dclayh comments on Our House, My Rules - Less Wrong

36 Post author: David_J_Balan 02 November 2009 12:44AM

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Tags: kids morality

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Comment author: dclayh 03 November 2009 07:43:50AM 9 points [-]

Children ought to have fundamentally lower status, not just because they're children per se, but because they're stupid and useless.

So then the legal system should award status based on usefulness and intelligence, not age as in the present system.

Comment author: DanArmak 03 November 2009 03:47:22PM 4 points [-]

Usefulness to whom?

Comment author: smoofra 03 November 2009 04:58:17PM 3 points [-]

Well, no.

Status is a informal, social concept. The legal system doesn't have much to do with "awarding" it.

Comment author: gwern 04 November 2009 05:22:11PM 2 points [-]

So then the legal system should award status based on usefulness and intelligence, not age as in the present system.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emancipation_of_minors

"In most countries of the world, adolescents below the legal age of majority (adulthood) may be emancipated in some manner: through marriage, economic self-sufficiency, educational degree or diploma, military service, or obtaining medical conditions in a form of diseases such as AIDS, HPV, or other STDs."

Comment author: William 05 November 2009 09:50:33PM 2 points [-]

But should stupid adults have no rights?

Comment author: DanArmak 06 November 2009 01:23:19AM 9 points [-]

Fewer rights, perhaps.

More to the point, equal rights isn't a good idea because it's just and right, but rather because it's a defensive position against rulers who grant extra rights to privileged groups.

Comment author: gwern 05 November 2009 10:09:28PM 3 points [-]

/me checks into legal status of retarded adults & vegetables

Dunno about 'should', but they don't have very much beyond what kids have...

Comment author: Clarity 11 November 2015 09:49:10PM 0 points [-]

Usefulness to who? Isn't it enough for people to be useful to themselves if they're not harmful to others?

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