Survival Dilemmas

A lifeboat holds 8 people maximum. There are 9 survivors. Someone must go overboard or everyone drowns.

A plague on one colony world could spread across the stars. Command can seal the planet, abandoning billions. Should it do it?

A city expects severe storms during a public event. Cancelling protects people, but many small businesses lose crucial income. What should officials do?

Should countries treat compute capacity like an energy-security asset?

Should governments subsidize fossil backup power for AI if renewables cannot meet demand fast enough?

Should strategic data centers be moved away from regions exposed to energy shocks?

If conflict threatens energy supply, should governments reserve power for hospitals before AI infrastructure?

Should foreign governments fund shelters directly when military aid is politically blocked?

Should schools in war zones move fully underground even if education becomes more limited?

Should scarce air-defense systems protect dense cities before military infrastructure?

Should governments force residents to leave high-risk cities after repeated missile attacks?

During a deep-space mission, your crew discovers that one member is unknowingly carrying a lethal pathogen that will kill everyone within 48 hours unless that person is permanently isolated in the airlock — a death sentence. The infected crew member has no symptoms yet and insists on their right to fight for a cure alongside the team, but there is no guarantee one exists in time.

You can go back in time and kill one person as a baby — preventing a genocide that kills 10 million people. The baby is innocent.

A plane is going down. There are 6 survivors but only 4 parachutes. You have one. Do you give yours up or keep it?

In a zombie apocalypse, your group finds a fortified shelter with supplies for 10. There are 15 of you. You hold the only key.

A new pandemic: there is only one vaccine dose left in the city. You and an elderly stranger both need it to survive. A doctor hands it to you.