If I am in a situation where I need help, then for purely selfish reasons, I would prefer people-who-are-capable-of-helping-me to act in such a way that has the highest probability of helping me. Because I obviously want my probability of getting help, to be as high as possible.
Let’s suppose that, as in your original example, I am one of three people who need help, and someone is thinking about whether to act in a way that helps one person, or to act in a way that helps two people. Well, if they act in a way that helps one person, then I have a 1⁄3 chance of being that person; and if they act in a way that helps two people, then I have a 2⁄3 chance of being one of those two people. So I would rather prefer them to act in a way that helps as many people as possible.
I would guess that most people, if they need help and are willing to accept help, would also want potential helpers to act in such a way that maximizes their probability of getting help.
Thus, to me, reason and empathy would say that the best way to respect the desires of people who want help, is to maximize the amount of people you are helping.
The following is roughly how I think about it:
If I am in a situation where I need help, then for purely selfish reasons, I would prefer people-who-are-capable-of-helping-me to act in such a way that has the highest probability of helping me. Because I obviously want my probability of getting help, to be as high as possible.
Let’s suppose that, as in your original example, I am one of three people who need help, and someone is thinking about whether to act in a way that helps one person, or to act in a way that helps two people. Well, if they act in a way that helps one person, then I have a 1⁄3 chance of being that person; and if they act in a way that helps two people, then I have a 2⁄3 chance of being one of those two people. So I would rather prefer them to act in a way that helps as many people as possible.
I would guess that most people, if they need help and are willing to accept help, would also want potential helpers to act in such a way that maximizes their probability of getting help.
Thus, to me, reason and empathy would say that the best way to respect the desires of people who want help, is to maximize the amount of people you are helping.
Hi Kaj,
Thanks for your response. Please refer to my conversation with brianwang712. It addresses this objection!