Imagine you had a box with a button on it that, when pressed, would cause terrible pain to someone somewhere.
Would you:
a) Press it if no one in the world would know it was you?
b) Press it if you were offered $1,000,000?
c) Press it if at the same time the person experienced excruciating pain, someone else experienced tremendous happiness?
35 comments:
My first instinct tells me to throw away the box and RUN. However, i'm still going to be a hurtful little human and answer this question. :P
I think I'd pick either option C) or even option B) for that matter..So yeah the man goes through excruciating pain but by picking either of the two options atleast theres something else i'm getting in return. Then again it's really unfair but, I'd rather get something in return, be it a great deal of cash or overwhelming amounts of 'pleasure',rather than returning home empty handed.
Okay wow, now i know WHY it's called a moral dilemma, very apt title :P
I hope i'm not going to be labelled 'heartless' after this (A)
Do we HAVE to choose one of these options?
Because well, truly speaking, I would try breaking the box; why does someone get the right to create mechanisms to hurt someone else? That's just evil. Even if the person was 'bad', I have no right to cause pain to anyone intentionally.
But for the sake of it, if I absolutely HAD to choose one of these; I would pick the 2nd option. I don't think I'd ever be able to live with myself though =/
I can use the $1 000 000 to help people, to make more than one person happy, which is why I would not choose the 3rd option. Even though it may seem selfish at first, of me choosing to accept money, I would make sure I use that money for good, to make others happy, and hopefully cure the person whom I induced pain upon. But my guilty conscience of deliberately causing someone pain will never leave me.
Oh and, I would try finding that person to whom I caused pain, and sincerely apologize. And also inform him that Mr Roberts left me no choice but to cause him pain somehow. :P
I'd do it for B and C. I'd do B purely out of selfishness and since it wouldn't bother me that much. C, I'd do just to make someone incredibly happy, since it's such a rare feeling. In both cases there's someone who wins and someone who loses. That's how life is. I wouldn't do it if no one knew I did it, because no one benefits from this.
LOL! There's a movie called 'The Box' with pretty much the same story, only the person on the other side of the world dies, and the pusher of the button gets a $1,000,000!
Anyways, I guess if I compulsorily had to choose, I would choose B because I would get the money, and if I could use a portion of it to help the other person with the pain, I would; maybe his/her medical bills, therapeutic classes! :p
I wouldn't choose C because no kind of happiness anyone else feels would justify what I have done which is cause someone an unbearable amount of pain. They say that when you want to do something wrong, do it RIGHT! So I might as well take the money and use it for helpful or benefitial purposes.
Kris: "That's how life is."
And just as life is, the other person who suffers agony could, for all anyone knows, be your sister, or mother, or child - but at least you win :P
None!! I'd just throw that box and walk away, actually I'd break it so no one else can use it. It's an unethical thing to cause an unknowing person so much pain plus I'm not malicious enough to do it, not for money, not for anything else. But if i were forced to pick, I'd pick C, i try my best to make people around me happy and it's a terrific feeling when it's successful.... what a question!where do u come up with this stuff seriously!
I didn't say it would be fair or that I'd get some joy of it. If I know that a person whom I know is going to suffer the pain, I won't do it, but if it was a stranger, be it a child I'll probably do it. I just don't have high morals. And if it was someone I knew, I'll feel guilt over the caused pain, but anything else could have happened. A bus could hit my brother(nope, I don't have a sister) today, or some fatal disease might kill my mom, and yes, I would be really sad and angry at the world in general, but as I said that's how life is. There's always been pain in the world and there's always an instigator of that pain. I still hold the idea that everything we do is born out of selfish reasons whether that's how we intend it or not. I'm just embracing that notion fully.
Obviously I would dispose of the box if I didnt have to choose any one of those.
But from choosing one of those, and judging that this pain could be inflicted on absolutely anyone. I would go with 'c' and I think most would do the same thing, but there is a feint chance that I would go with 'b' if I was feeling lucky.
...dammit, I hate questions like these. Seconding Utsa. I would probably just run away upon sensing the ominous vibes that the box emits.
But, OF COURSE, I can't. 8|
In that case, I'd...I guess I'd choose option C...I mean, even if I DID cause someone an excruciating amount of pain...at least someone else would feel good. I would...rather not...I don't even know. I'd like to know whom I'm giving so much pain, first, their history and everything.
Then again, it's not up to me to decide who deserves to be hurt or not.
