicians
2 drug dealers
2 policemen
4 teachers
4 priests
1 reclusive university student who listens to Burzum and Beethoven. Advocates seemingly amoral politics
For the second test the scientists selected a group with as many similarities as possible, with the exception of a new inclusion, to test what effect he has on the group. This person had an an intelligence well above average.
The first five days progress similarly to island 1, the people divide into two groups but both fail to implement their system properly and subsequently retreat into binary oppositions without a holistic focus. During this time the university student has quietly observed the situation without conforming to either of the views held by the majority of the people on the island. He realises that most of the people on the island are in one way or another acting from an individualistic motivation, they are concerned either with feeling good about themselves by being charitable, or by simply accumulating as much material wealth as possible. After doing some thinking he decides that a higher degree of organisation is needed if the people on the island are to survive their time their. He spends the day talking to each individual on the island, explaining the danger that they are in and asking them to attend a meeting the next day.
When all the people are gathered around the next day he shows them his calculations on how much food remains for each individual and what it will require for each person to survive. The clarity with which he communicates this forces people to recognise the reality that without some degree of organisation, their community will be destroyed. He also explains that the differences in ideology are too great to be resolved, so each group should create their own community and should govern itself. If one ideology is unrealistic, it will gradually destroy itself, he claims, and thus we shall implement natural selection by allowing each to develop naturally. One of the businessmen and a drug dealer oppose this system, saying that it would violate their freedom, but they are silenced by the rest of the group, who now realise that creating a successful system is more important than whether or not they will be allowed to inhale drugs made from their own feces or perform acts of sexual deviance behind the nearest tree.
By the tenth day each group operates independently, with less conflict over politics in the groups they find it much easier to reach consensual agreements on the issues that confront them and thus are able to act with greater flexibility and speed. On the left side of the island the teachers and the priests divide their food up evenly, while on the right the businessmen and the drug dealers perform competitive tasks to determine who gets the most food rations. Gradually the weakest in the group become thinner and thinner until one drug dealer attempts to steal extra food rations. He is put to death immediately.
The university student now acts like a bridge between the two groups, he does not need to intervene in their daily actions and it would not be tolerated anyhow, however after two of the weaker members of the right side of the island (including the thieving drug dealer) are killed the others begin to move over to the left side of the island and become a drain on the food supplies. The former businessmen, accompanied by the two police officers and a former politician, who by this stage are fit and strong, explain to the university student that this new form of competition has made them realise that their previous life was meaningless. Now that they compete everyday, not for material comfort, but for their very survival they have begun to appreciate their place in the natural order and they no longer feel compelled to act from greed. They are concerned however, that the parasitic nature of the now rather weedy population of the left side of the island is increasing, and that it may be best to speed up what is already inevitable. Explaining to them that he has no power to stop them the student says he has already served his purpose by showing them the path to a holistic worldview, and that a war won by the strong is always a just war.
After killing off most of the left side of the island the remaining population continues to live in balance with their food rations until the 20th day. When the scientists arrive they find the group healthy and content.