[extropy-chat] frozen in fire

[Robert Bradbury]

On 1/21/07, ben <benboc at lineone.net> wrote:

I don't know if this is what Anders is referring to, but i've used that
> scenario in a question about the 'Pro-life' (what a misnomer!) attitude,
> posed as a dilemma involving a burning lab, an unconscious scientist
> about to be burnt to death, and a canister full of frozen embryos. You
> can only save one, which would it be?


Ok, this thread has become much too nested to understand who said what.  So
I will simply offer an observation.

I was recently sitting in the cafeteria at the Harvard Science Center (not
so unusual)... but as cafeterias at such institutions are prone to be two
undergrads(?) at the table next to me were debating a moral delima
(apparently an assignment) regarding a train running down a track and
depending upon the decisions of the conductor would produce a net savings of
lives "on the train" or lives in the towns in front of the train.  (It
involved something like whether or not the conductor should derail the train
I think).  The moral debate (as I overheard it) tended to revolve around
whether ones loyalties should be to the passengers on the train or to the
towns people.  This is a classic "kill more people now" vs "save more people
later" vs. "I am obligated to fullfill my purpose" debate.  Very slippery.

We are once again back to "Can one suspend the copy provided its reality is
on a backup tape?".

Robert
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