A serious question

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I read an article in the Metro last week about an experiment that was conducted, where people were asked their reaction to the following scenario:
There is a man who you know has HIV and is going to have sex with others. You do not know who this man, his family or victims are/will be. You are only able to stop him by killing him, but you can do so without fear of the law.

Now some questions to clear up any ambiguity since the article itself was quite vague and didn't specify whether the man knew or now:

1. Would you kill him to potentially save everyone he would infect (if he knew)?

2. If he didn't know he had HIV, would your answer change?

3. If you could get arrested for such a murder, would you risk going to prison in either case?


For me the first one is a no-brainer, I'd kill him straight away, and honestly doesn't seem incompassionate despite what the article suggested. In the last case I wouldn't bother, simple as. I'm not going to waste 15 years in prison for the sake of heroism, and having no personal attachment to the victims, I don't care enough if they live/die/suffer. I'm still thinking about the second one, but I'd probably leave him, but I'll get back to that.

The article itself: http://queenminx.wordpress.com/2007/03/23/i-am-an-evil-woman/

Discuss.
 
People with aids are a walking disease and should be exterminated, I dont know why these stupid commercials I see on TV are trying to support them. I wonder how supportive they will be if they find theyre going to die in 5 years because they got aids.
 
similar question that is actually harder imo

there is a room with 50 people, one of which is a terrorist who MAY be planning an attack that would kill 10000 innocent people. One person in that room is a favorite relative. You have the option of killing the 50 people in the room or letting them go and risking the terrorist attack.

but i really hate questions like these because you lose both ways and the scenarios are ridiculously unlikely :(
 
The topic's post is interesting because it is basically utilitarianism vs deontology - more colloquially, do the ends justify the means?

Bulblax's is interesting because neither view really gives a proper answer - as he said, it's lose-lose.
 
^ How would it be lose-lose if you seriously have no genuine care for the innocent people that would be killed? It's a very good question to throw out there, and I'm sure there's people out there that feel this way. BLJ seems to be one, since he's already stated that people with HIV are walking diseases that should be exterminated, nevermind that they are people with rights.
 
a human life with HIV is a human life and taking his life without consent therefore equals murder in my opinion
 
Black Leather Jacket said:
People with aids are a walking disease and should be exterminated, I dont know why these stupid commercials I see on TV are trying to support them. I wonder how supportive they will be if they find theyre going to die in 5 years because they got aids.
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I imagine they would be even more supportive, since now they will be one of the people that the ad is supposed to support.

Have a nice day.
 
i wouldn't kill him, it's really just not right and goes against my belief that it's not your choice when someone else dies. therefore, no matter what the situation, i wouldn't kill the guy.
 
Hipno said:
I imagine they would be even more supportive, since now they will be one of the people that the ad is supposed to support.

Have a nice day.
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I guess that the person would lose all hope when they found out that got the disease and just turn miserable and angry. But youre probably right, Most people dont think negative thoughts all the time like I do.
 
oh yeah i forgot to add to mine that those 10000 could be ANY 10000 people in the world. so another relative could die, you could die, etc.
 
well, for question one, i would like to say i would kill him, but when faced with the opportunity i'm not sure i'd have the balls to actually do it.

question two, that depends entirely upon whether he'll abstain from sex if you alert him of his disease, or whether or not you can even alert him.

question three, no, i definitely wouldn't.
 
I would probably kill him. They have ways availiable that are pretty painless.

If he didnt know he had it, I'd just tell him?

If i were to be at risk of conviction and tried for murder, the question is basically do you value the life of others enough to sacrifice your own. I don't, and i woulnd't kill him. Being put in a situation like this is pretty farfetched but i dont like imagining circumstances where Im "damned if i do damned if i don't" to the utmost finality. I'd choose my own life.


blj said:
People with aids are a walking disease and should be exterminated, I dont know why these stupid commercials I see on TV are trying to support them. I wonder how supportive they will be if they find theyre going to die in 5 years because they got aids.
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i'd love to respond to this but it seems like
1. it would start a flamewar and accomplish nothing.
2. seriously though what the fuck is wrong with you, sorry. I know you're probably exagerating, or maybe you want someone to call you out. Regardless, that's a pretty sick thing to say.
 
