Child Silencer Device... Is it Ethical?

[Purpelia]

It is something that can be difficult to deal with, but people seem so quick to forget that at one time or another, they were like a screaming devil themselves.

This is an argument that always puzzled me. Because it comes up every single time this topic (well the topic of screaming children) is discussed and the reply is always instant and very obvious to me. "SO WHAT" Seriously, maybe you can explain it to me why my or anyone elses previous behavior denies them the right to complain about others doing the same thing. If I rob a bank am I not allowed to complain when others do it and my money gets taken? Am I not allowed to say "The past was shitty and I want to make the future better."? Because according to you I am not.

[Saiwania]

This is an argument that always puzzled me. Because it comes up every single time this topic (well the topic of screaming children) is discussed and the reply is always instant and very obvious to me. "SO WHAT" Seriously, maybe you can explain it to me why my or anyone elses previous behavior denies them the right to complain about others doing the same thing. If I rob a bank am I not allowed to complain when others do it and my money gets taken? Am I not allowed to say "The past was shitty and I want to make the future better."? Because according to you I am not.

I'm not opposed to this device theoretically existing, provided it isn't abused. I'd see it as just a tool. I'm more interested in what the technical details of it would be than in discussing the what if scenarios resulting from it. Find a way to reliably cancel out every vibration going through the air/water and you've got your lack of sound within a limited radius. It seems less feasible than making an object invisible.

But so far as infants crying are concerned, I've just adapted to have the patience to shrug it off as just something babies do. A household can't always control the noise because that is where they live, but a parent can choose to not take their child with them to certain places like a restaurant if a daycare is a readily available option. That however, isn't always the case in terms of it being accessible or affordable.

A parent can't just leave their child in a hot car or any vulnerable place, so- just saying that parents are sometimes misunderstood when people have a lack of empathy. Life is not always going to be pleasant, generally speaking.

[Bunkeranlage]

This is an argument that always puzzled me. Because it comes up every single time this topic (well the topic of screaming children) is discussed and the reply is always instant and very obvious to me. "SO WHAT" Seriously, maybe you can explain it to me why my or anyone elses previous behavior denies them the right to complain about others doing the same thing. If I rob a bank am I not allowed to complain when others do it and my money gets taken? Am I not allowed to say "The past was shitty and I want to make the future better."? Because according to you I am not.

I'm not opposed to this device theoretically existing, provided it isn't abused.

The problem is that it most certainly will be abused.

Rapists will use it to silence their victims' screams, drunken parents will use it to silence their children when they lash out, and so on.

[Saiwania]

The problem is that it most certainly will be abused.
Rapists will use it to silence their victims' screams, drunken parents will use it to silence their children when they lash out, and so on.

I'm not for using it to mute something, just more to lower the volume like you would a TV, to be a little easier on my sensitive ears. I think there is no getting around the fact that if you can dull a sound source, then it is also possible to mute it completely. This is an all or nothing thing.

[Bunkeranlage]

The problem is that it most certainly will be abused.
Rapists will use it to silence their victims' screams, drunken parents will use it to silence their children when they lash out, and so on.

I'm not for using it to mute something, just more to lower the volume like you would a TV, to be a little easier on my sensitive ears. I think there is no getting around the fact that if you can dull a sound source, then it is also possible to mute it completely. This is an all or nothing thing.

Even if it's just lowering the volume, it can still be abused. Often, quiet cries for help are not any better than silenced ones.

[Great Nepal]

Subject to appropiate tests to confirm it doesn't damage child's development I don't see an issue.

[Purpelia]

The problem is that it most certainly will be abused.

Rapists will use it to silence their victims' screams, drunken parents will use it to silence their children when they lash out, and so on.

That logic can be applied to just about anything. The internet will be abused to pirate software. Video cameras will be abused to spy on people. Cars will be abused to run people down... You can abuse a fork to take someones eyes out. Does this mean we should all eat with our hands?

