How much is one stranger's life worth?
How much is one stranger's life worth?
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Discussion

crofty1984

Original Poster:

17,064 posts

234 months

Saturday 18th October 2008
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Inspired by a few of the posts in the dubai thread, what would you do to stop someone dying? Or bring them back?

I said I'd not ban all old cars to save one life, but I was wondering what the limit was for people.
A weekend doing charity work, probably.
A tenner? of course.
Harm to my own family? no way, I'd kill him with my own hands if needs be.

Does it change between bringing someone back from the dead (ie the lad I mentioned in the thread) and someone alive now actually becoming dead.

This hypothetical person isn't particularly close to you, not family or friend, but you will know of them and the death's not particularly painful.

Edited by crofty1984 on Saturday 18th October 08:02

Jasandjules

72,616 posts

259 months

Saturday 18th October 2008
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Not shoot them (unless they were scum).


rich1231

17,340 posts

290 months

Saturday 18th October 2008
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Someone near me that i can see.. worth some effort... others that are not and im not directly able to help.. nothing

eccles

14,390 posts

252 months

Saturday 18th October 2008
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Depends if they were 'western' or not, western lives are worth far more than poor eastern ones.

bob1179

14,139 posts

239 months

Saturday 18th October 2008
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rich1231 said:
Someone near me that i can see.. worth some effort... others that are not and im not directly able to help.. nothing
I agree with the comment Rich makes. You watch the news and see an item about an earthquake killing thousands, you think to yourself 'gosh, that's awful'. If it was your nextdoor neighbour, someone you may not know but have a lot more familiarity with, you would probably make a lot more effort to help them if they were in danger and there was something you could do about it.

smile

drivin_me_nuts

17,949 posts

241 months

Saturday 18th October 2008
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No idea - would you run out into the road to rescue a kid from a bus or enter a burning building if you heard screams? What you think you would do and what you would do are completely different things.

You have no idea what your actions would be.

One day something might happen that is so extreme that it pushes all your buttons - you may sell your home, go and healp in some remote place for years. You won't know until it happens, until the events triggers that something inside that says 'I must do something..'

Edited by drivin_me_nuts on Saturday 18th October 09:09

Snake the Sniper

2,544 posts

231 months

Saturday 18th October 2008
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Doing something like banning all cars to save a life is too impersonal and a choice that no one person could make anyway. If as others said, you heard screams from inside a burning building, I'd like to think I'd at least try and get in and help, but equally I have no way of knowing how brave/foolish I would be until that day happens. Much of it will be determined by how that persons death will affect you personally. If some one dies in a foreign country miles away and it's on the news, I probably won't bat an eye lid. Hell, thousands could die and I'd just think oh bugger, that's a shame. If someone gets hit by a car/bus/jumps of a building and ends up in a heap in front of you, I could imagine that the sight would stay with you for weeks, if not for ever, and as such I would try and do all that I could to help them.

Simpo Two

92,874 posts

295 months

Saturday 18th October 2008
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rich1231 said:
Someone near me that i can see.. worth some effort... others that are not and im not directly able to help.. nothing
I agree but from the ethical POV all human lives are equal - otherwise, who gets the power to decide between life and death?