Idea A Few Ideas I Need Help With

[Maxx]

So, I have a few ideas, but I can't think of how to properly develop them into something that will get people's attention. One is more developed than the other, but both I really wanna do.

Demons of Uni

• "Demons of Uni"
• Five(?) people
• Student accommodation house village thing (east parkside village)
• Some human some demon some vampire
• All think the others are all human
• Hide their demon/vamp status
• Slice of life?

Those are my horrid notes. It'll probably be slice-of-life, similar to those "secret vampire" roommate plots I love, but extended to a group roleplay and set in student accommodation. The concept is there in my notes, but I don't have any plot, which is my main problem. I don't want to post it with no plot, and I can't think of anything unique. Or anything at all.

Criminal Gene

• Criminal gene: what if it was found?

This is something I thought of while in Psychology. A huge implication of the biological approach in Psychology, is the possibility of a criminal gene. The biological approach is one that says that all human behavior is a result of our genetics, so if a criminal gene was found, it would give an excuse for all the wrong people in this world (and, y'know, petty criminals as well). What would a world where such a gene was discovered look like? Would it be chaos? Would those with the gene be separated from the rest of society? If so, at what age? I can't decide. This one is definitely something I need help with developing before I can post it.

If anyone helps me develop these ideas, I will be eternally grateful!

 

[Chordling]

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[Crayons]

So ... the criminal gene. How does that work when laws are made and changed by people, and differ from place to place? Is the criminal gene just for murderers for example?

Suppose a person is in a country where a thing is legal and they do it all the time - let's use marijuana as an example, and then they go to a different country where smoking pot is illegal, are they considered to have a "criminal gene"? What if the law gets changed - for example, if you are a Muslim girl in France who wears a niqab, then they make wearing the niqab illegal, are you then a criminal with a criminal gene?

I think to make this idea workable you would need a very authoritarian fascist or communist state who use the idea of a "criminal gene" to execute/mess with/sterilise people that they don't like, because the reality of it seems completely implausible. (However would work well in this kind of context.)

 

[Maxx]

So ... the criminal gene. How does that work when laws are made and changed by people, and differ from place to place? Is the criminal gene just for murderers for example?

Suppose a person is in a country where a thing is legal and they do it all the time - let's use marijuana as an example, and then they go to a different country where smoking pot is illegal, are they considered to have a "criminal gene"? What if the law gets changed - for example, if you are a Muslim girl in France who wears a niqab, then they make wearing the niqab illegal, are you then a criminal with a criminal gene?

I think to make this idea workable you would need a very authoritarian fascist or communist state who use the idea of a "criminal gene" to execute/mess with/sterilise people that they don't like, because the reality of it seems completely implausible. (However would work well in this kind of context.)

I was thinking that the criminal gene would be no different to, for example, the gene for blue eyes, or being biological male. And would be something they could test for. Maybe not everyone with the criminal gene ends up becoming a criminal (since genotype doesn't necessarily equal phenotype), but I was thinking that they'd all be treated the same regardless. Or something like that.

 

[Ace Cream]

Criminal Gene

• Criminal gene: what if it was found?

This is something I thought of while in Psychology. A huge implication of the biological approach in Psychology, is the possibility of a criminal gene. The biological approach is one that says that all human behavior is a result of our genetics, so if a criminal gene was found, it would give an excuse for all the wrong people in this world (and, y'know, petty criminals as well). What would a world where such a gene was discovered look like? Would it be chaos? Would those with the gene be separated from the rest of society? If so, at what age? I can't decide. This one is definitely something I need help with developing before I can post it.

Reminds me of Psycho Pass, ey.

If we can determine someone's liability to crime through genes then you can play around the idea of innocent until proven guilty theme. Maybe it's about a bunch of people with 'dangerous' crime gene stripped of their human right? Or court politic?

 

[Maxx]

Reminds me of Psycho Pass, ey.

