Nothing, unless you stand to gain or lose.
What are other people's lives worth?
- Thread starter francois
- Start date
Nothing, unless you stand to gain or lose.
I try
Oh, I try. Sometimes I miss. Like when Randy Johnson loses control of his slider.
Ugly, ugly, ugly; the hitters never could duck fast enough. If they were lucky, the ball sailed free to the backstop and everyone just laughed.
MrManganese said:
Oh, I try. Sometimes I miss. Like when Randy Johnson loses control of his slider.
Ugly, ugly, ugly; the hitters never could duck fast enough. If they were lucky, the ball sailed free to the backstop and everyone just laughed.
well i can put it in a simple way, i would kill 10,000 random strangers to save the life of any one of my firneds or family members, without even slight hesitation.
i would wipe out the entire population of china or india to save my wife. again without hesitation. selfish yes do i care? no.
peace.
i would wipe out the entire population of china or india to save my wife. again without hesitation. selfish yes do i care? no.
peace.
Enmos
Valued Senior Member
Dont worry, it is only natural
yeah it does make me sound like a slight monster though. but i wont lie its true i would.
peace.
Like with most anything, it would depend on the stakes. Could I volunteer myself instead to protect the loved-one?? Does everybody have to die?
If so, then I would rather choose what orleander said and go out with the loved one.
If not, I would kill some of my extended family members first and the only person that I would save first before anyone else is my own child period. Even my mate would be on it's own. Then the rest of the world would come next.
If so, then I would rather choose what orleander said and go out with the loved one.
If not, I would kill some of my extended family members first and the only person that I would save first before anyone else is my own child period. Even my mate would be on it's own. Then the rest of the world would come next.
Yep, it's like many things in life ....we're not supposed to say it even though it's how most of us actually feel. Society/culture is training us to be idealistic liars!
And yet everyone talks about how truth is so important. Odd, huh?
Baron Max
Baron Max said:
A good point, Baron. If it seems odd, part of that strangeness may well derive from the all-too-common error that one person's idea of truth is a real and absolute truth.
We lie to children, for instance. But why? What is the point of teaching children compassion and sharing and being a constructive part of the community when it seems the majority of adults "admit" that such notions aren't practical?
Is it that we're aspiring toward something better, and then forgetting that aspiraton as life's grim realities intrude upon our consciences, or that we're simply trying to make child-rearing more convenient for the caretakers?
I usually think of it as idealism running amok ....without consideration of the realities of the world. In other words, for me, idealism without the tempering of reality is nothing more than foolish words.
Baron Max
Well I would submit that there are quite a few foolish words here. The hypothetical "X people or Y people" saved in this situation is defined as (X = family, Y = others), and knowing that some family members are abusive assholes and some stranger stands for all that you might believe in and desire... why is it so easy to say, "Well, I'll save one family member and forget about five strangers" without thinking about who and why?
Yeah yeah, idealism vs. pragmatism, and all that. Like I said, "in the absence of quality one is equal to one."
Yeah yeah, idealism vs. pragmatism, and all that. Like I said, "in the absence of quality one is equal to one."
None of you all care too much about reversibility of actions, do you? By "reversibility of actions" I mean the Golden Rule in a more general sense. If you're a sane person, you would agree that a person letting 10,000 others die to save one of his family members isn't a maxim that is sustainable for everybody. If you're a sane person, you should agree that people shouldn't go by that rule. It would spiral out of control and many people would resultantly needlessly die. And yet, you're saying that's exactly what you would do.
I am always careful to be honest, courteous and unselfish. The reason I try to be these things, is because I wouldn't want to live in a world where everybody lied, cheated and was a selfish asshole. If you don't want to live in that kind of world, doesn't it intrinsically make sense that you should do your part?
Well, it's too bad that you don't want it, because that's the world ye're livin' in.
It makes sense, sure, ....but try to live like that in the present world and see where it gets you.
One honest, courteous, unselfish person amongst billions of dishonest, discourteous, selfish people don't make much sense either, does it?
And once again, the idealism is easy to proclaim, but damned difficult to accomplish in reality.
Baron Max
Agreeing with it and seeing it happen all the time are two very different things, don't you agree?
Idealism is a wonderful thing, ain't it ...we can just spout flowery speeches and glorious human actions, but what does it mean in the world of reality? What does it accomplish?
Baron Max
lol so your calling me insane for having natural instincts, to protect my family and children from harm at any costs?. do you have children yourself?, and if you do could you look your little child in the face and say "i have to kill you for the good of many, your the minority here, and it would be insane to not kill you"
could you seriously kill your offspring?, personaly i could never do that. maybe its love, maybe its honour, maybe its my natural response as an animal to protect my family, maybe its all of the above. but i dont think its safe to call me insane for not wanting to kill my family to save random strangers.
but instead you would want to live in a world where people would sacrifice thier own children, to save random strangers. and you do live in a world full of selfish lying cheating assholes, havent you noticed lol?
peace.
MrManganese
Registered Member
First let me point out, in case anybody wasn't aware, that no logical argument can be considered sound unless it both begins and ends with "lol." (See above)
lol. That said.. I think the circumstances behind the situation are sort of important. People don't exist in a vaccuum, and the complexity of a situation deserves to be considered. What are we talking about here, killing your family members or allowing them to be killed? Are they being killed by an angry mob of random strangers and you happen to be on hand with an M249? Or are they being accidentally run over by a bus full of random strangers, and you're just up the street with an RPG? Whatever the case may be, there will be some circumstance behind it. I scoff at those of you who so eagerly pronounce that the lives of those you love are purely, simply, and regardless of circumstance, more worth preserving than anyone else's. Anybody who agrees with me should recognize that the question can draw responses from none other than the insane, because to answer it at all is to give legitimacy to a false dilemma. lol.
lol. That said.. I think the circumstances behind the situation are sort of important. People don't exist in a vaccuum, and the complexity of a situation deserves to be considered. What are we talking about here, killing your family members or allowing them to be killed? Are they being killed by an angry mob of random strangers and you happen to be on hand with an M249? Or are they being accidentally run over by a bus full of random strangers, and you're just up the street with an RPG? Whatever the case may be, there will be some circumstance behind it. I scoff at those of you who so eagerly pronounce that the lives of those you love are purely, simply, and regardless of circumstance, more worth preserving than anyone else's. Anybody who agrees with me should recognize that the question can draw responses from none other than the insane, because to answer it at all is to give legitimacy to a false dilemma. lol.
Your "family" would manage to last to 3-4 inbred retarded generations and be completely forgotten instead of "heros" of humanity.
Unless your a biblethumper whom thinks he's got mad Adam genes and fuck his sister/daughter whatever and get kids that live 900 years. Wait don't answer that.
I would have to agree......If hundreds or thousands of strangers had to die, for me to save my family.....I would press the red button....kaboom