@Pyrrho,
Pyrrho;156103 wrote:The answer is simple. The fools who decided that the fat guy should go first all deserve to die for being so incredibly stupid. So everyone should huddle around the dynamite and blow themselves up, along with Big Jack.
Come on, if there is a tiny hole, who is stupid enough to send the fat guy first? Obviously, the smallest person capable should go first, and in order as people get bigger. That way, the smallest person can go get help. And this is so freaking obvious, that I have no sympathy for the morons in your imaginary cave.
Also, your scenario is extremely unrealistic, as the dynamite may very well cause the cave to collapse, killing everyone. There is no way that people could know what they have to know in your scenario for it to work.
lol. well perhaps who ever came up with the thought experiment should have 'thought' about that, but nevertheless I could change to say the Big Jack was panicking while we were down there and he actually found the hole first and ran for it without waiting for the rest of us....that's plausible.
If you want you could also pretend all we have with us is a lethal injection(to kill Big Jack without causing him any un-necessary suffering, similar to the dynamite) and a bone saw to excavate him from the hole but no dynamite whatsoever.
Better sir?
---------- Post added 04-24-2010 at 01:33 PM ----------
The Cave Explorers (Pyrrho Edition)
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"An enormous rock falls and blocks the exit of a cave you and five other tourists have been exploring. Everyone remains relatively calm except for Big Jack who is going on about how he doesn't want to die. You all fan out looking for an escape when "Big Jack" finds a hole. Big Jack, not wanting to die calls out for everyone as bolts for the hole. But Big Jack, a man of generous proportions, gets stuck in the hole. He cannot be moved and there is no other way out.
The high tide is rising and, unless you get out soon, everyone but Big Jack (whose head is sticking out of the cave) will inevitably drown. Searching through your backpack, you find a lethal injection of Potassium Chloride and a bone saw. The saw will not cut the rock, but will certainly cut through Big Jack clearing the hole. Big Jack, anticipating your thoughts, pleads for his life. He does not want to die, but neither do you and your four companions.
Should you inject Big Jack?
If the roles were reversed, what would you advise your trapped companions to do?"