Could you kill a person?
- Thread starter Sean Hollyman
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Depends. Could I clamp my hands around a person's throat and watch as the life slowly drains out of them, while his/her children are begging me to stop? No, of course not.
But could I press a button in a room, that would deliver a lethal injection to a person in another room, and I would never have to see the victim, or the consequences of my actions? If I am reassured from a trustworthy source that the person in question is deserving of the death penalty, and in pushing the button I would be earning a substantial reward for my trouble? Probably.
Milgram Milgram Milgram...
But could I press a button in a room, that would deliver a lethal injection to a person in another room, and I would never have to see the victim, or the consequences of my actions? If I am reassured from a trustworthy source that the person in question is deserving of the death penalty, and in pushing the button I would be earning a substantial reward for my trouble? Probably.
Milgram Milgram Milgram...
If I had a reason, sure. Like if they're trying to hurt me or my family, they deserve it. I'm not going to lose any sleep over some scumbag who had it coming.
If it was the kind of situation where killing this person will save many others then sure, I would feel much worse if I didn't kill him. If it was a truly callous person I wouldn't even hesitate.
Having said that it probably would weigh on my conscience for quite a while afterwards, but not enough to drive me to suicide or anything like that.
Having said that it probably would weigh on my conscience for quite a while afterwards, but not enough to drive me to suicide or anything like that.
under the right circumstances I'm convinced I'd kill another person, I am a pacifist and vegetarian but the will to survive can grow stronger than any moral and priciple you have in your everyday life.
if my only chance of survival was killing an other person I'd say my instincts would practically force me to do it.
I think Lord of the flies pretty much said that; these supposedly innocent children who have known nothing but their comfortable civilized lives turn on each other for the sake of survival.
very few people have their morals so close to heart they can fight against their most primal insticts in the most desperate situation.
morals only work as long as there is a possibility to apply them.
most humans would of course be guilt stricken, but the brain have this funny little habit of numbing such things down in order to survive that too... the brain is a funny organ really
in the cases that this mechanism don't kick in, well... therepy or a very sad end...
but from rage... no I would not be able to do it, probably not even out of pity even though I'm all for euthanasia applied in the medical system, it is painfull to see someone slowly die in apathy or cancer with no hope of survival or recovery...
if my only chance of survival was killing an other person I'd say my instincts would practically force me to do it.
I think Lord of the flies pretty much said that; these supposedly innocent children who have known nothing but their comfortable civilized lives turn on each other for the sake of survival.
very few people have their morals so close to heart they can fight against their most primal insticts in the most desperate situation.
morals only work as long as there is a possibility to apply them.
most humans would of course be guilt stricken, but the brain have this funny little habit of numbing such things down in order to survive that too... the brain is a funny organ really
in the cases that this mechanism don't kick in, well... therepy or a very sad end...
but from rage... no I would not be able to do it, probably not even out of pity even though I'm all for euthanasia applied in the medical system, it is painfull to see someone slowly die in apathy or cancer with no hope of survival or recovery...
Kind of a personal question. But yes I can, and Yes I have. I've been to Afghanistan and I'm going right back soon. Its very easy to do all you have to do is rationalize it in your head. "This scumbag would kill me and my buddies if HE had the chance, so I'm gonna kill him and his buddies and remove him from the face of the earth".
Context please.
Kill someone out of spite/anger/without sufficient danger presented towards me: No I would not, and would feel guilty for it afterwards
Kill someone in self defense or defense of others such as my family or friends, (or in defense of a stranger): Most certainly would kill, might feel guilty, depends ont he type of person killed.
In a war scenario where I am a soldier: Being forced to kill an enemy soldier I would feel less guilty about, precisely because just as I am killing him and his friends, he is trying to kill me and my friends. Not to mention I would be willing to killa civilian who takes up a gun, at that point he becomes an enemy combatent in my mind, would feel guilty about it though. War is a *****
Kill someone out of spite/anger/without sufficient danger presented towards me: No I would not, and would feel guilty for it afterwards
Kill someone in self defense or defense of others such as my family or friends, (or in defense of a stranger): Most certainly would kill, might feel guilty, depends ont he type of person killed.
In a war scenario where I am a soldier: Being forced to kill an enemy soldier I would feel less guilty about, precisely because just as I am killing him and his friends, he is trying to kill me and my friends. Not to mention I would be willing to killa civilian who takes up a gun, at that point he becomes an enemy combatent in my mind, would feel guilty about it though. War is a *****
Depends. Could I? Yes, I know a lot of different ways to kill a person. Could I bring myself to do it? Yes, under the right conditions. If they were endangering my life or the lives of innocent people, I'd kill them in a heartbeat if I was able to. Could I live with it? That's another thing entirely.
