I wonder if 1,000 people upvoted this comment, in series with 1,000 people voting it down. I'd like to know 1/(# of reads) or 1/(number of votes). Can we use network theory to assume that people here conform to the first-mover theory? (ie: "If a post starts getting upvoted, it then continues to be upvoted, whereas if a post starts getting downvoted or ignored, it continues to get downvoted or ignored, or at least has a greater probability of being so.")

I suspect Mr. Eggfart's IQ of 75 to have something to do with it.

He also might be a sociopath with an IQ superior to Einstein's. He also might be a John von Neumann, (successfully?) arguing in favor of nuking Russia, because he thinks that Russia is evil (correct) and that Russia is full of scientists who are almost as smart as himself (maybe correct), and because it's logical to do so (possibly correct, but seemingly not, based on the outcome), or he might think that everyone is as logical as possible (incorrect), or he might not have empathy for those who don't take the opportunities they're given (who's to say if he's right?). In hindsight, I'm really glad the USA didn't nuke Russia. In hindsight, I'm very glad that Von Neumann wasn't killed in order to minimize his destructiveness, but that democracy managed to mitigate his (and Goldwater's) destructiveness. (Goldwater was the better candidate overall, on all subjects, but his willingness to use the bomb was a fatal, grotesque, and unacceptable flaw in that otherwise "better overall." Goldwater's attitude towards the bomb was similar to, and seemingly informed by, von Neumann.)

I do support punishing sociopaths legally, even if they didn't think it was wrong when they raped and murdered your wife. What the sociopath thinks doesn't diminish the harm they knowingly caused. The legal system should be a disincentive toward actual wrong. When the legal system operates properly, it is a blessing that allows the emergence of market-based civilization. The idea of a "right" is not necessarily a deontological philosophical claim, but a legal one.

As a consequentialist, I don't necessarily hate sociopaths. I understand why they exist, from an evolutionary perspective. ...But I might still kill one if I had to, in order to serve what I anticipated to be the optimal good. I might also kill one in retaliation, because they had taken something valuable from me (such as the life of a loved one), and I wished to make it clear to them that their choice to steal from me rightfully enraged me (vengeance, punishment).

While I don't think that (even righteous) punishment is the grandest motive, I also don't deny others their (rightful) desires for punishment. There is a "right" and a "wrong" external to outcomes, based on philosophy that is mutually-compatible with consequentialism. If we were all submissive slaves, there would be a lot of "peace," but I still wouldn't likely choose such an existence over a violent but possibly more free existence.