A Consumate Actor
I used to just devour sci-fi books when I was a kid. I just loved them. A great way to escape, and a great way to build your vocabulary. Boy was my mother surprised when I knew what autoerotic-asphixiation was. But I digress.
One of my favorite stories was about an actor, the world's greatest actor, who had killed someone. In the future, they didn't quite believe in capital punishment. Oh, they would kill you, but at the very last minute, second, nano-secont, they would transfer your consciousness, your being, into a clone they had made. So you would experience death, but still be alive. As part of their judicial process, if you were found guilty, they would kill you/port you to a clone, and then if you earnestly repent, they would let you go. If you weren't earnest, then they would kill you again. No one ever had to experience death more than once to earnestly repent. But the problem was that everyone knew the killer was an actor, so after he was killed/ported to the clone, he apologized, repented. But he was such a good actor that they couldn't tell if he was earnest or just acting. So they killed him again. And again they couldn't tell if he was really earnest or just acting. So they proceeded to kill him in some pretty gruesome manners, over and over and over again. Looking back now, I'm not sure it was really a suitable story for someone my age then.
I bring this up as I had a very odd conversation at work. I'll be honest. I'm not very good at dissembling. I've said it before that I have no poker face. But I like to think that with certain people I work with that I can be totally open and honest and get openness and honesty in return. I know, how naive can I be? But when talking with this person, I felt that every word had been carefully chosen and weighed, every sentence carefully structured and balanced. The person was obviously telling me what I wanted to hear. But was it honest? Did that person really believe/think that? I don't know. And I walked away from the conversation confused and concerned.
One of my favorite stories was about an actor, the world's greatest actor, who had killed someone. In the future, they didn't quite believe in capital punishment. Oh, they would kill you, but at the very last minute, second, nano-secont, they would transfer your consciousness, your being, into a clone they had made. So you would experience death, but still be alive. As part of their judicial process, if you were found guilty, they would kill you/port you to a clone, and then if you earnestly repent, they would let you go. If you weren't earnest, then they would kill you again. No one ever had to experience death more than once to earnestly repent. But the problem was that everyone knew the killer was an actor, so after he was killed/ported to the clone, he apologized, repented. But he was such a good actor that they couldn't tell if he was earnest or just acting. So they killed him again. And again they couldn't tell if he was really earnest or just acting. So they proceeded to kill him in some pretty gruesome manners, over and over and over again. Looking back now, I'm not sure it was really a suitable story for someone my age then.
I bring this up as I had a very odd conversation at work. I'll be honest. I'm not very good at dissembling. I've said it before that I have no poker face. But I like to think that with certain people I work with that I can be totally open and honest and get openness and honesty in return. I know, how naive can I be? But when talking with this person, I felt that every word had been carefully chosen and weighed, every sentence carefully structured and balanced. The person was obviously telling me what I wanted to hear. But was it honest? Did that person really believe/think that? I don't know. And I walked away from the conversation confused and concerned.