Friday, March 13, 2009

A Proper Goodbye (on friday the 13th)

Some of you are wondering why I've decide to stop blogging and there have been some, well, speculations about me being emotionally attached to someone and hence not have the time to write. This is not entirely wrong. I've stopped writing mainly because ever since I've moved out of the village, I have close to nothing data downloading space (I dont know how its called) and thus decide to fully utilise it on my studies. And also because of the tremendous amount of work I am given now that I am a year 2 student and thus havent the time to write. And NO I am not seeing anyone. Just in case you're wondering.

This is not really a goodbye as the title suggest. It's more like 'see you in a little bit more than a bit'. Haha pardon me. Havent been writing for so long and now all I can think of is crap.

There is something serious I want to discuss. Please stop reading if you don't wish to use your brain today.

I mean it.

And I havent done this before but I am going to request that everyone who sees this to post a response to this. It's my turn to know what you think. It's a request so I'm going to say "Please".

I've recently been to a bioethics workshop and there were many big topics raised during the one and a half hour session. They range from if battery chicken farms should be abolish to if adult and embryonic stem cells research should be made legal. I want to talk about one of the ideas raised and that was the concept of "sacrificing one for the many".

Let me give you a scenario.

You're a pilot in the air force and your country is currently at war. You have with you on board, 5 other soldiers and you're on your way to pick the last one. If you were to go ahead and pick up that last solder, you will be able to pick him up alive but there is a very real chance of your plane being shot down. If you choose to go back with those already on board, the 6 of you go home alive (and probably live in guilt for the rest of it) but that last person will very likely die in the hands of the enemy. What will you do? Let's make it slightly more complicated. That last soldier is an extremely close friend of yours or a blood related brother. Think about it. Let me know.

If this scenario is too far-fetched, allow me to relate another one.

When scientist make a new medical discovery, there are usually many lab test that it has to be put through and many protocols to follow. This results in many years "wasted". Now, you're a scientist and one of your parents is dying of a heritary disease and you think you've found the cure. But because of the regualtion, you cannot administer the drug legally until it is being tested which takes about 5 years. From your knowledge, your family have less than a year to live. What do you do? Keep in mind that you have all the means to make this drug and if your family doesnt get it soon, the disease might make him/her so sick that even with the drug, he/she will still die. But if you do give the drug, you will lose your licence and reputation forever and also, since the drug wasnt tested, you might be doing more harm than good. So, what do you say?

I hate to do this. I really do. But do think about them, if you will. And don't forget to leave a response. If its too long, send me an email. And then I might just tell you what I'll do under those situations.



This post didnt turn out to be how I wanted it to be initially. Read the title again. Well, that's me. Always distracted. Always sidetracking.

2 comments:

stArrs said...

the soldier one, i will send the 5 bunch out of danger area and ask them to jump out to safety while i go back and save my close fren and comrade.. cant sacrifice the 5 or my conscience will be seared even more than losing one fren..

the scientist one.. eh i will juz give them the drug.. they wont find out de lah.. i can alwayz cultivate the drug in my own lab, whether in my home or in another lab else where..

i think these two scenarios play on ur guilt feeling of it being someone close..
in reality, we have to consider the people ard us..

leeling said...

the scenario with the medicine, it is ethically wrong to give the un-tested medication but morally wrong to let someone die when u think u can save them.

when we're placed in situations like these, where right and wrong doesnt exists, our decisions will depend greatly on how we were brought up and our own values.

i will do the same for the soldier case. i choose to live with the guilt of causing the death of a fren than die with the guilt of tearing apart 5 other families. that's me.

again i stress, there are no right or wrong ans. either way, its a lost.

aside to xy, thanks for replying.