In ethics they have this problem that is brought up. There are different examples but with the same idea. The example is about a guy with a bomb that is threatening to explode it and cause the death of 5,000 peoople. But he will not do it if you kill one person. Many have the idea that since 5,000 is a much larger number than one, then you should do it.

You can't worry about making people happy. If you were the American President and decide to murder that one person, you will go to prison for murder. If you do not do it and if, and only if, the guy explodes the bomb and kills 5,000 people, then their friends and relatives will hate you. The solution is that you need to be selfish. Being selfish is a good thing but people say that it is a bad thing to con you or control you. Say that you try to be not selfish so you decide not to eat. Then you will die but at least you would not have been selfish.

You could decide not to drink anything since that would be selfish and you would die. You could also decide not to exercise and shorten your lifespan. You could decide to help others and eat their food for them. Then they will die. You can try to drink all their liquids for them but they will die. Also you can exercise for them but how does that help them. It will only help you. You could also study for them to learn something but then you will learn it and they will not. To be really selfless, you could take the test for them, but that is cheating and could get the person expelled from school.

An example of someone who was selfless was Adolf Hitler. He could have just enjoyed his money and power. But he decided that he needed to save the German people by getting rid of all the Jews and expanding his country. He gave his life trying to do this. Then there were the selfless Muslim terrorists in the planes that knew that they were going to die but they did not want to be selfish and worry about themselves. They wanted to help their fellow terrorists and they became heroes among them.

Now say that there was a heaven or hell for eternity. Is it not selfish for you to enter heaven yourself. You cannot do the work for someone else to enter heaven, they have to be selfish and enter it themselves. The bible says that God helps those who help themselves. Well isn't helping yourself selfish. There is a saying in Insight Personal Growth seminars. It is "Take care of yourself so you can take care of others." "You can take care of number one without stepping on number two." Note that in America, number two stands for feces.

You are responsible for what you do, not for what others do. So if you kill one person then you are responsible for it. When someone other than you kills 5,000 people then it is his responsibility. That is how it works. You cannot worry about what the other person does. There is a chance that he will still kill the 5,000 after you kill the one person. There is also a chance that he will decide or not be able to kill the 5,000 people.

You will never have to live with that person that kills 5,000 people but you will have to live with yourself. The person could also decide that if you do what he wants, he will tell you that you made the wrong decision and kill the 5,000 people. And then if you do not do what he wants, he says that you made the right decision and does not explode the bomb.

The example could also be more personal where someone takes your family hostage and says that he will kill your family unless you go and kill someone. But again you are responsible for what you do and not responsible for what that other person does. Now as far as hypothetical examples this happened to me when I was 20 years old. Now do not be bothered by what would happen to you if you were in this position because maybe it happened to me because I was able to face it.

My mother tried to kill herself but I stopped her. That was not the first time she tried this because she was unhappy her whole life. After she tried to kill herself she threatened me and told me that if I do not stop doing the meditation I was doing, then she would kill herself. I told her to go ahead since she is the one that will be responsible for it and she will have to pay for it.

I told her that maybe after she dies maybe a part of her will still be able to feel things and she will pay a terrible price for what she had done. Plus I told her about the brilliant writings of our founding fathers in the declaration of independence and the constitution and how it tells about the rights of people to be able to pursue happiness. I let her know that I am responsible for what I do and I accept that responsibility with pride.

I guess she saw the passion in me and she never tried to kill herself and ended up dying of natural causes. I even gave her the direct quote from the declaration of independence that says "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." Instead of her making me feel guilty, I made her feel guilty.