Your Daughter Wants a Laptop. It Costs the Same as Would Enough Penicillin to Save 125 Lives.

[MSizer]

Your assuming people "forget that" and its "all too easy for them too".

I'm not trying to be mean but I think you have got some nerve telling other people that its "easy to forget" and that thier problems are "laughable" in comparison to others.

Actually, no, I'm not doing that at all. I'm trying to figure out the moral obligations we have, and hoping that hearing other peoples's opinions may point out something I haven't thought of. I have absolutely no idea how much you or anyone else cares about other people, nor have I ever assumed that I do. I'm also hoping that for anyone who hasn't thought of things that way, it may point out to them that there is potential for living in a more moral fashion. I have no idea who, if anyone such people might be Dallas, and I didn't assume that I ever did know.

Your the one here as I said whining and complaining about your "problem" with other people having complaints about their "problems" when other peole have worse problems than your problem with other people.

Maybe you are being a bit of a hypocrite?

Love

Dallas

I have a hard time being humble in the face of that one. If you have running water, a roof and dinner every night, you've got a hell of a lot more than millions of others do, so I don't think I'm out of place pointing out that collectively many of us here have it pretty easy.

 

[gnomon]

Actually, no, I'm not doing that at all. I'm trying to figure out the moral obligations we have, and hoping that hearing other peoples's opinions may point out something I haven't thought of. I have absolutely no idea how much you or anyone else cares about other people, nor have I ever assumed that I do. I'm also hoping that for anyone who hasn't thought of things that way, it may point out to them that there is potential for living in a more moral fashion. I have no idea who, if anyone such people might be Dallas, and I didn't assume that I ever did know.



I have a hard time being humble in the face of that one. If you have running water, a roof and dinner every night, you've got a hell of a lot more than millions of others do, so I don't think I'm out of place pointing out that collectively many of us here have it pretty easy.

I can't disagree with that. Even what I know I went through in life and many of my friends who went through even worse today I have more than most people on this planet.

I was merely introducing some subtlety and context into the debate that must be taken into account. Rather than using the example in the OP I would put the example of those passionately fight against marriage equality. All that time and money put into what I deem quite frankly a perverse moral exercise.

I also assumed this thread was painting a black or white situation.

 

[sonofskeptish]

If you buy the laptop for your daughter, how do you justify ignoring the 125 people who could have been saved?

(I don't claim to know correct answer, although I do have one that is thought out).

Your scenario, and the decision to buy the laptop (and not the penicillin), is something most of us do on a regularly basis... we are able to watch scenes of famine on TV, fast-forward through the charity appeals for help, and after that hop into our gas-guzzling SUVs and drive to Sizzlers to stuff our face.

Occasionally we'll make a token contribution to a charity, or give a bum a buck or two as we exit Starbuck's with a large Latte in our hand. But on most occasions, we are able to completely ignore the outstretched hands of the beggars, and sometimes we even blame them for the situation (e.g. if they cleaned-up and got a job...).

I've often asked myself how we justify these behaviors. I have no idea other than we are somehow able to make our thoughts and actions exempt from the processes we use to rationalize our other actions. IMO, not unlike what we do around making religious beliefs exempt from rational thought.

 

[Kathryn]

I think the point that many people are trying to make in here (including myself) is that we can't solve all the problems for everyone in the world, and there's no use even going there in our mind or we'll go crazy - BUT - we can do our best to balance the needs of our own family with helping others in our community (and the global village).

In the pursuit of hypothetical and/or philosophical answers, don't lose sight of common sense.

I doubt seriously that there is one person on this forum who can't do SOMETHING to help someone else in their community. Good grief, even if we were quadraplegics typing a response by blinking, we could let one of our caregivers know that they are truly appreciated - which may be exactly what they needed to hear that day to push forward.

My point is - even if we don't have a dime to spare, we can be better world citizens by focusing less on our own problems and being more aware of other problems around us.

Like I've said a million times, if we're not part of the solution, we're part of the problem.

Be more aware of the needs of others, and then do what you can to help.

 

[MSizer]

...Be more aware of the needs of others, and then do what you can to help.

That's ultimately what I was getting at, but I also wanted to point out that we seem to have this psychological tendency to forget about "outgroups", and I wanted to point out the philisophical asymmetry in doing that, yet helping people in closer proximity to us. Of course I'm not saying we should all feel guilty for every sad story. I just wanted to boost a bit of awareness on the matter, that's all (in hopes that some will benefit of course).

 

[Kathryn]

That's ultimately what I was getting at, but I also wanted to point out that we seem to have this psychological tendency to forget about "outgroups", and I wanted to point out the philisophical asymmetry in doing that, yet helping people in closer proximity to us. Of course I'm not saying we should all feel guilty for every sad story. I just wanted to boost a bit of awareness on the matter, that's all (in hopes that some will benefit of course).

Good point - and if Haiti doesn't remind us of this, we're beyond hope.

 

[Mathematician]

Human psyche simply can't cope with all the suffering in the world. A TED video I recently came across discussed how human beings respond better to charity drives that focus on the plights of an individual rather than groups. It's not that we don't care about such atrocities as Rwanda, but that we (justly) feel overwhelmed. As part of our survival instinct we must first focus on assisting our immediate friends and family. Statistics about rape may infuriate our general appearance, but witnessing a stranger raped truly gets our guts worked up.

When I sit down and think (too) hard over every little problem that exists in the world, I weep. But the next day I'm buying an expensive coffee that was probably grown by some exploited worker in Colombia. It's my mental barrier.

 

[reloadthis]

Do you have children? I only ask because when you have children the whole world seems to revolve around them. If it doesn't, try to explain it, perhaps you might make them think that they are not important? I don't know...You ask a very good question. Maybe you should write a children's book to explain this sort of thing? It's uncapped.

 

[xkatz]

If you buy the laptop for your daughter, how do you justify ignoring the 125 people who could have been saved?

(I don't claim to know correct answer, although I do have one that is thought out).

Too bad, myself, along with other people, would die from an allergic reaction to the penicillin. Therefore by buying her a laptop you could save at least one life, assuming you would force me along with 124 other people to take penicillin.