From Gregory Stock’s The Book of Questions: Given one shot at a 50-50 bet that pays 10 times your wager if you win, how much would you risk? What if your chances of winning were 90 percent and the payoff were still tenfold? To quote Jessica Biel's character in the classic 2001 baseball rom-com Summer Catch: … Continue reading Question of the Week #384
Risk
Question of the Week #178
You are leading 100 people whose lives are in danger and you must choose between two courses of action. One would save only 90 people; the other would have a 50 percent chance of saving everyone but were it to fail, everyone would die. Which would you choose? I'd go with door number one. I'm … Continue reading Question of the Week #178
The Single Guy and the Release
I've mentioned before that there was a time in my life, several years in fact, when I had walked away from the church. I told myself that it wasn't the church or God that I was walking away from. It was the people. But since people make up the church, well, that's a conversation for … Continue reading The Single Guy and the Release
Question of the Week #63
Assume there were a technological breakthrough that would allow people to travel as easily and cheaply between continents as between nearby cities. Unfortunately, there would also be 100,000 deaths a year from the device. Would you try to prevent its use? No, I wouldn't. There are risks with everything. While, statistically, flying is the safest … Continue reading Question of the Week #63
Question of the Week #47
You have the power to go any distance into the future and, after one year, return to the present with any knowledge you have gained from your experience but with no physical objects. Would you make the journey if it carried a 50 percent risk of death? I wouldn't do it. Did we learn nothing … Continue reading Question of the Week #47
Question of the Week #44
You are offered $1,000,000 for the following act: Before you are ten pistols--only one of which is loaded. You must pick up one of the pistols, point it at your forehead, and pull the trigger. If you can walk away you do so a millionaire. Would you accept the risk? There was a time when … Continue reading Question of the Week #44
Limits
Originally written in December of 2010... He knew he had broken the rules, but he didn't care. He knew that he was being led to a jail cell in shackles because of the choice that he had made. He understood that execution was the consequence for being outside the Quarantine Zone. As miserable as his … Continue reading Limits
The Confusing Middle 