my addiction

As I have mentioned several time... Law & Order and I have a bit of a relationship. Mainly on my part I guess, since I have seen little of the "love the Dr Chall's research" in the series ;)

Anyway, after watching two episodes last night; one SVU and one CI, I am left pondering about two fairly lucid things. The first episode touched on the "what we don't like should be banned and illegal" and the second "what is real science". (For obsessed people; it was an episode about a serial killer and the existence of a comic book in remembrance of the killer, and an episode about a man who tried to prove something about selfishness in humans as the nazis had put his father through in the concentration camps. Simply said: "you can kill yourself or your loved one, pick. You've got 20 seconds.")

So, I'm left thinking about the Belgian proposition about banning burkas as a symbol of something they dislike and the true nature of human selfishness and love. In the first case, there is this debate about the things we (most people?) don't like.... and whether or not to make it illegal or "just" make a stance that "we" don't like it. Most times I relate to this remembering the times when people were talking about adding people (us) who played role playing games into a security register for future reference as "people who are involved in revolutionary movements". I still don't know if I am registered as an (former) active role player (and organised since some of us were in a certain organisation). I seriously doubt it, but then again, there are a lot of lists and data bases back home...

Second episode brought about thoughts about the moratorium about the research done in Germany during 1939 and 1945.... and what makes some research ethical and, more importantly, what makes it unethical! There is that syphilis research trial in the 70ies too, if someone feels more comfortable to think about that instead? In the L&O episode there was this eternal (?) question what someone would do if you have to choose to kill your loved one, or you. Who would you choose? And would they choose you or themselves? And that the choice that has been enforced on that person, with a short time span to decide, would point to if we people are selfish or not.

Of course, this is not as interesting imho, as looking at all the times around us where people with nothing are helping others, without knowing if they get anything back or something in the future but because we are helping each other. Anyway, it was about science and that was why I started thinking again. After all, that was the background to the ethics committee debates and the "informed consent". I'm sure HELA cells would ring a bell too? No one told her that the cells were eternal and kept in a cell bank...

I lost my train of thought now but I think the main point of this was that this is one of the main reasons I like Law & Order, and some of my other embarrassing addictions in the world of TV series. They provide me with philosophical questions to ponder, much like the "red wine discussions" and the real Phil 101 that I once attended at uni. I really like thinking about the problems and dilemmas that arise with science, world and people. It's something I miss doing in my present job; on the other hand, I do remember my old ethics professor who was slightly scared after correcting one of my exams. "You are one of those biological scientists, who can deduct one answer just to turn over to the other side and state 'this is what we need to do in society so maybe we have to accept the unethical answer'"**

So, with those ponderings and thoughts I will go to bed. Tomorrow is a new day. Not only will I find out if the Canucks managed to beat some Blackhawks, it will also be the election day in UK. Exciting indeed!

** This was in part due to my answer of the abortion dilemma... and yes, in that aspect he was slightly on the right track. I was confused on how to argue for it since I think I asked what would happen with the dilemma if one acknowledged that the fetus is a life, and that abortion is murder but maybe that is accepted under certain regulated circumstances. His answer; you are one scary person to try and state that murder sometimes is right (ethical wise). I was young at the time... and undereducated in ethics. I'm better now ^^