Black Leather Jacket said:
People with aids are a walking disease and should be exterminated, I dont know why these stupid commercials I see on TV are trying to support them. I wonder how supportive they will be if they find theyre going to die in 5 years because they got aids.
Click to expand...

Way to sound like a Nazi....

anyway i wouldn't kill him it just seems cruel. The guy isn't giving me aids not my problem i've never met him i've got no problem with him.
 
I'll be on the same side as Altmer and Shichiro, I wouldn't kill the guy in any situation, regardless of circumstances. That's taking another human life, and none of us here can comprehend an event of that magnitude, we can't possibly wrap our heads around killing someone. To think any of us would be able to kill this sick man is idealistic yet unrealistic at best, and downright ludicrous at worst.
 
HIV is a very smart virus, it learned to transmit itself through the only things that humans cannot stop doing, drugs and having intercourse.

Due to the scare of this very smart virus(which some how evolves so rapidly to prevent a good vaccine), and the question of maybe an intelligent designer of such a virus, I think that killing sick people is just wrong. They're already going to die, why make people feel like they are a detriment to society?
 
1. In the end it comes down to whether you value your life more than others. If he's gonna fuck people I know, then yes, I would consider it, or at least do enough to make him stay the hell away.

2. Yes.

3. Again, it depends.
 
Yes.

Yes.

No.

These are my answers to the first three questions. The 'No' is there because I wouldn't risk throwing my ass in jail to save a bunch of people. Would you?

one final edit:

We all know how aids works, it'll keep degrading your immune system until it finally shuts down, you get a cold you die. This guy would be technically killing these innocent people, so hell yeah, I would kill him.
 
This is a really tough question, but my answer would always be I wouldn't kill him. The thought of killing something other than annoying insects always makes me really squeamish, and besides, my conscience would bother me forever if I killed him, and not so much if I just let him live on his life. It isn't my business anyway, and... well... it's really hard to explain.
 
well, instead of killing him you COULD just castrate him. although that goes against the nature of the question and still rivals the murder aspect on ethics.

i agree with Glen, i'd like to say that i would kill him but when push came to shove i doubt i would be able to do it. Plus if you tell someone that they have a disease like AIDS or HIV there is a good chance that they would decide to abstain from sexual activities for the sake of others well being. then again there are assholes that wouldn't give a damn.
 
the question at hand vespa is that he would have sex with those people no matter what, so telling him wouldn't make a difference

edit: I kind of agree with blj, at a point, but only for the people that got aids via sexual intercourse or any other sexual activity, it's their fault up to a point with some exceptions, of course, I would have sugarcoated my post so i wouldn't look like an asshole

note that i don't think that people with aids should be exterminated, that's the part of the post that i dont agree with, do not misunderstand
 
Great Sage said:
This is a really tough question, but my answer would always be I wouldn't kill him. The thought of killing something other than annoying insects always makes me really squeamish, and besides, my conscience would bother me forever if I killed him, and not so much if I just let him live on his life. It isn't my business anyway, and... well... it's really hard to explain.
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what if he was going to have sex with YOU
 
he would most definitely die if that were the case. my life > others lives

edit: ahahaha thanks, cant believe i did that
 
vespa, are you sure you meant to say 'my life < others lives'?

you're contradicting yourself by saying this :/

unless you meant 'my life > others lives'
 
As sick as it sounds, I heard that they used to chemically castrate the mentally handicapped....

Although I wouldn't kill him, I would consider that an option if he's adamant about spreading it around. Killing is not nice, but rendering him incapable of spreading it seems a bit more humane.
 
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