Now this is very interesting, I have thought a lot about writing a similar sort of post to this, more about the value of life.

In the one i have been thinking about, there are 6 people, you know nothing about any of them, you have to chose one to die, and how knowing more about those peoples changes it, and changes it again and again and again. But ultimately, is all life not the same? Does it not all have the same value? Knowing nothing, i would kill one to save five, but then things like the age of the people is one of the only factors that might actually make a difference to me. What knowledge would change it for you? Would you let a train run over 1 murderer to save 1 child? But then.. you are a murderer... what if that person was considered a murderer because they had done exactly the same thing. Will you be the push-in-front-of-the train option for the next person?

Would you kill 5 people in their late 90s to save a 3 year old? Or 5 people with terminal cancer to save a 16 year old? I would argue life is life, and is has the same value regardless of who's life it is, the only factor would be how much life there is. Life can't be assigned value, my life isn't worth more than anyone else's.

I was a child when i first encountered this same issue. I reached a conclusion then i would stand by today.

If someone had my dad, and someone elses dad (dad perspective cos this was something i thought about as a kid) and i could only save one, could i save my dad knowing i had taken someone elses dad from them? I know my dad would forgive me if i didn't chose him, he would have wanted to be there for me but could i inflict the same level of hurt onto someone elses, to avoid it myself? I don't think i could, i think at least knowing i was bearing the hurt of it so someone else didn't have to would at least help.

To me, that is the crux of adding a family member to this question. Would i save my one best friend, and kill 5 unknown strangers, and put that hurt that i would go through on everyone who cared about those 5. A life isn't just its own, it belongs to everyone who loves it. So i would either have to know everything about everyone, which in reality is impossible to do, or say the value of life is equal and always save the greater number.

But then, would you save 1000 convicted criminals, or 1 doctor? the doctor might save more 1000 lives, the criminals might take lives, but who am i the judge the value of those lives? I don't know what they may or may not do in their lives, or what they may or may not influence in others. I don't know for real until it i am there, no one would really. i think about it a lot, but i still can't say for sure. So in that sense, it is better to know nothing about the people. 1000, vs 1 with no facts about the people - easy, save 1000. Some of the facts about the people but not all of them - impossible as you don't know what you don't know, and what you know could be misleading (the doctor may not even be a medical doctor, but as soon as i hear doctor, that was what i thought of). all of the facts - hard, but possible, and easier to live with.

if there was the option to swap myself for the person, i think i might do that, i know all about me, and exactly who i would be hurting by doing that, and i would struggle to do that to my family, but i don't think I could do to 5 other families instead. That said, there in the moment, i don't know.