Power corrupts

[Shake]

Not merely a truism, nor simply the beginning of one, but this is the title to a video series by the YouTuber known as Darkmatter2525. The series obviously deals with religion and if you've ever seen any of his content, then this also gives some backstory to a couple of the characters he uses in many of his videos (namely, God and Jeffrey). I wasn't quite sure where to put this post though, since it isn't really about religion and I didn't want to leave it in the Miscellaneous section. I felt this area was the most appropriate, though. Anyway, it's an excellent story, IMHO, which basically postulates that our universe is a simulation run by a real person, Yahweh, in some futuristic society as sort of a thesis or project for school. Yahweh has some issues in his own life, and there is some tampering with his project by a girl called Luci, which makes things interesting.

I've been a fan of Darkmatter2525 for a while now and am always eager to see new content by him. It takes a while because he does all the animations himself, for those not familiar with his work. So, I thought the above was all there was to that series, but now in the description to his latest video I read that this new one is, "Episode 1 of Season 2 of Power Corrupts." This one deals with justice, as he says in the description:

We feel rewarded when we punish others, which creates an easy shortcut from justice to depravity. We must be ever vigilant, lest we fall for this trap.

Again, I don't know if anyone else here is familiar with Darkmatter2525 or is a fan. I would still highly recommend this series and his channel in general, especially if you like your Bible stories animated and with some humor thrown in.

eta: There were 10 videos in the original series, and I just noticed that the playlist link includes the newest one. I'll keep both links up, though.

[Koyaanisqatsi]

Not sure if you intended this thread to be about the idea of power corrupting or about the idea of our universe being nothing more than a game/simulation and “god” therefore being nothing more than a fat little geek encoder in his mom’s basement, but since you’re alluding to both I always wondered how it was that if power corrupts, “gods” were somehow immune. It’s a maxim that only applies to Homo sapiens sapiens? That would imply it’s somehow genetic or something and not an intrinsic quality of power.

[Ozymandias]

I don't think "power corrupts" is true. I think "power reveals". Once power is attained, the powerful don't need to pretend to be good any more. And the sort of person who seeks power is invariably the sort of person who is corrupt to their blackened heart in the first place.

[Shake]

[quote=""Koyaanisqatsi""]Not sure if you intended this thread to be about the idea of power corrupting or about the idea of our universe being nothing more than a game/simulation and “god” therefore being nothing more than a fat little geek encoder in his mom’s basement, but since you’re alluding to both I always wondered how it was that if power corrupts, “gods” were somehow immune. It’s a maxim that only applies to Homo sapiens sapiens? That would imply it’s somehow genetic or something and not an intrinsic quality of power.[/quote]

The simulation part was just a setting of the problem. In the story, Yahweh actually is a human, albeit one who gets trapped in the simulation believing himself to be god. Although, I think part of the intended parallel is to show that if the Christian god exists then he is subject to the corrupting/revealing (h/t Ozy) nature of power.

[Rie]

I think that power is simply power and it isn't in and of itself corrupting... again it depends on whether the intent is one for destruction or creation.
God or the Devil????

[dancer_rnb]

Intent. Many don't consider their evil actions evil, if they think it is for a "greater good"

[Jobar]

[quote=""Ozymandias""]I don't think "power corrupts" is true. I think "power reveals". Once power is attained, the powerful don't need to pretend to be good any more. And the sort of person who seeks power is invariably the sort of person who is corrupt to their blackened heart in the first place.[/quote]

I would express that by saying the desire for power is a form of corruption. An all too common one.

And it's the main drawback of any democratic system- because anyone who puts him or herself forward for election demonstrates their unsuitability to wield power.

I'd much rather be ruled by someone who doesn't enjoy ruling- but does it only because they see the need.

[justme]

[quote=""Ozymandias""]I don't think "power corrupts" is true. I think "power reveals". Once power is attained, the powerful don't need to pretend to be good any more. And the sort of person who seeks power is invariably the sort of person who is corrupt to their blackened heart in the first place.[/quote]

Thank you for this.
This sounds more to the point of the matter. It's the intent behind the seeking of power that defines what a person truly is beneath any veneer they may show the world.

We feel rewarded when we punish others, which creates an easy shortcut from justice to depravity. We must be ever vigilant, lest we fall for this trap.

I'm not very sure wither rewarded is the correct term. Vindicated, maybe more the mark but what I think this person is talking about is the deference between seeking justice or seeking revenge. Seeking revenge many times has a sweet savior to those who want a person to "PAY" for their crimes instead of making reparations for their wrongdoing, glorify.

I think a lot of our judicial system is based on that and the making of money to warehouse human beings that might very well do better off with less than incarceration.

[BWE]

[quote=""Ozymandias""]I don't think "power corrupts" is true. I think "power reveals". Once power is attained, the powerful don't need to pretend to be good any more. And the sort of person who seeks power is invariably the sort of person who is corrupt to their blackened heart in the first place.[/quote]

That's a tough issue to untangle. There are plenty of people who have been put in positions of power through circumstances rather than through seeking it out. The case studies would have to focus on those who kept it.