Can you be the person who does it?

[DiamondDust]

i saw this thread on another site and i thought it would be really good to discuss.
this thread isnt to express how much you dont care about people and how much of an extremist you are.

these are random situations.

#1: you are in the time of the holocaust. you are in a basement hiding from nazi's with 4 more adults. you have a small child whom is your own, around 3 months of age. the child is crying and the nazi's will find you if it doesnt stop. the only way to stop the child from crying is to smother it and kill it. could you be the person to do this?

#2: you are on the sinking titanic. the situation is chaotic. there is one lifeboat left. you have the decision to get on the lifeboat or let a mother and a child get on the lifeboat. what would you do?

#3: your dog has just been hit by a car. it is suffering horribly. could you be the person to shoot it to end its pain, or would you let someone else do it?

#4 by kingdrom: You walking along the sidewalk in a large city. Your best friend is walking with you until he has an unexpected seizure and darts onto a busy street. He is unresposive to whatever you say, and two hundred feet away there is a semi speeding towards him, blissfully unaware that a person is in front of him. If you hesitate, then he will be killed by the speeding truck. Do you go out and save him, risking your own life?

if you can think of any other hard decisions please post them so other people can answer them. here are my answers.

#1: i could not be the one to smother the baby. i would feel too guilty.

#2: i would let them on the boat. i would have a better chance at finding another way to survive than them. so it would be the better decision IMO.

#3: i really am a self preserver. i dont like to feel bad things and i dont like to face things if they cause strong emotions. so i would have to let someone else to it and have them never mention it again.

#4: it would be really hard to think on my feet like that. but i would jump into the street to push him out of the way of the bus. it is sort of compulsive.

 

[chaos]

all of them would die, im not going to value the life of some stranger over my own. it's not hard until you have an actual connection with the person you are helping - for instance, if i had to smother my own brother to survive.

 

[DiamondDust]

yeah, thats what i said in my answer too, venom.

chaos; it seems these decisions arent as hard as they seem... what would be a hard decision for you that i could put as the third question?

 

[Kira]

i saw this thread on another site and i thought it would be really good to discuss.
this thread isnt to express how much you dont care about people and how much of an extremist you are.

these are random situations.

#1. you are in the time of the holocaust. you are in a basement hiding from nazi's. you have a small child, around 3 months of age. the child is crying and the nazi's will find you if it doesnt stop. the only way to stop the child from crying is to smother it and kill it. could you be the person to do this?

If that were the only option then I would have to kill it. Of course, it is one of the hardest things in the world to kill your own child, so I am unsure if I would actually be able to do it.

#2. you are on the sinking titanic. the situation is chaotic. there is one lifeboat left. you have the decision to get on the lifeboat or let a mother and a child get on the lifeboat. what would you do?

I would get on it and offer to have the mother and child sit on my lap. If that option is impossible than I will give up my spot and force another person off the life boat by force, preferably the oldest since they will die sooner anyway.

 

[DiamondDust]

kira. thats a good alternate decision for the second question. she cannot sit on your lap because the life boat can only support so much weight, though.

hm, im going to fix up the first one. its supposed to mention that there is a couple more people.
im still trying to find suggestions for the third question.

 

[Stathakis]

then she and her child together might be too heavy anyways.

oh and i sigged venom's reply

 

[DiamondDust]

they are not too heavy for the boat.

 

[Stathakis]

well in that case, take the kid and leave the woman. she can screw her way onto a boat. we could get into specifics here, but I'm pretty sure that the kid and you (the average adult man) are light enough if the woman with the kid is as well. the boat won't either sink or float over a 2 kilo difference

 

[blastoiselover100]

1. Fuck this dumb kid, I want to not be gassed.

2. Do I really know this person? If not then she can die. There were not really many lifeboats on the Titanic, so if I could get one, I would, regardless of a mother and child dying, because if it is not her, it is just someone else. If I know them, I guess they might live depending on how much I like the,.

 

[Stathakis]

on the first one, I'd probably put my finger to my lips with an urgent look. if the kid didn't shut the fuck up, I'd probably roll my eyes to help him understand that I regret killing him and he brought it upon himself by being a loudass. then, I'd kill him. I'd feel guilty at first, but then I'd decide that they'd just gas him when they kill everyone, so I was really just saving people.

 

[chaos]

on the first one, I'd probably put my finger to my lips with an urgent look.

it's 3 months old, what the fuck is that going to do?

 

[DiamondDust]

i know. a 3 year old isnt going to understand you want it to shut the fuck up.

stath, the whole point is, the mother and her child weighed about the same as you. so it was you or her and her child.

 

[Kira]

Like I said, knowing that it can only be me or the mother with the child, I would throw the oldest guy off the boat and then all of us could get on since we would not way too much.


Edit: That haunter avatar is awesome.

 

[Aeroblacktyl]

fuck that, i'm getting on the boat. and that wouldn't apply to just you. every single person on the boat could have also had that situation, and they sure as fuck aren't lining up to give up their spots

 

[Dragontamer]

Kira... your responses are nothing like Kira's :-p He would obviously not hesistate to kill. In fact, if needed, he'd manipulate someone else to do the killings so he wouldn't have to deal with the guilty looks from everyone else.

I would say that logically, I'd want to be the one. However, I know myself that well. I cannot do something like that. I look at myself and I know I'm not a killer, even if it would save many lives.

 

[Zephyrman]

In the first situation, I'd quite happily hit the child hard enough to knock him/her out. And choking until he/she is knocked out but not dead is an option too I guess.

