Two brothers, Malius and Mithras, once stumbled upon a traveling man.
The traveling man turned to Malius and presented him with two small chests.
He told Malius that they both contained gold coins, but that one chest contaned twice as many as the other. He also told Malius that he may pick one chest and keep it's content for himself.
Malius picks one chest, and finds a hundred gold coins inside.
However, the traveling man suddently informs Malius that if he wishes, he may forfeit the hundred gold coins he just gained for whatever the other chest contains.
Malius reasons that if he has already picked the chest with the most gold coins, the other chest would contain fifty gold coins, and switching would net him a loss of fifty gold coins from his current amount.
He also reasons that if he has picked the chest with the least amount of gold coins, the other chest would contain two hundred gold coins, and switching would net him a gain of a hundred gold coins in addition to his current amount.
By taking up the traveling man's offer of switching the content of his chest, Malius stands to either lose fifty gold coins or gain one hundred gold coins. These are extremely favorable odds, so Malius decides to switch.
Was Malius actions beneficial?
Mithras has been watching Malius and his situation the whole time.
The traveling man turns to Mithras and presents him with two small chests and the same set of rules.
Mithras reasons that his brother's line of thinking would be correct even if there was only ten gold coins in the chest, or if there was four thousand gold coins in the chest. The amount of gold coins is irrelevant.
By opening a chest, the only information Mithras will gain is the amount of gold coins within the chest, which he concluded is irrelevant.
Mithras places one hand on a chest, declaring "I choose this chest", and then immediately declares "I switch to the other chest".
Was Mithras actions beneficial?
Isolation
I've endured pain. I've seen death. I've tasted fear.
And yet I now carve for these things. To be so lucky as to prick my finger on a needle. To be so blessed as to be frightened by monstrosities.
Anything but this isolation. Anything.
Would it be too much to ask, to have the door before me open just a little? To have a thin ray of light touch my face?
How I carve even the footsteps of somebody outside!
But there is nothing. I wait, and nothing appears. I wait more, and nobody coughs. There is no sound of the rain beating against the roof. No flicking sound of a torchlight. No dripping sound of water.
I touch my arm. It is as if I need to confirm that I'm still somewhere. That I've not left the world of the living to some silent oblivion.
I pace to the other side of my cell. My footsteps are comforting. Do I have footsteps, or are they a mere product of my imagination? The trick of a mind long since gone mad?
I sit down. If the door would just open. Just a little. If I could feel the warmth of light for just a short while. Just a minimal period of time.
I cannot be angry. I've raged for hours, days, years. I've tossed myself against the walls, screaming in agony. Nothing happens. Nobody reacts. I am spent now. I cannot summon anger from myself anymore.
I merely sit here, longing for that door to open.
The Hero and the Villain
I will rise above this world, and my will shall be above nature. I will remake this world in my image.
I won't allow it.
I will oppose you. Enforcing one's will and ideals on others is never acceptable. It is no different from the common thug who steals belongings by force.
Then how does an ideal prevail?
By others accepting it freely.
And if they don't?
Then there is struggle, sometimes by debates in the public square, sometimes on the battlefield with weapons. It's an unavoidable part of the marketplace of ideas.
What of the victims in these struggles?
It's a unfortunate situation when somebody gets hurt, but we cannot allow dictatorship just because we are afraid.
Come with me.
If we are too afraid to stand up then we will lose something precious to ourselves.
Here.
Who is this?
I don't know her name. I found her by the wayside, raped and murdered.
She looks so young.
Yes.
Who did this?
I do not know.
Why have you shown this to me?
Tell her that her death was necessary.
Why?
Tell her that she is part of the unavoidable sacrifice that had to be made for the marketplace of ideas. Tell her she cannot grow up and fall in love. She cannot have children and grandchildren. Tell her that she, and people alike her, must sometimes die so that people like you and I can freely discuss and debate ideas of rules and law. So that we might discover what method of organization is most beneficial to most people.
This isn't a fair portrayal of the situation. A lot more people might die in the future unless we can find the right ideals to work for.
Then tell her that. Tell her that you have sacrificed her so that others might live safely in the future. Tell her that you decided that her death and that of some others is necessary for the common good.
We can work hard to prevent things such as this from happening.
Can you stop it completely?
No.
Then tell her that. Tell her that her death could not be avoided. Tell her that somebody had to die.
This particular girl didn't have to die.
But somebody would die somewhere.
Yes.
Shall I carry that person here, so that you might tell him or her instead?
What good would it do?
Do these people not deserve to know why they died?
The dead cannot hear or speak.
Then speak to the world. Tell everybody that somebody must die unjustly, before their time, so that the rest of us can work hard to make a better world for the survivors. Tell the world that some must die so that others may live better.
I would die if it was required of me.
Would you ask this young girl to die?
I would not.