This is hard. Oye.
I'd probably want to kill myself afterwords. I just cannot imagine causing someone so much pain. The first thing that comes to mind is the Cruciatus Curse and, being a geek, it pains me to think of someone being bent in such impossible ways.
...God, I don't know. This is a horrible situation to be in...
What a desicion to make! :(
Can we NOT choose???
I guess not.
well i would think of choosing C. Because all the choices above show that at the end of the day there will be pain. So why not choose the option where it allows someone out there to have happiness. Money doesn't buy happiness and i am not the kind of person who would hurt someone just like that.
thats my answer :)
xx
I would not press that button, nor go anywhere near it. My choice would be none, and, unless you cut my finger off and press it, I would not press it, for no earthly-pleasure, no amount of wealth on Earth, can forgive an act like that. Hapiness comes and goes, but pain scars for life.
If we have to choose, it would be option C, since it is the most reasonable option, because option A is stupid, and option B is only money.
okay well if i HAD to choose one, it'd be B. reason being is cause i can give that money to that person for tolerating that pain and pay for any hospital bills.
option C is just unfair.. pain is an unacceptable exchange for someone elses happiness..
and A is just inhumane...
I like Nishika's option. If I do it for the money, well then I could maybe give them the money to compensate for what I HAD to do. Even if I don't know who I did it to, I'd just put the money for charity, basically something to make me feel good about myself. I wouldn't want a cent of it for me.
On the other two options:
A is just pure evil and cowardly as well. I would NEVER be able to bring myself to do something like that, just because no one knows.
C. seems a bit more reasonable, but it's no fair at all, because when you think about it, it doesn't really advocate the theory: There will always be a winner and a loser. Because in this case, there was no battle, no competition, just one person's conscience.
Obviously, as everyone else has noted, if I didn't have to choose, I'd destroy that box and forget it ever existed.
Isn't this a copy of some Story or movie plot ?
I beleive it is.......
But anyway,Lets see... If I choose
A) I did something bad but no one knows so it is only a matter of my conscience but there's no personal gain for me.
B) There's a personal gain and it would make me a jackass if I got my money by destroying someone.
C) There's no personal gain for me other then knowng I made someone happy but at the same time i've made someone really sad.... again not much to see.
If I had to choose it will be option B, since there is a personal gain for me and all it takes for me is to not care about other people. But really, something like that is a really bad idea because eventually it will just destroy humanity as we know it, so as everyone else said for the better and survial of us we destroy and be rid of the box.
haha i actually smiled when i read this question because i knew straight away what my answer was gonna be
being the sadist that i am i'd choose B and C ,
simply because i feel like it :)
oh , and because of the money .
would that make me a bad person ?,
maybe . but then again , im providing someone with a tremendous amount of happiness which they may be in desperate need of , and lets face it , not everyones happy ALL the time. so does that make me a nice person ?
oh well , i guess well never know , will we XD
Being a mean person by nature, i'd pick all 3 =D
i understand that its inhumane and horrid, but i have my reasons. I'd pick one because it would be an instinctive move, rather than a heartless move.
I'd pick two so that i can give that money to the person who experienced the pain, ofcourse not all of it because it would be stupid to do so.
Finally i'd pick three because, the anonymous victims would probably deserve what is happening to them. The one experiencing the pain could be a criminal for all you know. The person experiencing tremendous happiness could be someone who's had a lot of traumatic experiences in their life!
i want that box right now =]
^ Hmmm... Fay and Wayne where do you get your morals from? Must be a very special place :D
Well I like Nishika's point of choosing B and giving the money off. However I wouldn't actually use the box, it just seems to immoral and sad that someones pain and happiness can be controlled by a box which is an inanimate object deciding fate? I would definetly throw the box out.
I'm a little bit of B and a little bit of C and then a little bit of none.
B because I wouldn't mind causing pain (and for a split second because I haven't been given exact orders) and C because I'll just feel less guilty knowing that for causing pain I've also caused happiness. BUT not B or C because if me pressing a button means someone somewhere will experience pain and someone somewhere else will experience happiness, who am I to be the reason for the pain/happiness?
Indirectly, I am the giver of pain/happiness and who am I to have that position of authority? A button should not constitute the actions a person receives! The actions of that person constitute what they receive!
First of all, I would not even want to have that horrible box!
