If you were God challenge, care to try?

Question

by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan We often question God's ways. But given the chance, how would we do things differently?




The Problem:

You are given an island where several tribes live.

By nature and culture, these tribes are exploitative and belligerent. This results in much suffering on the island, caused by war poverty and prejudice.

They have been living this way for centuries without any sign of improvement.

Your Assignment:

To try to improve this society.

To teach its members to live together in harmony and reduce suffering to a minimum or eliminate it entirely.

To create a healthy society.

Your Resources:

You have all the resources that a highly advanced technology can offer.

You have the entire island under surveillance and can see what is happening in any place at any time.

You have such devices as cloud-seeding equipment and can plant underground explosives. Within reason, you can control weather, flooding, volcanoes and earthquakes, and produce any "natural" phenomenon on cue.

You also have devices that can be used to implant ideas through subliminal suggestion. You can implant ideas to entire populations or to certain select leaders.

However, you must take into account the sever limitations of subliminal suggestion. If you try to implant any ideas that go against the basic nature of the populace, they will be totally rejected and your efforts will be in vain.

One alternative would be to implant ideas that somehow would make use of the acknowledged bad nature of these people.

Your Restrictions:

Under no circumstances are the natives of this island to be aware of your presence.

This supersedes all other considerations.

The cultural shock caused by your revealing yourself would disrupt the entire fabric of the island culture. It would cause much suffering and more than offset any good that you could possibly accomplish.

The natives would be reduced to a state of almost vegetable-like dependence from which they would be unlikely to recover. If they did recover, they might rebel so violently as to eliminate any positive values they might have originally had.

Therefore, the restrictions that you not reveal yourself must be followed without exception under any circumstances.

But aside from this restriction, you have a free hand to proceed as humanely or as ruthlessly as you see fit.

In short, you have the opportunity to play God.

What would you do?

Answer 1

What an arrogant proposition. How can I assume that my own ideas, values, and thinking are superior to the thinking of the "tribes"? Only because I am in possession of superior technology and surveillance? This can be compared to the position of the first Europeans reaching America - even a benevolent effort would most probably bring more problems to the "natives" than they had originally, and most probably their ways of living would be destroyed.
I would stick to the primary directive and keep completely out of all this.

Answer 2

How about an exchange program? There is no need for technology. Some times people just need to find out what is like to live in someone else's shoes. Besides this way you can also attack the problem where it begins, with kids. Adults may be set in their ways but kids are always willing to make new friends, look past skin color, and religious beliefs. You start by changing those who are the future.

Answer 3

Subliminally teach the leaders the way of peace so that they may then teach their followers the same. Then send more subliminal suggestions for the leaders of each tribe to meet and agree on a peace treaty to share all the island's resources. Everytime a tribe gets out of line, create a "natural disaster" affecting only that tribe.

Answer 4

I will not now, nor ever have I, presumed to be God...that is the height of sinful pride, much like Satan when he was cast out of heaven.

Answer 5

Let them keep doing what they're doing. If you start helping them, then they'll expect you to keep helping them everytime they encounter adversity.

Answer 6

give the ones who deserve it good luck and the
cruel get bad luck. luck itself can do things.

Answer 7

the answer: send an enlightened sage to show them the error of their ways.

Answer 8

help would go to people who ask for it

If the trible people ask for help ... me [if i was god ] would help them