Poll of the Day: Hard Choices

Read the post. Would you save yourself with your kid or save more people?

  • Save myself with my kid

    Votes: 17 77.3%

  • Save 12 other people

    Votes: 5 22.7%
  • Total voters
    22
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alyster

alyster

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This is an issue from real life: On 7 January 2015 Corrine Rey, a cartoonist at the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, and known by the name "Coco," returned from picking up her daughter from kindergarten. She was confronted by two French Jihadist gunmen, who treatened to shoot her daughter unless she keyed in the entry code at the door for the magazine. She did; and the gunmen entered to murder twelve people, including two policemen, as well as shooting eleven others. Coco and her daughter survived. 

The question inspired by the situation: You have your child in your arms and are confronted with armed terrorists. You have two choices: die with your child and save 12 people or you can save your child and yourself and doom 12 people. Which would you pick?

Addition: you don't need to doubt the outcome of either choice.

Disclaimer: I do not lay nor will tolerate anyone laying blame here on Coco's actions. She made her choice. It was a hard one. What's yours?

 
Easy choice if the outcome is known. Just die with the child. Everyone dies eventually. The best way is to die a hero. If you're religious, you get a confirmed pass to heaven. If not, you'll be remembered and bring honor to your family.

It's a hard choice if you don't know the outcome. If she opened the door they might still kill her in the end. Or everyone might have lived. After all, the French counterterrorism unit were quite elite.

If she didn't open the door, they might still break in. More likely they wouldn't have killed her (because then how would they get the door open?). They would have tortured the child, then tortured Coco.

Without foresight, the ideal choice would have been opening the door.

 
As an adult we can pretty much protect ourselves. As a child....they can't protect themselves. 

As a parent of course the first thing that we are going to do is protect our children. It's our first instinct. It's a first instinct to try and protect any child....

I think that she had done the right thing. I know it couldn't have been an easy choice to make.  Just like I'm.sure that if there was even a possibility that she could save her daughter and still try to save the 12 victims then she would have tried it. I'll even go as far as to say that she could have been trying to think of all that could have happened. I think she did the right thing.  I would have probably done the same thing if it was my son and I in her place. 

 
Alex Taylor said:
Easy choice if the outcome is known. Just die with the child. Everyone dies eventually. The best way is to die a hero. If you're religious, you get a confirmed pass to heaven. If not, you'll be remembered and bring honor to your family.

It's a hard choice if you don't know the outcome. If she opened the door they might still kill her in the end. Or everyone might have lived. After all, the French counterterrorism unit were quite elite.

If she didn't open the door, they might still break in. More likely they wouldn't have killed her (because then how would they get the door open?). They would have tortured the child, then tortured Coco.

Without foresight, the ideal choice would have been opening the door.
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Honor and legacy and all that crap doesn't matter if you're dead. I'd rather live a full and healthy life than be remembered for dying young. Just my two cents.

 
The kid changes the things a lot. I think many would like to think they would be hero if they were alone. Some would even be right. But the kid changes things. 

 
I'm not a parent so I can't imagine what was going through her head. Thinking of it as my little brother instead of my kid, there's no way I wouldn't pick to save myself and my brother. The primal instinct of survival and protecting your own would just be too much.

 
Lordship said:
I'm not a parent so I can't imagine what was going through her head. Thinking of it as my little brother instead of my kid, there's no way I wouldn't pick to save myself and my brother. The primal instinct of survival and protecting your own would just be too much.
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This. 

Although I'd probably tell my little brother to run and die trying, but that deviates from the poll so. 

 
If I could sacrifice myself for the 12 people, I think that I would. 

Now, I am not a parent but if I were a father, I would definitely save my child.

 
Not sure how I would feel as a parent on this since I am not one I can't decide.

 
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