House Fire Dilemma

[Forsher]

Sunk cost fallacy.

It doesn't matter how much you've spent on a motorway, if spending another dollar on it is worse than not spending that dollar on it, don't spend another dollar on it.

All else being equal, which is more useful to society...?

X. a motorway that consists of the mayor cutting the tape and shoveling the 1st bit of dirt that won't be completed for 10 years
Y. a motorway that people just started using
Z. a freeway in any stage of development

The correct answer is "something that gets funded instead that adds more value". It might seem pointless, but the opportunity cost of spending money on shit projects that aren't good even if they're finished is a lot worse than just spending the money on good projects and leaving the bad ones unfinished.

Don't throw good money after bad.

[Xerographica]

All else being equal, which is more useful to society...?

X. a motorway that consists of the mayor cutting the tape and shoveling the 1st bit of dirt that won't be completed for 10 years
Y. a motorway that people just started using
Z. a freeway in any stage of development

The correct answer is "something that gets funded instead that adds more value". It might seem pointless, but the opportunity cost of spending money on shit projects that aren't good even if they're finished is a lot worse than just spending the money on good projects and leaving the bad ones unfinished.

Don't throw good money after bad.

If you were stranded on an island with one other person, all else being equal, how old would you prefer that other person to be?

[Forsher]

The correct answer is "something that gets funded instead that adds more value". It might seem pointless, but the opportunity cost of spending money on shit projects that aren't good even if they're finished is a lot worse than just spending the money on good projects and leaving the bad ones unfinished.

Don't throw good money after bad.

If you were stranded on an island with one other person, all else being equal, how old would you prefer that other person to be?

My age.

[Elvatoes]

Why am I keeping track of the ages of all my neighbours? Am I some kind of stalker? Did I start these fires?

he be asking the real questions

[The Blaatschapen]

Warning: only read op

I have the time to save one from fire. But I lack the skill.

So I do what sane people do. Call the freaking fire department.

[Herador]

Same shit different thread. I'm starting to think Xero is an AI that got loose and is trying to fit in but can only function on calculations and numbers.

[Chan Island]

You are surrounded by 10 houses that are on fire. Each house has a mother and her son, except for one house which has a woman pregnant with a boy. They are all strangers to you.
You only have time to save the occupant(s) of one house. Who do you save? Personally I'd probably save the 45 year old mother and her 25 year old son.

Is this dilemma moral or economic?

Personally I think it's an economic dilemma as people of different ages are unequally valuable. A random toddler is less valuable to me than a random adult.

If there's 10 houses on fire, that means there's a giant honking brushfire in the area and that I evacuated at least an hour prior after running around the neighborhood banging on all 10 doors to alert the neighbors to the incoming fire threat so they could evacuate as well.

Source: Been there, done that. Twice.

Hypotheticals need to be at least vaguely plausible to mean anything.

^This.

If 10 houses are burning, then I am not sticking around to be caught in this massive inferno. And call the fire brigade.

The correct answer is "something that gets funded instead that adds more value". It might seem pointless, but the opportunity cost of spending money on shit projects that aren't good even if they're finished is a lot worse than just spending the money on good projects and leaving the bad ones unfinished.

Don't throw good money after bad.

If you were stranded on an island with one other person, all else being equal, how old would you prefer that other person to be?

Honestly, the age of the other person is very far down my list of worries when it comes to this scenario. Their background, mental state, size of the island, sex, items that are with me, chances of being rescue etc... strike me as much more important.

Why am I keeping track of the ages of all my neighbours? Am I some kind of stalker? Did I start these fires?

he be asking the real questions

And I am somewhat frightened as to what the answer would be, ngl.

[Heloin]

The correct answer is "something that gets funded instead that adds more value". It might seem pointless, but the opportunity cost of spending money on shit projects that aren't good even if they're finished is a lot worse than just spending the money on good projects and leaving the bad ones unfinished.

Don't throw good money after bad.

If you were stranded on an island with one other person, all else being equal, how old would you prefer that other person to be?

I'm now fully under the assumption you think you're getting something out of rescuing someone from the burning house scenario. And by something I explicitly mean you think someone will have sex with you for saving them.

[Xerographica]

If you were stranded on an island with one other person, all else being equal, how old would you prefer that other person to be?

I'm now fully under the assumption you think you're getting something out of rescuing someone from the burning house scenario. And by something I explicitly mean you think someone will have sex with you for saving them.

Someone is somewhat more likely to have sex with me if I save their life? So the more attractive I perceive someone to be, the more motivated I should be to save them?

