Ask RM a Question

[Rangi Guy]

I went looking to see what was going on in N&D - now I kinda wish I hadn't

[Ello Sailor]

Jorge is the Tom Morello of South America.

Ashes in the Tall

[Jorge]

Someone offers you five million dollars, tax free and no strings attached. But you are informed that upon accepting this money, some random person in the world will die. This person wouldn't have died at that time otherwise, so their death will be solely due to your choice. And the only assurances you have are that it's not someone you know or would ever come in contact with, and that nobody will ever know you had anything to do with it.

Do you take the money?

I posed this question in the family group chat and the answers were surprising:

Spoiler: show

a complete gender split, with all the men including myself saying they wouldn't and all the women saying they would

[bodysnatcher]

Yes

[BurtReynolds]

I don't want to commit murder.

[bart]

No because that’s the premise of the story Button, Button and it ends badly

[Jorge]

No because that’s the premise of the story Button, Button and it ends badly

Please take this seriously

[bodysnatcher]

There's a chance you've already killed someone in your lifetime without knowing it, through some decision you made and its butterfly effect. Might as well get 5 mil out of it.

[Jorge]

But here you would be killing someone with knowing it

[The Argonaut]

I wouldn't take the money, that sweet sweet money

[Ello Sailor]

Take the money, donate 4.5 million to saving countless other lives.

Blow the rest on drugs and eventually succumb to the guilt.

[lennytheweedwhacker]

Answering yes to that has to denote some level of sociopath.

[Ello Sailor]

The greater good, Leonard. How many lives could you save with that money?

The person selected could be a South African rugby fan. They're the absolute worst. It'd be fine.

[lennytheweedwhacker]

The greater good, Leonard. How many lives could you save with that money?

The person selected could be a South African rugby fan. They're the absolute worst. It'd be fine.

What if it's your wife? Or Gary Oldman?

[coptheriotact]

if i choose "no"
anytime a financial problem emerges, i would think about the money and that person, who may possibly have died some other way already.

both options are bad.

[Jorge]

Sure but one option involves you directly causing a person's death... for money

I think that option is worse!

Come on guys I'm supposed to be the sociopath here

[lennytheweedwhacker]

In this one thing you are not, George.

[Ello Sailor]

Jorge is definitely still the sociopath.

If he was going to donate to saving the lives of others, he would've done so already. 5 million is a drop in a bucket.

Understandable that you cannot comprehend the meaning of "the greater good".

You're all imbeciles.

[Ello Sailor]

The greater good, Leonard. How many lives could you save with that money?

The person selected could be a South African rugby fan. They're the absolute worst. It'd be fine.

What if it's your wife? Or Gary Oldman?

Both would be fine in the name of the greater good. But I'd choose either you or a random white South African, for sure.

[The Argonaut]

Ello, you're being to sound suspiciously like a utilitarian. Or an effective altruist

Don't be those things, they suck!