Re: The "Ticking Bomb Question"

Tom Enright wrote: 
Jay Furr, I'm pioneering the future of offshore wind farms:


alicamdun@xxxxxxxxx wrote in news:1133233077.880194.242600
@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:


Not a single liberal has been able to answer.  And no, this wasn't my
intent.  It wasn't some sort of trap.  What happens is one is faced
with
the results of their belief system.  Moparman says go ahead and cut
him, he understands the issues.  Those such as Trev, Jeffery, Jay
etc., IMO, won't answer the question because that answer is
uncomfortable for them.



Tom, why can't I cut *your* fingers off?  There are *plenty* of
half-bright  cops in the world who see everyone as guilty.  Can't
make an omelet without breaking eggs, you know?



You seem to have very deep-felt ideas about this issue and
yet you cannot answer a simple "yes"/"no" question.


Your original question wasn't a simple yes/no question. It was a "Have You Stopped Beating Your Wife" type question. The premise, that you knew that someone knew something else, was an impossibility. It was the equivalent of asking, "if 1=2 would you [some action]?" What's the answer there? Neither Yes nor No answer that question. Rephrase your question so that it's answerable:

For x=1 to infinity

"If you strongly suspected that a person knew something that would prevent the deaths of X people, would you condone torture to extract it?"

next X

At what point would you answer yes?

Is an answer there meaningful? Wouldn't it be a 2 parter?

For X=1 to infinity
For J=.1 to 99.9 step .1

If you had J% assurance that a person knew etc that would prevent the deaths of X people, would you condone torture to
extract that information

next j
next x

Is THAT a meaningful answer? Isn't it a 3 parter?

for x=1 to infinity
for j= .1 to 99.0 step .1
for s = 1 to 9 step 1 { gradients of pain }

	etc
next s
next j
next x

Is that a meaningful answer? Shouldn't the availability of the information by other means be factored in?

Finally, now that you've reduced moral issues to mathematics, what are you left with?
.

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