Sunday, July 9, 2017

In defense of Michelle Carter

 Let's talk about Michelle Carter's case.
To see details about the case, please see the references at the end of the page.

In my opinion Michelle Carter is a victim of Conrad Roy.

Conrad Roy was already suicidal even before meeting Michelle Carter.
He had already tried suicide before.
Then he met Michelle Carter in 2012.
Their relationship was mostly through text messages, rarely meeting in person.
He was constantly talking about suicide with Michelle Carter.
He was looking for someone to help him commit suicide.
Michelle Carter kept refusing, trying to convince him to give up.
Then in July 2014, after 2 years, he finally brain-washed her.

It is not clear why she changed her mind, but there are 2 possibilities.
After crying wolf for such a long time Michelle Carter probably thought it was just a prank. She possibly thought he was not being really serious and would never really commit suicide, and somehow this was just a game or a prank.
The other possibilitiy is that she was trying to be a good girlfriend and be supportive.
As a good girlfriend she cannot keep antagonizing her boyfriend, otherwise she would end up losing the boyfriend. Many women end up supporting the boyfriend or husband, even when he is a criminal and about to commit a crime. She didn't want to lose the boyfriend, she didn't want to ruin the relationship, she wanted to be a good girlfriend by being supportive and cooperative and encouraging and understanding. So she started saying the things he wanted to hear. Maybe she thought that by being cooperative and understanding at first, she could somehow change his mind later. Because antagonizing him was clearly not working.

He has finally manipulated Michelle Carter to encourage him to commit suicide.
He searches the internet to look for ways to commit suicide.
He comes up with the idea of carbon monoxide poisoning.
He then sends a message to Michelle Carter. She promises to stay online with him all night.
He drives his truck to a remote parking lot.
He sets up the portable generator.

But he is a coward. He becomes afraid of dying, and gets out of the car. But he still wants to commit suicide. So he takes out his phone and calls Michelle Carter. To ask for encouragement. She is trying to be a supportive and loving girfriend.  She wants to help her boyfriend. She then says what he wants to hear: get back in the truck.

Even when he tried to stop the suicide attempt by getting out of the car, he was the one to call Michelle Carter and ask for reassurance. Michelle Carter did not call him. He called her. No one forced him to call her. No one forced him to send messages to her.

Conrad Roy manipulated Michelle Carter into encouraging him to commit suicide.
He didn't care about her.
He didn't care about her well-being.
It never occurred to him what would happen to her after he committed suicide.
He would worry about his mother and sisters but not about his girlfriend.
If Conrad Roy were a good boyfriend who cared about his girlfriend, he would never commit suicide. He would instead dedicate his life in making her happy.
He never tries to make her happy. Because he is just using her. Because he is just manipulating her.
He only cared about himself.
He only cared about committing suicide, because he wanted to call attention to himself.
He wanted an accomplice for his crime.
If Michelle Carter had refused to help, he would have broken up with her and looked for someone else.
He was a coward, he didn't have the courage to commit suicide by himself, so he looked for someone to help him commit suicide.
Instead of going to hell alone, he dragged her with him.
He wanted an accomplice so he could put the blame for his actions on someone else.

Now she is paying the price for his crime.
It is his responsibility, not hers.

On the other hand, let's play the Devil's advocate and assume that Michelle Carter is evil, that she is the responsible for Conrad Roy's suicide, that she always wanted from the very beginning to kill him.
Is that even possible?  Did Michelle Carter plan all this?
No matter how dumb Michelle Carter may be, certainly there are better ways to kill someone than coaxing to commit suicide!
If Michelle Carter really wanted to murder Conrad Roy, certainly she could have thought of a better, more straightforward way to do that , a way that doesn't leave several incriminatory text messages behind.
Did Michelle Carter want Conrad Roy to die with his phone by his side with her messages urging him to commit suicide?
Did she want his phone to be found by the police? Did she want the police to see her messages urging him to commit suicide? Did she want to go to jail? Did she plan all this?
This is completely ridiculous, it is highly unlikely that she planned all this.
Most 17-year-old girls don't know what carbon monoxide is.
Most 17-year-old girls don't know how to set up a portable generator.
Most 17-year-old girls don't even know what a generator is.
I don't know what a generator is.
Conrad Roy came up with idea of suicide.
Conrad Roy came up with idea of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Conrad Roy set up the generator.
Michelle Carter probably didn't even know what he was talking about.

What would you do if someone you love tells you he/she wants to commit suicide?
Do you simply say "don't do it"?
If you keep antagonizing and denying the other person's feelings and reasonings, you will end up driving that person away. He/she will stop talking to you since you don't listen, you don't understand, you make no efforts to understand.
You have to be understanding and accepting and listen to the other person, let the other person talk, without being  judgemental.

