We used to have deep philosophical conversations in my high school Peer Leadership class. Sometimes, the teacher, Mr. Vaniman, would give a group of us a question to ponder and discuss. One of my favorites was, “How far would you be willing to go for a loved one?” Which meant, would you be willing to break the law, go against your morals or even turn against everyone you know to stand up for someone you love? It seems like an easy question, but there are so many situations in life that could possibly occur that the answers vary from one situation to the next.
So let me be more specific. Ask yourself these questions and then answer them in the comments section:
- Would you believe your child if he/she told you that your spouse or partner was molesting them? What if your spouse/partner emphatically denied it and it was their word against your child’s?
- Would you steal money in order to pay for your dying child’s life saving operation? What if you wouldn’t get caught?
- Would you kill a person who was trying to harm your child?
- Would you lie for your child if he/she committed a serious crime and you knew that they would go to jail for life, if you told the truth?
- Would you be willing to let a doctor try an experimental drug on your terminally ill child if the success rate was only a 50% chance and the treatment’s failure meant death? At what percentage would you change your mind?
Just some food for thought. While it is obvious that we would all give our lives for our kids in a heart beat, it is always interesting to ponder how extreme we would be willing to get, in order to preserve their well being, innocence, freedom and safety.
译文:
你将会做到什么程度？[超级保姆法则]
我上高中时的同伴主导课上经常会开展一些深层次的哲学会话。有时，我们的维尼曼老师会给我们这些学生们出一些问题来思考并讨论。其中我最喜欢的问题就是：“你愿意为你所爱的人做到什么程度？”也就是说，为了你所爱的人，你愿意去违反法律、背离你的道德标准、背叛所有你所认识的人吗？看起来这似乎是一个很简单的问题，但是人生中可能会发生很多种情况，其答案也会随着情境的变化而不同。
那么让我来说得更确切些，自问以下这些问题，然后在评语处作出回答：
假如你的孩子告诉你你的爱人或情侣对他们进行了性骚扰，你会相信吗？假如你的爱人或情侣断然否认，他所说的话正好与你的孩子所说的话相反你会怎么办？
为了给你生命重危的孩子支付手术费，你会去偷钱吗？如果你没被抓住你会怎么办？
假如有人要伤害你的孩子，你会杀了他吗？
假如你发现你的孩子犯下了严重的罪行，你明知道要是你讲出实情就足以让他在监狱中度过余生，你会为了你的孩子而撒谎吗？
假如你的孩子危在旦昔，医生要在他身上用试验性的药物，成功率只有50%，如果失败就意味着死亡，你会同意吗？在多大的成功机率下你才会改变主意呢？
这都是些让人思考的问题。只要我们还活着，我们所有的人都愿意为我们的孩子们付出生命，尽管这一点很显然，但最值得我们深思的是，为了保护他们的健康、单纯、自由和安全我们所愿意付出的极限是多少。