How did I get downvoted for this? All it would have taken for either of the companies not to fight is for them to show a little bit of humanity or professionalism.
I am NOT saying that it was ethical to attempt to trick them into fighting -- that would be a false dichotomy on the part of the reader. To me it IS unethical to attempt to trick people into fighting.
I am saying that even with attempts to trick, the people still had the power to choose to fight or not. The person who "tricked" them is NOT responsible for the other people's choice to fight. He did not take away their power to choose and he cannot take it away. To me, to give that person power over their choices is also morally unacceptable.
lol you and me both my friend, I dropped a lot of karma on this convo...
I actually WAS saying it's not unethical any more than bluffing in poker is unethical.
but I guess people can downmod as they see fit
herp derp I obviously meant it to the most extreme case possible.
I could counterargue that I gave my word not to do any wanton killing and therefore it's prohibited and then I can wedge whatever I want into that system.
it should have been totally obvious that my original statement was related to business strategy, not homicide.
I'm well aware that I have a looser sense of ethics than average, but ethics is a cultural construct that can be debated on its own merits.
Not abusing trust, not breaking promises and not being violent are the core tenets of my ethical/moral beliefs - the violence one is just not relevant to business discussions. I've often discussed this with people who have stricter codes that are adhered to less stringently.
your comment verges on ad hominem. If somebody wants to twist my words to make their point, yeah they'll get a little sarcasm in return.
OP was not a mod or a personal friend or an employee, just another random person submitting stuff from the internet, so there was no special trust relationship to be abused.
