Would You Kill Your Mother?

For those who still do not understand morality, let me give you a classic problem for which I owe Professor Ralph Byrns of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill the credit for developing. My retelling of it will undoubtedly suffer in comparison to his exceptional original but I shall endeavor in any case:

"How many of you would not kill your mothers for any price?"

I go on to explain that I am actually Vlad the Impaler and if you do not kill your mother (via lethal injection--your mother will simply fall asleep and never wake up), I will kill her by this magificent torture device that slowly separates her limbs from her body with the most excrutiating pain imaginable and turns her into hamburger for my dogs.

You further know that not only am I capable of doing it and that I will do it but that there is absolutely nothing you can do to stop it. Oh, and I will not stop at her. However, BEFORE I kill her, I will also kill your father, your sister, your brother, your spouse, your children and even your dog by the same device, all in front of you AND YOUR MOTHER AND I will force you both to watch. Then I will kill you with the same device and force her to watch. Then, and only then, will I kill her (using the same device).

How many of you will kill your mother?

The point is not to actually have you go kill your mother but to illustrate the powerful aspect of incentives and prices and I again thank Professor Byrns for this excellent example. All of us have a price we are willing to pay and it is rational to pay that price. This is, however, not a sacrifice.

Just as Jesus agreed to die on the cross, so too are you willing to die (or kill) to avoid certain consequences that you find more distasteful.