Poll: A strange hypothetical question

[Katherine Kerensky]

Yeah, I'd take the offer.
After all, it's only taking the blame, not actually committing them.
And I'm sure smart people could figure out that it wasn't actually me to blame. If not, doesn't matter, dead.
Can do more with money than with no reputation while alive, anyway.

 

[Alarien]

THE F@#$@# do I care what people would think of me after I'm... DEAD?!

Seriously, what the bloody hell do I care?

Of course I would take an offer where the only "downside" appears after I'm a corpse? This is pretty much an all win scenario as far as I'm concerned.

Hell, even if I was worried about future portrayal, you know that about 50 years down the road, some revisionists looking to finish their dissertation would paint me in a completely different light... and they'd be correct!

I fail to see the problem.

 

[Autumnflame]

Ill give you an offer.

You will be given $1million dollars a year for the rest of your life, this reward will be disguised as lottery winnings and will not seem questionable to any friends or authorities.

BUT

After you are dead, you will take the blame for a series of murders and other atrocities that have absolutely nothing to do with this offer. All of your friends and family will be disgusted with you and your name will be recorded in history alongside names like Hitler, Jack the Ripper and Nicholas Cage. Your name will be forever tarnished.... but you'll be dead.

Do you accept this offer?

discussion value: Is your reputation after death worth more than any amount of compensation?

how dare you sully the good name of Mr cage. may you be forever trapped in a twilight book.

 

[stormeris]

Fuck yes, i don't give a shit what people think while im alive, why should i care if im dead???

Also Nicolas Cage is fucking awesome you filthy splasher!

 

[Riverwolf]

No. I don't want my children and grandchildren associated by relation with a mass murderer. Furthermore, I wouldn't do that to any of my surviving relatives, since among them I have a reputation as a kind, gentle soul. Sure, I'll be dead so it won't matter to me, personally, but it will matter to them, and that's enough for me to reject the offer.

Basically what Bathorys said (except for the atheist part )

'Course, let's assume for a moment that there's an afterlife. Let's also assume for a moment that it's similar to the afterlife I tentatively believe in (trust me, I'm going somewhere with this) wherein everyone ultimately ends up going to the same place, regardless of what's done in life. If that's the case, once people die, you can talk to them and easily clear things up, as you can ask the dead people thought to have been killed by you, and unless they're real snarky, they'll deny that I did it while pointing to the real killer.

But tentative or not, my belief in an afterlife no doubt raises the question: why, then, wouldn't I take the money even though I could do as I just said? My philosophy is this: whether there's an afterlife or not, it's better to live as if there weren't one. Better to live a single good life and entering oblivion more or less satisfied, rather than living 100 years suffering and then slowly drifting into eternal dreamless sleep with the one hope that there's more life after death (whether that be heaven or reincarnation/rebirth into a better life).

EDIT: BTW, potato, you say?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkoJD_ftq6Y

 

[Unsilenced]

That depends what kind of evil stuff I get blamed for. Is it sexy, badass evil stuff that will get my name in heavy metal songs, or will it just be like, normal everyday evil stuff where people just think "oh that's really sad?"

This is important. :v


In all seriousness though, it seems like I could just, like, leave a note saying "lol no I actually didn't do that, here's my totally perfect alibi."

The millions of dollars would be hard to explain though. Maybe if I donated half to puppies with cancer or something.

 

[Blow_Pop]

Yes. But only if I am a serial killer after death. I plan on not ever procreating and 99% of my family I care about will be dead by then. I don't care what my after death reputation says tbh.

 

[Blow_Pop]

Yes. But only if I am a serial killer after death. I plan on not ever procreating and 99% of my family I care about will be dead by then. I don't care what my after death reputation says tbh.

 

[Sir Thomas Sean Connery]

I would go for it for two reasons.

1) I believe that when I die, so does my consciousness. I won't be around to worry about it.

2) I would spend large quantities of the money of charity and social work as well as dedicating some of my time to making myself seem like the most altruistic person ever. Why? The internet arguments that would happen would be earthshatteringly hilarious.

Oh, and if my situation is at all related to Nicholas Cage, I'll pay YOU for the opportunity.