I treasure life above all else, and to deny someone of that life is a crime that just about beats all others, at least to me it is. I could do it, but I'd have a difficult time living with it. No matter how much I rationalized it, I think it would still bother me. Eventually, I'm sure that the nightmares would stop, and it'd sink into the recesses of my subconscious, but every so often, like most bad memories, it would pop up.
It's not even whether or not they were a good person. Everyone has people that they know, family, friends, coworkers, classmates, it doesn't matter. Everyone has dreams that they aspired to. To deny that person their life is to deny all possibilities, good and evil, that that person could have made into reality.
Sometimes, however, there is no other option. I was stabbed by a man that was intent on ending my life because he caught me with his girlfriend. Luckily, I saw him and was able to disarm him. However, in that moment, I had the option, the knowledge and the skill, to kill him as I disarmed him. The thought occured to me that I would have been well within my rights to kill this man who had tried to kill me. But killing him would have served no purpose, and a needless killing is the worst of all. I simply disarmed him and gave him arm a good twist, dislocating his shoulder. Hurt, but not permanently so, and unable to hurt me further, I walked away.
I was angry, sure. A man had just tried to kill me, after all. But I also understood why he did it. I'd been cheated on before, and I can't say that I didn't have some feelings of causing harm to the parties involved.
Part of this is my own philosophy, and some of it comes from Aikido, the martial art that I practiced. The simple fact of the matter is that I don't like people to die meaninglessly.
I treasure life above all else, and to deny someone of that life is a crime that just about beats all others, at least to me it is. I could do it, but I'd have a difficult time living with it. No matter how much I rationalized it, I think it would still bother me. Eventually, I'm sure that the nightmares would stop, and it'd sink into the recesses of my subconscious, but every so often, like most bad memories, it would pop up.
It's not even whether or not they were a good person. Everyone has people that they know, family, friends, coworkers, classmates, it doesn't matter. Everyone has dreams that they aspired to. To deny that person their life is to deny all possibilities, good and evil, that that person could have made into reality.
Sometimes, however, there is no other option. I was stabbed by a man that was intent on ending my life because he caught me with his girlfriend. Luckily, I saw him and was able to disarm him. However, in that moment, I had the option, the knowledge and the skill, to kill him as I disarmed him. The thought occured to me that I would have been well within my rights to kill this man who had tried to kill me. But killing him would have served no purpose, and a needless killing is the worst of all. I simply disarmed him and gave him arm a good twist, dislocating his shoulder. Hurt, but not permanently so, and unable to hurt me further, I walked away.
I was angry, sure. A man had just tried to kill me, after all. But I also understood why he did it. I'd been cheated on before, and I can't say that I didn't have some feelings of causing harm to the parties involved.
Part of this is my own philosophy, and some of it comes from Aikido, the martial art that I practiced. The simple fact of the matter is that I don't like people to die meaninglessly.
If I had a reason, easily. There are far worse fates than death. Not to mention that there are MANY people in my life who I would have already killed if it was not illegal.
I'll get back to you once I've been in a situation where a lethal conflict occurs.
Noone really knows till they're actually faced with such a dilemma.
Noone really knows till they're actually faced with such a dilemma.
If it maximized utility, absolutely. If killing 1 person saved 3 lives, NOT killing the person would be me committing double homicide by any measurement that matters. I wouldn't even feel guilty, until I made the conscious choice to make myself feel guilty. Because that's something you should do.
If the person I had to kill was someone I cared about though, I think I would end up being a hypocrite. I'm under no illusion that that is anything except a character flaw on my part.
::Edit:: I just saw someone point out that you don't know until you have been in that situation. Fair enough. I suspect that that's how I would react, but I have no way to know.
If the person I had to kill was someone I cared about though, I think I would end up being a hypocrite. I'm under no illusion that that is anything except a character flaw on my part.
::Edit:: I just saw someone point out that you don't know until you have been in that situation. Fair enough. I suspect that that's how I would react, but I have no way to know.
I need a good reason to be motivated to do anything.
In self defence, I think I'd be perfectly capable and I think I'd be okay with it afterwards. Of course, I don't know for sure and in reality it could be entirely different.
In self defence, I think I'd be perfectly capable and I think I'd be okay with it afterwards. Of course, I don't know for sure and in reality it could be entirely different.