DA Morgan wrote:

[QUOTE]
What's wrong Sue? Why can't you answer the question about the shark and the child?

Did you not understand the question?

Do you not understand how it relates directly to the topic we have been discussing which is altruism?[QUOTE]

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Could you explain how it relates to this topic?
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[QUOTE]
Do you fail to realize that it is a situation faced in the real world, from time-to-time, by real people?

Which is it Sue? Are you going to swim toward the child or the beach?

Perhaps you could just respond with a single keystroke: "B" for "BEACH" or "C" for "CHILD".[QUOTE]

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I never bothered to respond to that paragraph because I've made clear in all of my posts what the answer is. But to stop your nagging, here is my answer.

"Child or Beach"? It of course would depend on my attachments at that time. Having lived on an Island when I was younger, I've spent a lot of time in the ocean swimming, deep-sea fishing, snorkeling, etc, and therefore have run into quite a few sharks. Perhaps because of this experience, I might go the child?s rescue. The fact that I?m now middle-aged and unfit would make any rescue attempt more difficult, but I still might give it a go.

As I keep saying: our attachments are always changing due to changing circumstances. Because of this fact, it is impossible to predict what will happen in the future.
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Sue