http://mboard.scifi.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Board=BattlestarGalactica&Number=1743009&Searchpage=1&Main=1730125&Words=+SaintLucifer&topic=&Search=true#Post1743009
It's Sun Tzu.
I must say that is a real solid argument Siphra. However it doesn’t excuse cruel amoral behavior. At this point the humans in the show have a lot of evidence that torturing Cylons is pointless and talking to them at all is dangerous. “Do not waste your time in unprofitable pursuits†Sun Tsue (unsure of spelling). Beating such a well organized, relentless and dangerous enemy as the Cylons will take the best efforts human kind can offer. Anything less than our best aint gonna get it done. Nope a nice clean bullet threw the head is the way to go.
Your argument does have one major potential flaw. You assume sentient machines will have motivations similar to our own. I say “potential†because there is no reason to assume they will not copy human motivations but there is also no reason to assume they will. On the one hand the basic programming may reflect all the greed and cruelty that is in us but on the other their basic purpose will be to serve or else, as you say, why build them at all? When we do build them, and we will, I think we should control the off switch! But hopefully we will be building strong partners and not strong enemies.
It's Sun Tzu.