FADE IN.
Act 1
INT. SITTING ROOM - DAY
PETER is reading newspapers.
PETER (V.O.): What is that?
The caption of a small column catches his attention.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): "No fear, just shout"?
Peter reads the small prints.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The author is provoking the readers to behave in ways that may breach the law.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): Any author is answerable and responsible for his or her work.
Thinking.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): There's no indication that the author will shout himself.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): He's just inciting the readers to do it. Legal issues aside, can readers do their moral reasoning before making the moral decision?
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The smart ones shouldn't be fooled. But there're idiots everywhere, and at all levels.
Act 2
INT. STUDY - DAY
Peter is watching TV news. We hear: ...wearing a face mask isn't compulsory...
PETER (V.O.): Individuals' behaviour in public have consequences on themselves and society at large.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It's unthinkable to Asian culture that wearing a face mask in public in pandemic times can be such a difficult and politically-charged matter.
Peter checks his Quora notifications.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Even now, some people in US still believe CONVID-19 is a hoax.
Peter reads on.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Their countrymen are less kind, calling them idiots, not knowing their omissions would also impact on others adversely.
Peter surfs the web.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): In the 1970s, a US professor cooked up some basic laws of stupidity.
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Law 1: Everyone underestimates the number of stupid people around us...
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Yes, people are misled by superficial factors such as education level or job position.
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Law 2: A person's stupidity is independent of that person's other characteristics...
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Yes, there're stupid people in all walks of life, from university professors to heads of States.
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Law 3: A stupid person causes harm to others without gaining anything...
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Yes, there're die-hards who act consistently at all times with unyielding idiocy, like those arrested on July 1, 2020 in Hong Kong, China.
Peter surfs the web.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): There was a controlled study regarding the basic laws of stupidity. One inference was that the stupid people believed what they did have subjective utility to them, and also to the welfare of their peers.
Thinking.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): But the increase of their subjective value would reduce the objective value of the rest of the society.
Pondering.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): That motivates the stupid people to persist in behaving in their stupid way - just like the mask wearing issue in the West.
Reflecting.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Can people live and let live to avoid unnecessary conflicts?
Peter shakes his head sideways.
Act 3
INT. STUDY - CONTINUOUS
Peter is in thoughts.
PETER (V.O.): Morality is the inherent societal standards and norms. They regulate human relationships by preventing or mediating human conflicts.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Only humans have the potential capacity to analyse moral choices and make moral decisions ie the commitment to do what is good.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): In doing their moral reasoning, they should weigh their actions against potential consequences; taking into consideration their ethical relationship with others.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): About that newspaper column, it's really immoral for an author to incite the readers to do something that may have grave consequences, legal issues aside.
INT. SITTING ROOM - NIGHT
Watching TV, Peter feels something.
PETER (V.O.): In the second half of 2019, I heard lone souls shouting slogans around this time every night. I thought they should be friends of mental institutions.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Since 2020, I haven't heard any. Have they evolved and can do some moral reasoning?
THE END
FADE OUT.
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