The Rational Choice?
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Re: The Rational Choice?
Written 10:57 am
- Burning ghost
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Re: The Rational Choice?
I was not actually trying to prove that point ... I thought it was already quite obvious to anyone who has studied some neuroscience. Damasio sets the position quite well in Descarte's Error and I think we can all agree we don't do anything without emotional content.
My point was to show how logic can blind us from more emotional data, just as emotion blinds us from logical data.
I don't think you answered my question about a train rushing toward 100 people. Would you just do nothing or switch the tracks and allow one person to die? Am I correct in saying you were responding to this question? You would do nothing?
Is it better for 2 people to be murdered or for 3 people to fall to their deaths off a cliff?
I don't expect you to answer, but the point of a hypothetical is to explore yourself and your sense of what is "right".
Would I die for others? I would like to think I would, but in all honestly I cannot say for certain I would. A lot would depend upon my state of mind at the time, but if I want to be that kind of person then investigating the situation like this is likely to make me act as I would want to act. "Anyone would have done what I did." is a common thing the unsung hero says. I have no real idea if I am like that, but I know I have some qualities that make me willing to put myself forward for others when things get bad. To the point of offering my life? I doubt it, but it is something I can work on. I do think I'd be more likely to die for someone younger than me because I value potential.
Emotions help keep us alive and are part of rationality. It does appear that some individuals in the population are more prone to sacrificing themselves than others. Not many people would walk past a lone crying child in the street, but there are always circumstances where they would.
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Re: The Rational Choice?
In these kinds of puzzles you have to take probabilities as firm, not as guesses, estimates, or dependent upon anyone's perception.Steve3007 wrote: ↑October 13th, 2017, 11:49 am Also, the two innocents who I kill with my choice were actually, individually, less likely to kill than the other guy. So, on the face of it, that makes them better? No, because we're still only talking about our perception of their likelihood to kill, that shouldn't make a difference.
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