NationStates Jolt Archive

It may seem dark, but give it a try anyway:

Think of two people, preferably people that have some impact on your life. Imagine you are in a hermetically sealed room with these two people. You are given a gun. You have 15 seconds to kill someone, or all three of you die. What happens?

Now imagine what would happen if each of the other people had the gun.

Makes you think, eh? Post your results.

A classic combination is best friend and crush. Let's call my best friend Joel and my crush Allyn. I would kill myself, Joel would kill Allyn (they hate each other), and Allyn would probably stall too much and get us all killed - he's just too nice.

I'd refuse to kill and see if whoever set this up was really so heartless and manipulative as to kill three people just for sport.

i'd probablly end up stalling (i can't kill anyone or anything...)
my bf would probablly stall, and maybe kill my best friend if pushed..
my best friend would stall
any chance of us all surviving? probablly not. that's what you get for a group of pacifists. =)

I'd shoot myself.

I'd probably stall, or try to find a way to get out. If it's hermetically sealed, then how would everyone be killed?

id shoot the zombie nun

I's hoot the vrush just because she's a total bitch. Then again...she would shoot me cause i'm annoying my frined would shoot her becuase she's a bitch. Then again he might shoot me because i kicked his ass a couple days ago for stealing my bike....

I'd shoot the walls, claiming they counted as 'someone' in -my- worldview.

Probably not the best solution, but what the heck?

Edit: That, or I'd just fire at someone and miss each time until I ran out of bullets. What then, 'ay?

It may seem dark, but give it a try anyway:

Think of two people, preferably people that have some impact on your life. Imagine you are in a hermetically sealed room with these two people. You are given a gun. You have 15 seconds to kill someone, or all three of you die. What happens?

Now imagine what would happen if each of the other people had the gun.

Makes you think, eh? Post your results.

A classic combination is best friend and crush. Let's call my best friend Joel and my crush Allyn. I would kill myself, Joel would kill Allyn (they hate each other), and Allyn would probably stall too much and get us all killed - he's just too nice.

I'd realise that it takes more than 15 seconds for someone to truely 'die' and thus do nothing because it's already irrelevant since I can't technically kill anyone in 15 seconds as they'll still be alive after 30 seconds. Especially from a gunshot wound.

You assume anyone is important to me. makes YOU think, eh?

Well, if three people have a gun, and each of us has to kill someone, all three of us are going to die no matter what happens. If I was the only one with the gun I'd shoot myself (No one has the right to take the life of another, and all that). But, given the circumstances, it would probably be best for everyone to make peace with the world, wait it out, and hope. Thanks for an excellent question Zincite. Anybody think they have a way for anyone to get out alive?

i think that all three of us would prolly shoot ourselves in the foot and bleed out. that way we could all stay alive long enough to say what we needed to say

Ah, "the Prisoner's Dilemma"...well, a variation, anyway.

I'll just observe, thanks. :wink:

Actually, I am going to seriously do this one.

I pick my Dante, and our friend Inferno! :lol:

In all reality, in this likely unprobable situation, we all have guns and fifteen seconds to extinguish someone. Mistake one....giving all three of us a gun, especially Dante. However, in thee rare chance that this would happen, Inferno and I would race to Dante, trying furiously to remove the gun from his hand, wasting those fifteen seconds to eradicate someone, on trying to protect our friend.

Hypothetically Speaking Case One:
We would all laugh and pull the trigger on ourselves, Dante firing first followed by me and then Inferno.

Hypothetically Speaking Case Two:
We are given the guns, I would be the first to fire, and a premature shot might I add. It would not be aimed at anyone or anything in particular, just the ceiling. Inferno would panic and kill Dante, because of the mild grudge he has against him, in the mean time, Dante debating whether to fire at himself or at nothing. As Dante's body fell to the ground I would furiously shoot Inferno to death for killing Dante. And then, at the end of those fifteen seconds, I would beg to be externimated by the cruel manical person running the experiment.

Hypothetically Speaking Case Three:
We are stare in dumbness for those fifteen seconds not firing a sole shot.

Yeah, that is probably the possibilites that would occur.

:wink:

hmm. i'd either shoot friend or myself. but i'm leaning towards a friend.

I'd close my eyes... spin in a circle and then shoot at who ever was in front of me....


That or I'd leave it up to Rock, paper scissors

It would depend, who's in the room?

