I don’t see any dilemma, and I don’t see that it matters whether the rescuer is Omega or some random passerby. Is the victim claiming that because he can’t pay immediately, he doesn’t owe anything?
It seems obvious that the agreement was to pay $100, and the victim’s agreement to do so doesn’t go away due to circumstances, it just gets delayed until the victim is able to comply.
Also, both the victim and Omega are idiots if their combined minds can conceive of no circumstance in which the victim does not HAVE $100 back in town, and special idiots if they failed to conceive of the circumstance that actually occurs.
Also, both the victim and Omega are idiots if their combined minds can conceive of no circumstance in which the victim does not HAVE $100 back in town, and special idiots if they failed to conceive of the circumstance that actually occurs.
I don’t see how it’s particularly idiotic for the victim not to conceive of a hostage situtation that would suddenly warrant a better use for the money, and if the victim can’t imagine it, why would Omega detect any lack of intent to pay? Omega can imagine a hostage situation, but doesn’t find the victim including such scenarios in his contemplation. And of course, in the scenario, the victim has the money, he just blew it when a more pressing concern arose.
Plus, the agreement was to give Omega stuff already in the victim’s bank account, not to earn new money and give it; and the victims mental state was already convincing enough for Omega.
OK, unusual and even inconceivable events can occur, and I’ll give up the “special idiots” clause. However, it remains ludicrous for neither omega nor the victim to have considered any possibility that the victim’s $100 in the bank would be unavailable for some reason.
The agreement as stated was “pay $100 after getting to the city and stabilized” It was not “pay the $100 currently in the account if you can and nothing otherwise”. Omega is smart enough to phrase the offer as intended.
A competent contract lawyer might argue that the victim was not yet “stabilized,” in the sense that living in a modern city with no assets except a wooden rifle butt could hardly be considered a stable condition. Does the victim have a job, or some other source of income, by which he might produce $100 in some reasonable amount of time and then pay Omega?
I don’t see any dilemma, and I don’t see that it matters whether the rescuer is Omega or some random passerby. Is the victim claiming that because he can’t pay immediately, he doesn’t owe anything?
It seems obvious that the agreement was to pay $100, and the victim’s agreement to do so doesn’t go away due to circumstances, it just gets delayed until the victim is able to comply.
Also, both the victim and Omega are idiots if their combined minds can conceive of no circumstance in which the victim does not HAVE $100 back in town, and special idiots if they failed to conceive of the circumstance that actually occurs.
Mostly good points, but:
I don’t see how it’s particularly idiotic for the victim not to conceive of a hostage situtation that would suddenly warrant a better use for the money, and if the victim can’t imagine it, why would Omega detect any lack of intent to pay? Omega can imagine a hostage situation, but doesn’t find the victim including such scenarios in his contemplation. And of course, in the scenario, the victim has the money, he just blew it when a more pressing concern arose.
Plus, the agreement was to give Omega stuff already in the victim’s bank account, not to earn new money and give it; and the victims mental state was already convincing enough for Omega.
OK, unusual and even inconceivable events can occur, and I’ll give up the “special idiots” clause. However, it remains ludicrous for neither omega nor the victim to have considered any possibility that the victim’s $100 in the bank would be unavailable for some reason.
The agreement as stated was “pay $100 after getting to the city and stabilized” It was not “pay the $100 currently in the account if you can and nothing otherwise”. Omega is smart enough to phrase the offer as intended.
A competent contract lawyer might argue that the victim was not yet “stabilized,” in the sense that living in a modern city with no assets except a wooden rifle butt could hardly be considered a stable condition. Does the victim have a job, or some other source of income, by which he might produce $100 in some reasonable amount of time and then pay Omega?