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comment by mk
mk  ·  4571 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Moral dilemma: Would you kill one person to save five?
It changes everything if you know one of these people...

Here's is a series of questions this brought to mind:

Would you delete $1000 from the bank account of someone you will never know to gain $100?

Would you delete $1000 from the bank account of someone you will never know to gain $10000?

Would you delete $1000 from the bank account of someone you will never know to gain $100000?

Is there a number big enough that you would do it, and does it ever become justifiable?





ecib  ·  4570 days ago  ·  link  ·  
Pretty much any additional information would change most of these scenarios.

For the money, I wouldn't do it if I didn't know how much the person losing the money had. I wouldn't not want to ruin somebody to enrich myself.

But if I knew the person was say, a billionaire, then things would be different. I cannot honestly say that I wouldn't delete $1,000.00 from a billionaire if that meant I got 100k. In no universe can I see me not doing that.

How bout you?

mk  ·  4570 days ago  ·  link  ·  
    I cannot honestly say that I wouldn't delete $1,000.00 from a billionaire if that meant I got 100k.

If I were the billionare, I'd understand if you did. I mean, c'mon, I've got a million of those 1k's.

ecib  ·  4570 days ago  ·  link  ·  
Thanks buddy. What if I had to delete 50 bucks from your wallet if it meant that I would somehow gain 50 bucks?
mk  ·  4570 days ago  ·  link  ·  
Uh no. Sorry buddy. :)
ecib  ·  4570 days ago  ·  link  ·  
Oh. Ok. Just a hypothetical of course. For science.
thenewgreen  ·  4571 days ago  ·  link  ·  
Yes.
mk  ·  4571 days ago  ·  link  ·  
$100?
thenewgreen  ·  4570 days ago  ·  link  ·  
ahem...
thenewgreen  ·  4571 days ago  ·  link  ·  
No, I was kidding but there would certainly be an amount where I would do it. I know, I know... but I'm being honest. It would have to be upwards of $1mil for me. With that much money I can change my families life and do some good that might justify my blind theft.

I realize that $1000 could be all a family has and could cause major problems and even death of a sick child etc. But honestly, that' not that likely.

What about you? Is there no amount that would have you push the "$1000 theft button?

mk  ·  4570 days ago  ·  link  ·  
Oh, yes, there is some point where I would. It's basically the point at which I would be forgiving if I knew someone did it to me. But that would be a function of what they had to begin with. Maybe my pilfering would be somewhat justified at $1M? I don't know, that's the point at which it becomes a question mark to me. It's a pretty cold act, however. I'd hate to have that option. Give me $5M, and I could rationalize it more easily.
thenewgreen  ·  4570 days ago  ·  link  ·  
Give me $5M, and I could rationalize it more easily. I agree. Tell you what though, I would be more hesitant to spend the money frivolously if I "stole" it this way rather than earning it legitimately. I would feel the need to be altruistic with it. Kind of like in Saving Private Ryan when Tom Hanks says to Private Ryan, "earn this".
mk  ·  4570 days ago  ·  link  ·  
Earn this, you dirty thief.
thenewgreen  ·  4570 days ago  ·  link  ·  
exactly.