4.8 KiB
[BST][MK] How could you use the ability to sense people's capacity for empathy?
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Author: u/Rhamni Aspiring author*
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URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/rational/comments/3cjbhl/bstmk_how_could_you_use_the_ability_to_sense/
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Score: 6
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Created: 2015-07-08T10:34:02
Post:
By the ability to sense empathy in this case I mean that by looking at someone, or a good picture or video clip of them, you could get an intuitive and accurate sense of how much that person cares about others, both individuals, groups and in general. So when looking at the stereotypical sleazy corporate lawyer, you might realize that they have no empathy at all for the people they are helping their evil corporation trample underfoot, but you would also be able to sense whether that's something they are able to rationalize as being their job or whether they just don't care about other people in general.
The power won't tell you anything unrelated to empathy. So you could identify a nurse who cares deeply for her white patients while neglecting those of other ethnicities, but a well intentioned extremist who genuinely believes the world will become a better place because of their planned crimes could slip under the radar.
Maybe empathy is not the best word, so one more example: Expert manipulators, like sociopaths who manage to lick up kick down their way to the top are often very good at understanding others, but they don't care about those people's utility functions. As far as this power is concerned, they are then very low-empathy. On the other hand, so is a law abiding surgeon who is obsessed with his work and sees patients only as objects to perfect his craft on.
So. How would you use such a power? It's always on, and not more draining than normal sight. It cannot be replicated with current technology, although you probably could claim Randy's million dollar prize by successfully identifying a large number of convicted murderers in a crowd or something. There is nothing to indicate that anyone else has any unusual powers.
Comments:
u/Murska1FIN [+7] (an hour later)
First things first. Look in the mirror, to calibrate my expectations of this power. I have some sociopathic tendencies, and don't really emotionally care about other people much, but intellectually I've chosen to do my best to help humanity anyway.
Then I'd probably give in to my curiosity and go on a wikipedia binge on various important movers and shakers.
After that, I'd start thinking on how to actually use the power. It's not exactly simple or fast to prove to anyone you've got it, but first I'd need to try and figure out whether revealing it would be very useful. I wouldn't just trust myself for this evaluation, instead asking a number of other people whom I believe are intelligent enough to contribute (such as you're doing here), but off the top of my head I might aim for becoming a career diplomat in the EU.
u/notmy2ndopinion [+5] Concent of Saunt Edhar (4 hours later)
It cannot be replicated with current technology
But I could work with Paul Ekman's group to develop better software on microexpressions.
http://www.paulekman.com/lie-to-me/
Then, I'd use his connections to get video footage of various terrorists, violent criminals and other threats and analyze them for the days to weeks before their crimes and tag various sections to flag dangerous signals. To avoid a confirmation bias, I'd also use video clips from people wrongfully accused of crimes, people in an insane asylum, etc.
Then, "Minority Report" style, I'd help to develop a program that can use standard phone cameras, security footage and traffic cams to filter through the population and identify people 'at-risk' for committing a violent crime. I'd be able to predict a crime before its committed(?) or identify past offenders. We'd start with the really big headline-catchers at first.
Here's the critical piece. I'd contact them before they crack. Many of them would be highly paranoid, fundamentalist in their religious beliefs or otherwise difficult to get through to. Using my ability to cold-read and my knowledge of their activities, I'd be able to quickly bypass many of their defenses and I'd disarm them and get them to therapists I've screened for compatibility and get them to take psychoactive medications as prescribed by physicians I trust.
u/Pmang6 [+1] (7 hours later)
Person of interest?
u/notmy2ndopinion [+1] Concent of Saunt Edhar (13 hours later)
The only thing I know about the show is that it features Ben from Lost. But now you've piqued my interest!
u/Pmang6 [+1] (14 hours later)
its literally exactly what you described iirc. I thought for sure you were making some sort of weird semi serious joke about it. Check it out on wiki or something.
u/None [+1] (a day later)
More like Psycho-Pass