From: Bryan Moss (bryan.moss@dial.pipex.com)
Date: Wed Dec 22 1999 - 11:46:41 MST
john grigg wrote:
> I felt that Bryan Moss' comment was very inappropriate but
> perhaps he can explain himself.
>
> I found the comments on whether raping in a VR simulation
> is in some way criminal very thought-provoking. I would
> think unless the simulated person were self-aware that it
> might be seen as permissable though frowned upon. And yet
> it does say something about the person who would run such
> a program.
This is exactly my point - what's the essence of these
things that makes them bad? I quoted Robert, admittedly out
of context, because he was extolling a virtue that I know
many people here share. It is also a virtue that I find
riddled with ambiguities and, for me, before we can tackle
an issue such as rape in a virtual environment we must first
understand how the issue applies to the real world.
If we rule out direct harm as major factor (it's still rape
if the victim is sedated) then that leaves us with mental /
emotional hurt, which I believe is largely due to the social
perception of the crime (and thus 'indirect'). For me the
real problem lies with the criminal. There's a similarity
between violent rapists, methodical rapists, and people who
would indulge in simulated rape - they're all doing
something that is not socially acceptable *because* it is
not socially acceptable. That's a real social dilemma.
What I want to know is not "where do we draw the line" but
"how do we draw the line".
BM
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