Would you shoot

[sooey]

If you were somehow transported back to the days of Hitlers youth, before he wrote mein kampf and were one on one with him with a gun in your hand and no chance of being caught.
Would you be able to shoot him knowing what you know now.
Substitute Hitler for Stalin, Pol Pot, or any other bogey man you like if you want.

 

[rjm2k]

Trouble is, you don't know what would replace them, could be 100x worse (a more successful hitler for example) and then it would be YOUR fault! In addition the specific chains of events from then on would be different so the whole population conceived since then could be "destroyed" and replaced with a different one.

 

[sooey]

Yes, we know all that. It's a hypothetical question to see if people are capable of murder in certain circumstances.
Forget all the possible different time lines which may or may not arise and treat it as though if you shot him the world would go on to be all hunky dory.
And your grandad/ uncle wouldn't die in a ship off Murmansk or a plane over Berlin or whatever.

 

[UriBentMySpoon]

Its a rather ridiculous question as at that point we are talking about someone who is innocent? Would you kill an innocent person on the off chance he may become evil?

 

[AronSearle]

Well, if you want to get picky.

You could shoot him in both kneecaps.

It wouldn't kill him, but would stop him from doing all kinds of things that lead to who he became, like fighting in WW1.

 

[UriBentMySpoon]

If you know he is going to be evil then the future cannot be changed so attempting to shoot him would be all you could do, if the future could be changed then you cannot shoot someone who is innocent. Besides if you shoot the young Hitler then you yourself will have to be executed according to some people on this forum.

 

[EB1caneyeB]

Yeah but with the benefit of coming from the future you would know that he was going on to be responsible for much suffering and millions of deaths.

I'd thrash him to within inches of his life. I'd feel the strength of all the victims of his lunacy. And pound him senseless. He wouldn't wanna cause no-one no bother after.
I'd tell all the jews to get out now too. You'd have to at least try. At this time my grandfather, who died a month before i was born, Would've been signing up for the cavalry again (he fought in both wars). I would've told him that i was very proud of what he was going to do over the next few years. And to put a big bet on 'caughoo' to win the 1947 grand national.

 

[UriBentMySpoon]

If doing that stopped WW2 etc, then you would have up an innocent.

Are we saying the future can be changed, and in that instance should be changed? Try introducing him to a nice Jewish girl instead.

 

[sooey]

If you know he is going to be evil then the future cannot be changed so attempting to shoot him would be all you could do, if the future could be changed then you cannot shoot someone who is innocent. Besides if you shoot the young Hitler then you yourself will have to be executed according to some people on this forum.

Are you not capable of forgetting all of the prevaricating counter arguments and just answering the purely hypothetical question as it was asked?

 

[sooey]

For the hard of thinking uri.
Kill hitler and you stop ww2, there's no chance of being caught.
Could you do it? Would you do it?

 

[UriBentMySpoon]

For the hard of thinking uri.
Kill hitler and you stop ww2, there's no chance of being caught.
Could you do it? Would you do it?

For the hard of thinking Sooey, at this hypothetical point has he done anything wrong? If he has not done anything wrong then to kill an innocent person? The answer would be know. If his future could be changed, find a nice way to change it.

HOWEVER, if he has already started his crimes against humanity, IF the only options are kill him, stop WW2, or let him live and see the atrocities continue, then yes I suppose I would kill him, but ONLY if that was option other than let him continue.

Satisfied?

 

[sooey]

Got there at last eh...you uncivilised murdering bstrd.

 

[UriBentMySpoon]

Unfortunately this killing is a very black/white, intensely hypothetical situation with very narrow constraints.

Given any other option, other than killing him I would, that would be civilased, your argument proves nothing.

 

[AronSearle]

If the Creator had said, "Let there be light" in Ankh-Morpork, he'd have gotten no further because of all the people saying "What colour?"

 

[sooey]

Unfortunately this killing is a very black/white, intensely hypothetical situation with very narrow constraints.

Given any other option, other than killing him I would, that would be civilased, your argument proves nothing.

I wasn't arguing for anythging at all.
I was just trying to establish whether you're a murdering bstrd or not. I've got my answer you murdering bstrd.