Questions that make you think

[Caribou]

Date: 2/28/2006 4:32:38 PM
Author: fire&ice

Also, I wonder how many people who answered they would save their dog lost a human person close to you?

I lost my grandfather whom I loved dearly many years ago, I still miss him after 18 years.

The question wasn''t whether we had to choose between our pet and a family member or friend, it was a stranger. Big difference in my book.

 

[fire&ice]

Date: 2/28/2006 4:36:22 PM
Author: Caribou

Date: 2/28/2006 4:32:38 PM
Author: fire&ice

Also, I wonder how many people who answered they would save their dog lost a human person close to you?

I lost my grandfather whom I loved dearly many years ago, I still miss him after 18 years.

The question wasn''t whether we had to choose between our pet and a family member or friend, it was a stranger. Big difference in my book.

But that stranger, in all probablity, isn''t a stranger to someone else. From a selfish point of view, I would be absolutely mortified if someone saved their dog over my husband, mother, father, son or daughter - heck even my best friend.

Also, I wonder when truly faced with the situation (cut and dry as it is) what one would truly do? I couldn''t live knowing I willfully caused the death of another human.

 

[Mara]

Date: 2/28/2006 4:43:40 PM
Author: fire&ice

Date: 2/28/2006 4:36:22 PM
Author: Caribou

Date: 2/28/2006 4:32:38 PM
Author: fire&ice

Also, I wonder how many people who answered they would save their dog lost a human person close to you?

I lost my grandfather whom I loved dearly many years ago, I still miss him after 18 years.

The question wasn''t whether we had to choose between our pet and a family member or friend, it was a stranger. Big difference in my book.

But that stranger, in all probablity, isn''t a stranger to someone else. From a selfish point of view, I would be absolutely mortified if someone saved their dog over my husband, mother, father, son or daughter - heck even my best friend.

Also, I wonder when truly faced with the situation (cut and dry as it is) what one would truly do? I couldn''t live knowing I willfully caused the death of another human.

I would still grab my fluffy little white girl. In fact she would be clinging to me in fear anyway, so I couldn''t get her off if I tried.

 

[decodelighted]

Date: 2/28/2006 4:32:38 PM
Author: fire&ice
Also, I wonder how many people who answered they would save their dog lost a human person close to you?

I''d venture to guess that most human people have lost a human person close to them. But I''m being HONEST. My dog is like MY BABY. I am not going to have human babies. Right or wrong, moral or immoral -- my opinion is not going to change. We "dog" people are the same ones that cried more at the pets that suffered during the Katrina catastrophe than the humans. Right. Wrong. Whatever. It just IS. Some of us are a lot more wary of humans than dogs. And I''m with the folks that did think about whether the stranger might have "done bad things" -- aka murderer/rapist/criminal. There''s no chance my dog has ever done anything to harm anyone and my dog is loved by more people (a great deal more) than just me.

I wonder how many "stranger savers" have ever been harmed by a stranger?

 

[Mokey]

In response to have I lost people close to me, short answer, many. I have lost the two of the most important people in the world to me, my dad and my granny. I would still save my dog and SO, they two of the constants in my life that love me for no more than me. Now if we had to through in children into all of this, hands down I would save my children (2), then SO, then dog. My SO would want it that way,and so would the dog.

 

[fire&ice]

Date: 2/28/2006 4:45:30 PM
Author: decodelighted

Date: 2/28/2006 4:32:38 PM
Author: fire&ice
Also, I wonder how many people who answered they would save their dog lost a human person close to you?

I''d venture to guess that most human people have lost a human person close to them. But I''m being HONEST. My dog is like MY BABY. I am not going to have human babies. Right or wrong, moral or immoral -- my opinion is not going to change. We ''dog'' people are the same ones that cried more at the pets that suffered during the Katrina catastrophe than the humans. Right. Wrong. Whatever. It just IS. Some of us are a lot more wary of humans than dogs. And I''m with the folks that did think about whether the stranger might have ''done bad things'' -- aka murderer/rapist/criminal. There''s no chance my dog has ever done anything to harm anyone and my dog is loved by more people (a great deal more) than just me.

