Poll: Save One Or Save Many

[Arakasi]

I'm amazed by the number of selfish people in this thread.
The results of the poll really suprised me.

 

[malestrithe]

I don't know what I would do in that situation. I have never been in it and hopefully would never place myself in it. I can tell you that, ideally, I would choose to save the many.

Unless my loved one happens to be a doctor, which would make it a lot easier to justify why I'm saving them.

 

[Heronblade]

Anyone remember that movie where you press a button, someone you don't know dies, and you get money? I think there was meant to be some sort of emotional conflict in that film, I dunno. I'd be hammering that button.

That reminds me [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBNOXYlYswA] rather amusing short on a similar topic

OT: Depends all too heavily on the details. If given no time to think or react in any manner other than instinctive, the loved one. Otherwise, I don't know, but would likely lean towards the many.

 

[neonsword13-ops]

NO!!

Not the InFamous issue!

*Save the one you love
or
*Save the thousands

[small]shit quality video is shit[/small]

Just because I'm a paragon, I choose save the thousands.

 

[zehydra]

There is no situation where the salvation of one 100% condemns the rest, so I'd save who I care about, then save as many people that I can. It's not my fault if they don't survive, I am not responsible for saving people's lives.

 

[mirage202]

Too easy, my wife, she is a known quantity (also a Biologist working on cancer research).

Those thousands of others, it would suck, but in cold unforgiving reality, the chance of one of those people curing cancer, or bringing about world peace, is far far less likely than them being rapists, murders, serial killers, common scum, or a 9-5 desk jockey.

My wife holds special meaning to me, those other people? well there are billions more exactly like them that will never cross my path or have any impact in my life. That and there is an even chance they will have the same choice to make, if they choose not to act, too bad for them.

 

[Dan Steele]

Lets see: sacrifice the only rare, 1 in a million sexy girl, that I will probably never get again in my entire existence OR a large group of narcissistic humans in a petty society that hates me and will probably forget mine and her sacrifice in a few months. Sorry, but I will take the loved one any day.

 

[rednose1]

I'd save the many. Just because they aren't important to me doesn't mean they aren't important to someone else, and either way I'd feel terrible, knowing I could've prevented a close friend's/many people's deaths, but didn't.

 

[Dan Steele]

The loved one. I feel horrible for admitting it, but if it was a choice between thousands of people and my cat, I'd save my cat in a heartbeat. Besides, there's too many people in the world already. Thinning out the population a bit would probably be good for it.

Can I be guilty with you? I have the exact same thoughts

 

[Vault101]

yeah...but...not just literally

we cant comprehend 1000 people, they are jsut a humber. But my point is they are important because they are people, not that I can understand choosing the loved one

but if you could imagine that WE and OUR loved ones were on the other side of this equation..get what I mean? I'm not about to say 1000 other people dontmatter...because to so many people out there "I" am just one of those "other people"

What do you mean by we?


I have been in several places with 1,000 others, and it is not hard at all to imagne being in their shoes, 1000 brothers, sisters, mothers, sons. The grief you will cause by killing them, comparable to a small natural disaster bur aggraviated by beind done not by chance or God, but by a human.

Still, I would kill each and everyone of those with a knife before letting the person I love the most or I die. Of course after that i would probably be quite mental, but the other option is just one that i would never take, no matter what.

Edit: Nothign against your PoV, it's just that the phrase "we cant comprehend X" almost always rubs me the wrong way. We can comprenhend almost anything we can ennunciate if we give it a little time to think about it.

"we"..as in you or "I" not all together at the same time (if that makes sense)

but we actually "cant" comprehend 1000 people, you cant cry/greive for 1000 individuals like you would 1 that ment alot to you...its the way our brains are wired

this explains it better http://www.cracked.com/article_14990_what-monkeysphere.html

 

[Texas Joker 52]

Personally, I'd save the loved one, and hope that either they don't know, or don't mind. Besides, it also depends on the many that would die. Are they ALWAYS going to be people who can better the world? Whats the statistical probability of that many people actually willing and able to make life in general for the world better? I'd have to say slim to none.

Not only that, I'm a misanthrope. The only humans you can really make me feel for are the ones I generally know and love. Yes, there's probably loads of great people out there, who are willing and able to make a difference, but they tend to be overshadowed by the majority of cruel, hypocritical idiots that make up most of the populace. So, chances on most of those people that die instead being idiots are pretty good. If so, I'd consider it culling the gene-pool.

Dark viewpoint? Definitely. But right? Well, I'd like to think so. Then again, I'm only human, and I'm also one of those cruel, hypocritical idiots.

 

[CrazyBlaze]

NO!!

Not the InFamous issue!

*Save the one you love
or
*Save the thousands

[small]shit quality video is shit[/small]

Just because I'm a paragon, I choose save the thousands.

I'll be honest. I've been replaying InFamous and thats what brought this up.

 

[emeraldrafael]

As the one how the feel about the situation and act on their answer.

Unless its my friend Garrett. He left me to die once so screw him XD

 

[Tanakh]

"we"..as in you or "I" not all together at the same time (if that makes sense)

but we actually "cant" comprehend 1000 people, you cant cry/greive for 1000 individuals like you would 1 that ment alot to you...its the way our brains are wired

this explains it better http://www.cracked.com/article_14990_what-monkeysphere.html

Ahh, we as in you or I, kk; i never thought of using that word that way, but it does make sense even if i would find better for you to use I when talking about something that you are sure you feel/do and we when you are almost sure you and I both do.

And that's precisely my point, we can (without too much efforth) comprehend 1,000 people and the idea that each of them is a person, we can't however feel personal connection with each and every one of them. Think of it like this, I can comprehend why people love ME 3 or Mario Galaxy 2, i can't bring me to like them but can see from an outsider PoV their charm.

That is also why I find kind of aberrant that so many people ain't choosing the one person, either they are deluding themsevles or their emotional links are kind of screwed up (compared to your average human monkey). Then again, my monkeysphere is not even in the 100's, so i might overvalue the "people" in it

Lets see: sacrifice the only rare, 1 in a million sexy girl, that I will probably never get again in my entire existence OR a large group of narcissistic humans in a petty society that hates me and will probably forget mine and her sacrifice in a few months. Sorry, but I will take the loved one any day.

Ahh, chances are that your GF is not the sexiest girl in a 500 group of females (taking 500 because the starting number is 1000 and females make more or less 50% of the population in most countries); you just see her that way because phisical contact and sexual interaction has released oxytocin in your brain making you bond to her in a way not totally different as a smoker associating nicotine with good times.

You will never see get anyone again, each person is factually unique, so uniqueness is not a special feature.

Again, just by chances the person you have a relationship with is almost surely more narcissistic that at least 1 out that 1000, unless she is the freaking Mother Teresa, and eww to the idea of dating her (even when she was alive).

I would take the one in a heartbeat, but not for her nor for any of those reasons (rationalization to trick your own mind IMO), i would choose her for me, because I do care more about people close to me than the rest of the world.

As the one how the feel about the situation and act on their answer.

EFF THAT! What if she choose to die? I couldn't live with that

Just choose her before you can even think, on a 0.5 second delay at most! The moment she looks and sees all those big eyes of the kids that would need to die for her you are fucked -.-''

 

[idodo35]

i think i would choose my loved one even if it means loosing the solution for world piece or something like that i wouldnt be able to live with myself knowing i let my loved ones die to save strangers besides even if they do solve the worlds problems i wont be able to live in that great world with the people i lvoe so what is the point?
kind of selfish i know but thats honesty for ya