Poll: Who would you rather let die, your pet or me?

[stormcrow5]

Save my pet, and assumeing that theres noone around when you die, take your money then call the ambulence. unless your a hot chick then the choice may sway to save you.... Dont know you dont care if we had been talking when whatever it was came along to kill then i may save you. to many factors. but normaly if i dont know you i dont care
Unless it was my bird.... then i would save you but my cat or dog you most likely gonna die

 

[Treeinthewoods]

Hypothetically it's funny to say my pet, in reality (if this actually did happen) I believe a much larger percentage of people here would choose to save a human stranger.

If you really were in this situation and you really would choose the pet it means you are what is referred to as a sociopath and removing you from society would be beneficial.

 

[teebeeohh]

if i had a pet it would probably be something my spouse/children/roommate would have wanted and i want to get rid of anyway.

 

[Ghengis John]

Again, seriously you would be torn between an animal and me, a stranger? We're talking right now. We can exchange ideas, you can see that I'm a thinking being and so are you. We might like the same things, we could even be friends in the right circumstances. To me, even if you hate me that makes it no contest.

But you demonstrate no great value (it's not an insult, read on!).

And yet somehow by the end I was no less insulted. You're assuming your pet is a "great loss to society". Moreover a greater loss than I am. If that's not an insult I don't know what is. People don't have to be important to the entire world to be deserving of your help. Being important to only a few people should be enough to suffice. If you won't do anything unless it shakes the world, be prepared to do a whole lot of nothing.

And in that way we're entirely identical, you and me.

That is entirely the reason why you should pick me over your pet, who himself is no more than a less functional confederacy of chemical components. And computers can be rebuilt. There is no need to worry about saving one over a life that cannot be replaced, such a supposition is silly. As diverse as that computer's outputs may be it is simply not as diverse in range of aptitude as a human, who in the end it needs to service it. If we're comparing a computer to a room of vegetables, the vegetables contribute more to society, sadly through medical bills than they do through the mortuary. As an added bonus the computer repairman and parts warehouse will also see business. As for this situation, you've simply chosen based on an emotional attachment to your pet. That is in no way logical, which you purport to be. I never used the words great loss to humanity but how about ranking higher than your pet? I was unaware he was brokering middle east peace talks. As it would be an emotional loss to my family, you should have enough consideration to want to prevent that. But if you have no emotional incentive then consider gratuity. Society would be less affected at the loss of your pet, who simply drains your resources. Instead you would keep an animal. That is selfish yes and they certainly wouldn't understand. I am not a lump of coal. I doubt you have ever carried on a conversation with one, and if you have, that's a whole other kettle of fish. If you view people as simple chemical chains devoid of value then what is to prevent you from becoming a serial killer? Or for that matter, what value is your own life?

 

[AtroposHeart]

I voted pet because I thought it was a joke poll. Now that I read the OP and realized you were serious I wish I could change it.

 

[jakefongloo]

This is a serious question. I want to know whether you would rather save the life of your pet animal or me in an emergency.

I am a complete stranger and you know nothing about me, therefore I could be a disliked loner or beloved by family or friends, a dumbass or a prodigy, a criminal or a volunteer with children and the elderly. You can't know.


EDIT:

These poll results are hardly surprising; a similar question was posed by another user on a forum I frequent and most people were more than happy to let that OP die, even kill and torture him, over their dog or cat. There is a serious lack of empathy in the modern world.

Even as a pet owner myself (I have a cat), I feel that people who put the lives of animals they own over other human beings are SELFISH. Selfish because their pets love them unconditionally and provide companionship, and they don't want to give this source of happiness up, while many people don't get along well with other humans. However, I personally could never live with the guilt knowing that I let another human being with family, friends, a significant other, a job where they provide value to others, hopes, and dreams die for an animal that is barely self-aware and mainly exists to make me happy and entertain me.

It would pain me to do so, but I would kill my cat myself so that any one of you may live.

EDIT 2:

Yes, the poll question was poorly worded when compared to the content of the OP, sorry.

My dogs did nothing nor will do anything to warrent any kind of death aside from age. You are some asshat who just called me selfish. Fuck you. There are 6 billion people in the world where as most dogs are spayed/nudered. If I'm selfish for letting a massive part of my life live so that you who will be nothing but a news report to me will die. Well shit I'll be sure to cry over that realisation.

I would take a bullet for my family and i would jump in front of a bus for my dogs. You want my protection be my friend other then that, piss off.

BTW: If you're American, I'll be fighting and maybe dieing for your freedom come July.

 

[bl4ckh4wk64]

I'm sorry OP, but I have to save my dog. I mean, he's really one of the only things that make me happy now. I know it's selfish, but I'm not going to give that up to save someone I don't know and probably will never meet.

 

[TheDrunkNinja]

But they don't. That's the thing. If I don't know someone I don't care what happens to them, regardless of whether they're right next to me or half a world away.

Well, that's more for you than for me. I was asking more hypothetical based questions to help you understand my point a little better. Like I said before, I'm not questioning your choice, just trying to help you get the perspective he was coming from with that "selfish" comment. I wasn't asking you to prove anything to me.