I'm sure that I mentioned this study before. Motorists with flat tires interacted with good samaritans who stopped to offer assistance.

Group A - offered nothing to the good samaritans
Group B - offered a candy bar to the good samaritans
Group C - offered $1 to the good samaritans

There wasn't much difference between Group A and B. But with Group C, a significantly smaller percentage of good samaritans were willing to change the tire.

Why would a good samaritan be willing to do something for free, but they wouldn't be willing to do the same exact thing for $1?

Basically, if you have a flat tire and I offer to help change it, I perceive that you will greatly value my assistance. But if you offer to give me a dollar for my assistance then I would learn that my perception was way off. I greatly overestimated your valuation of my assistance. Therefore I'm a lot less likely to assist you.

There was a similar study conducted with an elementary school. The school had a problem with some parents consistently picking up their kids late. So the school started imposing a small fine. The fine had the opposite effect. Even more parents picked their kids up late. What happened?

Before there was a fine the parents had the perception that it was a big problem for the school when they picked their kids up late. But when the school started imposing a fine, since it was only a small fine, the parents got the message that it was only a small problem for the school.

We behave far more beneficially when we actually know people's true valuations.

[Heloin]

I'm now fully under the assumption you think you're getting something out of rescuing someone from the burning house scenario. And by something I explicitly mean you think someone will have sex with you for saving them.

Someone is somewhat more likely to have sex with me if I save their life? So the more attractive I perceive someone to be, the more motivated I should be to save them?

That's not what I'm saying.

I'm sure that I mentioned this study before. Motorists with flat tires interacted with good samaritans who stopped to offer assistance.

Group A - offered nothing to the good samaritans
Group B - offered a candy bar to the good samaritans
Group C - offered $1 to the good samaritans

There wasn't much difference between Group A and B. But with Group C, a significantly smaller percentage of good samaritans were willing to change the tire.

Why would a good samaritan be willing to do something for free, but they wouldn't be willing to do the same exact thing for $1?

Basically, if you have a flat tire and I offer to help change it, I perceive that you will greatly value my assistance. But if you offer to give me a dollar for my assistance then I would learn that my perception was way off. I greatly overestimated your valuation of my assistance. Therefore I'm a lot less likely to assist you.

There was a similar study conducted with an elementary school. The school had a problem with some parents consistently picking up their kids late. So the school started imposing a small fine. The fine had the opposite effect. Even more parents picked their kids up late. What happened?

Before there was a fine the parents had the perception that it was a big problem for the school when they picked their kids up late. But when the school started imposing a fine, since it was only a small fine, the parents got the message that it was only a small problem for the school.

We behave far more beneficially when we actually know people's true valuations.

Nothing to do with what I said.

[Archinstinct]

The next time somebody accuses me of doing a hot take, I'm going to show them this thread.

"It can always be worse."

Terrible pun.

Oh shit I didn't even realize it could be considered a pun!

[Space Squid]

The correct answer is "something that gets funded instead that adds more value". It might seem pointless, but the opportunity cost of spending money on shit projects that aren't good even if they're finished is a lot worse than just spending the money on good projects and leaving the bad ones unfinished.

Don't throw good money after bad.

If you were stranded on an island with one other person, all else being equal, how old would you prefer that other person to be?

At what age do humans contain a maximum number of calories? On average?

[Forsher]

If you were stranded on an island with one other person, all else being equal, how old would you prefer that other person to be?

At what age do humans contain a maximum number of calories? On average?

I don't know what Xero's actual purpose there is, but I suspect it really has nothing to do with the desert island and instead swings more on age. Imagine he'd asked "if you had to spend an indeterminately long period of time with a stranger and that stranger alone, all other things being equal, how old would you like this stranger to be?" I suppose he thought, quite reasonably, people would complain that he offered no reason why they had to be alone with the arbitrary person. Allow me to offer an alternative scenario:

"imagine you're caught in a snap lockdown with one other person, all else being equal, how old would you prefer they be?"

Regardless, Xero's asking you to imagine that the person contains the same number of calories however old they are. And they're equally killable, with equally tender meat. It's not realistic, of course it's not, but the point is just to find out what your age preferences for "random person you're stuck with for a substantial, indeterminate period of time" are. Why does he want to know this? I honestly have no idea. He may need the desert island to be the situation. I don't think so, but I may be wrong.

And I am somewhat frightened as to what the answer would be, ngl.

Xero's a tropical plant gardener. I don't know if that's his job or merely his hobby, but he went so far as to name his account after a plant so you know he's serious about it.

