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1) No. 2) No. 3) No. 4) No. 5) No amount would be enough.
This question was asked in an ethics class I took in 10th grade. At the time I didn't know how I would act if I was actually confronted with this choice. Over the years my mind has wandered back to this question and I'm pretty certain I would never do it. The awfulness of my actions would always haunt me, and, even if there was an added bonus option to wipe your memory of what you did to get the money, I just don't see how I could push that button.
An interesting collateral question: would you push a button to get where you're going five minutes faster at the increased risk of causing a random person to die? It's a button many people push every day . . .
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geoff
I've also seen this question before. VERY briefly, it sounds tempting. But I could never do it. The money would make me sick very shortly after receiving it, and everything I bought with it or used it for would become tainted to me.
You know the 5 Degrees of Separation from Kevin Bacon? It's really true, and you could put almost anyone's name in that slot. It's even amazing if you do it just to 3 degrees.
I could never do it, for any amount, to anyone.
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But can I spin the question? What if you got to pick the person? Could you go into a nursing home and find someone who wanted to be put out of their misery? Then would you do it?
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However, put the question in the context of society where the random killing would be a patriotic deed, perhaps saving democracy in the United States from the hands of 'evil' extremists, and the answers would probably be decidedly different. But who are the authorities that are determining there are 'evil' extremists ready to wrest democracy from its very roots and should they be believed?
Source(s):
When Good People Do Evil
http://www.yalealumnimagazine.com/issues/2007_01/milgram.html
Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil
http://www.iep.utm.edu/a/arendt.htm
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Source(s):
Script of My Fair Lady, found at: http://www.script-o-rama.com/movie_scripts/m/my-fair-lady-script-transcript...
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Answered Question
February 03, 2009 01:50 AM
Would you push a button to receive one million dollars but one random person in the world would die?
what if that person was a random person that you knew, or a family member, or some one important in the world?(answer all 4 questions!)what if you got more than one million? what's the minimum you would have to receive?
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Best Answer Chosen by Asker
| February 03, 2009 02:29 AM |
This question was asked in an ethics class I took in 10th grade. At the time I didn't know how I would act if I was actually confronted with this choice. Over the years my mind has wandered back to this question and I'm pretty certain I would never do it. The awfulness of my actions would always haunt me, and, even if there was an added bonus option to wipe your memory of what you did to get the money, I just don't see how I could push that button.
An interesting collateral question: would you push a button to get where you're going five minutes faster at the increased risk of causing a random person to die? It's a button many people push every day . . .
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geoff
February 07, 2009 01:14 AM
Darcy, I soooo know what you mean! :)
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Other Answers (9)
February 03, 2009 02:43 AM
1. No. 2. No. 3. No. 4. No amount could ever be enough. I've also seen this question before. VERY briefly, it sounds tempting. But I could never do it. The money would make me sick very shortly after receiving it, and everything I bought with it or used it for would become tainted to me.
You know the 5 Degrees of Separation from Kevin Bacon? It's really true, and you could put almost anyone's name in that slot. It's even amazing if you do it just to 3 degrees.
I could never do it, for any amount, to anyone.
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February 03, 2009 02:52 AM
Random person? Nope. Never ever, because by definition of the question you're killing an innocent person (barring the neglible possibility that you happen to take out someone who was himself a murderer). But can I spin the question? What if you got to pick the person? Could you go into a nursing home and find someone who wanted to be put out of their misery? Then would you do it?
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February 03, 2009 10:13 PM
yes you could pick the person but you wouldn't receive any money.
would you still do it? what amount of money would you need to "help" a person in a nursing home?
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would you still do it? what amount of money would you need to "help" a person in a nursing home?
February 04, 2009 12:09 PM
Most people, myself included, will answer 'no' to the 4 questions and state that no amount of money would induce us to change our minds. And probably no amount of money would be the motivator to do what the question asks. However, put the question in the context of society where the random killing would be a patriotic deed, perhaps saving democracy in the United States from the hands of 'evil' extremists, and the answers would probably be decidedly different. But who are the authorities that are determining there are 'evil' extremists ready to wrest democracy from its very roots and should they be believed?
Source(s):
When Good People Do Evil
http://www.yalealumnimagazine.com/issues/2007_01/milgram.html
Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil
http://www.iep.utm.edu/a/arendt.htm
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February 04, 2009 06:00 PM
Under no condition would I exchange the life of anyone for money: No for all 4 permutations of the question. Money doesn't have that kind of attraction for me, so the "known" in this scenario (how much money I would receieve/what it would do for my life) has little leverage against the "unknown" (who would die? How would that person contribute to the world? His/her family? Might I be killing more than one person by removing a family's only support?)
If I had less - for instance, if I was one of the newly desperate homeless people in this country, trying to support my family - I might see this as more of a "It's going to be me and mine or someone else" issue. As Alfred P. Doolittle said "No, I can't afford [morals], Governor. Neither
could you if you was as poor as me.
Source(s):
Script of My Fair Lady, found at: http://www.script-o-rama.com/movie_scripts/m/my-fair-lady-script-transcript...
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