LogFAQs > #912835957

LinkPizza posted...

But if this were real life, I wouldn't know.

But this isn't real life and you do know, as you did when you answered the question.

LinkPizza posted...

Depends on the scenario.

None of what you just postulated was given in the question - you either successfully save the dog or successfully save the child. That's all.

LinkPizza posted...

But, is there really anything wrong with that?

Do I really have to answer the question "is selfishness a bad thing"?

LinkPizza posted...

We would normally protect our family and loved ones before protecting somebody elses. That makes perfect sense. I protect my family. Then, if I can, I would help another family. So, why would it be bad that Winter would save his family before saving another person's family?

Because he's elevating his own pet - an animal - to a level above someone else's child.

Yeah, if the choice was "your kid vs. someone else's kid", I'm not going to fault someone for choosing their own kid. But his statement was basically "I'd save my dog instead of someone else's child, but if it was my child I'd save them before the dog."

We all accept that people are more important than dogs; we can prove that by asking "If you had to choose between saving your child or saving the family dog", an overwhelming majority of people would pick their child. Doesn't mean the dog isn't important or isn't loved, but the child comes first, which is exactly what winter was alluding to with the post I quoted. However, if the child is someone else's, you deciding that now your dog is more important is pure selfishness - you've basically said "between this thing that's super-important to someone else, and this thing that's of lesser importance to me... well, I don't care that much about other people, so I'll save the thing that's of lesser importance to me."
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