I wonder how many ''stranger savers'' have ever been harmed by a stranger?

Anyone who knows me also knows that my doggies are our only babies. I''m just not as vocal since I was raked over the coals for calling my dogs "fur babies".

But, let''s say the shoe was on the other foot - your husband, son, daughter, mother, father was in that fire. How would you feel that someone chose their dog over your loved one? I couldn''t bare the thought.

 

[decodelighted]

Date: 2/28/2006 4:43:40 PM
Author: fire&ice
I couldn't live knowing I willfully caused the death of another human.

I'd also argue whether this was the case. Whether choosing to save one & only having the ability to save one constitutes "willfully causing the death" of another.

You didn't START the fire. You didn't CAUSE the car wreck or whatever. In a split second human beings just react on instinct. My instinct would be to save my dog. "Willfully causing" implies intention and time to think & consider past initial instinct. Which HARDLY seems the case here.

The deal with humans is that we're human. We make mistakes. We do the "wrong" thing. If someone in a crisis saved their pet over one of my loved ones - I'd be angry and mournful and devestated but ultimately I'd forgive that person because no one can really know what they'd do in that situation. And because being furious with them wouldn't solve anything.

 

[hlmr]

Date: 2/28/2006 4:06:54 PM
Author: fire&ice
I choose to save the stranger over my dog for the simple reason - the stranger is most likely someone''s father, mother, daughter, son, wife, husband. My grief would be only limited to my dog whilst I would change the world of many others. Also, I didn''t think the issue of who needed help more was a factor.

I wonder if not only we have a moral obligation to save the stranger - Do we have a legal obligation?

edited to add: having lived through two of our beloved dogs death - you can not replace them - but you can fairly readily fill the whole in your heart.

I agree wholeheartedly!!!

My answer to question # 3 is my SO, although knowing my choice would be leaving my best friends children motherless would be enough to put me in an insane asylum!!!

Heather

 

[fire&ice]

Agreed "willfully" is too strong. But, you would have caused the death, in essence by not saving, one of the two.

I "voted" the way I did with the ability to think it through. When faced with it, one couldn''t take it to the bank on what they would do. Kinda like that other thread about salary & 2c - too many variables.

And, regarding the third question - initially my thought was to save my husband. I think he would be mad at me. Man, this is depressing.

 

[aljdewey]

On question #3....I''d save my husband, hands down. I''ve known my best friend for 32 years now....but she''s not the one I''ve pledged my life to. He is.

This question is a little loose for me because SO can mean so many things. My first love was an S/O, but he wasn''t "the one". If I interpret SO to strictly mean "someone I cohabitate with or intend to marry", then yes, I''d pick him hands down.

 

[hlmr]

Date: 2/28/2006 4:16:45 PM
Author: aljdewey

Date: 2/28/2006 10:46:59 AM
Author: hlmr
That is a hard one!!! because first of all, I have to question why I can't save all six people. After all if there is a way to save five, one more shouldn't be a problem, right?

I know, that is not the question or purpose of the question. I guess I would have to save my little sister. I would do everything humanly possible to save everyone but given the choice of her or them, I would save my family. If everyone were strangers I would save the five people (unless the 'one' was a child).

Hope that helps.

Heather

Hehehe - that's what I love about you, Heather...you always think beyond the given parameters! LOL

Seriously, though, I think the only way this data can be meaningful to Chick03 is for the responses to be formed using only the facts of the question as presented:

1. You have one sibling in the building (regardless of which one it is, or how many others you may have.)
2. You can only choose from these: a) save your sibling only, or b) save five strangers only. It doesn't matter why it's either/or....it just is for purposes of this question.

Those are the only parameters that are relevant to answering the question as posed. And my answer would be, I'd save the sibling....because family is paramount, because his/her position in my life dictates that's where my first response should be.

