Could you shoot a fellow human in a war?

[Deleted]

I guess if the motivation is right, anyone can shoot and kill another human.

[Mormolyce]

Short of both sides declaring a cease fire and ignoring their superiors...it's them or you...

Again, that's the point I'm making. The other side feels the exact same way.

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Yes, I was a Marine.

I shot and killed people, 3 to be exact and I think about those men every single day and probably will for the rest of my life, but in war, those men were the enemy and I personally chose to defend America with my life, so I have no bad or wrong feelings about it.

War is not pretty, but if it comes to it, I demand all able bodied men and women to take to arms and defend this nation, if you feel you should not, don't want to or don't have to, you should leave it.

Jimmy Thick-Proud of my time serving!

Unless you served about 200 years ago you weren't defending America. You were fighting in a peregrine war aimed at promoting a foreign policy agenda.

[Rend Blackhand]

If its a war then the other person is likely trying to shoot and kill me. I'm not keen on dying so fuck him. If it is between me and a stranger in war I choose the stranger every time.

[Deleted]

Recent(ish) killology (that is a thing) studies showed clearly that "shoot a fellow human in a war" is not something everyone do, in fact it something few people do, so it is way easier to say : "to defend my country I would do it" than doing it.

Obviously it depends on the war and the mental conditionning.
However there were very few war which consisting in protecting someone's life but a lot of protecting someone's interest, and it does not seem a very good excuse to kill.

[Spiral Mage]

It's funny seeing so many people saying yes, or trying to compare it to video games.
I hope none of you ever end up in a situation that forces you to see the difference between games and real life.

Thinking it's easy, or claiming you could easily do it, means that if you were ever in that situation, you're pretty much gonna fuck it up bad and someone innocent is gonna get hurt or end up dead because of you.

Reality is nothing like games and 70%+ of people cannot handle reality, no matter what they thought before.

Taking an actual life haunts you and it takes a long time for you to get over it.
Look at how many soldiers go nuts, or cops who lose their nerve forever no matter what situation it was, or how much danger someone was in, themselves or an innocent person.

These are trained people. Really think about it, then try to answer: Can you really pull the trigger?

[Alydael]

If you are in a war, you'd better shoot that human before they shoot you.

[Radaney]

I could, because I have been conditioned to shoot human shaped targets by games for decades now.
Not sure what kind of psychological consequences would ensue though.

Yeh that logic doesn't work...

I could go around decapitating and blowing people/zombies into gory fragments all day in L4D, DOOM, Gears of War, The Evil Within, Mortal Kombat etc.

But I saw someone impaled quite brutally irl and that made me vomit something fierce.

Same applies to any intense situation, real life is very different to video games and Modern Militaries deal with it and train it in a very specialised way of 'we have a job to do', 'kill or be killed' etc. Lots of people in the army first have issues shooting at other people and there's quite a few surprising stats on it, the psychology behind it is very interesting actually.

[Mrbleedinggums]

Probably not; Not because it would be hard to pull the trigger, but because I fear that other wolf inside me would never be sated once it has had its taste of blood. Very few people in this world deserve to live, but if I can help it I would prefer not to be the judge, jury, and executioner.

[THE Bigzoman]

The question seems pointless if we use the OP's video as a premise.

Sure, we'd all like to think we would.

But if trained soldiers can't even shoot in the general direction of the enemy and/or bitch out on pulling the trigger, it's obviously easier said than done. What we THINK we'd do is irrelevant. If you wanna see what you would do, go to a warzone

[Granyala]

Yeh that logic doesn't work...

I could go around decapitating and blowing people/zombies into gory fragments all day in L4D, DOOM, Gears of War, The Evil Within, Mortal Kombat etc.

But I saw someone impaled quite brutally irl and that made me vomit something fierce.

Same applies to any intense situation, real life is very different to video games and Modern Militaries deal with it and train it in a very specialised way of 'we have a job to do', 'kill or be killed' etc. Lots of people in the army first have issues shooting at other people and there's quite a few surprising stats on it, the psychology behind it is very interesting actually.