But if I had it and in this case have to choose one option then it would be C.That's because I will not only be doing a selfish thing (hurting someone)but also a kind deed(giving pleasure to another).
Though I hope that the person to whom I will be causing the pain is someone who deserves that pain and vice versa.
Aisha Bashir
10g2
I would never ever want to press this button
BUT if I had to then I would chose
c) Because it could actually make someone happy instead
Well, this might sound cliche but I would pick B(depends on my mood really), I think the majority of people would pick B as well since humans are naturally selfish. As cruel and immoral as it is, I could do a lot with that money.
or C, because it's helping another human being. So in some weird way, I guess I would feel good but at the same time evil for causing torturing some random person.
Okay...
Well, I'd rather stare at the box then smash it to pieces really. Or squeal and run away.
But if I had to really choose, I'm going to weigh my options very carefully.
Choosing Option A = No one would know that it was me, and my conscience would bother me till the day I die, which can lead me to have sleepless nights, even to the point of going insane.
Option B= MONEY :) but then again, that doesnt seem right. I'd be hurting someone for personal gain. My conscience would still bother me, but hey, at least I'm rich. But once the $1,000,000 gets spent, where would I be? I'd be living in a house, driving a car, wearing clothes that were bought using someone's suffering. Nice -.-
Option C = To make someone happy out of someone's pain. Sounds like a nice idea, but did anyone ever think that the person who gets chosen to experience euphoria may not deserve it? Some old lady may be keeling over in pain just for the sake of some serial killer experiencing random ecstasy. AHHHH! :/
Therefore, I choose Option B. Option C provides me with a rather uncertain outcome, and you'd never know WHO really experiences what in the end. With Option B, you get the events straight and the results are certain - the money is definitely yours.
I'd pick B.
Maybe even C, but that's what I say now. I know, that had i been given that box, i'd either chicken out and run away(or i might just press the button it out of curiosity) or if i had no choice I'd pick B because of personal gain.
Being human, I'm bound to be selfish and self centred, hence picking B, considering the amount of money I'd recieve by doing so.
If I pick C - well, the only reason I'd do so is because in the end I'd feel less guilty - hence it all really comes down to selfish human nature. So why pick C when the only reason I'd do so is to personally feel less guilty, when I could gain something for myself while picking B - both indirectly being equally selfish acts.
A is out of the question because that's just downright stupid. :/
I would really never press it. But maybe press it just once for the $1,000,000 if by pressing the button, it wouldnt cause the death of someone. But mind you, since its terrible pain that is caused, I would press it just ONCE.
I think there a movie coming out where the characters face this dilemma. That's going on my list :)
Well, I am a pretty strong believer in "give and take", so maybe i wouldn't feel too guilty if I was causing happiness at the same time as pain. No matter what choice I decide though, I will feel guilty. Especially if i chose B), but then again, what if i desperately needed the money? There is just so many ways to look at this.
i would not press the button for any of the above reasons because i find it hard to believe that someone knowingly can inflict pain onto someone else in this world. There is no money money big enough that would ensite me to do such a thing, especially knowing that i could have relative or friend or even a normal human being around the world who could be in terrible pain.
Sir, you got this idea from the movie "The Box" didnt you? But still, it does make the cog wheels in my head run faster than usual.
I guess I would choose B and ONLY B! I get no pleasure from torturing another soul, but I am pretty selfish and I embrace that.
If I were the VICTIM of this "event" I actually wouldn't blame my "assailant"; for greed is human nature and I accept it.
Unless for option C the person who experiences the tremendous happiness would be a person of my choice! then C would be tempting =)
Daniel,
I've never heard of "The Box." This is a very old and common dilemma in ethical philosophy. The makers of the film were probably influenced by it.
If i say None,i would be lying..
I think if i was Really put in this situation,i would choose B because its human nature! -.-
BUT maybe i would choose C if i get to choose who should go through the pain,even though i wouldnt really want anyone to go through SO MUCH pain even if i depised them..
Its very confusing =S
To be honest i go for option A) Press it if no one in the world would know it was you? when someone does something wrong to me the first thing that i feel is something HORRIBLE should happen to that person maybe trip from the stairs or he twists his finger real bad. Its just human tendency and therefore we start believing in KARMA - what goes around comes around. Even option b) Press it if you were offered $1,000,000 - it seems quite tempting - so much MONEY imagine the shopping. It would be a lie if someone told you they would not press the button for that much money - i guess it would also depend on the financial situation one is in.
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