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Moral Intuitions Scenario #1

You are standing by a switch which will change the track a train is traveling on. On the track in which the train is heading are four people who do not see the train coming. You can flip the switch to save them, but this would put the train on a track with one person standing on it. You cannot call out to them or save them in any other way - if you do nothing, four people will die, and if you take action, one person will die. What do you do?

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Permalink Reply by Tony Carroll on May 12, 2012 at 11:14pm

Pon farr is the result of their control of their emotions at all other times. They had a very, very, violent past. Most Vulcan historians agree that they would have wiped themselves out if it hadn't been for Surak. He is the one who brought logic and reason to the troubled Vulcan psyche, through meditation, and applied logic. This is when the splinter group that became the Romulans left Vulcan. They would not accept this. They don't go through pon farr, as they embrace their emotions at all times, though they are still more logical and reasonable than humans. You win. :(

Permalink Reply by Steph S. on May 12, 2012 at 10:48pm

Right. I loved that episode where he thought he killed his captain and he was "emotional" when he found out the he did not kill his friend.

Permalink Reply by Steph S. on May 12, 2012 at 11:06pm

http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Pon_farr

Permalink Reply by Jedi Wanderer on May 12, 2012 at 11:15pm

Quite a wealth of information on pon farr... I was particularly amused by this bit:

On stardate 54238.3, Tuvok began the early stages of another pon farr. Since he was stranded aboard the USSVoyager in the Delta Quadrant, return to Vulcan was impossible. He intended to control his pon farr with a combination of disciplined meditation and specially prepared medication. His neurotransmitters did not absorb the medication, and The Doctor was not present to prescribe an alternative. Tom Paris designed a hologram of T'Pel to handle the situation (emphasis mine).

Permalink Reply by Tony Carroll on May 12, 2012 at 11:20pm

And he felt as if he were cheating on his wife with the hologram. Even though it was of T'Pel. So the emotions are still there, just very controlled most of the time.

Permalink Reply by Jedi Wanderer on May 12, 2012 at 11:17pm

Romulans are also pretty bad-ass.

Permalink Reply by Tony Carroll on May 12, 2012 at 11:23pm

Very bad-ass. They are considered counter-punchers, that is they will wait to see what others do, then react. They almost never take the initiative in any situation, but when they do step, watch out.

Permalink Reply by Steph S. on May 12, 2012 at 11:38pm

Yeah I love the Romulans! I love talking Trek. It's nice to be able to talk to people about the shows.

Permalink Reply by Tony Carroll on May 12, 2012 at 11:53pm

I love Trek, too. And the Vulcans aren't even my favorite, as I said before. It is the Klingons. What nerds we be. I could talk Trek all day.

Permalink Reply by Jedi Wanderer on May 12, 2012 at 11:57pm

Ok well I definitely want to have that discussion! Klingons are up next! Yay! I'll start a new discussion topic just for Klingons... Or if I don't get to it soon enough, one of you may go right ahead and I'll jump in later. About to hit the sack.

Permalink Reply by Tony Carroll on May 13, 2012 at 12:00am

Yeah, me too. Night guys. Pleasant dreams. Will be back tomorrow night when I get back from work.

Permalink Reply by Jedi Wanderer on May 13, 2012 at 12:03am

And to you. It was very nice having some Trek-talk with you both. Have a good day tomorrow!