Now......having answered that, food for thought on a possible reason you can't save all six, Heather. A likely scenario: The building is burning, and within 45 seconds, the air inside will be toxic. Anyone not out within those 45 seconds will succumb to smoke inhalation. In those 45 seconds, you can either save all five strangers on the first floor (becuase you can get them all out of the exit in 45 seconds), or you can run up to the third floor and bring your sibling out (using all 45 seconds and having no time left to then retrieve the 5 strangers).

My dog vs. stranger: This one is tougher. One the one hand, save the dog makes sense because the dog cannot save itself, and it has been trained to be dependent on you for its safety. The stranger potentially can save himself.

For me, the answer would be save the stranger. Preserving human life trumps all else. It would likely kill me to leave my dog behind, and in that situation, I don't know if the philosophical reason would hold up. I'd hope it would.

Hi Al:

I know I can't save all six people. It is just so hard to stick to the black and white question when there are so many shades of grey.

I agree that the responses need to be simple answers so I will stick to the facts.

1) Sibling
2) Stranger
3) SO

Just as an aside (and for the record this is NOT a judgemental statement - just something I find interesting and true to life):

I notice that people who have chosen to save their pet over the stranger are rationalizing their choice by saying who knows what type of person this stranger is. Just like I rationalized my choice of my sibling over 5 strangers and the families that love them, because she is my family. I choose my SO over my best friend because of how it will affect me. Once we make any difficult choice in life, we need to justify it to ourselves so that we can feel good about it and not live in permanent limbo between tho pros and cons of the two choices. Otherwise we could never move forward in life.

Heather

 

[fire&ice]

Date: 2/28/2006 5:17:08 PM
Author: hlmr

Just like I rationalized my choice of my sibling over 5 strangers and the families that love them, because she is my family.

But as such, do we have more of an obligation to our family than to the strangers? I suppose this could trump the stranger with the dog.

 

[hlmr]

Date: 2/28/2006 5:24:39 PM
Author: fire&ice

Date: 2/28/2006 5:17:08 PM
Author: hlmr


Just like I rationalized my choice of my sibling over 5 strangers and the families that love them, because she is my family.

But as such, do we have more of an obligation to our family than to the strangers? I suppose this could trump the stranger with the dog.

I think we do have more of an obligation to our family but as you say, our pets are our family too, and some pets treat us better than some people, right? That''s when what you said earlier comes into effect and we make the choice for human life over the pet we love.

 

[qtiekiki]

when I said SO, I mean for SO to live.

 

[decodelighted]

Date: 2/28/2006 5:17:08 PM
Author: hlmr
Once we make any difficult choice in life, we need to justify it to ourselves so that we can feel good about it and not live in permanent limbo between tho pros and cons of the two choices. Otherwise we could never move forward in life. Heather

I think that''s SO true. Well put. I don''t even think I have a legitimate justification for picking my dog and I actually feel horrible about it morally - but I know, gasp, even if I had more time to think about it I''d probably still pick her - especially if the stranger was passed out. I don''t know if I could stay in "instinct" mode if I had a real live human pleading with me. It''s such a hard question. I think you and Fire&Ice are right that there are just too many shades of grey to really know.

 

[fire&ice]

Interesting discussion and relavent to a story all over the news locally. Briefly:

Boy (4) goes to park with mother. Park has two resident orphaned bears (a town institution!). Unknown how he ended up inside one of two fences, boy goes over fence & approaches the bears behind their 10'' chain link fence. Boy has an apple or apple smell on his hands. Boy sticks his hand through the chain link fence to pet or feed bears. One of the two Bears punctured hand of boy - not an attack or in an agressive manner. Mother takes boy to doctor. Doctor has to report to the health officals about the bite.

Since it is unknown which bear "bit", either both bears must be euthanized to determine rabies (unknown gestation in bears so can''t be quarantined, etc) or child must undergo the rabies regimen (not as big of a deal as it once was). What would you, the mother, choose?