 

[makiri]

I'm pretty sure you can quiet a child without killing it, I mean we do have a nose for a reason. Calmly cover their mouth with your hand and wait. Anyway I will do anything it takes so that I survive, sure I may have some horrible feelings inside, but I will take self-preservation and having bad memories/feelings rather than be dead and feel good about myself. Its the natural state of being, survival of the fittest, do what it takes to keep yourself alive. Killing my family would feel terrible, but you have to move on, its not like we live in a tragedy free world.

 

[Altmer]

Is that a random baby or is it my own?

 

[DiamondDust]

it is your child.
please no alternate situations, i know these arent exactly gold situations and they have their loopholes. please someone figure out a third question? one that doesnt have a loop hole.

o-shi- i just thought of a third one. it will be in the third post in a second.

 

[Kingdrom]

1) Of course. Babies are a pain anyways (I know I sound heartless, but I'm being truthful). They don't have a conscience, long term memory or realization that others are human beings as important as them. Basically, they don't know what is happening or the circumstances, meaning he won't feel remorse that he is being sacrificed. Chances are I wouldn't be discovered if the baby stopped crying. It's sad that during the Holocaust these people that wouldn't kill their baby are forced to stand in a line leading to the gassing chamber or flames engulfing the countryside, waiting in line to die. That is the worst thing you could ever go through, waiting to die. Dying is easy, waiting is hard. The fact is that you may be doing the baby a good thing by not letting it be tortured by Nazi's.

2) I would take the lifeboat myself. Again, why would I sacrifice my life for someone else who would leave me behind if they had the same choice. Live and learn- take care of yourself first, because if you don't then what gives you the right to take care of others?

3) I would probably shoot the dog. Puts it out of it's misery nice and easy. I don't see how this is much different than bringing it to the vet, it would seem that this is an option of less magnitude than the first two. You don't come close to dying if you shoot the dog.

I thought of one too:

You walking along the sidewalk in a large city. Your best friend is walking with you until he has an unexpected seizure and darts onto a busy street. He is unresposive to whatever you say, and two hundred feet away there is a semi speeding towards him, blissfully unaware that a person is in front of him. If you hesitate, then he will be killed by the speeding truck. Do you go out and save him, risking your own life?

 

[DM]

#1: Kill the kid, it isn't specified as my own.

#2. I'd let the woman and child on. If this is truly taking place on the Titanic, then the year is 1912 and I'm gentlemanly enough to let women and children off and go down with the ship. That's how things were done back then. If it's today, I probably throw the kid into the water myself. Self-preservation is a strong reaction.

#3. I'm not big on killing animals, so if there was someone else around willing to kill the dog, I'd let them. If it were only me, I'd do it.

 

[DiamondDust]

kingdrom, thats perfect for question 4. ill put it up there
you make good points in all the answers. it is better for everyone including the baby so it can die a peaceful death instead of being gased. =[.
dm, it is your child, ill make that more apparent

 

[keloggsequent]

#1: you are in the time of the holocaust. you are in a basement hiding from nazi's with 4 more adults. you have a small child whom is your own, around 3 months of age. the child is crying and the nazi's will find you if it doesnt stop. the only way to stop the child from crying is to smother it and kill it. could you be the person to do this?

Just find a way to hush the kid. I would kill it if there were no other option because even if you don't kill it and get caught, you're probably in for something much worse than a guilty conscience.

#2: you are on the sinking titanic. the situation is chaotic. there is one lifeboat left. you have the decision to get on the lifeboat or let a mother and a child get on the lifeboat. what would you do?

Fuck that, if I can find a boat to save me in, so can they.

#3: your dog has just been hit by a car. it is suffering horribly. could you be the person to shoot it to end its pain, or would you let someone else do it?

Yes

#4 by kingdrom: You walking along the sidewalk in a large city. Your best friend is walking with you until he has an unexpected seizure and darts onto a busy street. He is unresposive to whatever you say, and two hundred feet away there is a semi speeding towards him, blissfully unaware that a person is in front of him. If you hesitate, then he will be killed by the speeding truck. Do you go out and save him, risking your own life?

Well this situation doesn't seem that hard to solve. 200 ft is far away enough for me to run over to my friend and shove them out of the way.

 

[Altmer]

I would save the mother and child, that is for sure. If the baby is my own, I would definitely not kill it. I'd rather die honestly than live guiltily.

 

[cookie]

i saw this thread on another site and i thought it would be really good to discuss.
this thread isnt to express how much you dont care about people and how much of an extremist you are.

these are random situations.

#1: you are in the time of the holocaust. you are in a basement hiding from nazi's with 4 more adults. you have a small child whom is your own, around 3 months of age. the child is crying and the nazi's will find you if it doesnt stop. the only way to stop the child from crying is to smother it and kill it. could you be the person to do this?
As cruel as it sounds, yes, even my own child. I doubt my ability to kill my own child in practice, however.

#2: you are on the sinking titanic. the situation is chaotic. there is one lifeboat left. you have the decision to get on the lifeboat or let a mother and a child get on the lifeboat. what would you do?
I get on the lifeboat, so heroics. Sure, I will live in guilt for some time but I will be alive.

#3: your dog has just been hit by a car. it is suffering horribly. could you be the person to shoot it to end its pain, or would you let someone else do it?
Do it myself. No problem with this whatsoever, the dog will die anyway.

#4 by kingdrom: You walking along the sidewalk in a large city. Your best friend is walking with you until he has an unexpected seizure and darts onto a busy street. He is unresposive to whatever you say, and two hundred feet away there is a semi speeding towards him, blissfully unaware that a person is in front of him. If you hesitate, then he will be killed by the speeding truck. Do you go out and save him, risking your own life?
Tough one. I reckon I could make the judgement quickly enough, and act accordingly. The semi will hit my friend in x seconds and if my judgement is that I can get to him/her in less than x seconds than yes.