Is your family pet's life worth more to you then a strangers?

[Deleted]

All beings so far have created something beyond themselves. Do you want to be the ebb of that great tide, and revert back to the beast rather than overcome mankind? What is the ape to a man? A laughing-stock, a thing of shame. And just so shall a man be to the Overman: a laughing-stock, a thing of shame. You have evolved from worm to man, but much within you is still worm. Once you were apes, yet even now man is more of an ape than any of the apes.

- N.

[smokii]

all life is equally valuable

[Rothg]

But doesn't it exactly mean that you value your dogs' lives more? You would make a choice against them, according to your morals, but the way I see it, they are still more valuable in your eyes.

I think it comes down to how we define "value".

I think the problem is, strangers die all the time. I read news stories of 100 strangers who died yesterday, and I've become numb to it. I'm still 100% confident that if I could sacrifice my dog, my pet, to save any one of their lives I would do it. Even though the death of my dog would make me more sad then reading the stories would.

Am I understanding you correctly? I do see what you're saying though, about "value" being slightly ambiguous in this case since the emotional value my pet has is higher.

[Sylreick]

People are looking at it in the wrong way. A better question would be: if you had to choose between saving a complete stranger or your pet, which one would you save? I'd save the person.

I'd save my pet. Random strangers hold no value to me, and if they're stupid enough to get into that situation, then they can learn their way out or die trying. Promoting stupidity is not a good thing for humanity, and saving them from it teaches them nothing. It's like giving them a bunch of fish rather than a rod and teaching them to use it.

[Mifuyne]

I'd save my pet. Random strangers hold no value to me, and if they're stupid enough to get into that situation, then they can learn their way out or die trying. Promoting stupidity is not a good thing for humanity, and saving them from it teaches them nothing. It's like giving them a bunch of fish rather than a rod and teaching them to use it.

Because what happens to people in accidents and all that is totally their fault.
You're walking with your dog, stranger passes along and pets the dog, looking at it.
He/She doesn't see the car that is coming over to the sidewalk, both your dog and the stranger are hit.

[ParanoiD84]

Of course, I care very little about strangers.

[Sylreick]

Because what happens to people in accidents and all that is totally their fault.
You're walking with your dog, stranger passes along and pets the dog, looking at it.
He/She doesn't see the car that is coming over to the sidewalk, both your dog and the stranger are hit.

Well, then the scenario doesn't apply as they'd both be dead. Wouldn't they?

[melodramocracy]

Pretty sure you can't kill someone for damaging or threatening to damage property.

Police seem to have no problem with it.

[Mifuyne]

Well, then the scenario doesn't apply as they'd both be dead. Wouldn't they?

You can save one by doing X or Y, hypothetically.
They're on the brink of death!

[Raist]

I'd save my pet. Random strangers hold no value to me, and if they're stupid enough to get into that situation, then they can learn their way out or die trying. Promoting stupidity is not a good thing for humanity, and saving them from it teaches them nothing. It's like giving them a bunch of fish rather than a rod and teaching them to use it.

As long as people recognize this is an extremely selfish stance to take I would not hold it against them. That "stranger" is family to many others, maybe even someone you know. Your pet is family to you and your own, and a stranger to everyone else (COMPARABLY)[VERY IMPORTANT STIPULATION]. It is so hard to understand how some cannot walk in this stranger's shoes. If someone you know lost a loved one (stranger to you) in this hypothetical situation how would you feel?

[Raetary]

all life is equally valuable

nice to see im not the only one thinking that.

OT: i would save my pet.
the pet is part of my family, i dont care if its just an animal, i protect my family.
family over everything.

[Rothg]

Yeah, implying that I'm a savage is now how you establish morality and ethics. I'm going to guess that you resorted to insult because you can't actually justify why you think this way; that it's a moral axiom and you're being rubbed the wrong way that people dare to question that moral axiom.

I'm driving home from university and don't have the time to debate this currently. If you're still interested in a discussion when I gets home, I'm genuinely interested in hearing how you can defend your position.

[melodramocracy]

You people are crazy. Those poll results are insane.

I have had two dogs for 10 years. They are ABSOLUTELY family.

But the life of a stranger? A HUMAN stranger? Absolutely more valuable. Humans are humans and animals are animals.

Let's be clear here. When push comes to shove, the "value" of a human life goes right out the window. If this weren't the case, wars would never be fought, and there'd be no deadly crimes committed. Hell, there'd be no health related insurance denials if society actually practiced what it preaches.

It's a nice sentiment on paper, and all sorts of efforts are made to protect people up to a point. But beyond that? Nope.

[Rothg]

nice to see im not the only one thinking that.

OT: i would save my pet.
the pet is part of my family, i dont care if its just an animal, i protect my family.
family over everything.

So if a goldfish and a human were holding on to the edge of a building and you could only save one, there's no wrong answer?

[Sylreick]

You can save one by doing X or Y, hypothetically.
They're on the brink of death!

Call an ambulance for the stranger and drive the pet to the vet? Likely the driver of the vehicle would pull over and make sure the stranger had the ambulance come for them. I'm also pretty far from someone capable of handling a medical emergency without fear of potential lawsuits. So my pet would likely get the most of my attention.

[lucred]

It would depend on the circumstances... If the choice was caused by the human doing something extraordinarily stupid and reckless, or trying to hurt someone/something? I would put the pet ahead of them. If an explosion occurred and the building we were in caught fire? The human (who did NOT purposely cause the fire) would get priority.

In other words: Humans take priority for me unless they are being cruel/caused the risk through their own stupidity.

[Mifuyne]

Call an ambulance for the stranger and drive the pet to the vet? Likely the driver of the vehicle would pull over and make sure the stranger had the ambulance come for them. I'm also pretty far from someone capable of handling a medical emergency without fear of potential lawsuits. So my pet would likely get the most of my attention.

No no you're doing it wrong, meddo scientisto.
You can only save one!

[Azadina]

nice to see im not the only one thinking that.

OT: i would save my pet.
the pet is part of my family, i dont care if its just an animal, i protect my family.
family over everything.

Just don't be surprised when the mother of that child you let die to save your dog shows at your door, and tells that your fate will be the same as you picked for her son/daughter.

[Garnier Fructis]

Just don't be surprised when the mother of that child you let die to save your dog shows at your door, and tells that your fate will be the same as you picked for her son/daughter.

Self defense is a thing.

[Sylreick]

As long as people recognize this is an extremely selfish stance to take I would not hold it against them. That "stranger" is family to many others, maybe even someone you know. Your pet is family to you and your own, and a stranger to everyone else (COMPARABLY)[VERY IMPORTANT STIPULATION]. It is so hard to understand how some cannot walk in this stranger's shoes. If someone you know lost a loved one (stranger to you) in this hypothetical situation how would you feel?

I've become rather apathetic towards death. So I'd probably think "that sucks", then move on with my life. There's not much use in fretting over something so inevitable. But with a pet, they actually hold emotional value for me. I can see how it looks from others point of view, but should I not expect the same from them?