Save my Soul
Consider this hypothetical situation: you are in a boat big enough for two with plenty of supplies. A few metres away there is a woman drowning. Do you save her? And if you do save her do you share your surplus supplies with her?
To me, it seems a simple enough question to be answered with a resounding - of course I’d save her and subsequently offer her something to eat. I wouldn’t even think twice. After all it’s the obvious, civilized and decent thing to do!
Now consider another hypothetical situation. You are walking down the street and you see a starving beggar a few metres away. Do you walk up to the beggar and give her some money or food?
Hmmm. I’m not so sure this time.
But why this doubt? To my mind the analogy holds. Then what could be the reason for such a stark paradox in my actions?
On some introspection I reasoned that I was probably unwilling to lend a hand to the beggar as there was no guarantee that my ‘sacrifice’ of some hard earned money would ensure the beggars prolonged survival. She’d probably end up that way the next day as well.
But then is that reason enough to walk away and not to do anything? If someone had told me that the drowning woman was of a suicidal bent and had tried this several times -would that be reason enough for me to turn my back away and leave her to drown? Certainly not!
Thus the possibility of future survival did not solve this paradox.
Another possible reason for this behaviour could be that there are just too many starving people around. I can’t save them all can I?
But then by that logic if there were a hundred people drowning in the sea that day I would not save even the one I had space for because – I can’t save them all can I?
So once again the logic doesn’t hold up.
After similarly dismissing several plausible theories I was left to just one conclusion - I just don’t see the starving beggar any more. No doubt she is there, no doubt I have looked at her, but sure enough, I just fail to see her.
Years of seeing this woman at the corner of my street and at the corner of almost every street in this country has sensitized me to the very real and terrifying face of poverty. My defence mechanism simply disallows me from recognize this face anymore. For being the civilized, decent person that I am I would never leave a woman to drown; it would be unthinkable.
Hence, getting back to the boat analogy, would that mean that if I saw enough drowning women for enough time there would come a point when I would no longer lend that obvious civilized and decent hand?
Further extrapolating, that would mean that if I am exposed to certain actions, no matter how vile and deplorable, for some amount of time, I will no longer find it to be unacceptable and allow it to go on unhindered
Save my Soul indeed!
To me, it seems a simple enough question to be answered with a resounding - of course I’d save her and subsequently offer her something to eat. I wouldn’t even think twice. After all it’s the obvious, civilized and decent thing to do!
Now consider another hypothetical situation. You are walking down the street and you see a starving beggar a few metres away. Do you walk up to the beggar and give her some money or food?
Hmmm. I’m not so sure this time.
But why this doubt? To my mind the analogy holds. Then what could be the reason for such a stark paradox in my actions?
On some introspection I reasoned that I was probably unwilling to lend a hand to the beggar as there was no guarantee that my ‘sacrifice’ of some hard earned money would ensure the beggars prolonged survival. She’d probably end up that way the next day as well.
But then is that reason enough to walk away and not to do anything? If someone had told me that the drowning woman was of a suicidal bent and had tried this several times -would that be reason enough for me to turn my back away and leave her to drown? Certainly not!
Thus the possibility of future survival did not solve this paradox.
Another possible reason for this behaviour could be that there are just too many starving people around. I can’t save them all can I?
But then by that logic if there were a hundred people drowning in the sea that day I would not save even the one I had space for because – I can’t save them all can I?
So once again the logic doesn’t hold up.
After similarly dismissing several plausible theories I was left to just one conclusion - I just don’t see the starving beggar any more. No doubt she is there, no doubt I have looked at her, but sure enough, I just fail to see her.
Years of seeing this woman at the corner of my street and at the corner of almost every street in this country has sensitized me to the very real and terrifying face of poverty. My defence mechanism simply disallows me from recognize this face anymore. For being the civilized, decent person that I am I would never leave a woman to drown; it would be unthinkable.
Hence, getting back to the boat analogy, would that mean that if I saw enough drowning women for enough time there would come a point when I would no longer lend that obvious civilized and decent hand?
Further extrapolating, that would mean that if I am exposed to certain actions, no matter how vile and deplorable, for some amount of time, I will no longer find it to be unacceptable and allow it to go on unhindered
Save my Soul indeed!
posted by kg at 11:33 AM
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