It would depend, who's in the room?

Who do you want in the room?

Dog eat dog world.. I'd shoot them both fast.. and leave :P

Dog eat dog world.. I'd shoot them both fast.. and leave :P

What if it were your two children?

I'd shoot myself too, whoever was in the room. In fact, I wonder why I haven't done that before.

Dog eat dog world.. I'd shoot them both fast.. and leave :P

What if it were your two children?

Question didn't say they were children... It's a silly question any way.. however, if it was my children.. I'd shoot myself..

Dog eat dog world.. I'd shoot them both fast.. and leave :P

What if it were your two children?

Question didn't say they were children... It's a silly question any way.. however, if it was my children.. I'd shoot myself..

The test says "two people, preferably ones who have had an impact on your life...."

It's a test of your character.

Dog eat dog world.. I'd shoot them both fast.. and leave :P

What if it were your two children?

Question didn't say they were children... It's a silly question any way.. however, if it was my children.. I'd shoot myself..

The test says "two people, preferably ones who have had an impact on your life...."

It's a test of your character.

Well there are people I don't like that have had an impact on my life..lol I wasn't thinking in terms of my children..

Dog eat dog world.. I'd shoot them both fast.. and leave :P

What if it were your two children?

Question didn't say they were children... It's a silly question any way.. however, if it was my children.. I'd shoot myself..

The test says "two people, preferably ones who have had an impact on your life...."

It's a test of your character.

Well there are people I don't like that have had an impact on my life..lol I wasn't thinking in terms of my children..

Well, yeah, it's easy if you pick people that you hate. The real point is what if you're locked in with your mom and dad or your husband and sister, or your two children.

They might be the same people you hate...

...either way, I'd shoot myself - dead easy. Hopefully other people would pick me to shoot too, and then they survive if the bullets are fired at the same time. They deserve life. I don't.

Dog eat dog world.. I'd shoot them both fast.. and leave :P

What if it were your two children?

Question didn't say they were children... It's a silly question any way.. however, if it was my children.. I'd shoot myself..

The test says "two people, preferably ones who have had an impact on your life...."

It's a test of your character.

Well there are people I don't like that have had an impact on my life..lol I wasn't thinking in terms of my children..

Well, yeah, it's easy if you pick people that you hate. The real point is what if you're locked in with your mom and dad or your husband and sister, or your two children.

Any one but my children I'd shoot first.. my children need me. It's that simple. If I didn't have children I might give you a different answer. But as long as it was not my children I would do whatever it took to get back to them.

The solution is simple, I really don't like my friends... I would shoot one of them, grab his gun and kill the other. I'd then get a prescription of Prozac filled out... damned "survivor guilt".

ok i pick my best friend, and my boyfriend, me and my best friend would probably shoot my boyfriend if we shot anyone. cus me and my best friend have known each other longer then we've known my boyfriend, so well i've loved plenty of guys i could always find another lol. :P :twisted: :evil:

ok i pick my best friend, and my boyfriend, me and my best friend would probably shoot my boyfriend if we shot anyone. cus me and my best friend have known each other longer then we've known my boyfriend, so well i've loved plenty of guys i could always find another lol. :P :twisted: :evil:

your name makes a good point

Do0d my other nation got canceled :cry:

Do0d my other nation got canceled :cry:

That's because it contained an obscenity.

yeah i figured as much :cry: i went so long without getting canceled though i should have fought the urge to post lol. :?

:cry: i gotta start over from scratch now :cry:

Think of two people, preferably people that have some impact on your life. Imagine you are in a hermetically sealed room with these two people. You are given a gun. You have 15 seconds to kill someone, or all three of you die. What happens?


The automatic choice seems to be that I shoot myself. However, there is no guarantee that whoever put me in said room will keep his/her word not to harm the others, and, being a victim myself, I am not responsible for the situation and what happens to the people involved. So, the correct action is to put the gun down on the floor and sit in the corner. Even if this does cause the death of everyone in the room, my concious is clear becuase I am not the one doing the killing.

Think of two people, preferably people that have some impact on your life. Imagine you are in a hermetically sealed room with these two people. You are given a gun. You have 15 seconds to kill someone, or all three of you die. What happens?


