[Mnsomc]

To continue from the series of dilemma offered by Fluffy and RaVeN, I thought I would post two questions by Chuck Klosterman that I thought were also interesting. Hope you enjoy them

Here's the first one:

You have a brain tumor. Though there is no discomfort at the moment, this tumor would unquestionably kill you in six months. However, your life can (and will) be saved by an operation; the only downside is there will be a brutal incision to your frontal lobe. After the surgery, you will be significantly less intelligent. You will be a fully functioning adult, but you will be less logical, you will have a terrible memory, and you will have little ability to understand complex concepts of difficult ideas. The surgery is in two weeks. How do you spend the next fourteen days?

And here's the second one:

Your best friend is taking a nap on the floor of your living room. Suddenly, you are faced with a bizarre existential problem: This friend is going to die unless you kick them (as hard as you can) in the rib cage. If you don't kick them while they slumber, they will never wake up. However, you can never explain this to your friend; if you later inform them that you did this to save their life, they will also die from that. So you have to kick a sleeping friend in the ribs, and you cant tell them why. Since you cannot tell your friend the truth, what excuse will you fabricate to explain this (seemingly inexplicable) attack?

[MasterM]

My first thought was that I would rather just die, but being honest that's not true. I would probably spend the two weeks with family and saying goodbye to everyone. I'll survive yes, but relationships are built out of who we are, and if that fundamentally changes then it's basically like starting over.

This is a weird question. I guess I would try to play it off as an accident? Tell them I tripped or something and my leg flailed out at them.

[Frog]

Similar to MM, I would say bbl to my family and friends.

The second question? Oh, that's easy, I'd kick him full with joy and tell him that he deserved it.

[Fluffy]

The second question? Oh, that's easy, I'd kick him full with joy and tell him that he deserved it.

That is awesome Frog. I told you you were awesome, and there's my proof!!

Alright time for me to steal the spotlight again!! Prepare yourselves!!

Question 1
The lazy answer
I'm going to completely reword this question to make it clearer how I'm seeing this.

In 2 weeks time, you're going to be replaced with a live chicken. Everyone will think the chicken is you. The chicken will take your place forever, and you're not coming back. In the meantime, you're going to be strapped into an HTC Vive for the rest of your life, watching CFL and loving every moment of that stuff.

You can refuse the CFL treatment, but you will slowly die from the brain tumor in the next 6 months. Good luck!

I choose the brain tumor.

The Fluffy answer
Social connections. It is the root of human existence. Live happily with strong connections, die happily with strong connections.

Everyone dies eventually. What's important is your legacy. Did you do what's best for your loved ones while you
were alive? Did you do it because you loved them? What will you be remembered for? Living a short life as a human or a long life as a chicken?

I'd argue that, if you've lived a productive and fulfilling life, living another 2 weeks, or 6 months, or 50 years is irrelevant. Why not do something meaningful today?

I still choose the brain tumor.

Question 2
This question barely makes sense to me. I must be smoking the wrong leaves. An existential crisis is only meaningful to me, right? The scenario doesn't confirm that any bad things will happen if I don't comply. So...?


Edited by Clank: took out a meanie word

[Uscari]

1. For the first answer, I would alert loved ones, as MM said, but also use my remaining time to do research in the attempt of allowing me to retain my intelligence without dying. Lastly, and most importantly, I would reschedule my surgery to 1 day shy of 6 months .

2. Assuming my friend could tell that the kick was purposeful, I would not cook up any story, I would straight up admit that I cannot tell them why I kicked them, and if this person is real friend of mine, they will eventually understand.

[RaVeN]

First Question:
While I too would spend the time with family and friends in those last two weeks I would also spend a fraction of that time writing letters to my future self. Letters about whatever was going on at the time that day, my fears, my happinesses, but most importantly what I would still like to achieve as a person after the surgery.

The letters would be leaving little pieces of myself to me, so that I can remind my new self of who I once was.

And, while my new self might not have the vision to see and make a future, I hope my new self will be able to follow directions from the now me who does.

