LogFAQs > #956406719

Zeus posted...

No, of course not, because they're separate people. It's a stupid question with an obvious answer.

Is it, though?

For most of human history, we'd treat neighboring tribes like subhumans. A few hundred years ago we didn't hesitate to move in and steal an entire continent or two from the original tenants. If we ever make it to space, and we're honest with ourselves, we probably won't give much of a shit about steamrolling through whatever aliens we find.

So why would parallel universes be any different? We'd always think of our own as "Home" and everything else is just a less important reflection or copy. We probably wouldn't hesitate to mine them for resources or use them to dump waste into. The fact that it's a common trope in fiction implies it's the sort of thing we think about.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ExpendableAlternateUniverse

So why wouldn't we view alternate universe people as little more than resources walking around on two legs? If parallel me has a kidney and I need one, it's not like he's a real person or anything. Pssht, his universe is dumb anyway and his life isn't as cool as mine, it's almost like I'm doing him a favor letting his organs live vicariously in me!

The fact that other parallel universes may be thinking the same thing as us isn't all that likely to deter us, either. If anything, it might even encourage us to be even more ruthless and exploitative ("We've got to get them before they get us!").
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