Posted on 09/21/2011 12:12:19 PM PDT by MNDude
I just read an Dennis Prager column where he says "I began asking students if they would save their dog or a stranger first if both were drowning. The majority always voted against the stranger — because, they explained, they loved their dog and they didn’t love the stranger."
I wasn't sure if I cold believe this statement so I did a search on the Internet and found the question posted several times. Many people do say they would save the stranger, however here are how many people answer the question:
Wow, I really don't understand how somebody could save a stranger vs a member of their own family, even if it is 'just' a pet. Just because my dog is not fluent in english, does not make her any less worthy of my love and attention.
"I mean, who cares if a human has a longer lifespan than a dog? I don't know the human that is drowning, and my dog and I have a pretty close connection. Isn't quality vastly favored over quantity anyway? I would rather have 10 years of awesome love, affection, and attention, than 50 years of somebody I don't know living."
"So, what makes you think that the life of a human is more valuable than that of another? Your ego?"
"And what if when the police and paramedics show up, they inform you that they had been looking for that person, because he had killed 3 children, and you had just saved his life. So now your beloved dog is dead, and you just saved a person that likes to murder children; a drain on society - awesome!"
"I'm sure that's what the person will say to me after I get them out of the water. I care that someone is dying you see, it revolves around the value of life itself. What do I gain from losing a beloved pet? Saving the person serves me in no way serves me other than knowing I helped them, doing the right thing and all. "
"I know my pet. I love my pet. My pet may be a different species than me, but my pet is still part of my tribe. A complete stranger is just that -- a complete stranger.
Now, in principle I value human life above the life of an animal, but it doesn't follow that I value the life of any given human above the life of a particular animal.
Or maybe I'm just a monster. I don't really care. I love my pets. I don't know that dude from Adam. Sorry."
"I know...a dog is not a person technically, but emotionally it is to me. There is no way I could let one of my dogs go."
Gotta admit, the dog is my family.
A stranger - if an adult - is responsible for his own safety - and he has nobody to blame but himself for getting in ‘over his head’.
Women and children I would save first. An adult male - sink or swim while I save my dog- THEN I will save him.
Is the stranger wearing an Obama T-Shirt?
Logically speaking, of course, a human's life is worth more than a dog's. However, when humans are operating in a crisis, we don't always behave logically.
Really tough to answer. Two of my dogs I helped whelp, the third is the dam.
What if the generic person was a child? Would the answer change?
Guaranteed the dog did NOT vote for Obama.
Ya don’t know about the “stranger”.
You save the person, not the dog, for the same reason that unborn children should be protected: with rare exceptions, human life has priority over other concerns.
Why Young Americans Can’t Think Morally (Moral standards have been replaced by feelings)
A very good read. Read it.
LOL I’m going to catch “H” for that one I just posted, because somebody is going to hit me on Democrat dogs voting, but OK. Guaranteed the FReeper’s dog didn’t vote for Obama.
I admit, the dilemma would grow if the stranger just came from a car plastered with bumper stickers :)
It’s good to know he can help with the carpooling too.
Wow! I was actually surprised that many people feel that way. I’m curious, any Freepers here that would answer in favor of the dog?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Heh heh. If you were surprised that many people felt that way, then based on FReeper responses...
How do you feel now?
Nobody really knows what they'd do in a situation like this until they're in it.
If my dog is drowning, there’s a pretty good chance its a direct result of my own actions.
Depends...if it was a child, I’d save the child.
I’d have a hard time deciding any other situation, and I think it would be decided only upon being put in that circumstance. Like they say, you never know how you’re going to react until you’re in the situation.
“Saving the person serves me in no way”
And after all, it’s all about ME, isn’t it?
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