 

[E B]

I''d save my SO. So far it''s

1. Sibling (if I had one)
2. Dog (sorry, it''s my gut choice...she''s my baby)
3. SO, who IS my best friend.

 

[hlmr]

Date: 2/28/2006 5:44:56 PM
Author: decodelighted

Date: 2/28/2006 5:17:08 PM
Author: hlmr
Once we make any difficult choice in life, we need to justify it to ourselves so that we can feel good about it and not live in permanent limbo between tho pros and cons of the two choices. Otherwise we could never move forward in life. Heather

I think that''s SO true. Well put. I don''t even think I have a legitimate justification for picking my dog and I actually feel horrible about it morally - but I know, gasp, even if I had more time to think about it I''d probably still pick her - especially if the stranger was passed out. I don''t know if I could stay in ''instinct'' mode if I had a real live human pleading with me. It''s such a hard question. I think you and Fire&Ice are right that there are just too many shades of grey to really know.

It''s ironic because I feel good morally about my choice to pick the stranger over my dog, but in my heart I feel like I have betrayed my 4 legged family by making that choice.

 

[hlmr]

Date: 2/28/2006 5:46:13 PM
Author: fire&ice
Interesting discussion and relavent to a story all over the news locally. Briefly:

Boy (4) goes to park with mother. Park has two resident orphaned bears (a town institution!). Unknown how he ended up inside one of two fences, boy goes over fence & approaches the bears behind their 10'' chain link fence. Boy has an apple or apple smell on his hands. Boy sticks his hand through the chain link fence to pet or feed bears. One of the two Bears punctured hand of boy - not an attack or in an agressive manner. Mother takes boy to doctor. Doctor has to report to the health officals about the bite.

Since it is unknown which bear ''bit'', either both bears must be euthanized to determine rabies (unknown gestation in bears so can''t be quarantined, etc) or child must undergo the rabies regimen (not as big of a deal as it once was). What would you, the mother, choose?

Definitely the rabies regimen for my son.

Heather

 

[XChick03]

You guys are so awesome, these answers are all going to make for one great paper.

So far, including everyone here and a few other people I''ve asked, here''s what I have:

Question #1
Strangers - 6
Sibling - 27

Side note: All six who said strangers was because they either they didn''t have a sibling or because they feel that''s what their sibling would want them to do.

Question #2
This was easily the closest with 15 people for stranger and 17 for their dog (or cat.)

The average reasons are because their pets are like family and they know nothing about the stranger or because a human life is more valuable than an animal''s.

Question #3
Everyone has picked their wife/GF/husband/BF.

 

[XChick03]

Next question and possibly the last

You''re in the same situation as Question #3 but with one of your parents (the one you''re closest to) instead of you best friend. Now what would your choice be?

 

[larussel03]

Date: 2/28/2006 10:30:06 AM
Author:XChick03
Hello everyone.

I need your help with a paper for my psychology class. We have to try and find a unique way to right about morals and conscience and how they affect us. So, I''m doing a poll and then wil write my paper based on the results. I''m only going to keep track of the answers, everything else will be anonymous.


Question #1: If you were in a burning building and you could either save one sibling or five strangers, what would you do? Keep in mind, with either choice, you and whoever you choose to save will be able to get out safely.


Question #2: If you could only choose to save one stranger or your beloved pet, who would you choose?


Question #3: Imagine you, your significant other, and your absolute best friend have all been kidnapped. The deranged kidnapper has the three of you all tied up, then pulls out a gun and turns to you, he asks you to choose which one you''d rather die. Whoever you choose will be shot and killed on the spot and if you don''t choose one of the two, he''ll kill you all. Who would you choose?


Question #4: You''re in the same situation as before, but with a parent (the one you''re closest to) instead of your best friend. Now what would you do?

First one I''d save my sibiling
2nd I''d save my pet
3rd I''d probably save my S.O. if I had to make that decision
4th probably the same (S.O.), although I hate saying it

Part of me also thinks for 3 and 4 I''d tell the kidnapper to kill me because I would not be able to live with that decision...but then again in the situation I''m not sure that''d happen.

