Would you SACRIFICE your life to save the LIVES of 10 persons?

Question

I would not because I know that my life will only be lived once.
It is my duty to preserve it, not to sacrifice it.
I respect humanity a great deal but I respect myself a great deal more.

Answer 1

I like how no one has taken the Malthus argument yet. He, among others would argue that it would be better for 1 to live than for 10 to live because it would give that 1, and all of the others left living, a better life.

Malthus argued that food supply increases arithmetically and population increases geometrically. In essence he concludes that there will always be overpopulation, starvation, poverty, and downright insufficiency.

In that sense, it is not heartless to value your life more than 10 others. In fact, with the human carrying capacity estimated at 2-40 billion, it would be similarly acceptable to value your life more than millions others.

Of course this is macro thinking, and if you look at the individual story of each life that you so ruthlessly take, it would be heartless. But we don't think that way. For Example:

I could tell you about Maria, a mother whose abusive husband left her and her two children to starve. She worked diligently, sometimes 70 hours a week. Despite her selfless diligence and complete sacrifice for her children, she at last was force to pick which child to feed, because she could not afford to feed both. The other child died the following week.

Or I could simply tell you about a typhoon that hit Calcutta India in 1737 that killed 300,000 people.

And on the far extreme I could simply state that 8 trillion people died yesterday.

Unless my storytelling is lacking right now, most people would be most effected by the story of Maria. Stalin infamously summed it up by stating, roughly: One death is a tragedy, One Million deaths is a statistic.

This pretty much justifies that most people would rather have themselves alive than 10 others, and it is not as selfish as it seems.

Answer 2

I learned one major thing during my Air Force career, a person cannot stand alone. During wartime or peacetime the person standing next to you is extremely important. Stranger or not, that person maybe the only one in the world who would do for you, what you should do for them. You have heard the many stories of soldiers who jump on grenades to save other soldiers they never met. These stories are true.

When I was a pilot in a B52 Bomber, we had 8 engines on the aircraft. On one training mission we were at 500 feet altitude and going 400 knots of speed, due to an emergency we had to shut down three engines on one side of the aircraft. The plane started to turn into the side with the engines shut down. As the pilot I had two choices abdone the aircraft possible lose the lives of the 5 other crewmen or figure out a way quickly to save the aircraft, fly home and land the aircraft safely. So it all fell into my hands to save the other 5 crewmen at a possible cost of my own life. We gained altitude, fly home, landed safely and had a beer before we went home.

I want to live more then anyone else in the world. But I can't live with knowing that my choice cost one other person their life.

Answer 3

It depends. Are they on death row? Are they communitsts who would not care if I lived or died as long as the "greater good" was served? Are they all Einsteins trying to prevent the world from being destroyed in the next 48 hours?
For some I would. For others I would not. All philosophy is contextual, and you cannot ask a non-contextual question to get a rational answer.
Also, read Ayn Rand's chapter on "Ethics in Emergencies" in her book "The Virtue of Selfishness."

Answer 4

Yes I would because I know something you seem to be quite naive about. "Life is eternal".
We are here to love, okay? We love God first and foremost above all else. Then we are to love our nieghbours as we ourselves would want to be loved.
The Christ said that the greatest love there is ...is that a man gives up his life so that others may live.
So that the other ten may live I would give up my life because I know after death comes the Resurrection and here your soul lives forever. The spirit never dies.
If I were to follow what the Christ has taught me then death would have no hold on me because the state is conquered by the Messiah. Death being conquered means I live forever with God.
So; knowing that I would have to say "yes", I would give up my life for the other ten to live.

Answer 5

Yes. I myself am an rule utilitarian. If the consequences of a particular rule produces the greatest happiness or minimizes pain then the act is morally right. The consequences of this general rule (sacrificing one's life for the sake of others, where there is consent on the part of the sacrificer) produces more happiness and less pain.

Answer 6

Yes, If God gives me the courage, that I believe I have, I would, and here is why:
I am a Christian, and the chances are that out of the ten people picked at random, they won't all be christians, so this would give them more time to be saved from condemnation.

And even if they were all Christians, I would anyway, because 10 people are a much bigger light to the world than one is.

Answer 7

According to human nature, and perhaps INSTINCT, you are designed to survive. Any typical human would choose their life over 10 others except when emotions get involved. Emotions mess up the natural processes of survival mode. This is why we have people committing suicide. Perhaps if there was 10 people you knew to be killed, your emotions might change your decision. Otherwise everyone would naturally pick themselves.

Answer 8

-Your idea of "duty" is interesting... But some people would consider making a contribution to something LARGER than themselves... & THAT's where some of us would consider swapping Our life for 10 others... -Keep that in mind, the next time you're in a group of 9 other people... :)

Answer 9

It would depend on the 10 people. If we're talking my children and grandchildren, yes.

10 adult strangers, most likely no. Of course there can be lots of scenarios...one of the 10 will find the cure for cancer, etc etc.

Answer 10

That's a nice way to say I'm selfish. Anyway to the answer:I'll strike a deal with the 10 then i'd go for it.U know what???? My way is I give the deliverer what they want and save mine too, that's my deal.Like it Lo,Lo??