(July 10, 2015 at 11:25 pm)Exian Wrote: You've constrained the options to such a point that its no longer a "Sofie's Choice". It's easy, put a legal limit on reproduction, and have sterilization become a part of the birthing process. All other options have been explored, as you have stated, and the only other option, if not this, is mass starvation.
...
I had thought it would be such a choice for the vast majority of people. As I type this, a full third of those who responded to the poll disagree with that as the 'right' answer. It will be interesting to see if that percentage changes with more responses. And it is making me wish for a scientific poll of people generally for this question, as I am curious about how people view this matter.
It is also making me interested in polls regarding people's attitudes generally regarding personal choice and how things affect other people. That is to say, I am interested in the question of what matters more to people, personal choice, or the effects of personal choices on others. Perhaps it depends on which way a person looks at the question. To relate this general idea to this specific thread, maybe it depends on whether one is thinking about one's own choice or about someone else's choice and its possible effect on one. Or in other words, one may view the question differently as someone who is going to starve, than as one who is making the choice.
"A wise man ... proportions his belief to the evidence."
— David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section X, Part I.
