User blog comment:Piratehunter/A Moral Argument/@comment-1872981-20100828174912/@comment-817904-20100828180412

Everything stems from free will. Even Instinct. Without free will, you cannot decide, I'll get to that later (below). But that is beside my point just now. I am not saying you use the apple and turn people into mindless zombies. In fact, the only reason the Apple did such a thing to the people of Masyaf was because Al Mualim, literally will'ed it that they do nothing but obey them as a mindless crowd. The Apple does not interfere with intellectual or things such as that, unless the possessor wills such a thing. And the goal of the Templars is not to do will it, but simply to will the masses to cease conflict. Of course, we hit a paradox here. Without conflict then we cannot question fact. Well, again, the power of the Apple is not absolute in magnitude, as you know, it is only as powerful as the possessor wills. Hell you could give the masses all free will, then at the single instant of possible war, you activate it and revoke the free will, and basically reset them, and point them in an opposite direction. So it is not that you are completely, at a single instant, killing all free will, it is that you are controlling the use of free will, which makes it not free will anymore, but simply "allowed intellect."

Think of it as not revoking free will, but as renting it to the masses. You allow it until it causes problems, then revoke it set them in another direction, away from the problem, and give it back. Like... a wind-up toy if you will ;)

...Wow... you know what? I'm beginning to sound like a Templar O_O... I may possess the philosophical views of the Assassins, but as for the good of mankind... I hate to admit it but... I may be a Templar [gasp!] O_o