"The Box" What would you do?

Attorney · Raleigh, NC · Member since 2008 · 4k+ posts · 1k+ votes

I went to see "The Box" last night. It was one of the better written screenplays I've seen in some time and while it wasn't a "scary" moving it was quite 'unnerving". The basic premise is that a couple in a perceived desperate situation are presented with a box with a large button on it. If they push the button, they get 1 million dollars....and someone they don't know dies.

What would you do if presented today's equivalent (it was set in 1976)?

Think about it - everyone dies. That's inevitable. You're not committing a crime. It's someone else who would be actively committing the act of killing....possibly. On the other hand you are ending a life for money and you do have to look at yourself for the rest of your life and know what you will be capable of doing for money. What's your decision?

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James Hiddle

Altus, OK · Member since 2008 · 2k+ posts · 690 votes

16y

No I couldn't in good conscious even consider doing that if it were real and I was in the same situation.

I have moral standards I live by money is one thing life is however more precious.

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OR · Member since 2008 · 1k+ posts · 845 votes
16y
I know I am capable of killing, but I don't need money that badly.

That was a short story published as science fiction. Can't remember who the author was.
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Timothy W.
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Attorney · Raleigh, NC · Member since 2008 · 4k+ posts · 1k+ votes
16y
Richard Matheson

I hear you. Killing for the right reason is one thing....but for money. Makes you think.
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Mark N.A
Real Estate Investor · North Carolina · Member since 2008 · 1k+ posts · 483 votes
16y
Yes, well...

What if the incentive was one BILLION dollars? Or TEN? Or TWENTY?

Don't have a price in dollars? How about a thousand less deaths of cancer annually? Six months of world peace? Free cold beer in hell?

I'll bet, and call me cynical, but I'll bet even a certified saint has a tipping point.
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Timothy W.
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Attorney · Raleigh, NC · Member since 2008 · 4k+ posts · 1k+ votes
16y
That's the thing Mark. There is a principle who's name escapes me (referred to in Super Freakonomics) that when someone offers and insanely high amount of money for a ridiculously simple act - the risk of unintended consequences and their negative impact increases exponentially. Quite simply, do you want to involve yourself in any way with someone who is obviously that crazy?
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Timothy W.
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Attorney · Raleigh, NC · Member since 2008 · 4k+ posts · 1k+ votes
16y
Then again....gurus promise outright crazy dreams all the time and people have bought....even to the point of dying in a sweat lodge.

Maybe you have something there Mark.
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James Hiddle
Altus, OK · Member since 2008 · 2k+ posts · 690 votes
16y
No I couldn't in good conscious even consider doing that if it were real and I was in the same situation.

I have moral standards I live by money is one thing life is however more precious.
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J ScottPro Member
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Investor · Sarasota, FL · Member since 2008 · 18k+ posts · 17k+ votes
16y
For a million dollars, definitely not. For a large amount of money (enough to change my lifestyle), no doubt.

Considering the number of lives I could save with a large amount of money (sick people, hungry people, etc), the ends would certainly justify the means in my mind.

Plus, there's the potential for someone to die who deserves it, so that's just an added bonus.

Along the same lines, if someone was offered a very large amount of money for me to die, and I knew he or she would use that money to save a lot of innocent lives, I'd certainly hope that person took it.

If my death could allow a bunch of innocent people to live, the trade-off is well worth it...I think I'd be selfish to say otherwise...

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Robert Mack
Real Estate Investor · Bergen County, NJ · Member since 2008 · 390 posts · 72 votes
16y
I wouldn't do it for a million dollars either, plus uncle sam would probably find a way to tax you to death :lol:

For substantially more money.. really who knows it'd be different if the money was there in front of me

Originally posted by J Scott:

Along the same lines, if someone was offered a very large amount of money for me to die, and I knew he or she would use that money to save a lot of innocent lives, I'd certainly hope that person took it.

If my death could allow a bunch of innocent people to live, the trade-off is well worth it...I think I'd be selfish to say otherwise...

J thats a courageous stance to take and I commend you for it. What about your family and offspring who would be left without you though? Don't you think it's kind of selfish to leave them behind willingly? Unless of course they were part of the innocent people you'd be saving.. this is all hypothetical...
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J ScottPro Member
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Investor · Sarasota, FL · Member since 2008 · 18k+ posts · 17k+ votes
16y
Originally posted by Robert Mack:

J thats a courageous stance to take and I commend you for it. What about your family and offspring who would be left without you though? Don't you think it's kind of selfish to leave them behind willingly?

Excellent question...

Consider this: When a soldier jumps on top of a grenade to save the lives of those around him/her, would you consider that to be a selfish act? What if the soldier had a family at home that now didn't have a husband/father/son?

Others might disagree, but personally, I find that to be a tremendously courageous and selfless thing to do...

I'd like to think that my family has the same values I do, and would agree that trading one life (even if it's our own) to save many innocent lives is worth the trade-off.

If I were to die, my family would be both financially secure and emotionally well supported (by each other), so while there is definitely a part of the act that would selfish, I still think it's the right thing to do.

We're all going to die sometime...if great things can come from my death, I can't imagine any better way to die?
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Eddie Ziv
Investor · Mableton, GA · Member since 2009 · 1k+ posts · 465 votes
16y
There is not enough money in the world (even declining value as the US dollar) that can make me kill someone for it!!
I belong to one of those tribes that invented guilt. I need to sleep well at night.
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OR · Member since 2008 · 1k+ posts · 845 votes
16y
[[[[......even a certified saint has a tipping point.....]]]]]

I'm nowhere near a saint, and sure I have a tipping point. Depending upon the incentive, that point could be pretty low. However, money doesn't mean all that much to me that I'd do absolutely anything to get it.

I enjoy being comfortable, and I sure wouldn't want to be reduced to living as a bag lady. However, I would not kill anyone to prevent that from happening.

You want me to kill someone, you'll have to come up with a different incentive.

Pressing a button to kill some one for a million bucks is no different than taking out life insurance on someone and then murdering them to collect the $.

And crikey, let's face it, even for those with ethics tettering on the edge, a million dollars isn't much money these days. But if you seriously want someone with no ethics against killing for money, a couple K would do it; it wouldn't cost you a million.
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