# Thought experiment: save your sibling or an unknown alien race?



## Whitestar (Jan 11, 2007)

Consider the following thought experiment: imagine that you live in the far future where faster than light travel is a reality. Back home, your sibling is stricken ill with a terminal disease and you have the cure that you acquired from several galaxies away. As you race home in your starship, long range sensors detect another galaxy inhabiting an intelligent alien race never encountered before. Unfortunately, they are dying from the same disease as your sibling and what's worse is that if you attempt to reach them first, you will deviate from your original course. Ideally, you would have preferred to take your sibling with you on your journey when you got the cure, so your sibling would have been cured as soon as possible, thus probably having enough time to cure that alien race as well, but the doctors told you that your sibling is unfit for traveling. Therefore, you quickly realized that you have enough time to make one trip, but not two. You can save your sibling or save an unknown alien race, but not both. On one hand, if you save your sibling, then he or she will live. On the other hand, if you choose the latter, you will have a chance to establish first contact with an alien civilization and they will thank you accordingly, by possibly establishing an alliance, friendship or trade as a payoff. But no matter what you decide, the result will end in tragedy, regardless. Personally,  I wouldn't hesitate to save my sibling because its my flesh and blood, unless of course, there was bad blood between us. Anybody else?


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## sci-fi girl (Jan 11, 2007)

My sibling sure! Sorry little Aliens.


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## Allanon (Jan 11, 2007)

is sibling just brother or sister??? if so the aliens, but if it is any family memeber its them


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## Nesacat (Jan 11, 2007)

Family first.


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## Saolta Oiche (Jan 11, 2007)

Hmmm I think siblings coz that is the right thing to do but how cool would saving an Alien Race be? Excellent.


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## Urien (Jan 11, 2007)

This is a good thought experiment.

Usually human rankings of who you would want to save goes along with closeness of relationship and/or genetic similarity.

1. Family
2. Close friends.
3. Acquaintances you like.
4. City/town (home).
5. Nation
6. Civilization (Let's say the West here, though if you're Chinese it would be the East).
7. Humanity.
8. Aliens.

I suspect that will hold near enough for 90%+ of humans. 

Make it a little more real. Your child or the entire populations of India all 1 billion of them. If you're Indian your child or the entire population of America all 300 million of them. 

It would be my child I'd save every time.


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## Talysia (Jan 11, 2007)

I'm a twin, so I would definitely save my sibling.


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## Azathoth (Jan 11, 2007)

My sibling definitely.  Because at least I know that she won't go about conquering the Earth after she's been healed, whereas with the alien race there's no guarantee of anything .  Also, my mom would probably kill me if she ever found out I had chosen to cure a bunch of aliens instead of my own sister.


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## ras'matroi (Jan 11, 2007)

I don't have siblings, I could save. 
But if I had some I would certainly choose them.


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## Cosmo (Jan 11, 2007)

i have gone with the aliens... however, if it was in the future, where many other races already existed i would choose my brother


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## BookStop (Jan 12, 2007)

Who's to say the aliens wouldn't kill me on site - then nobody wins. Definitely save the sib, then report findings to others who can make an attempt to save the aliens if they want.


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## Joel007 (Jan 12, 2007)

Allanon said:


> is sibling just brother or sister??? if so the aliens, but if it is any family memeber its them


 
You've probably figured it out already, but yes, it is a brother or sister.



BookStop said:


> Who's to say the aliens wouldn't kill me on site - then nobody wins. Definitely save the sib, then report findings to others who can make an attempt to save the aliens if they want.


 
I actually thought that too


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## Cloud (Jan 12, 2007)

Just like a super-heroe, you can't save everyone, so you have to make choices. Saved your loved ones first--the rest of the universe later.


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## Kitera (Jan 13, 2007)

Allanon said:


> is sibling just brother or sister??? if so the aliens, but if it is any family memeber its them


 
LOL! Surely You'll save your brothers/sisters even if you hate them.   High Druid I'm reading about you in Terry Brook's Books.


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## lou.mor432 (Jan 13, 2007)

Being in a spaceship you have to have an emercency vehicle of some sort. I would take some of the potion to my sibling and let the rest of my crew go on to save the alien race, best of both.


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## Steffi (Jan 13, 2007)

I had two brothers, now I only have one so I'd have to save my brother....

Sorry Aliens


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## K. Riehl (Jan 13, 2007)

My sibling is an alien.
I'd save the race.


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