Would you kill 10000 people to save the person you love most?

[CurdinHenry]

Context -

You would just have to press a button and you wouldn't have to see it happen

You would be guaranteed not to know any of them beforehand

No one would know it was you unless you confessed

Yanbu yes
Yabu no

Hell no!! How incredibly selfish. I would naturally offer myself in their place but I would offer myself to save other peoples beloved children too. My child is my life but they would be horrified that I caused such horror in their name and neither of us would have any life worth living afterwards. You would be a mass murderer!

Yes it's interesting. I think it is all in the framing of the question. I think if you ask someone if they would murder 10,000 people to save just 1, many people would instinctively say no. Including me. But you're absolutely right that the decisions (or omissions) that we make every day have basically the same effect.

These theoretical questions are just Bull. First of all they just don't happen so why bother thinking about them. Secondly, nobody knows how they will react under extreme trauma or pressure until it happens. We might like to think we know, but we don't. How do we know what having to kill a 1000 people would feel like.
So all you are trying to do is evaluate how much you love someone on some scale of other people's lives.
But, there is an example in our community in 1969 (before I lived here) where a they were offering boat rides across the bay as part of a festival and a boat capsized with 49 people on. There were very strong currents and children ended up swept away from the boat. Some onshore adults went out to rescue them in small boats. There is a very much reported incident in our community of one parent in a small boat passing by two young people to get to his own son first who was further away. The two he passed by drowned as did 7 other children. There was other talk around selective rescuing of own children.
So that is a real life example of how one parent reacted. I know his son quite well who was rescued. He knew exactly what happened.

it's not 'a stranger's life'. It's 10,000 lives.

Your so-called moral compass isn't as great as you think it is.

Reproduction is why the human species exists. Usually, except in circumstances that are considered abhorrent/abnormal, that goes hand-in-hand with an inbuilt instinct to protect at all costs the family unit. nearest and dearest.

I don't believe anybody who when it came down to it would choose to save 10,000 strangers.
I just don't.
It's just a weird form of virtue-signalling.

We'll never know of course but that's my opinion.

Not even for meatloaf ?

What a weird little rambling post

Just my opinion.

To save my children, I wouldn’t hesitate.

No. And if my parents did that for me I'd feel guilty if I found out they'd done it.

Would you kill 10,000 children to save your own child?

If not, you don’t truly love your own child?

Because how far are people taking these scenarios? I’m fascinated as to where people are drawing the line.

What’s the right number of victims to prove you do in fact love your own child?

@CurdinHenry what if some of your loved ones were amongst those "sacrificed?"

I really hope not because that's repulsive

But your children are on the planet. Are we supposing they are in a self sufficient earth colony on Mars, or elsewhere, whilst you blow up planet earth?

Wow just wow

I would if I could ensure that the 10,000 people were convicted rapists, child molesters or murderers.

Don't bamboozle them 😂

That is slightly different. Would you aim to save your child first, if 10,000 others were in equal danger? You wouldn’t be killing them, or putting them in danger. You would be choosing to rescue your own child first.

That sounds horrendous, though. The alternative possible scenario was if the man rescued the two poor children (who subsequently drowned), and his own child might have drowned instead whilst he was doing that.

You can keep your passive-aggressive little post.
I'd much prefer it if you told me to fuck off.

It's not about proving anything about loving anybody.
That's not the point.
The natural inclination is to protect nearest and dearest over strangers.

What's the point of forming relationships, marrying, having children-which most people are inclined to do - if everybody is interchangeable to us?

I would kill you, I would kill your family, I would boil rivers, set the world on fire and pull the stars from the skies to save someone I loved 🤷‍♀️

But why would I tell you to fuck off? I found it weird so I described it as such 🤷

11,000.

Yes. Of course. Any mother saying no is unhinged.

My kind is f person ! I’m glad I’m not the only one thinking the same way .

According to the Book of Genesis Noha took his wife and three sons and their wives and let literally everyone else in the world drown. So that's equivalent today of 8 billion deaths to save your family. That's a high bar set by Noha.
Goats get saved, so I'm comfortable with this.