Thread: Maemo Morality
View Single Post
festivalnut is offline festivalnut
2010-04-15 , 18:37
Posts: 889 | Thanked: 537 times | Joined on Mar 2010 @ scotland
#41
Originally Posted by Dak View Post
Correct. The point being that there is a seemingly infinite set of things we don't know, yet despite this most profound state of ignorance we presume to assert that saving 5 is somehow 'better' than saving one.

The point at which you decide to pull that switch (with no deeper knowledge of the people involved than their count) is the point at which you become an active decisive participant in a process that will end life.

That's significant. Far more significant than some cheap pop-psychology conundrum.
the point at which you decide to ignore the problem makes you a participant, infact as soon as you observe the situation and realise you could make a difference you are a participant. being an "inactive" participant just means you lack the stones to do anything. and in this example yes saving five people is better than saving one, knowing more about them doesn't help, its one thing to do the maths with 5 equal lifes, another to start judging which lives are worth more than others
__________________
sarcasm may be the lowest form of wit, but its the only wit i have.

its a sad day when i can't slip at least one hitchhiker reference in somewhere.