Moral Dilemma - sledge hammer and mannequins

[Reverend Conehead]

Sitting in in chairs front of you, facing away from you, are apparently 10 mannequins, all dressed the same, and wearing the same baseball cap. However, there's a catch. They're actually 9 mannequins and one human being, but the human is indistinguishable from the 9 mannequins. It is not moving. You have no way of knowing which one is the person, and you're not allowed to view them from the front.

You have a sledge hammer. You are offered a deal. If you take that sledge hammer and slam it down on any one of the ten heads, you'll be paid 50 million dollars if you hit a mannequin's head. If you hit a human head, you'll be charged with murder and will go to prison for the rest of your life.

There's only a 1 in 10 chance that you'll kill someone, but there's a 9 in 10 chance that no harm will be done, and you'll also earn 50 mil.

Do you swing the sledge hammer or do you walk away?

 

[DallasEast]

The thing about human mannequins is that you can detect hints they are real if you pay close attention. It may take some observation time but it is doable. A half-second rise and fall of the chest. A millimeter twitch of a pupil. The clues are right there in front of you.

My answer would be conditional. If I have ten minutes to observe first, I would swing the sledgehammer. If I was told that I would be handed the sledgehammer and immediate swing, I would walk away.

 

[Reverend Conehead]

The thing about human mannequins is that you can detect hints they are real if you pay close attention. It may take some observation time but it is doable. A half-second rise and fall of the chest. A millimeter twitch of a pupil. The clues are right there in front of you.

My answer would be conditional. If I have ten minutes to observe first, I would swing the sledgehammer. If I was told that I would be handed the sledgehammer and immediate swing, I would walk away.

You're handed the hammer and have 5 seconds to decide.

 

[DallasEast]

You're handed the hammer and have 5 seconds to decide.

I'm walking then. No amount of money is worth getting imprisoned for premeditated murder.

I say premeditated because I do not believe any lawyer could plead that charge down to manslaughter according to those conditions. I knew I could possibly kill someone but I did it anyway knowingly aware I did not have enough time to discern whether the victim was human or not? Any judge would laugh that defense out of their courtroom.

That said, I would not like getting convicted for manslaughter either.

 

[Reverend Conehead]

I'm walking then. No amount of money is worth getting imprisoned for premeditated murder.

I say premeditated because I do not believe any lawyer could plead that charge down to manslaughter according to those conditions. I knew I could possibly kill someone but I did it anyway knowingly aware I did not have enough time to discern whether the victim was human or not? Any judge would laugh that defense out of their courtroom.

That said, I would not like getting convicted for manslaughter either.

I'm not a lawyer, but my guess is it would be voluntary manslaughter since you weren't actually attempting to kill someone. You killed someone via reckless behavior, and the act was on purpose. Just my guess. A lawyer would no for sure.

Okay, so would it make any difference if it were 99 mannequins and 1 person? That would give you a 99% chance of not killing anyone.

 

[rags747]

First I would like to know the Mannequins Pronouns…

 

[Reverend Conehead]

First I would like to know the Mannequins Pronouns…

he, him

 

[DallasEast]

I'm not a lawyer, but my guess is it would be voluntary manslaughter since you weren't actually attempting to kill someone. You killed someone via reckless behavior, and the act was on purpose. Just my guess. A lawyer would no for sure.

Okay, so would it make any difference if it were 99 mannequins and 1 person? That would give you a 99% chance of not killing anyone.

Nope. My luck is not that good. 99 other people will be handed a sledgehammer and never come close to killing anybody.

Me? Sledgehammer. Swing. Dead.

 

[Sammy]

I would not swing.

However, if I were given the chance to sit among 9 mannequins and someone else swings and I'd be paid 50 million bucks if I lived, I'd think about it.

 

[VaqueroTD]

Here’s a way around it. Blow in mannequin’s eyes as you’re winding the hammer back in front of them face-to-face. Judge won’t catch on and if they’re the real version, they will be forced to blink.

 

[Reverend Conehead]

Here’s a way around it. Blow in mannequin’s eyes as you’re winding the hammer back in front of them face-to-face. Judge won’t catch on and if they’re the real version, they will be forced to blink.

Won't work. You're not allowed to look at them from the front. Only from the back, and you have 5 seconds to swing.

 

[VaqueroTD]

Won't work. You're not allowed to look at them from the front. Only from the back, and you have 5 seconds to swing.

 

[Runwildboys]

Sitting in in chairs front of you, facing away from you, are apparently 10 mannequins, all dressed the same, and wearing the same baseball cap. However, there's a catch. They're actually 9 mannequins and one human being, but the human is indistinguishable from the 9 mannequins. It is not moving. You have no way of knowing which one is the person, and you're not allowed to view them from the front.

You have a sledge hammer. You are offered a deal. If you take that sledge hammer and slam it down on any one of the ten heads, you'll be paid 50 million dollars if you hit a mannequin's head. If you hit a human head, you'll be charged with murder and will go to prison for the rest of your life.

There's only a 1 in 10 chance that you'll kill someone, but there's a 9 in 10 chance that no harm will be done, and you'll also earn 50 mil.

Do you swing the sledge hammer or do you walk away?

The misanthrope in me wants to call it a win/win, but the thought of prison shakes me to the core...Still, nobody ever sits on the end in a situation like that.

Swing away!

 

[Runwildboys]

Wait, does the person in the chair have a thread count on this forum like Egyptian cotton?

 

[nobody]

Sitting in in chairs front of you, facing away from you, are apparently 10 mannequins, all dressed the same, and wearing the same baseball cap. However, there's a catch. They're actually 9 mannequins and one human being, but the human is indistinguishable from the 9 mannequins. It is not moving. You have no way of knowing which one is the person, and you're not allowed to view them from the front.

You have a sledge hammer. You are offered a deal. If you take that sledge hammer and slam it down on any one of the ten heads, you'll be paid 50 million dollars if you hit a mannequin's head. If you hit a human head, you'll be charged with murder and will go to prison for the rest of your life.

There's only a 1 in 10 chance that you'll kill someone, but there's a 9 in 10 chance that no harm will be done, and you'll also earn 50 mil.

Do you swing the sledge hammer or do you walk away?

Not even a doubt in my mind: Walk away. It's not even about being charged with murder. It's the commission of that murder that would haunt me if I guessed wrong. Life>money. Period.

You're forgetting something. Say you do smash one of the nine mannequins: From then on, every night you'll have to worry about the other 8 coming to life to hunt you down, only each dawn saving you from their vengeance.

 

[Hoofbite]

Kick the chair and watch how the body moves.

 

[Reverend Conehead]

Kick the chair and watch how the body moves.

Disqualified.