Michelle Carter is not a psychologist. Even though she was correct at first in the way she handled her boyfriend, somehow she got carried away, she ended up being brain-washed by him and making the mistake of taking his side completely.
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References

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4629850/Girl-texts-drove-boyfriend-suicide-enjoys-freedom.html
https://www.engadget.com/2017/06/22/you-may-be-jailed-for-telling-someone-to-die-in-a-fire/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4629850/Girl-texts-drove-boyfriend-suicide-enjoys-freedom.html
http://wcfcourier.com/opinion/columnists/can-words-be-lethal/article_1f3141e2-fede-57e8-9040-2a2ebd2a74a8.html
https://www.engadget.com/2017/06/22/you-may-be-jailed-for-telling-someone-to-die-in-a-fire/
http://people.com/crime/michelle-carter-trial-conrad-roy-aunt-speaks-out/
http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2017/06/michelle_carter_weighing_optio.html
https://www.yahoo.com/celebrity/michelle-carter-apos-very-disappointed-195422936.html
http://abcnews.go.com/US/words-kill-guilty-verdict-texting-suicide-trial-raises/story?id=48093522
http://www.cosmopolitan.com/politics/a10040363/michelle-carter-text-involuntary-manslaughter-verdict/
https://qz.com/1009681/a-new-legal-precedent-means-americans-can-go-to-jail-for-what-they-say/
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2017/06/18/prompted-suicide-manslaughter-say/102995144/
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2017/06/17/texting-suicide-verdict-could-set-bad-precedent-legal-experts-say/102956784/
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2017/0619/Beyond-Carter-verdict-Helping-teens-battle-suicidal-thoughts
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-40307210
http://boston.cbslocal.com/2017/06/12/michelle-carter-teen-texting-suicide-trial-conrad-roy/
http://edition.cnn.com/2017/06/12/health/text-message-suicide-trial/index.html

Wednesday, June 7, 2017

Star Trek Fan Fiction: the adventures of Dr. Carol Marcus

Star Trek Fan Fiction: the adventures of Dr. Carol Marcus.
I always imagine actress Alice Eve as Dr. Marcus.
Dr. Carol Marcus is a university professor of biology.
She is 75-years-old. She only has 2 PhDs. The majority of people on the planet has more than 10 PhDs. She is still a minor and legally not allowed to watch porn. She is the youngest scientist in the solar system.
The average human lifespan is 300 years.
She is considered the most intelligent scientist in the world, the only one able to fluently speak dolphin language.
She doesn't have a fixed residence. Like most people on Earth, she lives in a car. A flying car. Her car is bigger than a bus, with a toilet and bathroom.

The G7 is a group consisting of the most intelligent species on the planet.
The G7 includes dolphins, crows, whales, octopuses, gorillas.
Human beings are not part of the G7. Many humans have vehemently protested the G7 elitism, demanding human participation in the G7. Dolphins, as always, counter-argue, claiming that the G7 discussions are "beyond human understanding".

Dolphins and Vulcans are the only species that understand teletransporter technology.
Teleporters are deemed too dangerous to be used by humans on Earth. Only the Star Fleet is allowed to use teleporters.

Dolphin language has long been a mystery to humans. Dr. Carol Marcus is the only one who speaks it fluently. The universal translator always translates anything that dolphins say as "so long and thanks for all the fish". Scientists have fiercely debated about its meaning. Nobody knows what that sentence actually means. Dr. Marcus refuses to explain it saying that "it is beyond human understanding".
Some scientists argue that Dr. Marcus is NOT refusing to explain, and that sentence actually means "it is beyond human understanding".

Scientists have finally discovered what many have long suspected: dolphins are actually laughing at humans. Dolphins have always seem to be laughing at humans. That is because they are.

Scientists have developed the universal translator. It consists of a pair of contact lenses. When someone speaks to you in a foreign language, the contact lenses translate and show you subtitles in your language. You will be able to see the subtitles right under the foreign speaker. Since the subtitles appear directly on the contact lenses, only you are able to see the subtitles.

The universal translator not only translates human languages, but also animal languages. Dumb humans are finally able to talk to other animals.

A long debate has been raging among scientist about which species first domesticated humans. Dogs and cats each claim to be the first.
World-wide renowed scientist Dr. Marcus was finally called to express her opinion. She believes that horses were the first species to fully domesticate human beings.

The Eugenic Wars, which is the war between humanity and genetically engineered humans led by Khan, destroyed most of the records concerning 20th and 21st century.
So those centuries are now known as "The Darker Ages".

Nobody knows what the middle finger gesture is. The middle finger gesture was widely used by humans during "The Darker Ages", the 20th and 21st century.
Some scientists believe it meant "I love you", because many people who loved each other used to wear rings on the fingers. So the gesture was meant to show the finger so that the other person would put the ring.
But other scientists dispute that claim.
Dr. Marcus was called to express her opinion. She refused by saying "I am a biologist, not a historian".

The president of the United States is making headlines again by insisting on being called "Mr. Piggy".
Scientists have recently discovered that humans in the 21st century used to worship a pig called "Miss Piggy".
The president keeps bragging that he is "the biggest pig on Earth".
The opposition suspects that the president may be linked to pig supremacists, a secret criminal organization that believes pigs are the supreme species on the planet.
Pigs are among the richest species on Earth, while humans have long been among the poorest.
On his campaign trail the president vowed to improve the economic conditions of humans. And many humans believed and voted for him.
But the opposition has fiercely argued that the current policies will only benefit the rich pigs and not humans.

Hollywood Reporter has just selected the sexiest chick in Hollywood on this month's issue.
Chickens have long dominated the movie industry in Hollywood, much to the chagrin of humans who this year have made less than 7% of the highest-grossing movies.
Bovine Hollywood, aka Bollywood has also produced many successful films but according to the critics, in terms of sexiness the cows of India are still no match to the chicks of Hollywood.

Chickens dominate Hollywood, cows dominate Bollywood but it is cats who dominate the pussy industry, also known as porn industry.
Cats in Los Angeles produce more porn films than any other species in the solar system. Cats are able to spend most of their waking time either sleeping or licking themselves. No other species has been more prolific in pussy activities than cats.

Researchers have found out a wildly popular website in the 21st century called YouTube. Scientists believe it was the most popular porn website in the world due to the large number of cat videos uploaded to the site.