 

[Evilbunny]

My dog is very old and will probably die anyway in a few years, whereas you are a human being, and since you are posting on this website you are most likely under the age of thirty. You will probably live much longer than my dog will, so I would save you. It would break my heart to let my dog die, but I believe life is precious. It would be terrible for me to end a life thirty, forty, or even fifty years before its time compared to only two or three years for my dog.

 

[jakefongloo]

If you really were in this situation and you really would choose the pet it means you are what is referred to as a sociopath and removing you from society would be beneficial.

I'd strangle every puppy in the world to save the life of one AIDS infected heroin addict.

...

 

[x-machina]

I can't deny your arguement, of course a human life is more valuable than an animal's. You may have lives depending on you,(providing for children, taking care of a disabled person, or even just looking after your own pet). But, if it were to actually come down to you or my dog I fear my emotions would probably get the better of me.

 

[signingupforgames]

Honestly, you. As long as i don't see the blood, your family, or how you die. The only reason? It doesn't affect me. Yes, my pet being alive will be a constant reminder, but in all reality i could simply delude myself into thinking it was an elaborate joke.In all honesty, you most likely would never have affected my life if you ever had at all.

 

[Quesa]

oh no the poll on the internet website most people anwsered jokingly is against me I must have been defeated but somehow I think in a real
situation people would respond differently

Yeah, that was going to be my point. It's hardly selfish to say "the thing sitting curled up on my bed right now" when there's nothing but an absurd question posed. Internet polls statistically prove the statistical irrelevancy of internet polls.

 

[Seneschal]

Hypothetically it's funny to say my pet, in reality (if this actually did happen) I believe a much larger percentage of people here would choose to save a human stranger.

If you really were in this situation and you really would choose the pet it means you are what is referred to as a sociopath and removing you from society would be beneficial.

Technically, I can see this happening. A guy saves his ferrets from a burning building while stepping over infants and elderly ladies choking in the hallways. Everyone would be outraged and condemn him. But because now it isn't about some guy's ferrets, but their old loyal pal Skippy, it's completely different.

Emotional attachments are like that. But objectively, a pet is semi-sentient property meant for companionship. It's a bought service. It cannot compare to a human being of unknown capabilities in any way. I hope people wouldn't, in such a situation, look at a fainted body of an adult human and STILL muster enough nerve to ignore it, hop to their apartment, and save their purchased companions from a fire. I mean, come on, it's one of nature's most complex and confusing products, of baffling untapped potential, a fellow living, breathing, thinking soul, in dire need of a life-saving hand.

EDIT: Actually, isn't everyone here confessing they would commit a crime? "Failure to render aid" or something? I don't think courts would accept "but my Bianca means so much to me, and I don't care about the dead guy because he obviously doesn't concern me."

 

[Quazimofo]

You.

Really I have nothing against you, but I fucking love my cats. They're very important to me. Sorry my man, you're out.

yeah sorry bro. but i have no knowledge of you as a person, of what you can bring to this world which may be beneficial, and so my sentiments towards the innocent creatures with whom i share unconditional love take over. my conscious remains unsullied as anonymity kinda does that.

 

[starhaven]

dont know you dont care about you or love you

i love my pet you lose

 

[Quazimofo]

Hypothetically it's funny to say my pet, in reality (if this actually did happen) I believe a much larger percentage of people here would choose to save a human stranger.

If you really were in this situation and you really would choose the pet it means you are what is referred to as a sociopath and removing you from society would be beneficial.

Technically, I can see this happening. A guy saves his ferrets from a burning building while stepping over infants and elderly ladies choking in the hallways. Everyone would be outraged and condemn him. But because now it isn't about some guy's ferrets, but their old loyal pal Skippy, it's completely different.

Emotional attachments are like that. But objectively, a pet is semi-sentient property meant for companionship. It's a bought service. It cannot compare to a human being of unknown capabilities in any way. I hope people wouldn't, in such a situation, look at a fainted body of an adult human and STILL muster enough nerve to ignore it, hop to their apartment, and save their purchased companions from a fire. I mean, come on, it's one of nature's most complex and confusing products, of baffling untapped potential, a fellow living, breathing, thinking soul, in dire need of a life-saving hand.

yeah, i see your point. my answer remains hypothetical, assuming internet anonymity. should i actually be placed in a situation like the one you describe, my cats, the human, and i would all die because i couldnt bear to let ANY living thing which i give a damn about burn alive, so i would try to save them all.

 

[Jake0fTrades]

It's not from a lack of empathy, it's just hard to empathize with a ScreenName and an Avatar, I can look down at my cat and hear him purr.

You expect me to kill that?

 

[Jake0fTrades]

However, I personally could never live with the guilt knowing that I let another human being with family, friends, a significant other, a job where they provide value to others, hopes, and dreams die for an animal that is barely self-aware and mainly exists to make me happy and entertain me.
[/quote]

You said that for all we know, you could be a total loner. We don't know if you have friends or family, we don't know anything.

Hitler ALMOST died in World War One, y'know? The odds of you being the next Messiah are just as low, if not lower, than you being a madman.

We know absolutely nothing.