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🚤survival
A lifeboat holds 8. There are 9 of you. Nobody volunteers. Someone proposes the eldest goes — they look at you and nod.
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Why this dilemma matters
In high-stakes situations, the calmer option and the safer option often diverge. Choosing “Accept their nod. They've made peace with it” prioritises a hard but certain outcome; choosing “Refuse. Once we choose by usefulness, we've already lost something we won't get back” gives more weight to a softer but riskier outcome.
Worth asking yourself
- Is the risk small enough to gamble on?
- What cost are you more willing to accept?
More Survival Dilemmas
- 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?
- Your group of 13 reaches a fortified shelter — already occupied by 8 strangers at capacity. They refuse to open. Your group includes children. You could force the door; they have no weapons.
- 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.