WE89: Difficult Decisions
Introduction
Oh WOW, what happened to the #weekend-engagement topics like "Plan your perfect weekend", "Writing about your best friend", or even "My Favorite Song"!?!?! Now we are debating some of the most challenging philosophical dilemmas that have been pondered for centuries......I like it! lolol One of the greatest fears of our society is facing the unknown and making difficult decisions, as is apparent with the precarious situations we get ourselves into due to the inability to make a choice. It spans all aspects of the human existence from love to health to finances, etc. It is however important to ponder these difficult decisions from time to time, if for no other reason than to "know thyself".
For Argument's Sake
There are few things as damaging and impactful as watching a child die, it will pervade every one of your senses and become part of the fabric of you soul for all eternity....it WILL damage you and you will be forced to find healthy, and often times unhealthy, ways to mitigate that damage.
But for argument's sake, I was intrigued by the posing of the question and, since I am never one to shy away from difficult decisions, topics, or introspection, I wanted to give the topic of only being able to save one child out of a pair of twins who are trapped in a burning house. I know that my reasonings and speculation associated with this topic may come across as calloused, cold, or unfeeling, but I assure you that is not the case at all. To be able to make the type of decision presented by this subject topic requires detachment from the event. There are a myriad of activities and synapses firing consciously and subconsciously during a traumatic event and I have experienced that cold, calmer heads always prevail, although we are seldom prepared for the aftermath of those decisions.
I am of the opinion that many of our decisions (dire, difficult, and otherwise) have a root base in evolutionary survival as dictated by are cold, calculating reptilian brain. Even with decisions we can't just put our finger on "why" we did what we did, it is my estimation that the truth lies somewhere buried in the swampy primordial ooze that comprises our most inner, evolutionary brain.
Going off of that premise, then the question becomes what decision, saving the boy or the girl, is most beneficial to our species as a whole. Few species have monogamy coded into their DNA and we are the only ones with it imbedded within our ethos. One male human can impregnate almost innumerable females so biologically and evolutionally it could possibly be in the best interest to save the male child. However, being that a female can only carry one (normally) child to term every year or so, there could be an argument that saving the female child may be more beneficial to the health of our species.
To complicate the matter, you could compare the overall achievements of males to females and attempt to determine which child to save, but are the accomplishments based upon the attributes of each sex or to various other factors such as gender inequality, opportunities presented to one sex or the other, etc. For instance, I adore food and most Michelin star restaurants are operated by male chefs. Does that mean that males cook better than females and by saving the male child I am securing the future of culinary design and innovation? Or could it be that females cook better and are just not afforded the same opportunities within the culinary world to express themselves and arise to greatness?
Another point to consider, the vast majority of diabolical dictators of modern history were male. Are we preventing another Hitler, Stalin, or Mussolini, by saving the girl child as opposed to the boy one? Additionally the same could be said for serial killers, domestic violence offenders, murderers, and rapists. So are we doing a disservice to society by saving a male child over a female?
Conclusion
The truth is we do not have all the facts of the fire and the situation this query places us in. As a man sitting comfortably in a nice plush gaming chair pattering away at me keyboard I have the luxury of relaxation, time, and comfort to ponder the pros and cons of saving one child over the other. I can assure you from experience that decisions like this in reality are far, far more problematic. It is a furious battle with fate and circumstances! In the frantic pace that is thrust upon you in tragedy you mostly revert to your training and more mundane factors determine who is saved and who is lost.
Something as simple as a child being entangled in their blanket can cause on child to be grabbed before another and the fire can overtake everything while you are trying to get back in. This most happens on a subconscious level, but you carry the burden of the decision for all of eternity like a stinking, rotten albatross around your neck. "Could I have done more?" "Did I make a mistake?" The questions literally haunt you in your wake and in your sleep relentlessly. And then every now and then when you fire up you smoker on a beautiful, perfect summer afternoon to enjoy the weekend with friends and family the smell twists your insides so hard you have to sprint to the bannister as you become sick over the railing because sometimes your brain is tricked into thinking is burning human flesh....and that smell will NEVER leave you.
Then there is also the dilemma of thinking you made the right choice and experiencing the euphoria of cutting off a seatbelt perfectly only to learn that the man's legs are twisted and trapped under the dash and then the only "decision" you get to make is to continue to let your hair singe and skin blister or you step back. But even as you step back you have another decision to maintain eye contact with a man going insane from pain and torment just so he knows another soul is there, or do you save a small piece of the little bit of soul you have left and turn your gaze away? These are the true decisions during tragedy and they are not made lightly and the choices reverberate through your psyche for all eternity and your demons will never, never, never, never let you forgot your mistakes.......there is not enough OODA loop training in the universe to prepare you for a burnt child, a suicidal father who is found by their daughter, or the other multitude of travesties we are capable of inflicting on each other. Enjoy the fact that you can sit and ponder these questions with all your faculties, that you can do so mostly in comfort and that you won't be pursued by the ramifications of those choices the rest of your life.
WOW! Another deep and profound #weekend-engagement by Galen for The Weekend community. It is desperately necessary to turn the unflinching lens of introspection on ourselves as often as possible. Thank you for reading and I love you all!
All That Is Gold Does Not Glitter,
Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost
-Tolkien
