Poll: The Value of a Human Life

[Rainboq]

A cliff?

What kind of scenario is that?

You need something more realistic, like a drowning, involving whirlpools and a number of very specific individuals.

if Daystar and Vault101 were drowning...and there was a dog and a paedophile in the way...

close?

Oh sarcasm, is there any thread you can't drastically improve?

OT: Why do these questions keep coming up? Its pointless to make conjecture about this sort of thing because you have no idea how you'll act in such a crisis.

 

[John the Gamer]

The title reminded me of a Vsauce video I watched a while back so:

How much are you worth?

http://www.humanforsale.com

As for the subject; For the human to be hanging from the cliff, they would either have to be a careless idiot, or a daredevil (and an idiot). The dog can't make such deliberate decisions and obviously ended up there either by accident or by someone pushing him of the cliff. So fuck the human and save the dog is my answer.

You can always throw a rope next to the person so they can climb up themselves and help the dog up in the meantime.

 

[IamQ]

A cliff?

What kind of scenario is that?

You need something more realistic, like a drowning, involving whirlpools and a number of very specific individuals.

Don't you dare bring the drowning threads back again. If you do, then I shall fill the entire forum with "Am i the only one..." topics!

 

[lord canti]

I recall a similar thread a couple months ago. That didn't end very well at all.

OT: Maybe I'm a monster but I'm going to save the one that has been in my life for years and has helped me get through alot of tough times.

 

[Dr. Doomsduck]

A few years ago I got into a small argument with a Spanish teacher in the middle of class. The disagreement stemmed from the statement "I love my dog, but if I was put in the position of having to save him or a person, I would save the person." (The scenerio being a human and an animal both somehow hanging from a cliff) I felt this was a perfectly reasonable statement. The teacher disagreed. She rebutted with "What if that person was a pedophile or a murderer?" Now I thought that was kind of an extreme response, but fair enough. Challenging me to an extreme I stated that I felt no right to end another human life because that would make me no better than a murderer. The teacher moved on with the class after that to talk about nachos or some shit leaving me to feel that I had won a hollow victory. So Escapists, who do you think was right in this?

TL;DR:
Am I wrong to think that a human life is something I don't have a right to end? Or was my teacher right in thinking that letting someone die is justifiable?

Your spanish teacher sucks, man! Nah, just kidding, but it was quite a nasty trap. If you try to save either one of them, then I don't think you're morally wrong. Some might argue that we're not even obliged to act in those circumstances.

Are we aware that the human we're saving is a murderer? If not, then I'm definitely leaning more towards the human. People have potential, you never know who's going to cure cancer, so to speak, but the odds of it being a dog are very slim. And even then, this bad guy could still turn himself around (believer in second chances here), whereas a dog will always be a dog. Innocent, sure, but hardly capable of the same mental growth as a human. Besides, what are the chances that a random man hanging off a cliff IS a criminal of that scope?

But yeah, I imagine that if you do end up saving a paedophile, you'll feel pretty damn bitter about saving him instead of the dog, but if it was a doctor or a fireman you left dangling then the lives they were going to save are potentially gone too.

 

[Jynthor]

In this scenario I'd save the animal the kick the rapist/murderer/whatever down myself.
...Population control.

 

[Dr. Doomsduck]

My dog is a pomeranian and if he's holding on by just his claws, I'm definitely saving him, that's a champion effort. With that sort of willpower the other person can pull themselves the f*** up by their fingers if they have to.

I just figured the animal was sitting in a basket hanging over the edge, but thanks for that image XD.

 

[Ledan]

I would save the human, unless I had personal hate towards that person. And even then, it would have to bee something serious and recent. Like, the dude who recently murdered someone I care about vs my cat. No matter what though, I would cry about the cat and try to save both if I could.

 

[SD-Fiend]

If it was my beloved dog or some random stranger. Most definitely the dog, because the stranger would probably forget what happened the next day. At least the dog would show some kind of appreciation, whereas the human would be like "I could have saved myself, you prick".

I can understand wanting to save your beloved dog but why assume that the stranger is a complete dick? Who do you know that would shrug off nearly dying and not show atleast some gratitude? Id ask "what if it wasn't your dog" but as someone already said it would just add to a continuous stack of what if's.

 

[IndomitableSam]

In most situations? My pet versus random animal? I'd still usually save the animal. If it were a pregnant woman or child and NOT my pet, I might save them. But my pet comes before anyone else, except maybe my parents or sister. And then maybe not my parents - I'd leave the decision to them.

Animals are far more important than people, to me. Sorry. There are 7 billion of us... and there are far fewer of most animals.

 

[llew]

the longer i live the less i like people so the animal... they are the only creatures with consistent motives in life and if you befriend one it will love you forever and remain loyal, if you befriend a human it will often betray you for its own benefit

 

[Xan Krieger]

The animal obviously, people suck. If it was the dog or a million people I'm still picking the dog. Hell if some of those people survived I'd shoot them just to finish the question.

 

[Zeren]

The value of a human life? About $5000. That's about what it costs to hire a hitman. Oh, you meant this as some sort of moral choice thing? I would save my animal. I don't know the person.

 

[Scarim Coral]

I would saved the person but FYI I never had a pet so I guess I haven't develop the whole pet bounding thing.

I remember watching this documentry with this guy who doesn't value pet as highly regard for human to have (he kind of view pet more as a thing) and whenever he asked people with pets in a scenrio of risking their lives to saved their pets, all of them will do it except for one.

 

[Easton Dark]

The animal obviously, people suck. If it was the dog or a million people I'm still picking the dog. Hell if some of those people survived I'd shoot them just to finish the question.

Jesus man, a little mass-murdery wouldn't you say?

I'll save the person if I like them or if they haven't done anything bad to people/animals. If they're a bad person, animal. But how am I going to know if they've done something bad? I don't think rapists have t-shirts or anything, so I'll save the person every time I'm unsure if they're bad.

The value of a human life? About $5000. That's about what it costs to hire a hitman. Oh, you meant this as some sort of moral choice thing? I would save my animal. I don't know the person.

Slaves are sold for as low as $20 in some countries.

 

[wolf thing]

the person every time, i would kill my dog if it meant it would save a human life, it would hurt but the life of a human out ways a human. animal will never write a noval, paint a masterpieces, make an award winning film, fall in love, go to space or discover the secrets of the universe. most humans will never achieve these thing but we all have the potential to so that's why because we are just worth more than a dog, they spend most of there lives stuck in a house or outside doing nothing of any real consequences. humans first always.

 

[Old Father Eternity]

All life is valuable, therefore the correct question should be *Whose survival in any given situation benefits the greater good more?*
Same thing can be extended to inanimate objects as well e.g a data carrier containing the only existing cure for a fatal disease vs a innocent bystander.

Sure it would be nice if you could get both but one must look at the big picture.