this post was submitted on 19 Apr 2024
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I've been discussing with my sister (a big fan of her cats) about what lives we would save in an emergency. I think a human live is worth more than an animal's no question asked but she thinks otherwhise. So to end this discussion I'm writing here.

  1. Who would you save between your cat and your worst enemy?
  2. What if it was between your cat and a stranger?
  3. Why?
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[โ€“] [email protected] -1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

People have gotten weird about animals over the years. I adore my cat, don't get me wrong, and would do everything in my power to save them, but like, it is still an animal at the end of the day.

In scenario one I can see saying cat if you actually wanted your worst enemy to die. Like, if you were fine with killing them without the cat in the balance, then yeah, of course.

But otherwise it's the person, right? Animals have lower moral value than people, right? I mean, I'd be curious what percentage of people saying that they'd save their cat are vegetarian/vegan?

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

Yeah, you're right. I find it strange that people here literally would prefer to save a cat over a human. Would they really let their friend burn over a cat? A stranger who likely has done nothing except work and be generally kind to others? I think that they who let the stranger burn, then have worse morality.

The question is bad because it features an animal the person is assumed to have a band with, and a stranger. I think a better example would be:

Who would you save in these scenarios:

  1. a bad (eg aggressive) cat, or your worst enemy,
  2. a cat, or a stranger,
  3. your cat, or your best friend