Who would you save?

[Philip027]

Adult, stranger.  Easy.

[CaptainYesterday]

[deleted]

[russtopher]

Whoever is closest.

 

I'd never choose a pet over another human.

 

Well, most humans...there's a few who just won't make the cut.

[Skycaptain]

Child first, in a situation like that there's no way of assessing survival chances

 

Stranger rather than pet. 

[Sally]

On 3/5/2017 at 4:11 PM, AcePsycho86 said:

No matter what I do, I'd probably feel like a terrible person afterwards either way.

Yes.   

[Guest]

On 3/5/2017 at 7:11 PM, AcePsycho86 said:

No matter what I do, I'd probably feel like a terrible person afterwards either way.

Indeed. No matter the choice, you end up letting someone die. 

 

And honestly, I doubt most people know for sure what they'd do until presented with the situations in scenarios like these. 

[Guest]

I can't swim, so unfortunately would not be able to save either. I'd call 911 for all of the above, if that counts.

 

I instinctively would help anyone I could. I don't think it should make a difference if the person is a child, an animal or an adult. I value human life. If you could save someone (safely), you should do so.

[drjohnhwatson]

On 3/8/2017 at 0:43 AM, Remmirath said:

Assuming I was actually able to save anyone at all from drowning (I'm not the strongest swimmer, and there's a chance that even the kid will be larger and heavier than me), I would definitely save the adult in the first question. They have a much higher likelyhood of survival, and I've never been onboard with prioritising the well-being of children over adults. They're all people, and being younger doesn't give you more of a right to live.

 

As to the second question... probably my pet, presuming we're talking about the pets I have now (cats). If we were talking about some pets I've had in the past (hamsters, gerbils, etc.), I'd try for the human. Would I feel bad about it afterwords? Yeah, probably, because it's objectively not a great decision to save my cat over some human... but I don't know the human at all, and I do know my pet. Plus, logically, I have a much higher chance of actually fishing my cat out of the water successfully than a full-grown, or even not full-grown, human.

 

Realistically, however, what I'd actually do in all cases is stand around looking horrified and helpless and try to get somebody else to save the creatures in question, because I'd be more likely to drown myself by going in after them. I can barely swim straight with light waves, so rescuing people or animals is probably pretty out of the question for me. The only people I might try it anyhow with if I couldn't get anyone to come would be my parents or my brother, but even then I'd probably realistically have better luck trying to hold out a stick for them to hold onto or something until I could get somebody else.

Honestly all of this.  What you mentioned about the kid thing especially.  Like with the whole justification of intervening in Syria because children died--yes, and??  Children have died before this in Syria and so have adults--it's strange to me that people shrug whenever a boatload of adults die, but a child dies or gets injured and suddenly everyone is up in arms.  If the kid had a higher likelihood of survival, I'd probably go for them because they'd be bound to weigh less, but then again they might not be able to stop panicking as easily as an adult would in the situation so I don't know.

 

And yeah I'd save my pets as well.  I know my pets, I know what they do and what they're like and the happiness that they bring me.  The human drowning could be a total, irredeemable shitbag.  Yes, they could be a saint as well, but I'm a misanthrope who skews toward pessimism so...I'll doubt that theory.

[Pramana]

This reminds me of the notorious Trolley Problem. My take is that no choice is more ethically correct than the other in these sorts of scenarios.

[Guest]

Update--I now can swim. It took the entire summer, but I think I got the hang of it.

 

So, in correction of my initial reply.

 

I'm just curious as to what makes things an 11% chance, vs 50. I.E 11%, being stuck in heavy rapids, heading for waterfalls? 50, being being sucked into a current? In either situation. I'm not strong enough of a swimmer, so would have to call 911.

 

If the 50, is simply an older person drowning in the deeper end of a pool, while the lifeguards are busy texting (Twitter, is getting dangerous).....I'd jump right in, and pick the person I knew I could save.

 

I'd treat it like the scene of a fiery car crash. If I knew I'd get killed trying to help you, I'd help anyone I could without risking death. Doing so, would be counterproductive.

[Guest]

The kid is easier to carry so I'd save the kid. And I don't have a pet so I'd save the stranger. Though if both the pet and the stranger were drowning together I'd ask the stranger to carry the pet while I save them. Done.

[Guest]

On 4/22/2017 at 5:09 PM, Hiatus said:

Well, most humans...there's a few who just won't make the cut.

There's a few I'd be tempted to push in and pretend I didn't notice they were drowning

[m4rble]

A lot of people seem to be missing the point. In this situation, you can swim, you can lift them out of the water, you have accurate knowledge about chances of survival, and your own survival is not at stake. Trying to add in additional concerns just makes the hypothetical a less clear indicater of values. 

[Peachyy]

Fuck people.

 

Id save the adult just so that I could let them drown in round 2. 

 

I don't even have a pet. 

[Yatogami]

I realized I never posted in this thread. 

 

I'd rescue the man, based on probable survival. Also based on the sheer probability of helping so many other people at the same time. What if the man was married and had kids? Due to the butterfly effect, the immediate potential of doing more good in the long run, rests with the man. A child has not yet made its mark in the world, while tragic, would soon be forgotten.  

 

If you had rescued the child, the odds of them being better or worse than the man at the same age are more or less the same. 

[Zacharie]

It's complicated. It all depends on the particular situation. They could still be alive and kicking, kicking so hard that you could die with them if they get desperate and drown you both. I would save my pet too. i won't let you suffer, little Pie.