Ten Men in a Boat

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dshix said:
It seems that everyone who has so far posted has missed the point of Truthstalker’s question.

The point is not the boat, or the men, or that there might be other solutions, or that the parameters of the problem are absurd, or anything else. The point is the moral question. In a situation where one person must die to let the other survive, what is the morally good way to deal with it?
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That’s a clearer analysis than I had when I set this up. Very good. Thank you.

Also, it is possible that the only morally good situation is that all ten must die. I don’t know. This dilemma is represented in life, disguised in different forms for example a pregnant woman with a child that will kill her if she does not abort it. In that case I think both must die. I am not sure the present case is the same, due to the ten being adults with a moral choice to make. But what is their choice?
 
Some good answers already…

The most moral solution is to keep everyone alive for as long as possible and pray for deliverance. Such deliverance can take a number of forms…sighting by searchers, rainwater, catching fish - or even one of the survivors dying…
I find it interesting that no one in their answers (that I saw) mentioned prayer and reliance on God to solve the matter.

As to the matter of someone volunteering to “go overboard”. Someone else has already mentioned the “martyr” aspect of such a case, mentioning St Kolbe. There is another rather famous example of the four chaplains who voluntarily gave up their lives for the sake of others.
Our very own Lord and King said this, “Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” (John 13:13).

And this - - - If a person DID believe that such an act would be suicide, then his choosing to do this would be tantamount to “laying down” his eternal life for his friends…I wonder if God would condemn one willing to make such a sacrifice…

My solution - get to rowing…pray…use water sparingly…pray…try to fish if possible…pray…row…etc…

Peace
James
 
dshix said:
It seems that everyone who has so far posted has missed the point of Truthstalker’s question.

The point is not the boat, or the men, or that there might be other solutions, or that the parameters of the problem are absurd, or anything else. The point is the moral question. In a situation where one person must die to let the other survive, what is the morally good way to deal with it?
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Alll other things being equal, and we are all equal in God’s eyes, pray and draw lots (Acts2:23-26).
 
boldlygo said:
Alll other things being equal, and we are all equal in God’s eyes, pray and draw lots (Acts2:23-26).
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Of course if boldlygo was in the boat, he’d just boldly go into the water to save his comrades. 😃
 
The core of it is:

If one dies, nine live

or

all ten die

There are no other allowed outcomes. Sorry!
 
For all of your theorizing and arguments, a situation like this actually happened. Towards the end of WW II, a Japanese submarine torpedoed and sank the USS Indianapolis. Due to a massive snafu on the part of American Naval Authorities, no one realized the ship was missing until it was overdue at its destination by several weeks. When the Navy finally searched for the ship, all they found was less than 10% of the crew was still alive. There have been several book written on the subject. You should search it out!
 
George_Stegmeir said:
For all of your theorizing and arguments, a situation like this actually happened. Towards the end of WW II, a Japanese submarine torpedoed and sank the USS Indianapolis. Due to a massive snafu on the part of American Naval Authorities, no one realized the ship was missing until it was overdue at its destination by several weeks. When the Navy finally searched for the ship, all they found was less than 10% of the crew was still alive. There have been several book written on the subject. You should search it out!
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^
Missed the point, though the book sounds interesting.
 
I didn’t miss the point of the question at all. I know it’s a moral dilemma. Personally I’m in the keep everyone alive, row for shore, use water sparingly and pray like crazy boat. But I also like having actual parameters to work within to maximize the chance of everyone living.
 
Truthstalker said:
Ten men are in a boat at sea. Their ship went down or whatever. They have no means of communication with the outside world. Work with the parameters of the problem, please. Bar miraculous intervention as a solution.

Captain: We have only enough water for nine of us to make it to land, barely, and if so, those nine will barely be alive when they get there and will need medical assistance to stay alive.
First Mate: So we need someone to volunteer to go overboard, where he will surely be eaten by sharks, so the rest can live.
Third Mate: But that would be suicide. We cannot allow that.
Fourth Mate: We could draw straws and kill the loser.
Fifth Mate: That would be murder. We cannot do that.
Sixth Mate: So it would be better for all ten of us to die than for one to die? What is this, Star Trek, where the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one?
Captain: It sounds like it.
Second Mate: I’ll go. “Starts to jump out of boat, others pull him back.”
Captain: We can’t have that.
Second Mate: So what should we do?

Any takers?
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Ok - I usually think outside of the box (so I’ve been told).

They can share the water, and then drink their own urine. This has been done by other survivors, so they don’t die of dehydration before reaching land.
 
CEM5 said:
Ok - I usually think outside of the box (so I’ve been told).

They can share the water, and then drink their own urine. This has been done by other survivors, so they don’t die of dehydration before reaching land.
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Drinking such a tiny amount of water is unlikely to produce enough urine to suppliment their water intake sufficiently to keep them all alive - although I heard recently about a boat load of people who did just that - but only something like 10 of the original 60 survived.
 
Bella92 said:
Drinking such a tiny amount of water is unlikely to produce enough urine to suppliment their water intake sufficiently to keep them all alive.
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Actually, it would keep them alive. Our bodies abilities are amazing.
 
CEM5 said:
Actually, it would keep them alive. Our bodies abilities are amazing.
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I have heard about this happening. I was just thinking if the quantities of water they have access to is just sips, then they’re unlikely to produce enough urine to drink, especially if they’re also sweating. Could be completely wrong though. I’m basing this on when I ran the London Marathon I drank at every water station, but never needed to stop for a pee.
 
Bella92 said:
I have heard about this happening. I was just thinking if the quantities of water they have access to is just sips, then they’re unlikely to produce enough urine to drink, especially if they’re also sweating. Could be completely wrong though. I’m basing this on when I ran the London Marathon I drank at every water station, but never needed to stop for a pee.
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The OP said enough water for 9 people to make it to shore. That means, since the body needs about 2.5 litres per day, they would have sufficient water plus their own urine for all 10 to successfully make it to shore.
 
Mmmm this is a complicated situation with too many circumstances in which the people involved in it would need a priest advice to know if what they did is sinful. Your situation sounds kinda similar to the famous air crash in the Andes that it was made into the movie alive and an old case of miners somewhere in south America during the 70 that were trapped in a mine. In those specific cases the priest said their actions were not sinful, however it is difficult to give an opinion like this because involves a lot and we are not priests.
 
Truthstalker said:
The core of it is:

If one dies, nine live

or

all ten die

There are no other allowed outcomes. Sorry!
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So - God and faith does not figure into the equation is that it???
I don’t understand…
Can’t say that I’m too keen on the idea of simply rejecting some of the possible options here.

Peace
James
 
marymary1975 said:
Mmmm this is a complicated situation with too many circumstances in which the people involved in it would need a priest advice to know if what they did is sinful. Your situation sounds kinda similar to the famous air crash in the Andes that it was made into the movie alive and an old case of miners somewhere in south America during the 70 that were trapped in a mine. In those specific cases the priest said their actions were not sinful, however it is difficult to give an opinion like this because involves a lot and we are not priests.
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Yes, nonetheless, none of them “sacrificed” themselves for the others, nor did anyone toss another aside. They all struggled as one to survive, and aided the weak, and only resorted to cannibilism once the person had died and they needed to eat to survive.
 
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