The automatic choice seems to be that I shoot myself. However, there is no guarantee that whoever put me in said room will keep his/her word not to harm the others, and, being a victim myself, I am not responsible for the situation and what happens to the people involved. So, the correct action is to put the gun down on the floor and sit in the corner. Even if this does cause the death of everyone in the room, my concious is clear becuase I am not the one doing the killing.

well then you have a strange consience because due to your inaction you would have killed 2 people. Not directly but in such an easily peventable way it's just about the same thing.

It may seem dark, but give it a try anyway:

Think of two people, preferably people that have some impact on your life. Imagine you are in a hermetically sealed room with these two people. You are given a gun. You have 15 seconds to kill someone, or all three of you die. What happens?

A counter-question:

Why trust the instructions which say "You have 15 seconds to kill someone, or all three of you die"?

Assume every statement in the question is true.

If it was my mother and sister in the room, I'd shoot my sister. No, seriously.

It may seem dark, but give it a try anyway:

Think of two people, preferably people that have some impact on your life. Imagine you are in a hermetically sealed room with these two people. You are given a gun. You have 15 seconds to kill someone, or all three of you die. What happens?

A counter-question:

Why trust the instructions which say "You have 15 seconds to kill someone, or all three of you die"?

Precisely. Those instructions could very well translate to: "You have 15 seconds to kill someone, and all three of you die."

DP

Assume every statement in the question is true.

Sorry, my brain does not operate that way: at least in the classic prisoners' dilemma there is sufficient background to allow willing suspension of disbelief. Here the nub of the matter seems to me to be why we should follow the instruction.

Is it really so easy to turn people into killers (or suicides)?

I'd shoot myself and my friends would shoot themselves, because I have real friends.

Think of two people, preferably people that have some impact on your life. Imagine you are in a hermetically sealed room with these two people. You are given a gun. You have 15 seconds to kill someone, or all three of you die. What happens?


The automatic choice seems to be that I shoot myself. However, there is no guarantee that whoever put me in said room will keep his/her word not to harm the others, and, being a victim myself, I am not responsible for the situation and what happens to the people involved. So, the correct action is to put the gun down on the floor and sit in the corner. Even if this does cause the death of everyone in the room, my concious is clear becuase I am not the one doing the killing.

well then you have a strange consience because due to your inaction you would have killed 2 people. Not directly but in such an easily peventable way it's just about the same thing.

When one is given several choices: Bad, Worse, Horrible, Abominable, etc.
One does not really have any responsibility for poor circumstances unless the scenario was of one's own making.

What gives you the impression that their deaths are preventable?

Hey "Bodies Without Organs",
What's the classic prisoners' dilemma? I'd love to hear it.

The automatic choice seems to be that I shoot myself. However, there is no guarantee that whoever put me in said room will keep his/her word not to harm the others, and, being a victim myself, I am not responsible for the situation and what happens to the people involved. So, the correct action is to put the gun down on the floor and sit in the corner. Even if this does cause the death of everyone in the room, my concious is clear becuase I am not the one doing the killing.



well then you have a strange consience because due to your inaction you would have killed 2 people. Not directly but in such an easily peventable way it's just about the same thing.

Like I already said, it could very well be that after I shoot someone, whoever controls the room will flip a switch and kill the rest of us anyway. So then, I get to die knowing that I killed someone pointlessly.

If I do nothing, then the only person guilty of killing someone is the person controling the room. Assuming that I am in the room against my will, as are the others with me, I can hardly be said to be guilty of anything other than refusing to kill someone and give in to terrorist threats.

Hey "Bodies Without Organs",
What's the classic prisoners' dilemma? I'd love to hear it.

Pardon my cut and paste:

The game got its name from the following hypothetical situation: imagine two criminals arrested under the suspicion of having committed a crime together. However, the police does not have sufficient proof in order to have them convicted. The two prisoners are isolated from each other, and the police visit each of them and offer a deal: the one who offers evidence against the other one will be freed. If none of them accepts the offer, they are in fact cooperating against the police, and both of them will get only a small punishment because of lack of proof. They both gain. However, if one of them betrays the other one, by confessing to the police, the defector will gain more, since he is freed; the one who remained silent, on the other hand, will receive the full punishment, since he did not help the police, and there is sufficient proof. If both betray, both will be punished, but less severely than if they had refused to talk. The dilemma resides in the fact that each prisoner has a choice between only two options, but cannot make a good decision without knowing what the other one will do.

This description taken from here (http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/PRISDIL.html).