Of course, and I seriously doubt that I could kill s/o in a situation where I had time to think about the consequences of my actions.
I was under the impression that the thought experiment proposed by the OP would put me into a "react on instinct" scenario.
In the heat of the moment, I'm reasonably sure I could pull that trigger.

Thankfully though, it's highly unlikely that I will ever face sth. like that in real life.

[Deleted]

It's funny seeing so many people saying yes, or trying to compare it to video games.
I hope none of you ever end up in a situation that forces you to see the difference between games and real life.

Thinking it's easy, or claiming you could easily do it, means that if you were ever in that situation, you're pretty much gonna fuck it up bad and someone innocent is gonna get hurt or end up dead because of you.

Reality is nothing like games and 70%+ of people cannot handle reality, no matter what they thought before.

Taking an actual life haunts you and it takes a long time for you to get over it.
Look at how many soldiers go nuts, or cops who lose their nerve forever no matter what situation it was, or how much danger someone was in, themselves or an innocent person.

These are trained people. Really think about it, then try to answer: Can you really pull the trigger?

The OP was very specific on his scenario, a WW2 type of war. We are talking about surviving in foxholes and ruined buildings, with the other side doing the same thing.

[BreathTaker]

Shooting a distant target must be easy.
I'd like to never have to kill someone close enough for me too see it in details though, i might be shocked.
No details - easier to forget, i believe.

I'm like eating meat, i know how it originates, but i don't want to see the details.

[Granyala]

If you wanna see what'd you do, go to a warzone.

Realistic projection:
Probably crap my pants once the shooting starts and run as far away as possible (if not before that).
Which umm... wouldn't be very far, given that I am asthmatic.

Probability of me dying within the first seconds of any engagement: 99.95%.

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No details - easier to forget, i believe.

I don't think it's possible to ever forget witnessing a living, breathing entity, become a dead heap of rotting flesh in a matter of a few seconds.
It's eerie how fragile life can be.

[Deleted]

Say you had a WWII type war in Europe, could you shoot a fellow human being?

No. Even if i have highscore in modern shooters, i am not interested in killing real people.

[Kithelle]

Again, that's the point I'm making. The other side feels the exact same way.

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Unless you served about 200 years ago you weren't defending America. You were fighting in a peregrine war aimed at promoting a foreign policy agenda.

So? Like they say...actions speak louder than words...even if they don't *want* to fight....unless they cease fire I'm not going to stop.

[Shadowferal]

those last 3 are some fucked up arguments if you are the aggressor in the conflict.

A WWII type of war would make the aggressor similar to Nazi Germany.
I'm pretty sure that this thread is more along the lines of being part of the "Allies" not the "Axis."

Unless you served about 200 years ago you weren't defending America. You were fighting in a peregrine war aimed at promoting a foreign policy agenda.

200 years ago?
WWII...Never forget.

[Mihalik]

I refuse to engage in this specific hypothetical exercise.

Just as I refuse the whole -If X and Y were dying, who would you save?

These sort of decisions are instinctual, you really shouldn't go out of your way to over analyze it or to rationalize it.

That's why the military tries to train soldiers to do this mechanically.

With other words, if I find myself in the situation, I'll decide.

[Donald Hellscream]

eh... Probably if my life depended on it, it would probably hunt for forever but yeah I guess I could.

But thankfully I never have to test out that hypothesis.

[Gen4Glock21]

Yes. Been there done that.

From my experience people usually fall into one of a few categories when they shoot someone in war.

1. They get fucked up mentally, the whole "they were loved by someone, maybe they had a family" types. It's rare in the military but those types do exist.

2. The ones that feel bad for a few weeks but realize that it was me or him and by engaging that enemy and killing him, perhaps they saved a brother in arms from being shot by that guy later.

3. The ones that see it as no more than taking out the trash type of chore

4. Those that get off on killing the bad guy....they usually don't last too long in the service.

This is more directed at the OP than you because I like your categories you listed and feel they are relevant. I say YES, and I would likely fall into number 3.

[Shadowferal]

If they were a country that saw others as slaves, put in death camps for a "Final Solution" and wanted to expand their ideals of racial superiority globally...

Then yes. You can safely refer to them as monsters.