Psychological question
Posted on: October 31, 2007 - 1:58pm
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Psychological question
Hypothetically
You've just seen you're doctor, you have a brain tumour, and you are going to die within four years, .......... but
If you have an operation to remove the tumour, you have a very good chance of a long and normal life .......... but
If you have an operation to remove the tumour there's also a very good chance you will lose all of your memories, and your personality will probably change
What do you do ?
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buy a lot of stuff on credit.
more seriously, i guess it would make sense to wait as long as you can and then have the surgery. it seems your "memory" loss scenario is to make either choice death of a sort, and I think real death would probably be the worse choice agaisnt "fake death"
Not exactly psychological, as the answer to this is going to vary, and it doesn't really ask why or how we think about this stuff, but here's my answer.
"Doc, very good chance doesn't tell me jack squat. Is there a 50% chance I'll be cured and a 50% chance I won't be me any more? Is it 70/30? 80/20? In surgery, a 20% chance of failure is really high, after all. Would you please be more specific so I don't have to storm out of here and go see another doctor?"
After he told me the chances, I'd want to know how long I have until surgery is not an option. If I can waith 3.5 years, well, duh.
After this, I'd want to know about my quality of life for the four years without an operation. Will I be in pain the whole time? Will I be able to live normally for all but the last couple of months? Will it cost an assload for pain killers? Will I be a burden to those around me?
After this, I'd want to know how many of these operations he had performed, and if he wasn't the most skilled, who is?
After this, I'd want to know about after a failed operation. Would I likely be a vegetable, or just a different person? Would I be socially inept? Would I be stupid?
After asking all of these questions, I'd have enough information to start asking myself what I wanted to do. Do I have immediate goals that I think are more important than a long life? Do I have long goals that I think are worth the risk? Do I have loved ones who I would rather spend 4 quality years with than risk losing them for a long life?
This is why I don't like questions like this. They seem all philosophical, but they're usually just smokescreens for a silly argument based on an oversimplification of a very complicated question.
But.....
If all I knew was what you told me, hell, I'd probably take the four years at this point in my life. I'm single, living a very good life, and I could really have a lot of fun in four years, not having to worry about saving for retirement, or causing myself permanent injury, etc... Dying just under 40 isn't that big a deal. Lots of people do it.
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Given that to me, the human being is the combined memories and experiences stored up in the brain and not so much the body housing the brain, I don't see how this is any different from a surgery where I risk death to have the operation.
If everything that I have experienced, learned and formulated is wiped out of my brain forever, all you have left is the organism that used to be B. Humanistic Jones, I would be dead and gone from the world.
Still, if my chances are no operation and die very soon with 100% certainty and have the operation with 80% chance of death, I still take that 20% chance of having more time with the one life I have.
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It really depends on what part of the brain it's in. Chances are, I would have the surgery unless the tumor was in my thalymus or amygdala.
"Truth is the cry of all, but the game of the few." George Berkeley
"Truth is always strange — stranger than fiction." Lord Byron
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Why do you ask this question?
To answer i'll worry about it when it happens. :D
I would have the operation. To be honest I don't have that many treasured memories.
The question is to determine how much somebody/anybody understands whom they are,
The choices is death, not having the operation would give one the longest life
I was curious to see how many people, understood this