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Your plane crashes

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yasic

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What makes you think the loss of your sanity and the death of the one child will be the end of the consequences of that murder?

And no, I'm not talking about eternal damnation.

I do not see any other consequences that have a high enough probability to be worth considering. Could I be wrong, sure, but it is the best I have to work with.

What, may I ask, are the other consequences?
 
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yasic

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I won't answer directly just now, but I will point out something: when you kill the child, you also agree to play by the dictator's rules.

Well, given that the dictator is the one in charge, and has the full capacity to to carry out his claims, I am forced to do so anyways.

I do not feel the need to risk the lives of 99 kids in exchange for not following the rules of a dictator.


Oh, and may I ask when you will answer as I do not know if I will remain on this forum indefinately.
 
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Sojourner1

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Certainly a good thing to hope for, but it does not change the fact that you should find out by pressing the trigger.

I wouldn't find out though because I wouldn't press the trigger and I wouldn't follow the dictators orders.
 
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yasic

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I wouldn't find out though because I wouldn't press the trigger and I wouldn't follow the dictators orders.

Is the reason you will not pull the trigger:

A) Because you feel there is a good chance that all the children will survive or because you feel there is absolutly no chance the dictator will let anyone go so you will spare the children the trauma?

or

B) Because you feel that you will not be able to live with yourself for killing a kid, or that you do not want to be guilty of murder, or you do not want others to look down on your.

In essence, I am asking if your choice is for A) the kids best interest or B) your best interest.

If the reason is A, while I might disagree with you to what the best course of action is, I respect the reasons you do what you wish to do. If the answer is B then I feel would respect that you are at least an honest person, but I do not respect your trait of putting your own needs over the lives of many children.
 
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yguy

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Well, given that the dictator is the one in charge, and has the full capacity to to carry out his claims, I am forced to do so anyways.
Only if you are tricked into thinking those 99 lives are your responsibility.
I do not feel the need to risk the lives of 99 kids in exchange for not following the rules of a dictator.
For all you know, he'll kill them all anyway in the near future.
Oh, and may I ask when you will answer
I don't know that myself.
 
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yasic

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Only if you are tricked into thinking those 99 lives are your responsibility.For all you know, he'll kill them all anyway in the near future.I don't know that myself.

Those kids lives became my responsibility the instant he gave me the challenge, regardless of if I wanted the responsibility or not. I would say he is responsible for all of their death much more than I would be, but the responsibility is with me as well.


For example, if a random stranger with a baby throws the baby at you, and if you do not catch the baby it will fall into a busy highway, then the baby became your responsibility. If you choose to not catch the baby and let it fall to its death because you do not want to be part of the responsibility, I would say you have just committed am immoral act.

And as I stated before, if I feel that killing one gives me any small chance to save the others, and that there is no serious chance of having them all be saved, then I would rather try to save them, even with a small chance, then do nothing at all.

and finally just tell me if the answer you have is one of the following two or something similar like it:

A) Do nothing to ensure no responsibility for murder is on you.

B) Don't do anything at all because he said he will only kill them if you choose not to kill them, and by not choosing anything at all, you out-word-gamed him.
 
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LightHorseman

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You just got shot and so did 100 children. Regardless of how many guards (or whatever) you take out, the children and you are going to die because of your decision to try to be moral.
I didn't say that the correct answer was the one that allowed me to live. There are cases where it is better to die doing the right thing than live with the consequences of doing the wrong thing.

The correct answer is to use the weapon to defend the children.

This is not necesarily the "pragmatic" or "greatest good for greatest number" answer. But then, that wasn't the question.
 
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Wyzaard

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Only if you are tricked into thinking those 99 lives are your responsibility.

Why wouldn't they be?

For all you know, he'll kill them all anyway in the near future.

Perhaps... but if he is as trustworthy as you state that he is within the confines of this hypothetical, then I am the point-man for whether or not 1 or 100 dies.
 
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PreachersWife2004

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Then the end result is the same anyway, but at least you made an effort to save them, not sat back and let everyone die just so you can have a clear conscience.

If I fail to save one of them, I have still failed. My conscience is not in question here. It is still not my actions that is causing these children to die.

And I'm sorry but any dictator who is going to try to force me to kill a child could NEVER be considered trustworthy.
 
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white dove

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I won't answer directly just now, but I will point out something: when you kill the child, you also agree to play by the dictator's rules.

Did you mean this in an "it takes two to tango" way? So, by playing along with this sick game (or thread :sorry: ), you are in fact just as responsible as the dictator for his actions. Not moreso, but equally. If you play along, you are not only validating the proposal, you are agreeing to the "terms and conditions" portion of this "contract." In this sense you, alongside the dictator are a murderer depending upon your choice. So, the correct answer is to not validate the dictator with a response.
 
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yguy

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OK, here's the deal: those who say obedience to the dictator in this case constitutes murder are correct...but there's a little more to it than that. When you kill that child, you don't just become a murderer - you become HIS murderer. Because you let him make the rules once, you've shown him that he can do it again. And eventually he'll arrange things so that you end up having the blood of thousands of children on your hands.
 
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The Nihilist

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OK, here's the deal: those who say obedience to the dictator in this case constitutes murder are correct...but there's a little more to it than that. When you kill that child, you don't just become a murderer - you become HIS murderer. Because you let him make the rules once, you've shown him that he can do it again. And eventually he'll arrange things so that you end up having the blood of thousands of children on your hands.
He's a dictator, he already knows he can do that. Therefore, I declare that I win this thread. /Internet
 
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yasic

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OK, here's the deal: those who say obedience to the dictator in this case constitutes murder are correct...but there's a little more to it than that. When you kill that child, you don't just become a murderer - you become HIS murderer.
Once again, you are putting your feat of having the title 'murderer' above the lives of 99 children. If I got a title of 'Murderous genocidal pedophile' in exchange for saving the lives of 99 children who would otherwise die, then I would consider it to be a great bargain.


Because you let him make the rules once, you've shown him that he can do it again.
I thought that we already established that he is a dictator, and as such he already knows he has such an ability... he did round up 100 kids in a room after all.

And eventually he'll arrange things so that you end up having the blood of thousands of children on your hands.
First of all, this is quite a leap. How will me playing his game once (assuming he lets the children go) lead to me killing thousands of children. If at anytime I feel he is rounding up more children for the sake of toying with me, then I will simply stop right then, however it is not the case as of yet.

And secondly, again being a dictator who can round up thousands of children, he has the ability to get a few more people like me, so if his power is absolute and he really wants to, he will find someone to take my shoes and the only difference that I made was to let 99 kids die when they did not have to.
 
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Nathan45

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didn't read the whole thread.

in a foreign country run by a ruthless dictator. He places you in a room with 100 children, a loaded gun, and no one else. He ensures that you cannot shoot anyone who isn't in that room. Then he commands you to kill one of the children, otherwise he'll kill all of them.

Should you obey?

There is a right answer, and it's not suicide.

Don't forget to show your work. :)

I don't shoot because he'll tape it and distribute it as propaganda. The number of children he kills afterwords is not my problem and is blood on his hands, not mine.
 
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