Morality Question

[Kurokami]

I remember my English teacher asked me this question when I was in ninth grade, and ever since then I have been very interested in people's opinions. Let's say you are in a room connected to a separate room by a single door. A gun has been set up and rigged so that it will fire through the door hitting, if anything, whatever is on the other side. You have no idea what's on the other side of the door, but a man offers you $1 million to pull the trigger. Would you do it?

Yes supposing i can't be prosecuted for anything supposing i kill someone, cause clearly the guy knows whats on the other side (even if theres nothing and he's just checkin). On the other hand i'm not a perfect example of a human being.

Try this on,

3 people are tied onto a train track, you can pull a lever to make a train change direction and only crash into one person, do you do it?

(my answer would be yes, doom the one to save the many)

The next is you're a surgeon and there are 3 cases of people needing seperate organs (heart, liver, etc) a man needing stiches (or something minor) goes into surgery, you can easily kill him to save three people, would you do it?

(despite a similar result you're killing this guy (and consenquently saving three), where as in the other you're saving three (and consenquently killing one))

PS: those aren't my favorite morality questions, but they're famous ones so i wanted to share. Maybe someones got a different opinion?

 

[Yarkaz]

No, without question. The fact that he's offering me one million means that there probably is someone on the other side, and I'm what a lot of people on the internet would call a "wuss with morals." I wouldn't kill another person period, and the risk here is too high.

 

[hailmagus]

Sure I would. I could just blame him if it ended up me murdering someone, and still keep the 1 million.

I... don't think it works like that...

I would not... the whole time while I was reading the OP's post... all I saw on the other side of the door was my mom.

TaborMallory had a good point, even if he/she does act like a little prick sometimes. The chances of it being someone you care about are slim... like winning the lottery, I believe he/she said. But this isn't an everyday situation. All logic is pretty much thrown out of the window on this one. Most of us, if not all of us will never even see HALF of a million dollars (unless one of you is secretly Bill Gates) let alone know or see someone else with a million dollars.

 

[zacaron]

if a bullet can go thought the door then so can sound so I'd yell duck then pull the trigger, if the object is tied up and cant get out of the way then thats a shame

 

[Kriptonite]

No, I don't think I could live with killing an innocent person...if there was one at all.

 

[Booze Zombie]

Thing is, would I be accountable for my actions due to me being trapped or not?

 

[AbsoluteVirtue18]

No. I'm not that kind of person to let someone die for me to get what I want.

 

[ae86gamer]

It really depends on who or what is on the other side. If it means killing someone then I won't do it, but if I don't have to kill anyone then I wouldn't hesitate and pull the trigger in a second.

 

[Motiv_]

Am I not the only person who sees the huge similarity to the movie Button?

Press this button, and someone you don't know will die. But then you get 1 Million Dollars.

 

[Auron555]

No, because dollars are worthless in the UK.

Congratulations, you divided by zero for the win!

I would, because the chances are so ridiculously low of it hitting anything important. Think about it: there's an even chance that ANYTHING could be behind that door. Could be a pig. Could be a planet. Could be someone standing where it nicks their hand. I'd pull it IF the room were soundproof and I could take the money and leave without seeing the results.

 

[BonsaiK]

If someone puts you in a set-up like that, they're not exactly trustworthy. I wouldn't do it simply because I wouldn't count on seeing my $1m. Mind you, since a set-up like that would never occur to anyone anyway the question is a bit silly. Morality questions work better when they ask something that could actually feasibly happen to a person.

 

[AlexTheBucket2112]

Why not turn the gun on him and steal the million. Then open the door.

 

[rampantcreature]

I would. My reasoning is that by being placed in this predicament, it means that most likely on the other side of the door is either nothing, or a person in the same situation contemplating the same decision; so kill or be killed. It's not about the money I potentially gain, it's about the life I get to keep.

 

[digipinky75910]

I admit, some of you come up with creative ways of taking morality out of the situation, good for you. There is the question of how you got into this kind of kooky hypothetical question, but whatever. The real question here is, would you do evil if you had no knowledge of the consequences? Does not knowing the consequences release you from them? I'm sure there's many people in the world, your Bernie Madoffs who'd pull that trigger in a second. People build their own walls around them. There is no escaping responsibility, and if he is offering you a choice and you take it, then it is you pulling that trigger and no one else. Are you willing to play god?

I'm amused but also a little frightened by how many of you are assuming things not in evidence, such as, does the man *have* a million dollars and will he keep his word? Are you in any danger of refusing the deal? And does knowing the identity of the person who may or may not be in the next room change the fact that you hold their fate in your hand? I'm also amused by the amount of people who want to "play the odds" that the person is someone they do not want to destroy or someone they do. If this person wants to screw with you, I'm sure anyone could be in that room, and worst case scenario, tied up and unconcious at point-blank range of your weapon. Accuracy not a factor. Even if you hit someone in a non-lethal area, then what? You're going to save them with your years of medical training? Who said there was a nearby hospital in the equation? You have to allow for worst-case situation.

Some have said to use the money for charity. This then becomes Kantian vs Utilitarian ethics. Is the potential good of the charity money worth the potential death of one human being?

 

[Sightless Wisdom]

Hey, that's actually a decent question. It's admitedley a little disturbing, because anything could be in the room, or rather anyone. It could be somone I actually care about, or it could be nothing. If I didn't pull the trigger, does whatever is in the other room get set free, and do I get set free? Ifo so, I wouldn't risk it just for money.

 

[X Gintoki X]

No, seriously, who the fuck would risk killing someone for a million dollars?

dick cheney

 

[traceur_]

No, seriously, who the fuck would risk killing someone for a million dollars?

Me.

There's a very real chance that there's no one on the other side, if that was the case you just turned down 1 mirrion dorrar!

Fire and forget.