Final Exam, Question #9: Ring of Gyges « The Power of Choice Compels You!

The Ring of Gyges is an ancient myth, passed on through the years, and kept alive by Plato.  The story is that of a simple man, how during a storm in which the earth opened up, found a ring in the ground.  This simple man put on the ring, and later found that if he turned the ring a certain way, he became invisible.  When he found this out, and realized that he could act without repercussion, he went to the castle, and convinced the Queen to conspire with him against the King.  He used his powers to kill the king, and take the thrown for himself.  This story is the basis for many popular works of fiction throughout the years, in which a hero or villain finds themselves imbued with special powers, or a means to act without consequence.  It is believed by some, that a something so powerful should not exist and must be destroyed. It is my belief, that if I were to posses something that had the ability to do so much good, I would be bound by my responsibility to my fellow man, to ensure that the ring was used for good.

"With great power, comes great responsibility."  This quote can be traced back to a variant of it, by Socrates, but was made very famous by Stan Lee in his use of it in the comic Spiderman. This quote infers that if an individual is graced with great power, they have a great responsibility when it comes to use it.  One must be pure of mind and judgement in order to avoid having the absolute power corrupt their human nature. I myself, understand my character flaws and shortcomings.  I am a very passionate person, almost to a fault.  A lot of times in my day to day life, I act on impulse.  Although my intentions are for the most part always good, and unselfish, the results I have seen over the years have not always been favorable.  My responsibility to ensure that the Ring of Gyges was used for good would require me to find the correct and proper person to wield it, and use it for humanitarian purposes.

This would be no easy task, because in order to properly observe the true nature of an individual, their day to day lives would have to be observed in an unbiased setting.  Most likely, I would use the ring to do nothing more than spy on humanitarians, firefighters, and law enforcement until I found someone who I felt would use the ring for good.  No human is perfect in character, and we all have our flaws.  But my belief is, that if someone chooses to sacrifice their own well being to protect and assist others day in and day out, the chances of them using such power for good, is far better than someone like myself.

One might argue that by waiting, and holding onto the ring until I found the right candidate is unjust, and there is so much good that can be done while I am touring the globe to find someone to wield it.  To those critics, I would merely say that the time spent finding someone would be more useful than the time it would take to repair any damage that my impulses would do.

This may seem like a far fetched answer, because it is hard to believe someone would pass up the hedons they could receive from such a ring, but in truth, I know my own nature.  One are I have always been strong in, is my ability to judge and predict other peoples nature.  Although I may not be able to predict the outcome of my own actions, I am fairly good at seeing the good, and the bad in others.  I believe that in order to properly do good, we must be able to look into our own souls, and understand our strengths and weaknesses.  In order to accomplish the most good possible with such a powerful item, I would give up the Ring of Gyges to another. This would ensure the most good could come to the most people, not just my personal gain.