[Lost heros]

Dogs, children, math, teaching methods, is there are anything you don't have a problem with?

[Land of the Trolls]

Sounds better than duct tape.

[Gallade]

How could a device that would only work by either discouraging the child to vocalise or cutting off access to their vocal chords be considered harmless?

[L Ron Cupboard]

Seems like a good way of giving someone a stutter or other speech impediment.

[Pope Joan]

Adorable!

[Ifreann]

Seems like a good way of giving someone a stutter or other speech impediment.

Yeah, I can't see a kid learning to speak properly if they're screaming their lungs out and not making a sound.

[Great Nepal]

How could a device that would only work by either discouraging the child to vocalise or cutting off access to their vocal chords be considered harmless?

Not necessarily, the device could work similarly to noise cancelling headphones - it could hypothetically analyse the sound waves and create an area with wave in antiphase with the crying wave neutralizing it.

[The Holy Therns]

How could a device that would only work by either discouraging the child to vocalise or cutting off access to their vocal chords be considered harmless?

Probably only by being someone considering the parent's night sleep more important than the child's security.

[Ifreann]

How could a device that would only work by either discouraging the child to vocalise or cutting off access to their vocal chords be considered harmless?

Probably only by being someone considering the parent's night sleep more important than the child's security.

Crying children are probably oppression, like suits, or being asked questions in class, or dogs.

[The Holy Therns]

Probably only by being someone considering the parent's night sleep more important than the child's security.

Crying children are probably oppression, like suits, or being asked questions in class, or dogs.

What would (this or that person from Game of Thrones) do!?

[Laerod]

Crying children are probably oppression, like suits, or being asked questions in class, or dogs.

What would (this or that person from Game of Thrones) do!?

Push the child out of a window, clearly.

[Aethrys]

Should be subsidized and it should be mandatory for the monsters to wear one while in public. You could fit them with GPS trackers in order to appeal to helicopter parents. At the very least make their use a requirement before engaging in air travel.

[Purpelia]

How could a device that would only work by either discouraging the child to vocalise or cutting off access to their vocal chords be considered harmless?

Probably only by being someone considering the parent's night sleep more important than the child's security.

The parents deserve what they are getting. It was their choice to breed so they should have to live with the consequences. But the rest of us should not be required to suffer because someone else selfishly decided his genes were so important for the future of the human race that he absolutely needs to produce offspring.

Should be subsidized and it should be mandatory for the monsters to wear one while in public.

Amen to that.

[Apparatchikstan]

People tend to forget the flipside of child rearing. No one goes into parenting with any credentials, and so they have to develope alongside the children. In my experience, measures of expediency, like the proposed device, lead to unintended consequences that create more or worse problems down the road for either the growth of the child or the parent.

[Purpelia]

People tend to forget the flipside of child rearing. No one goes into parenting with any credentials, and so they have to develope alongside the children. In my experience, measures of expediency, like the proposed device, lead to unintended consequences that create more or worse problems down the road for either the growth of the child or the parent.

But they create good for the rest of society. And the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.

[Lost heros]

People tend to forget the flipside of child rearing. No one goes into parenting with any credentials, and so they have to develope alongside the children. In my experience, measures of expediency, like the proposed device, lead to unintended consequences that create more or worse problems down the road for either the growth of the child or the parent.

But they create good for the rest of society. And the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.

Until those silenced children grow up to become society. And then we have a generation who don't speak because they grew up thinking it would be useless.

[The South Polish Union]

but weve had pacifiers for years already...

[Purpelia]

But they create good for the rest of society. And the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.

Until those silenced children grow up to become society. And then we have a generation who don't speak because they grew up thinking it would be useless.

If you have a device that does what this thing is supposed to be it would be trivial to set it up so that it only blocks sound beyond a certain level of volume. It's as easy as fitting an air pressure sensor. So you'd only end up with a generation that thinks shouting and screaming is useless. Hell, they may graduate to actually speaking properly sooner.