ardent | 15. Text/Action for Goldenrod City

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I have what might be seen as a weird question; I don't really know, because I've never tried asking anyone before, but it's something that's been troubling me lately and I'm wondering if any of you might know.

[Well, at least he's trying to keep this from dissolving into immediate trainwreck, with damn near palpable effort.

That said, it's been a little while since he's been on the network, so hello there. No video today, it seems, but at least that comes with the benefit of him having to actually look it over before he sends.]

Assume, for the sake of argument, that you have a way to improve someone's life. Factually speaking, I mean. Their life would be better with what you're offering, because it would relieve their suffering in some way. But the person doesn't want it because they believe they're better off without it, even though objectively that isn't the case.

Is it better to relieve their suffering anyway, even if it goes against their wishes, or to respect what they want even though "what they want" is going to hurt them?

[ACTION]

[Well, outside of making Text Posts That Certainly Are A Thing, it seems that Ishimaru has the day off today.

He's been scarce ever since he and Naegi returned from Kanto; it's not in the same way that he goes scarce when something has gone wrong with him, he hasn't been avoiding people per se – it's just that his life has mostly been work and sleep and very little else for the last several days, and it's a bit hard to say whether that's because he's off inside his head again or because it's a routine and it's comfortable and socializing has simply...slipped his mind as something he should actually do once in a while.

But! Today he has the day off, and he's wearing that damn hoodie Naegi gave him last year and as usual there's a small Meowth camped out in the hood (sleeping, more often than not), and he's in Goldenrod City and wanting to blow off some steam, so his options for the time being seem to all revolve around "stupid amounts of physical activity"; thankfully, there are a few ways to do that, though the one he eventually chooses still strikes him as a bit unorthodox – he admittedly still doesn't see the point of doing things just for the sake of doing them, and doing exactly that seems to be the point of spending time in an arcade, but Kirigiri introduced him to something a while back that is at least...halfway worthwhile.

Namely, at one point she got this man on a DDR machine, and he has been determined to memorize the entire damn machine ever since.

So today that is where he will be, and he is not opposed to company either in the arcade or outside of it; this is just something for him to do with himself today, clearly. At least it keeps him from being idle.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I've tried. If that were as simple an option as it sounds, this wouldn't be a question in the first place.

Either way, it's coming down to a matter of either making the decision for them or leaving them be, and I'm not okay with just doing the latter.

I didn't say it would be simple. Convincing people to change their minds can be the hardest thing in the world. But you can't control their actions, so anything else is just treating the symptoms and ignoring the real problem.

... Not that I don't understand wanting to do just that.

If the action you're considering taking is going to make the real problem a moot point, does it really matter either way?

That depends on the problem, I suppose. Say you have an alcoholic, and you take away their ability to buy those kind of drinks. You've solved the immediate problem, but depending on why they turned to alcohol in the first place, another could spring up almost immediately.

That's true.

Say you have someone with an illness, though. One they've had for a long time. And you have the means to cure it, but they refuse the cure because they're so used to being ill that they can't imagine being otherwise.

What then?

Well, it sounds like the underlying problem there is fear... fear of change, of not really being themselves anymore. What sort of illness is this? You can make something up if you have to.

One that affects their mind and how they see things, and changes their personality.

Oh. Yes, that explains everything. They probably feel that that part of their mind is part of them, and to lose it means they won't really be themselves anymore. It's almost like asking them to die, telling them they can be rid of it.

[And that...hits him wrong, for several reasons.]

I don't really understand why. I think I'm going to experience something like that soon back home myself, and it's the last thing I'd wish on anyone; being someone else like that isn't being myself either. Why wouldn't someone want to get rid of something like that, if they knew it was a choice?

Well that's different though. For you it's something new, something you've never experienced before. It's like turning into a different person... actually, they probably see things exactly the opposite of how you do. Awful or not, this part of their mind is a part of them. Cutting it out would be just as terrible to them as what's going to happen to you is to yourself. Their life might be better, but if they aren't themselves, what's the point of it?

15. Text/Action for Goldenrod City

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