Hypothetical Question...

suncrafter · Tue 18/09/2007 15:25:46

Hypothetically speaking - lets say you have an opportunity to win $1,000,000 in a contest. To win - you must choose from one of the following five options:

"Punch" option ---- You will be punched in the face, just once, by a big fat man. The punch is guaranteed not to be fatal nor to cause brain damage, but you will likely sustain a nasty injury such as a split lip, black eye or perhaps even a broken nose. After being punched - you will be given the $1,000,000!

"Bomb" option ---- Nothing will happen to you. However, you will start the countdown on a huge bomb that is hidden deep inside the center of the Earth. The bomb is large enough that, when detonated, it will cause devastating earth quakes and floods all over the planet. The bomb is completely undetectable and can not be disarmed. However it will not detonate until exactly 5,000 years in the future. As soon as the countdown has started - you will be given the $1,000,000!

"Insults" option ---- Twenty people will shout terrible insults and obscenities at you for one full hour. These people will not come into physical contact with you nor harm you, but they will say all sorts of horrible and upsetting things to you. After one full hour of intense verbal abuse - you will be given the $1,000,000!

"Magic" option ---- Your personality and ethical convictions will be painlessly altered in some unknown way by a magic spell. The alteration will be instantaneous and will not affect your memory, cause brain damage nor result in any physical harm of any kind. After the alteration - you will be given the $1,000,000!

"Nothing" option ---- None of the above. Nothing happens to you or anyone else, but you will NOT be given any money.

Which option would you choose first? Second? Third? Etc...

Please list them like so ... (with "1" listed as your first choice, "2" as your next choice, and so on...)

1 - option name
2 - option name
3 - option name
4 - option name
5 - option name

Babar · Tue 18/09/2007 15:32:45

What an odd question. My answer would be:

1 - Insults
2 - Punch
3 - Nothing
4 - Magic
5 - Bomb

Nikolas · Tue 18/09/2007 15:44:41

Haha! Completely weird thread!

1. bomb (who cares in 5000 years? me, my children, my grandchildren, etc, won't be there... I'm selfish to that extend)
2. Insult. Yeah, bring it on! I can take it for 1 hour!
3. Punch. Once? Ok! With 1m$ I can live with a broken leg or something... (plus it would be less actually)
4. Magic. Hmm... not sure but it doesn't feel safe, plus I LOVE MYSELF!

5. nothing. Nia...

Hammerite · Tue 18/09/2007 16:03:10

he posted this on adventure gamers too.

Andail · Tue 18/09/2007 16:14:27

Quote from: Hammerite on Tue 18/09/2007 16:03:10
he posted this on adventure gamers too.

Self-plagiarising? Outrageous!

Even though 5000 years into the future is likely to a) not affect anyone since all will be dead/emigrated, or b) not cause so much damage since people will be hi-tech enough to deal with the disaster, I still think knowing that you've done something so terribly selfish might give you bad conscience throughout your life. Especially since you can never un-do it.

About the insults...would they be arbitrary insults, or insults aimed at yourself and your life (and would they have any special insight in your life)?. I think having some 20 people shout "jackass" or "moron" is quite harmless, but if they kept attacking your weak points, it would be another story.

The magic option is completely out of the question. Especially with the uncertainty factor.

I would take a punch in the face for a million dollars any day of the week, granted it wasn't by a professional boxer. A black eye or a broken nose is quickly mended.
So, punch or insult, both are well worth a million dollars.

Radiant · Tue 18/09/2007 16:17:48

1) bomb, since in 5000 years mankind will undoubtedly have either conquered space or made itself extinct.
2) insults, since I have a thick skin and $1M is good therapy.
3) punch, a broken nose is nasty but $1M can get it fixed easily; a black eye heals itself in a week.
4) nothing
5) magic, since it wouldn't be me receiving the money.

Darth Mandarb · Tue 18/09/2007 16:29:29

Quote from: suncrafter on Tue 18/09/2007 15:25:46Hypothetically speaking - lets say you have an opportunity to win $1,000,000 in a contest. To win - you must choose from one of the following five options:

If this is a contest who would I be competing against? Is it possible, that should I choose one of the options, that the other person(s) could get/win the money instead of me?

I don't really understand the "nothing" option ... I mean, do you have to agree to the contest before you're given the options? Because the "nothing" option would seem more like you just decided not to compete. In which case, it shouldn't be an option. I think it would be a more intriqueing situation if you had to agree to the contest first, then you received the options available to you (and "nothing" wouldn't be one of them ... if you choose to compete, you must choose...)

I, personally, wouldn't choose to compete in something like this.

It reminds me of a Television program I watched many moons ago ... there was this door to door salesman who wandered around with a box. In the box was a button. He would knock on the door, when you opened he would offer you a large sum of money if you pushed the button. Pushing the button meant that somebody would be killed, however, it wouldn't be anybody you know and you'd be a rich man in return! After you push the button (if you decided to do it), he gives you the money! However, as he's walking away he says, "now I must find somebody else to push the button ... somebody who doesn't know you!"

If something seems too good to be true, it is.

