Thread: US Marine Throws Puppy Over Cliff

Originally Posted by Pensive Patrick

Theres some hypocrisy here. Earlier on you talked about cognitive states and, in the little Timmy example, implied that ants aren't as important as dogs due to this difference in cognition. By the same rules, humans are more cognitively complex than dogs, so you should all be proportionately a LOT more outraged about the hundreds of humans killed everyday by troops in the middle east. The uproar that this one puppy's death has caused just highlights how silly people can be. Get a grip.

There is no hypocrisy there. As I said before, the only reason there isn't much talk here about the soldiers killing humans is because it's in no way related to the discussion started by the OP. There are plenty of threads explaining how I (and others) feel about the war, the killing of humans - and a myriad of other concepts that have nothing to do with this puppy - all over the forum. Exactly what would be the point of my jumping to outline those views in this discussion? I feel they are irrelevant. That does not make me hypocritical, in this context.

Originally Posted by O'nus

I was making a Carl Sagan reference.

Oh, ok. I see.

Originally Posted by O'nus

I agree with everything here. There's just two perspectives we can then take after examining this.

We can look at the puppy being thrown off the cliff and ask, "How is this going to affect the universe?" or "How is this going to affect ourlives?"

In both cases, I answer the same - not at all.

I'm not sure if you see my point or not but.. what matters depends on who you are asking, yes, because it is always up to others to decide what matters. If you decide that this does not matter, then nothing will come of it and it will not be given so much attention. To best exemplify what I mean, because it is now well known, a soldier has a potential to say, "Hey, let's throw that puppy off a cliff like in that video" and others have a possible inclination to know that they could get media coverage.

Just think - you now know of this persons name and a bit about their life because of this thing that apparently is "not liked" yet reinforced. It is like giving attention to a child for doing bad things. Just ignore it. And it won't matter.

~

Those are not the only two perspectives that can be gained from the video. An example of another would be "How do people, who have the same disregard for 'upper lifeforms' affect our lives?"

To ask yourself this question, is to open an entire universe of possibly negative answers.

It's true that what these soldiers do have no direct impact on our lives, but - more fundamentally - the mindset that these soldiers display (having excuses for belittling the experiences and/or deaths of other creatures) is what infects millions of other humans and affects our lives on a daily basis.

Originally Posted by O'nus

I thought this too but by displaying the behaviour to others it still reinforces the behaviour. He threw it off the cliff for laughs and for attention and so this is a form of success. The more people talk about it, even negatively, the more successful it is. It is like making a thread on the boards here about how annoying a troll is.

Not necessarily true. A troll does what he does because he intends to cause such stir. This marine might not have really thought he was doing anything that would have been as ill-received as it was. Doing it "for attention" doesn't always mean the perpetrator got the sort of attention he was intending. "Publicity" and "negative publicity" are two different things. They might accomplish a mutual goal - making you more well-known - but to what cost?

Originally Posted by O'nus

I just hope no child see's the video and think it might be amusing to throw his own puppy off his patio or something.. it's better to quell the idea BEFORE seeing it happen than to make an effort to make examples. No?
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I somewhat agree with this. Though I appreciate the knowledge that comes from seeing these types of events, I'm not completely ignorant to how the media's showcasing of them paves the way for copycats. I'm pretty much on the fence about this one. I can't say that I've weighed both sides of the coin to a degree where I'm comfortable with saying whether the media should or should not tell us about occurrences such as this. I am comfortable in my indecision on the matter, though.

[Edit:]
Oh, and Marvo, I will watch the video in just a little bit.
[/Edit]

Originally Posted by Oneironaut

Those are not the only two perspectives that can be gained from the video. An example of another would be "How do people, who have the same disregard for 'upper lifeforms' affect our lives?"

To ask yourself this question, is to open an entire universe of possibly negative answers.

This disregard for puppies is nothing compared to the tragedies of murder in war. This is hardly a demonstration of the most depravity of our soldiers. I grew up on the barracks and come from a long line of army in my blood and this is nothing compared to the other shit that happens in war.. So, I can't help but feel that there is always ugly things during war.

Now if I saw a regular everyday child throwing their puppy off a cliff, then I might twinge a little more.

It's true that what these soldiers do have no direct impact on our lives, but - more fundamentally - the mindset that these soldiers display (having excuses for belittling the experiences and/or deaths of other creatures) is what infects millions of other humans and affects our lives on a daily basis.

Yeah, it's true that this can be derived from a destructive and sociopathic personality. However, again, it's a different context considering they are in war anyway. Killing a puppy ain't so bad compared to raping a family, now is it? Now we can step in and say, "They are both bad and both exhibit a bad behaviour" and this is where you must remember where they are and what they are doing. "That's no excuse for that behaviour" is not going to quell them from acting violent. The simple bottom line is - don't be surprised that a soldier throws a puppy off a cliff. Be surprised and upset when your child does.

Not necessarily true. A troll does what he does because he intends to cause such stir. This marine might not have really thought he was doing anything that would have been as ill-received as it was. Doing it "for attention" doesn't always mean the perpetrator got the sort of attention he was intending. "Publicity" and "negative publicity" are two different things. They might accomplish a mutual goal - making you more well-known - but to what cost?

Well, there was a camera. I don't know how to tell if it was for attention or not but joking infront of others while on cam is certainly asking for attention to some degree. It's there. Nothing compared to a troll's desire for attention, but it's there.

I somewhat agree with this. Though I appreciate the knowledge that comes from seeing these types of events, I'm not completely ignorant to how the media's showcasing of them paves the way for copycats. I'm pretty much on the fence about this one. I can't say that I've weighed both sides of the coin to a degree where I'm comfortable with saying whether the media should or should not tell us about occurrences such as this. I am comfortable in my indecision on the matter, though.

I think we agree on the whole matter really.

Let's be honest, if we saw the guy, we'd likely both do the same thing, *Facepalm*

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I don't see why this is in SB. This is serious business, guise.

Oh my god! Where can I find this guy!?...

Sucks that he got discharged. He may have gotten blown in half or something.

He needs to be thrown off a cliff.

He is probably a sick monster who joined the army for the purposes of killing other humans without getting into trouble.

He is probably a sick monster who joined the army for the purpose of throwing puppies off cliffs without getting into trouble.