QUESTION OF THE DAY:
You come to the top of a cliff and find three people dangling from the edge; you can only save one person: (and you must save one person)
A drug addict
A stranger who served time in prison for armed robbery
A Harvard Grad that cheated and bought his way through school and is now a practicing doctor
*Rule: explain why you choose who you choose.
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Comments: 85
Ron ugh.
The Harvard Grad would seem the most forgiveable if his job involved finances or some other profession where people's lives were not in his hands. I fear his cheating his way through school could cost lives or ruin lives.
The convict who served his time for armed robbery is the one I would save. He committed a crime and paid his debt to society. He should be given a chance.
Regards,
Doyle I <~~~~~
One can change. We all make errors.
thanks all!
I don't know~but Rob Appell's logic sounds cool. I'll go with that.
( PLUS he could help when the other two hit the ground )
But Rob? What has that drug addict done to get his drugs? Stolen, killed, neglected his family? No telling.
Realistically, though. In a situation like that you don't take the time to ask anything personal about them. You wouldn't know who they were or what they did, so instinct is going to propel you to choose the closest/easiest one the get. You wouldn't even have time to decide. You'd just react.
thanks all!
Douglas, the doc is not much of a doc...remember he cheated his way through school.
Ann, perhaps I should have been more specific... the "doctor" got into harvard because his daddy bought a new library for the college. He cheated and bought his grades while the staff looked the other way. On a side note the 'doc" is an alcoholic who beats his wife, but only under her clothes so no one will see....
how does that work for you?
A very difficult question in deed!
I would have to say "A stranger who served time in prison for armed robbery"!
The reason behind my answer is like Jennifer I feel that everyone deserves a second chance:
An addict for the most part has to hit their own personal bottom before they can find their way out and for many the bottom only comes with death. ( I hate this answer but I have lived it, 8 friends in 8 years, all are dead but one who checked into a mental hospital. )
A person who makes the choice to lie, cheat, and steal their way through life will always choose the easier path.
But a person who served time in prison for armed robbery may have learned a lesson or two.
I would save the one whom I was able to save, regardless of who they were or what they have done.
Implied in your question is the right of the rescuer to "play god" to determine who has the right to live and who should die. None of us is in a position to mete out justice on this scale and our duty would be to save whomever it is we could save. Let their crimes be judged by the appropriate authorities, and let them be judged, in the next life, by the Supreme Judge of All.
Mandy.
I dont know who I would save! I am here to judge and I can not play GOD! Its not my decision.
People STILL feel that they are the moral aribiters- ultimate judges as to who "deserves" to live and who does not.
This is pretty scary if you ask me.
MY GOAL WITH THIS QUESTION AND EVERY QUESTION OF THE DAY IS TO MAKE PEOPLE THINK.
WE GO THROUGH OUR LIVES MOST DAYS WITH OUT DOING MUCH THINKING.
SO I AM GLAD TO HAVE CONVERSATION ABOUT THIS PARTICULAR QUESTION.
THANKS ALL!
I will opt out on this question young lady, sorry!
Oh, and BTW, enrich your experience on Gather by joining us at pointmasters.gather.com.