Tuomas · Tue 18/09/2007 17:15:50

1. I'd take the punch for a 5000 or even less. Getting beaten up can bring your real values to surface and actually make you a better person.
2. Insults. Seems to be the most common top 2. However I would not happily do this. say if my financial situation was as it is now, I'd take this too, if it were stable, I probably would go with next opion.
3. Nothing. I've been thinking of the million dollar question for a while, and honestly I haven't yet found anything that I would need it for. I once made a list for laughs, and the 15 first things were something that weren't for myself.
4. I don't know which one would be closer to selling my principles, bombing the earth or getting the magic thing, but considering, that after the magic, bombing wouldn't feel so bad, so I'd take magic.
5. Bombing, see above.

ManicMatt · Tue 18/09/2007 17:48:33

1. punch
I'd punch myself for a million!
2. insults
If they were personal and intelligent insults I might feel terrible and cry, but the million would make me quite happy!
3. nothing
I'd rather not change myself randomly or set a bomb off, thanks. No price would change that.
4. magic
I'd rather change myself than be a person who would set a bomb off for personal gain!
5. bomb
I am Osama Bin laden.

Babar · Tue 18/09/2007 19:09:35

Quote from: Darth Mandarb on Tue 18/09/2007 16:29:29
It reminds me of a Television program I watched many moons ago ...

A television program?! Twilight Zone, you blasphemer!

zabnat · Tue 18/09/2007 19:28:01

1. Punch. Duh. I get punched in the face almost on daily basis and I don't get anything for it (except a sore nose maybe)

And by people who can punch, not some big fat man who probably don't even know how to bitchslap properly

2. Insults. I've been insulted for most of my life so an hour more couldn't hurt, could it?
3. Notting.
4. Magica.
5. Bomba.

Stupot · Tue 18/09/2007 20:24:19

1. Punch - Sure I'd take whack for a million.
2. Insults - An hours worth of name-calling is nothing... I took it my entire childhood.
3. Nothing - I'd cry for a bit, but soon get over it.
4. Magic. This option unsettles me.
5. Bomb. Couldn't risk bring the cause of so many deaths even if ot is unlikely anyone would be there to kill.

Rui 'Trovatore' Pires · Wed 19/09/2007 00:34:37

Heh. People seem to be more willing to suffer a punch or insult, seeing as those are things that only affect themselves, and in a way that offers no nasty surprises.

Which is a foreseeable (does the word exist? Who cares? I'm taking lessons from Blaze!) result, actually.

Me, I wouldn't compete. I'm doing fine without that extra money, and hopefully I'll have plenty of opportunities in my life to get some money I might need eventually. No need to hurt myself or anyone else.

Stupot · Wed 19/09/2007 03:59:19

Not even a slight tolchock round the gulliver for a million quid?
I don't believe you.
If I win the lottery I'll ask you again and wave the money under your (soon to be broken) nose. Haha

Gilbert · Wed 19/09/2007 04:31:53

1. Nothing
2. Nothing
3. Nothing
4. Nothing
5. Nothing

I just see no point in getting the money anyway, and WTF?, put a bomb in the Earth for only $1M (even if it's US currency)?

Too bad there ain't any good options for me to choose, like buying Mark Six instead (or whatever lottery tickets in your district), or replying to emails about Huge deposits in Middle-East banks, in both cases the turn-out could be much much more rewarding.

sharksweetheart · Wed 19/09/2007 05:19:29

.

Steel Drummer · Wed 19/09/2007 05:29:42

1. Insults: Even if the insults were well planned out and were personal attacks on me, I wouldn't be thinking about that while they were saying it; I'd be focusing on the prize probably.
2. Punch: Non-fatal? Sure..
3. Nothing: Money isn't everything, I'd just be using the million for the same stuff I use money for now.
4. Bomb: I don't believe that the earth is gonna be around 5,000 years from now, and if it is, they'll probably be invulnerable to it, with all the technology they could have. Either that, or by that time, they've already colonized Mars, so it wouldn't have any effect on them.
5. Magic: That's just scary..

voh · Wed 19/09/2007 14:21:33

1) Bomb. If in 5000 years nature still hasn't managed to rid the world of this plague of humans, why shouldn't I help it?
2) Insults. I can take 'em, no doubt.
3) Punch. While I'm allergic to pain, I'm not 1 million bucks worth of allergic.
4) Nothing.
5) Magic. The only thing that's going to change my personality and convictions is my own experiences and interpretations. Ain't no spell coming anywhere near me.

Weird topic but interesting options. I honestly have no problems possibly killing the entirety of the human race.

And Steel Drummer: Isn't the point of colonizing other planets to relieve the original planet? Why do you assume that if there is a martian colony in 5000 years, earth will be left for dead? Even with the most amazing amount of terraforming ya ain't gonna get mars' core liquid again

Oliwerko · Wed 19/09/2007 16:40:40

I am wondering how people like the bomb option. How can you know what will be here that time ? Huh?

For me:

1. Insults - Simple. I can take that. I am VERY hard to upset when I focus. I can sustain many insults. I experience it in school every day

2. Nothing - I would probably get mad if I aquired that money. It would change me. And drive me mad probably.

3. Punch - It is painful, but you'll get over it.

4. Bomb - See below.

5. Magic - I dont want to be changed!!!

Akatosh · Wed 19/09/2007 16:50:28

1. Punch. Coming to think of it, I'll probably prefer mild physical to psychical damage.
2. Insults. I'm pretty good at not listening to people

3. Nothing. One million US-$ isn't all that much anymore, and I'd sure not take it above any of the next.
4. Magic. I like my beliefs, and I don't want to end up as a right-wing extremist or something.
5. Bomb. Destroying earth for a pesky million US-$? Meh.