GENIUS FORUMS

the bird wrote:Wow, this is pretty neat that I quickly stumbled on the question I've been asking myself lately. I am starting to question whether or not I should risk my life to save another. I have always felt that if I was ever caught in a life or death situation, and I could possibly save a life at the cost of my own, then I would choose to do whatever I could to save that life. It does seem like a bad habit to think like that. But that is just what I feel is right. Maybe it's my Christian upbringing. What is my logic you might ask, well, it's that if I knew that I could have saved someone and chose not to, than I would feel guilty. I won't deny my empathetic nature because at times it seems illogical.

The best answer is to save the other person's life without losing your own.

This situation is slightly different from what you mentioned, but it triggered an old memory. When I was 21 I was very deeply in love with someone, and he and I had the conversation about if a situation arose where I had to choose between saving myself and saving someone else, I would choose to save the other person. His philosophy was the same for himself. We discussed various scenarios where this might come up - and one scenario involved swerving off a road to avoid someone else.

A few months later, he died in a car crash. No other cars were hit. My room-mates insisted that it was suicide and that I had caused it. I knew it was not suicide, but I wondered how much our conversation influenced him in that second that he went off the road. If I had not been so fatalistic about myself, if I had emphasized the idea that situations are rarely either/or, if I had embraced the concept that there are solutions were everyone comes out okay - would this brilliant guy who had earned his masters in mathematics at the age of 21 still be alive today?

There is usually a way to save someone else without risking your own life. If you must risk yourself at all, minimize the risk. Weigh the situation quickly but carefully. If you damage yourself in the process, you will not be able to help the next people who need you.

bird,
if you would ever come to a conclusion on this matter and may hope to make a principle out of it,then it may be a wise safeguard to know that a principle is very costly,because its act to keep things in the proper order depends entirely on yourself.[/quote]

Well, I have made a principle out of it, and have recently begun to question my judgement. If I believe something out of faith, it is only because I can benefit from that belief. But this one doesn't really work like that. I don't benefit from risking my life. It's more of a product of my empathetic nature. I guess I could benefit from the pride I'd feel for making a contributions towards the goodness of the whole. Well, you make a good point anyway. I don't think it matters if I could think that it wasn't worth the risk, but when it comes down to it, how I act is dependent on my character. I can think it illlogical to risk my life or trade off my life, but if it came down to it, my heart tells what's the proper order.

The best answer is to save the other person's life without losing your own.

This situation is slightly different from what you mentioned, but it triggered an old memory. When I was 21 I was very deeply in love with someone, and he and I had the conversation about if a situation arose where I had to choose between saving myself and saving someone else, I would choose to save the other person. His philosophy was the same for himself. We discussed various scenarios where this might come up - and one scenario involved swerving off a road to avoid someone else.

A few months later, he died in a car crash. No other cars were hit. My room-mates insisted that it was suicide and that I had caused it. I knew it was not suicide, but I wondered how much our conversation influenced him in that second that he went off the road. If I had not been so fatalistic about myself, if I had emphasized the idea that situations are rarely either/or, if I had embraced the concept that there are solutions were everyone comes out okay - would this brilliant guy who had earned his masters in mathematics at the age of 21 still be alive today?

There is usually a way to save someone else without risking your own life. If you must risk yourself at all, minimize the risk. Weigh the situation quickly but carefully. If you damage yourself in the process, you will not be able to help the next people who need you.[/quote]

Hmm, yeah, I would definitely minumize the risk. I think anyone would, even your boyfriend. I don't think you needed to emphazise that to him. You don't know if the situation was avoidable. Sometimes the "what ifs" just aren't worth it. There's just what is.