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

Peteron

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Oct 9, 2009
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My dog, no offense, but like you said, I don't know you, so I don't really care. Love my dog!
 

figday

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Mar 22, 2011
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both of you, i can totally pull that off. never underestimate a human's will when cornered.

but if i really had to make a choice, i'd prioritize the human first, then most likely get back to try and save my dog rambo :p

EDIT : oh! unless you're a crazy convict awaiting for a death penalty for crazy crimes and totally deserves death, or something at that level, then my pet for sure.
 

Seneschal

Blessed are the righteous
Jun 27, 2009
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Buchholz101 said:
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.

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.
Are you saying that you are rationally calculating the possibility of someone in danger having higher-than-average value, and at the same time utterly emotionally and irrationally ignoring it for a lower mammal you're attached to?

How does that work? I mean, after an emotionally-driven choice, this is exactly the kind of talk you'd use to justify it to yourself why you didn't save the person. "It could have been a loner! Oh please let him/her be a loner." Your cat is a probably quite a loner, I doubt it shows unlimited affectionate bonds with hundreds of people.

I mean, jesus, people, we're talking about a person or a pet dying here. How can anyone say that either of those options is in any way EASY?! At least a bit level-headed sensibility might be alright.
 

lokitheinane

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Feb 17, 2011
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i would save you. id hate watching my dog die, ive had it for years, but you are a human, and a human life>a dogs life. its a bit disgusting that people consider a animal they know over a human they dont. i am not special, therefore ppl i know are not special. your a human, my dog is a dog. if it came to it, id kill my dog and share his meat with you
 

Leg End

Romans 12:18
Oct 24, 2010
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Let's see...

OP

vs.

9 cats, a newborn kitten and a dog.

You are fucking dead man. XD I am not letting any of them die. The fact you would even think that I would let any harm befall Fluffy, my bro for life, to save someone I don't know and don't have any care about, against my bro whom I have known since I was a small bro, is inconceivable. Hell, he probably doesn't even have much longer left(Ten years, tops. He is going to be eleven soon) and I would still let you die.

Also...


Brawndo said:
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.
Lack of empathy? No, I just care about them more.

Unconditionally? Yeah, right! XDXDXD

Well, I certainly could. :/ And in a previous life, I think I did.

Barely? Tell that to my cats. They are smarter than your average human, they just cannot speak English. My cats exist, to exist, not for my own entertainment. :/

And for that OP, I consider you a person I do not trust with a cat.

I would sooner put to torch every adult human to save my cats(with some exceptions, those being the people I would save both, with my pets)

Into the oven with ye. :p
 

Eisenfaust

Two horses in a man costume
Apr 20, 2009
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well i don't have a pet, so...

but don't let yourself think that that means i actually care about you in the slightest, no offence
 

Divine Miss Bee

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Feb 16, 2010
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selfish or not, nobody gets between me and my kitten. love is love, and i'd sleep just fine (cuddling my baby) knowing that i sacrificed a stranger's life to save him.

EDIT: this is mostly because i disagree with most people here that say a human's life is inherently worth more than an animal's. maybe to you it is, but i place a value on every living thing in the world, and those lives i love have more value to me, no matter what species they are.
 

Ghengis John

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Dec 16, 2007
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Divine Miss Bee said:
selfish or not, nobody gets between me and my kitten. love is love, and i'd sleep just fine (cuddling my baby) knowing that i sacrificed a stranger's life to save him.
A kitten? You barely even know him. For all you know he's an arsonist! Then again, looking at your avatar, maybe that's a plus for you.

This thread is very sad. So many selfish, short sighted people. Who consider themselves moral no less. Depressing. Is the average age of this forum like 8 years old? I've lost lots of pets. You get new ones. It's not a big deal.
 

Elf Defiler Korgan

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Apr 15, 2009
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Maze1125 said:
I say old chap said:
To the people that argue animals are equal or superior, I've heard this before and I'll put it this way. What beagle has built or steadily filled a library with literature and science over generations? What canary has opened a shop to sell goods and make the lives of other canaries (or people) better? A cheetah is fast (although not a typical pet by any stretch) but does it catch violent criminals in a society, or does it run into burning buildings and carry out the helpless or injured? Some animals have languages as identified, but have they developed or used telecommunications? Animals can eat, but can they cook and present a fine meal (a croc leaving a corpse to rot under a log does not count, lol). Various types of monkeys can be intelligent, but have they ever written a screenplay, novel or persuasive essay? Ants are industrious (some of the time) to our perceptions, and cultivate fungus, but do they plant and nurture varied crops of wheat, fruits and a variety of vegetables? Pack animals bully or follow but have they ever created and institutionalised something like the code of Hammurabi or any code of jurisprudence? Lizards bask on hot rocks, but have they ever used solar power for their benefit, and so they didn't have to go outside and be vulnerable to predators? Animals can sometimes heal injuries and some are better at this than others, but has any non-human animal species ever developed medicine and acted to improve and refine its treatments?

The superiority of humans is plain if you move beyond emotion swaying your opinion and examine history and multiple human civilisations. I'm a sociologist, so this is somewhat my area.
Yes, well done, that rambling paragraph just showed that humans are, as a whole, the most intelligent species on the planet.

But so what? That doesn't mean anything unless you choose to value that intelligence.
We, as humans, of course choose to value intelligence, because we pick the attribute that defines our species over any other. But that is nothing more than a biased opinion of a species wanting itself to be the best.