If we can determine someone's liability to crime through genes then you can play around the idea of innocent until proven guilty theme. Maybe it's about a bunch of people with 'dangerous' crime gene stripped of their human right? Or court politic?

I have never heard of Psycho Pass, lol. Might watch it when I get the chance

And that's an awesome idea!

 

[Crayons]

I was thinking that the criminal gene would be no different to, for example, the gene for blue eyes, or being biological male. And would be something they could test for. Maybe not everyone with the criminal gene ends up becoming a criminal (since genotype doesn't necessarily equal phenotype), but I was thinking that they'd all be treated the same regardless. Or something like that.

Yeah, but what I'm getting at is that criminality isn't an objective fact, it is reliant on ever-shifting laws made by fallible human people.
Eye colour, height, etc. are all objectively measurable, criminality is circumstantial.

Is the gene, for example, a propensity to violence? If that was it, you could probably make a case for a "criminal" gene existing, but otherwise the idea of a criminal gene is a political idea rather than a biological one.

 

[Maxx]

Yeah, but what I'm getting at is that criminality isn't an objective fact, it is reliant on ever-shifting laws made by fallible human people.
Eye colour, height, etc. are all objectively measurable, criminality is circumstantial.

Is the gene, for example, a propensity to violence? If that was it, you could probably make a case for a "criminal" gene existing, but otherwise the idea of a criminal gene is a political idea rather than a biological one.

I hadn't thought of it like that. I'm very glad you brought up that point, since I'm forever trying to apply logic to the majority of things I write, and I just know I'd end up thinking about that later and kick myself for not thinking about it in the first place. Thank you, lol.

I guess the core element of being a criminal is committing unlawful acts. So, for a proper criminal gene that fits all possibilities, I think it would have to be a propensity for doing things that the individual knows is against the law, even if that knowledge is at a subconscious/unconscious level. I think that makes it more objective? Since rather than it being based off of ever shifting laws, it's based off of a tendency towards doing the wrong thing in general. (I know that isn't the best way to word it, lol)

 

[Crayons]

I hadn't thought of it like that. I'm very glad you brought up that point, since I'm forever trying to apply logic to the majority of things I write, and I just know I'd end up thinking about that later and kick myself for not thinking about it in the first place. Thank you, lol.

I guess the core element of being a criminal is committing unlawful acts. So, for a proper criminal gene that fits all possibilities, I think it would have to be a propensity for doing things that the individual knows is against the law, even if that knowledge is at a subconscious/unconscious level. I think that makes it more objective? Since rather than it being based off of ever shifting laws, it's based off of a tendency towards doing the wrong thing in general. (I know that isn't the best way to word it, lol)

It's not objective at all. See my example about the woman in a niqab. (I should explain this a type of face covering veil worn by some Muslim women.) All her life she has worn a niqab. She is otherwise completely law-abiding and believes in the rule of law. Maybe she is even a lawyer or a judge. Then one day her country decides to make wearing the niqab illegal. (This happened in France.) If she wants to abide by the law she has to give up a religious and cultural practice that she believes in. If she continues to wear a niqab she is now ... A CRIMINAL!!! But does this mean she has a propensity to commit a crime, or that she is sticking to her beliefs?

Or, think of it another way. Suppose you were a member of an environmental protest group who is concerned about climate change. You went around waving your banner, writing petitions, having some demonstrations, etc. then all of a sudden your group is now considered an organised crime group.

Being gay is still illegal in many countries. Is a perfectly legal gay person in the UK for example, going to Uganda, suddenly a person with a "criminal gene".

The problem is, is that "the wrong thing" is completely subjective, and not only that but laws really have nothing to do with morality. Legal =/= ethical. You have to consider: a) who is making the laws b) why they are making these laws c) are these laws made with the common good in mind, etc.

You can't reduce moral and legal complexity to one single gene unless you are already a corrupt system.

I'm not saying your idea is unworkable, because there are plenty of messed up governments that would love an excuse to classify people as having a criminal gene I'm sure. You just have to give them a reason to do so, that isn't based in science.