Disturbing questions...

 

[E B]

Date: 2/28/2006 6:02:37 PM
Author: XChick03
Next question and possibly the last

You''re in the same situation as Question #3 but with one of your parents (the one you''re closest to) instead of you best friend. Now what would your choice be?

I can''t answer this. Just seeing it almost made me burst into tears.

 

[MINE!!]

Date: 2/28/2006 5:46:13 PM
Author: fire&ice
Interesting discussion and relavent to a story all over the news locally. Briefly:


Boy (4) goes to park with mother. Park has two resident orphaned bears (a town institution!). Unknown how he ended up inside one of two fences, boy goes over fence & approaches the bears behind their 10'' chain link fence. Boy has an apple or apple smell on his hands. Boy sticks his hand through the chain link fence to pet or feed bears. One of the two Bears punctured hand of boy - not an attack or in an agressive manner. Mother takes boy to doctor. Doctor has to report to the health officals about the bite.


Since it is unknown which bear ''bit'', either both bears must be euthanized to determine rabies (unknown gestation in bears so can''t be quarantined, etc) or child must undergo the rabies regimen (not as big of a deal as it once was). What would you, the mother, choose?

Unfortunate situation.. very unfortunate.. but my child is much more important... For everything.. hands down... period

 

[MINE!!]

My daddy would kick my A$$ as well if I chose him

 

[FireGoddess]

Date: 2/28/2006 6:22:51 PM
Author: EBree

Date: 2/28/2006 6:02:37 PM
Author: XChick03
Next question and possibly the last

You''re in the same situation as Question #3 but with one of your parents (the one you''re closest to) instead of you best friend. Now what would your choice be?

I can''t answer this. Just seeing it almost made me burst into tears.

Unless I could convince the kidnapper to kill me and let them both live , I can''t possibly fathom having to make this choice. Can''t.

 

[Caribou]

Date: 2/28/2006 4:50:27 PM
Author: fire&ice
But, let's say the shoe was on the other foot - your husband, son, daughter, mother, father was in that fire. How would you feel that someone chose their dog over your loved one? I couldn't bare the thought.

I would understand that those people chose their dog, because it's what I would do. I can honestly say that if I had to choose between my pet and an adult able-minded stranger, I would pick my pet.

As far as the bear story, I would chose to have the bear euthanised for the sake of my child. However, if it's an adult common sense should tell them that they do not stick their hand in a fence that a bear is on the other side of.

 

[E B]

Boy (4) goes to park with mother. Park has two resident orphaned bears (a town institution!). Unknown how he ended up inside one of two fences, boy goes over fence & approaches the bears behind their 10'' chain link fence. Boy has an apple or apple smell on his hands. Boy sticks his hand through the chain link fence to pet or feed bears. One of the two Bears punctured hand of boy - not an attack or in an agressive manner. Mother takes boy to doctor. Doctor has to report to the health officals about the bite.

What a tragic story. The child never should have gotten as far as he did. Where was the mother? Why wasn''t she watching him at A ZOO, where not only hundreds of people visit daily, but wild animals are behind every cage? The bear dying because of her mistake is a tragedy indeed.

 

[Diam100]

Ok I'll play:

1) Sibling
2) I would save my Pinscher or die trying since he's so darn big to lug out!
3) I choose hubby
4) Tough one on the Parents.. They'd have to shoot me.

Hmmm where's the question for us Pricescopers about if you were given a choice to only keep one out of three pieces of jewelry which "Diamond would you save??"

 

[MelissaSue]

As a psych grad student..I see where you''re going.. Great research area.. I think that perhaps you''d get more accurate answers if we weren''t posting publically though (for instance.. if PS still had PM)
1) My sibling
2) Pet
3)I honestly have no idea... I might just freak out and get us all killed!!
4)Makes me ill to think about... I keep going back and forth on this one.. but I couldn''t decide!