The Clark Kent Dilemma

Actually, Superman can pull off such things as time meddling, like he did in Superman the Motion Picture, however we all know that everytime youd do something like that you risk opening a dorr or window to something much, much worse.

Realistically though with superman, he can be omniscient over a few hundred miles. He also has pretty good hunches on where trouble is going to be and as Clark Kent gets access to some of the latest breaking stories from around the world. You've seen the shots in Superman Returns the Daily Planet has hundreds of TV on every station imaginable around the planet. A being like superman who can multitask thousands of things at once can do his job and prioritize what things he deals with. After all if local authorities have it in hand no need for Superman to arrive and steal the thunder. But if there is nothing on Earth that could solve the problem he makes a beeline.

In the end every person would have to make a choice of just when do I interfere. Do I try to stop everything, or just help out where the police, EMT and even the military are spread too thin or completely uncapable of the job? Not to mention stopping the occasional petty crime when I am in the immediate area.
 
Hey, why are you guys posting here? you could be out putting blankets on homeless people and drug addicts sleeping on the streets.
 
TW Scott said:
In the end every person would have to make a choice of just when do I interfere. Do I try to stop everything, or just help out where the police, EMT and even the military are spread too thin or completely uncapable of the job? Not to mention stopping the occasional petty crime when I am in the immediate area.
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Well duh. The OP spells that out pretty well in the OP.

If you have the power to stop anything and everything bad, should you?
Only if it maximizes utility.
 
Simon Anders said:
And while you were typing in your post you could have been 1) sending money to a good charity that will feel starving kids somewhere in the world 2) roaming the streets of a major city where there has been a series of rapes hoping to catch the perpetrator just before another crime 3) brainstorming solutions to some issue like unclean drinking water in the third world 4) starting a letter writing campaign to help those in trouble in Darfur 5) voluteering at a homeless shelter where a kind word and some support might get someone off the streets back in the work world and not dying at an early age.....

...

I like your question. I am not trying to undermine it, but the truth is, I believe, we all face Superman's choice.
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I think it's a matter of perspective. Would you agree there is a difference between a crime happening in front of me, such as burglary or a rape, that I could prevent versus sitting at my desk pondering the many different ways I could use my time to better the world? One is reactive while the other is proactive, and the Superman situation is pretty much entirely the former. Does that change your mind at all?
 
Asguard said:
You have an ambo crew, they are the only one working out of that station (the next station might be 100km away, we are talking country NOT city here) a call comes in cat 2 (check below for translation). Now at least 50% of Cat 2 calls are wrongly labled as Cat 2 when they should be Cat 3. They are exusted from a 14 hour shift but if they DONT go someone MAY die. Of course if they DO go someone may die in a trafic acident from there own mestake caused by fatigue. If they dont the pt may have to wait up to an hour for the second ambo to get there (ambulances can only go 40km\h above the speed limit lights and sirencs by policy, if they are going faster and they get caught by a speed camra THEY have to justify it to the judge the ambulance service wont help and if they lose there licence they lose there job) Do they go?
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The difference between your hypothetical situation and Superman's is the uncertainty factor. When the ambo crew makes a decision to not go based on whatever information they have available, your cat3, possibly cat2, guy MAY die. But Superman with his powers can know enough about the situation, even if he's 50 miles away, to make a properly informed decision on whether or not the guy WILL die. There's almost no uncertainty involved.

Not to mention that in your situation, the ambo crew makes a decision to not go in order to possibly better use their time to save people. With the Clark Kent dilemma, Superman is choosing to live a normal life at the possible expense of saving people.
 
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