 

[Esotera]

So I get more money than I know what do with in life, and I'm remembered for the rest of history? Seeing as I'll be dead and not around to experience it, I don't really see that as a catch (and wouldn't particularly care if I was alive given the sums of money involved).

Also I would totally buy a load of eccentric things and subscribe to weird philosophies, so that the internet deathmatch after my demise is even more awesome.

 

[norashepard]

Knowing in advance that your actions throughout life would be vilified would actually pretty useful in a martyr kind of way. Use all the extra money to go on a spree of bad behavior, so when the time comes that you are immortalized as a villain, everyone becomes too uncomfortable doing all the bad things you did in life, and thus utopia is achieved!

This is of course oversimplifying, but still!

 

[Unsilenced]

An important question: If you don't take the money, do all the atrocities still happen? Does the person actually responsible get comeuppance,or at least the proper stain on their name? Or do we assume someone else takes the deal instead?

 

[Saulkar]

No, I will not put such a burden on those close to me. What if I died within a few years and left behind an abhorrent legacy that forever plagued my family?!

 

[Whispering Cynic]

Yes, yes I would. Untarnished reputation is of no use to the dead and I have no intention of having children.

 

[Shymer]

If I was younger, had not started a family and could choose to cultivate friendships or not and maximise the time/good I could bring about with that much money, then I think it looks a reasonable trade assuming a) the money coming my way had not been taken at the expense of anyone else and b) my taking the blame for various evils would not mean others actually responsible were not free to continue to perpetrate evil (if the atrocities I was being blamed for happened at all).

At my advanced age, with a large family and many friends, and probably few years left, then the good I could do with that money would be balanced against the potential suffering of my family and friends.

 

[Auron225]

I personally don't care about money so much as to emotionally scar my loved ones with no possibility to help them.

However, this question truly becomes morally gray when I think about how much good I could do with that much cash. Even if I didn't survive the year and only got the first million - there are no shortage of charities that need that. Is it worth it then? ... I actually don't know :/

Maybe if I was given the assurance that I will live to be at least 60. As others have pointed out - someone else getting away with said atrocities is another possible deal-breaker...

Good question OP

 

[Mylinkay Asdara]

Well as there is a 0% chance that my friends/family/anyone who's ever met me would believe any of the blame heaped on me and I would do a lot of good with the money for all those parties, myself, and several charitable organizations - AND the fact that I feel that history would eventually reveal the ruse and clear my name? sure.

I mean, unless all that bad stuff doesn't happen if I refuse the offer - in which case it's a no-brainer to pass.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

No. Immortality is achieved by being remembered long after you're dead. I'd rather not be immortalized by things I didn't do. I'd rather be remembered for things I actually did do. But then its more for my family's legacy than anything because I wouldn't want my daughter to have crap like that hanging over her head without ever knowing the truth.

 

[FPLOON]

Please... I've said "yes" even before you told me the consequences... (I must be a terrible person... *laughs* Or maybe I trust this deal more than that "contract" I was almost "tricked" into signing... *cancels reference flashback*)


Anyway, for the most part, the money I do end up getting through this would more than likely help out my family in some way, shape, or form... (What can I say? I would have more money than I would know what to do with... Also, I'm too nice to even try to screw my family over directly instead of indirectly...) Of course, by knowing what would happen after I die[footnote]Mistake #1... *laughs uncontrollably before coughing*[/footnote], my will will be saying some "obvious" word choices that would make my corpse less of the villain in this situation... in terms of my close family and friends, since like hell would I want them to defend my dead body somehow, regardless... (Hey, I didn't say I "trusted" my family with handling my funeral...)


Of course, I could just become another Lelouch vi Britannia of the West Coast Black American variety... *grins while chuckling through his teeth*

 

[Someone Depressing]

In highschool, we were doing a "what to do with your life" thing in social education. I answered, "not to be forgotten like 95% of the entire population will be or has been".

The electricity bill is now in the triple digits.

Win-win.

Will also make suitable table.

HOWEVER, if it's all just a conspiracy and the person who's offering me kills a bunch of people (40,000?) and it gets blamed on me and never gets looked on again, then na. Fuck dat. Call da popo cuz I'm poor but got morals innit.