Posted by alexandra_k on August 10, 2013, at 19:02:09
In reply to Re: Restoring Manic to Babble, posted by Dr. Bob on August 6, 2013, at 23:22:49
> > Could you possibly allow our friend Manic to return and start anew?
> Manic has the power to return and start anew. Still, maybe some support would help?I feel uncomfortable reading this thread.
I see how Phillipa interpreted it the way she did. I've made similar misinterpretations of similar statements about blocks. Repeatedly, even.
It is extremely frustrating. Especially when you think 'oh, that means the block is up' then you go to post, and find yourself blocked all over again.
I was reading something the other day... Can't remember where... But it said that the biblical 'an eye for an eye' wasn't intended as promotion of retaliation. Rather, it was intended as promotion of moderation. The idea being that rather than taking (as we would otherwise have a tendency to do) a life or a head or two eyes for an eye, we only get to take the one. It is an instruction to moderate the punishment to the extremity of the offense. Not entirely why I thought of it now.
There are a bunch of different reasons for punishment... I mean... Different people have different views on what all that is about. Some people think that prisons are about retaliation. Retribution. An eye for an eye in the commonly understood sense (and you get people requesting the death penalty for the offense of murder, and so on). Other people think that prisons are (or should be) about prevention of re-offending. Either because the relevant individual is physically restrained from opportunity or because the fact that the individual is restrained serves as a deterrent to others who might feel inclined to offend. Other people think that prisons are (or should be) about... Something like treatment. Acute treatment for anti-social behavior / behavioral dyscontrol. Or maybe nobody actually thinks that, but it is a position in logical space and I'm actually fairly tempted.
I think Bob sees blocks differently from most members of the community. Which is why the above misunderstanding has a tendency to reccur...
poster:alexandra_k
thread:1048371
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20130702/msgs/1048760.html