Second Question:
The question says I have to kick them as hard as I can, but it doesn't how I am positioned.
Therefore I would lay down on the floor next to them. I would then kick them as hard as I could (which is hopefully less powerful than from a standing position) and then pretend to be asleep.

When they woke up I would also pretend to wake up in a shock, "I was being attacked by a bear in my dream and I I had to kick it!! OMG I'm so sorry!!! Dreams...amirite?"

I would then go see a therapist and explain the situation cause something is seriously wrong in my head.

[Mnsomc]

Thanks everyone for your input, and I have enjoyed reading all of them. When I posted these questions, I honestly didn't have much idea how I would answer them. After taking some time with them (and reading others' responses), I would like to share mine.

First Question:
I was somewhat surprised at the responses (especially that from Fluffy) that saw this change as a life-threatening one. Although I will be "significantly less intelligent," I will still be a "fully functioning adult." The way I interpreted this question was, what would my younger self be willing to achieve (or attempt) before getting old enough that I'll call myself "way past my prime." Granted, I only have two weeks to retain "my prime," but I will still be a fully functioning adult, which in my interpretation means fully capable of enjoying life as is. Two week-period can be too short to have a major breakthrough, but it is long enough for myself to prepare for what'll come after.

More and more I think about it, I like Rav's response. I don't want to make a big deal out of this. While I hate the idea of me getting much less intelligent, I would take it as a natural course of life. So I will steal Rav's idea of writing a letter to myself: I will talk about my own life, how I handled some life events, and my own thoughts regarding various topics (religion, politics, marriage, kids, etc.). Then, I will leave it up to my future self to use whatever information I have to decide the course of my life.

Second Question:
It seems there are two ways to approach this question: Would you be truthful to your friend (e.g. "I kicked you on purpose, but I can't tell you why and hope you can understand me."), or would you play innocent (e.g. "Oh it was an accident. Sorry!")?

Personally, I would go with being truthful (i.e., Uscari's version of answer). This is my best friend, and I trust he will understand. When my best friend is faced with the same situation, I hope he will be truthful about it, too, and I will trust him.

And lastly,

When they woke up I would also pretend to wake up in a shock, "I was being attacked by a bear in my dream and I I had to kick it!! OMG I'm so sorry!!! Dreams...amirite?" I would then go see a therapist and explain the situation cause something is seriously wrong in my head.

This. You have no idea how hard I laughed while reading this.

[Fluffy]

Welp I'm equally surprised that the side effects of a lobotomy aren't seen as so bad. Perhaps my understanding of the frontal lobotomy are not accurate. Otherwise I would lower my assessment to the opinion that MM stated.

Lower intelligence isn't a fundamentally bad thing, but I would draw the line at "would my condition turn me into a burden to my friends and loved ones?"

If it's a no, then I change my response to accept brain surgery.

Any degree of 'yes' would require further assessment.

[Mnsomc]

Welp I'm equally surprised that the side effects of a lobotomy aren't seen as so bad. Perhaps my understanding of the frontal lobotomy are not accurate. Otherwise I would lower my assessment to the opinion that MM stated.

You probably have much better understanding of lobotomy, given that I know almost nothing about it. Hence I will attempt to clarify my previous post. I believe our opinions are not too different from each other, based on your last post.

Suppose, after the surgery, I will be in coma for the rest of my life - I will need the (both physical and financial) help of my family and friends 24/7. If that's the case, I might not want to go through with the surgery, in which case I would simply enjoy the 6 months left in my life.

However, I assumed this possibility (and many other possibilities that would require serious attention and help from my family and friends) will not happen since the question itself has stated that I will be a "fully functioning adult" after the surgery. Perhaps our interpretation of this assumption is different. I took it as a safeguard that I won't need much of those help from my loved ones. But if that assumption is broken (or my understanding of that assumption is wrong), I might choose to not have the surgery as previously mentioned.

In that regard, I agree I will also ask the same question as you, Fluffy, did, to decide whether I will undergo the surgery: "would my condition turn me into a burden to my friends and loved ones?"