Wednesday, July 2, 2008

a bullet for a friend?

recently, we were discussing the earthquake in china in my friend, chai ei's blog, (www.chaiei.wordpress.com) and we were talking about the unsung heroes and people who died protecting what they thought was more important than themselves... in the end, one question was pointed at me, if a gun was pointed at your friend, with only one bullet left, and you were beside him, would you take the bullet for him?
to me, logically, there are many trains of thought, lets, start with the most common one. if you had about 10 seconds to think about it, you'd either probably run away if you think about the bullet and how mortal you are, or you'd take the bullet if you thought how mortal your friend is. if there was ten seconds for you to think, there would also be enough time for you to save your friend by minimizing how much 'damage' you are going to take... and rational thought of all living beings is the preservation of life, if your friend isn't important to you, of course you'd run away, but if he or she was, wouldn't you want to save his or her life by sacrificing only a part of yourself? isn't two lives better than one life?
that is probably what goes through most people's mind, and if you had 20 seconds to think, you'd think 'that flesh piercing, bone breaking bullet, i am not going to take that for anybody...' and true, you'd most probably die if you took the bullet for him or her...
truth is, i believe, if you had 21 seconds, you'd realize, it'd do the same to your friend, and if you had 22 seconds, you'd realize if you let him or her die, you'd have to live with the fact that you watched your friend die to save yourself...
and from this point onwards, there is nearly no certain way to say what a person will do, i wrote down the time, in seconds as a relative thing to how much you think. in
the end, you don't have many choices.

1. think of the people who love you, and save yourself for them...
2. think of your friend and the people who love him, save him...


the people who gave up their lives to save others in the earthquake, they probably were thinking opposite of how a normal person would. they all were thinking, 'how bad it would hurt that person if that building collapsed on him?' not the usual how much pain am I going to feel... i'd agree with chai ei and say, most people nowadays, who won't even drop a penny for a beggar, probably would save themselves, but i hope those who read this realize, 'only i (that means you) can change the world'. i'd love for someone to save me when i need to be saved, so i save people who need to be, no complicated thoughts, cause no matter how heavy the price is, if it was the other way around, wouldn't you want to be saved no matter the price? and if that question is directed at me again, i'd still say the same, i'd rather die bravely , than live in fear of myself...

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

lol..okok that bullet ques aroused ur interest...
now after seeing ur comment in mine, my mind is switched to 'i will try my best not to let my friend hurt', and block the bullet is not the only way..
rather than worrying about that, lets make our friends laugh with us for now...;)

Ganeindran said...

maa... thinkin of a bullet is a little too ar fetched right... hehehe i got carried away sorry... i love you anaconda...

Wee Kien said...

i'm just curious what is must be a friend. If the person is not your friend, then mean u can let him/her die, then continue your life without any guilt?? Then, let say if you take that bullet for your friend and die, then do your ever think of your parents? How will they feel?
About the post in chaiei's blog, all of them are very touching. But stories like mother/father protecting their kids, i think these are somehow like nature maternal/paternal instinct.They are all heroes.But if someone can save someone who doesnt havnt any relationship wif him by sacrificing themsleves, then i think they are truely heroes in my heart.So, i think that most of the ppl are still selfish in some point and tat is not wrong.

Anonymous said...

erm...our ability is limited..we cant be the one who give up ourselves and help others all the time...

Ganeindran said...

true, sacrificing yourself for someone you don't know would really be an act of heroism. but the thing is, like wee kien said, most people probably won't, but i think i would, especially if it was kids in danger... that's what my mom thought me, and if she knew i died protecting someone else, i think she will forgive me...

Wee Kien said...

haha...ya if kid then i think i will to do so but depends on the situation.Let say got 1 kid trapped in the fire.Then you knew that u got a slim chance to save him/her, then like 95% you are going to die if you rush into the fire house to save him/her.Will you still go to give it a try??

Then, i think now you say you would maybe because you don't have much responsibility towards others.
If you have your own family and got 2 cute kids or the time your parents are old and need you to take care for the rest of life , will you still keep your choice??

Ganeindran said...

ya true... i really depends on who you are, if you can save the person or not and so many other things... it's just that i hate to think that people wouldn't sacrifice themselves for others anymore...

Wee Kien said...

I believe that heroes do still exist in this world. Just most of the people choose to be a normal one.Then, people would still sacrifice themselves if they find it really worth it like in one situation that if you sacrifice ,you can save hundred of life.