Well, it’s not like I have much of a chance of saving the woman. He has a gun, and I don’t. Whether the woman gets shot is entirely up to the man with the gun. If I try to interfere (and I haven’t contacted the police yet), I think that I’m as likely to make things worse than I am to help. For example, the man with the gun might panic if it seems like he’s losing control of the situation. I’m also physically weaker than most men, so the chances of my managing to overpower him with my bare hands are pretty small.
So, either way, I probably won’t try to be Batman.
This strikes me as purposefully obtuse. Does cryonics increase the present value of future expected life? I think it does. Does that increase affect decisions where we risk our life? I think it does; do you agree?
Yes, I basically agree; I was mostly nitpicking the specific scenario instead of addressing the issue.
If I modify the scenario a bit and say that the assailant has a knife instead of a gun (and my phone’s batteries are dead), then things are different. If he has a knife, intervening is still dangerous, but it’s much easier to save the woman—all I need to do is put some distance between the two so that the woman can run away. I might very well be seriously injured or killed in the process, but I can at least count on saving the woman from whatever the assailant had in store for her. (This is probably the least convenient possible world that you wanted.)
So, yes, I’d be much more likely to play hero against a knife-wielding assailant if I had brain cancer than if I were healthy and had heard about a major cryonics breakthrough.
This seems unusual. You are much more likely to be injured against a knife than you are against a gun. I am moderately confident that I can take a handgun away from someone before they shoot me, given sufficiently close conditions; I am much less confident in my ability to deal with a knife.
In robberies and assaults, victims are far more likely to die when the perpetrator is armed with a gun than when he or she has another weapon or is unarmed.
Injury rates were higher for robbers with knives, but people are probably less likely to fight back or otherwise provoke a robber with a gun.
You are much more likely to be injured against a knife than you are against a gun. I am moderately confident that I can take a handgun away from someone before they shoot me, given sufficiently close conditions; I am much less confident in my ability to deal with a knife.
That makes the knife scenario an even better dilemma than the gun scenario!
The reason I’m more likely to intervene against a knife is that it’s easier to protect the woman from a knife than from a gun. Against a knife, all she needs is some time to start running, but if a gun is involved, I need to actually subdue the assailant, which I can’t. After all, he is bigger and stronger than me, and even has a weapon that can do serious damage. If all he has is a knife, though, all I need to do is buy enough time; even if I end up dead, the woman will probably get away.
He was just responding to the specific scenario you posited. The fact that you had the broader issue of the effect of cryonics on the value of life at the forefront of your mind does not mean that his failure to comment on it is evidence of purposeful obtuseness.
Commenting in this thread, on this post, and it’s unrecognizable to someone that the effects of cryonics on the value of life is what’s being discussed? I’m not buying it.
I don’t find it contrary to expectation that someone might get caught up in the discussion of the concrete scenario presented to them and ignore the more abstract issue prompting the scenario. Furthermore, the Recent Comments page makes it easy for people to jump into the middle of a conversation without necessarily reading upthread (e.g., Vladimir Nesov today).
Well, it’s not like I have much of a chance of saving the woman. He has a gun, and I don’t. Whether the woman gets shot is entirely up to the man with the gun. If I try to interfere (and I haven’t contacted the police yet), I think that I’m as likely to make things worse than I am to help. For example, the man with the gun might panic if it seems like he’s losing control of the situation. I’m also physically weaker than most men, so the chances of my managing to overpower him with my bare hands are pretty small.
So, either way, I probably won’t try to be Batman.
This strikes me as purposefully obtuse. Does cryonics increase the present value of future expected life? I think it does. Does that increase affect decisions where we risk our life? I think it does; do you agree?
Yes, I basically agree; I was mostly nitpicking the specific scenario instead of addressing the issue.
If I modify the scenario a bit and say that the assailant has a knife instead of a gun (and my phone’s batteries are dead), then things are different. If he has a knife, intervening is still dangerous, but it’s much easier to save the woman—all I need to do is put some distance between the two so that the woman can run away. I might very well be seriously injured or killed in the process, but I can at least count on saving the woman from whatever the assailant had in store for her. (This is probably the least convenient possible world that you wanted.)
So, yes, I’d be much more likely to play hero against a knife-wielding assailant if I had brain cancer than if I were healthy and had heard about a major cryonics breakthrough.
This seems unusual. You are much more likely to be injured against a knife than you are against a gun. I am moderately confident that I can take a handgun away from someone before they shoot me, given sufficiently close conditions; I am much less confident in my ability to deal with a knife.
From http://www.ncjrs.gov/txtfiles/fireviol.txt
Injury rates were higher for robbers with knives, but people are probably less likely to fight back or otherwise provoke a robber with a gun.
That makes the knife scenario an even better dilemma than the gun scenario!
The reason I’m more likely to intervene against a knife is that it’s easier to protect the woman from a knife than from a gun. Against a knife, all she needs is some time to start running, but if a gun is involved, I need to actually subdue the assailant, which I can’t. After all, he is bigger and stronger than me, and even has a weapon that can do serious damage. If all he has is a knife, though, all I need to do is buy enough time; even if I end up dead, the woman will probably get away.
He was just responding to the specific scenario you posited. The fact that you had the broader issue of the effect of cryonics on the value of life at the forefront of your mind does not mean that his failure to comment on it is evidence of purposeful obtuseness.
Commenting in this thread, on this post, and it’s unrecognizable to someone that the effects of cryonics on the value of life is what’s being discussed? I’m not buying it.
I don’t find it contrary to expectation that someone might get caught up in the discussion of the concrete scenario presented to them and ignore the more abstract issue prompting the scenario. Furthermore, the Recent Comments page makes it easy for people to jump into the middle of a conversation without necessarily reading upthread (e.g., Vladimir Nesov today).
There was an apology edited into that.
if you live in the sorts of neighborhoods where women get dragged into alleys not having a gun seems pretty negligent.