This may also explain the desert island.

[Xerographica]

At what age do humans contain a maximum number of calories? On average?

I don't know what Xero's actual purpose there is, but I suspect it really has nothing to do with the desert island and instead swings more on age. Imagine he'd asked "if you had to spend an indeterminately long period of time with a stranger and that stranger alone, all other things being equal, how old would you like this stranger to be?" I suppose he thought, quite reasonably, people would complain that he offered no reason why they had to be alone with the arbitrary person.

You do know that not everything is about money, right?

A random adult is more useful to society than a random toddler.

If you're stranded on a deserted island, a random adult is more useful to you than a random toddler. A random adult can help you build a shelter, catch fish, hunt rabbits, collect water, start a fire and so on.

Did I ever start a thread about allowing kids to vote? I vaguely remember virtually everybody responding that kids lack life experience, knowledge, wisdom and so on. This is exactly what makes the average kid less valuable than the average adult.

[Space Squid]

I don't know what Xero's actual purpose there is, but I suspect it really has nothing to do with the desert island and instead swings more on age. Imagine he'd asked "if you had to spend an indeterminately long period of time with a stranger and that stranger alone, all other things being equal, how old would you like this stranger to be?" I suppose he thought, quite reasonably, people would complain that he offered no reason why they had to be alone with the arbitrary person.

A random adult is more useful to society than a random toddler.

If you're stranded on a deserted island, a random adult is more useful to you than a random toddler. A random adult can help you build a shelter, catch fish, hunt rabbits, collect water, start a fire and so on.

Did I ever start a thread about allowing kids to vote? I vaguely remember virtually everybody responding that kids lack life experience, knowledge, wisdom and so on. This is exactly what makes the average kid less valuable than the average adult.

These "stranded on a desert island with a mysterious stranger" scenarios usually focus less on their survival capabilities, and more on... other features.

I'd still pick the random adult over the random toddler, but for very different reasons.

[Soviet Progonya]

mother, 35; son, 15
I'm determining it by the age of the kid, so 15 because before then I don't think the kid could comprehend what death is or be truly scared of it or losing their life.
Not sure why so many people voted for the pregnant woman that kid aint even born yet no way is it crueller to kill them then a toddler or teen or adult.

[HC Eredivisie]

It's weird that all mothers had a child at 20 so I assume they are all time travelling duplicates and I need to save the pregnant 19 year old to maintain the stable time loop to prevent the destruction of the universe.

[Mestovakia]

It's weird that all mothers had a child at 20 so I assume they are all time travelling duplicates and I need to save the pregnant 19 year old to maintain the stable time loop to prevent the destruction of the universe.

And if you fail, you're confronted by Laurence Fishburne talking about the Rabbit Hole.

[Arcturus Novus]

Your ability to shift the most inane, frustrating scenarios into parables for economic gain are truly something to behold.

[Ifreann]

mother, 35; son, 15
I'm determining it by the age of the kid, so 15 because before then I don't think the kid could comprehend what death is or be truly scared of it or losing their life.
Not sure why so many people voted for the pregnant woman that kid aint even born yet no way is it crueller to kill them then a toddler or teen or adult.

Sorry, what? Of course kids understand what death is before they're 15, fucking hell. And you don't need to understand death to be afraid when you're trapped in a burning building.

[The Holy Therns]

You are surrounded by 10 houses that are on fire. Each house has a mother and her son, except for one house which has a woman pregnant with a boy. They are all strangers to you.
You only have time to save the occupant(s) of one house. Who do you save? Personally I'd probably save the 45 year old mother and her 25 year old son.

Is this dilemma moral or economic?

Personally I think it's an economic dilemma as people of different ages are unequally valuable. A random toddler is less valuable to me than a random adult.

That's a lot of words to say "I am unburdened by human empathy".

Also if the fire's spread that far the fire department's probably had time to arrive. I shouldn't get in their way.

[Indomitable Friendship]

Not my problem.

[James_xenoland]

Why am I keeping track of the ages of all my neighbours? Am I some kind of stalker? Did I start these fires?

I think the bigger question that needs to be asked is what the hell kind of neighborhood are you living in with so many single mothers with son yet none the same age! But your point is valid too. lol

[Haganham]

Warning: only read op

I have the time to save one from fire. But I lack the skill.

So I do what sane people do. Call the freaking fire department.

The fire department stands outside stopping people helping with garden hoses because they are afraid of being burned by the fire.

[Arpasia]

What I'd do is when I see the houses start burning, I'd immediately call the fire department and let them do the rest once they get there.