Nothing in that makes intelligence more moral, or more worthy of life. We, as humans, like valuing humans. But so damn what?
I am not just putting a value on intelligence here, I am also pointing to achievements, real accomplishments and potential to prove my point on the superiority of humans, and why it is moral and right to choose the stranger (but it would be a damn hard choice to make). Yes these are the best human traits and point to its superiority. We could also start to argue for a human over a pet in the interest of the public good. Back to the question, choosing an animal's life over a human life is to be swayed by emotions (powerful impulses to be sure) but not to make the best choice or the most moral choice. A dog could be a great dog to its owner and some people that really like it, i.e. a really trusted companion. A human could give happiness to many people over the years (like family or lovers over the years) and help out multiple lives through personal achievement or application (the arts, or engineering as illustrated above or science or teaching to name a few areas). Humans don't always live up to their potential or cease to be selfish, but animals can also be rabid, lazy or a nuisance.

Next time we take some medication, even a bit of cough syrup or drink some soothing tea, we should realise what goes into such helpful items (effort, expertise and application), and who makes them: humans.

"But so what?" is also not an argument. It is a refutation without a counter-point. I get you think to privilege humans is speciesist, but I've presented why I think the unknown potential of the human makes it a more moral and less biased choice to choose the stranger over the loved dog, can you also elaborate upon your argument?
 

Divine Miss Bee

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Ghengis John said:
Divine Miss Bee said:
selfish or not, nobody gets between me and my kitten. love is love, and i'd sleep just fine (cuddling my baby) knowing that i sacrificed a stranger's life to save him.
A kitten? You barely even know him. For all you know he's an arsonist! Then again, looking at your avatar, maybe that's a plus for you.

This thread is very sad. So many selfish, short sighted people. Who consider themselves moral no less. Depressing.
lol. he's almost a year old, but he's still my baby. cats are all personality-they never hide anything.

and i don't consider myself moral by any means. i have my own moral code, which i follow without fail, but it doesn't quite match society.
 

Lord_Panzer

Impractically practical
Feb 6, 2009
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I picked you and I don't even have a pet.

Nothing personal; just, you know, we've got a lot of extra people lying about, and you pretty much volunteered.
 

Leg End

Romans 12:18
Oct 24, 2010
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Treeinthewoods said:
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.
No, that would not mean you are one. That means you care more about your animalbro. You are misusing the word. Please read this to avoid that in the future.

Heh, people have suggested I be removed waaaayyyyyy before this. :p Yet, I stand by my statement.

Kitteh first. :/
 

Ghengis John

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Dec 16, 2007
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Divine Miss Bee said:
Ghengis John said:
Divine Miss Bee said:
selfish or not, nobody gets between me and my kitten. love is love, and i'd sleep just fine (cuddling my baby) knowing that i sacrificed a stranger's life to save him.
A kitten? You barely even know him. For all you know he's an arsonist! Then again, looking at your avatar, maybe that's a plus for you.

This thread is very sad. So many selfish, short sighted people. Who consider themselves moral no less. Depressing.
lol. he's almost a year old, but he's still my baby. cats are all personality-they never hide anything.

and i don't consider myself moral by any means. i have my own moral code, which i follow without fail, but it doesn't quite match society.
Yeah well sorry, I didn't mean to make you the example but I still find it depressing. I've seen a lot of the people in this thread decrying man's inhumanity towards man or some social injustice at some point and yet then I see they personally profess they would let a person die for their pet.
 

Divine Miss Bee

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Ghengis John said:
Divine Miss Bee said:
Ghengis John said:
Divine Miss Bee said:
selfish or not, nobody gets between me and my kitten. love is love, and i'd sleep just fine (cuddling my baby) knowing that i sacrificed a stranger's life to save him.
A kitten? You barely even know him. For all you know he's an arsonist! Then again, looking at your avatar, maybe that's a plus for you.

This thread is very sad. So many selfish, short sighted people. Who consider themselves moral no less. Depressing.
lol. he's almost a year old, but he's still my baby. cats are all personality-they never hide anything.

and i don't consider myself moral by any means. i have my own moral code, which i follow without fail, but it doesn't quite match society.
Yeah well sorry, I didn't mean to make you the example but I still find it depressing. I've seen a lot of the people in this thread decrying man's inhumanity towards man or some social injustice at some point and yet then I see they personally profess they would let a person die for their pet.
man's inhumanity towards man is human nature. no sense whinging about it. there are great things about being human, and there are awful things. i like to focus on the good, and leave the world alone to do its mess in peace.
 

lacktheknack

Je suis joined jewels.
Jan 19, 2009
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andreas3K said:
If I had any pets, I would kill them myself if that's what it took to save a person's life.
This. I'd bawl and have nightmares for years, but I'd do it.

Except I do have a pet, which makes it harder to say, but yeah. I'd save Brawndo. I came to this conclusion even without reading the edits.
 

Naleh

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May 25, 2010
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I have a great deal of empathy - more than most people, I suspect. I just disagree that animals like dogs and cats are "barely self-aware" as the OP describes them. Their lives are worth less to me than a human's, but not so much less that it can overcome the extreme distance factor in this case; therefore, if I absolutely had to make the choice, I would rather the OP die than my pet dogs.

This thread isn't "how selfish are you", it's "how much do you value animals relative to humans".
 

The Clinger

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Dec 30, 2009
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I said OP, but only because the choice was between my pet and OP. I would never save OP. OP sucks. If it was a choice between saving a random stranger or my pet however, I would choose the stranger.