Hypothetically if..

[Oaky]

You had a infinite money and walked past a seemingly pure-hearted homeless man who asked you for money and whether you give him money or not the energy you wasted in that time is exactly equal, what would be the logical thing to do?

Btw you never see the man again in your life.

What I'm trying to do is create a situation where logic cannot be used. Something else must be relied upon to make the decision.

 

[Quiet]

I would give him money. Logic is irrelivant, so is emotion. It would just automatically be an offer of hope and chance, rather than an offer of cash (bigger picture). Cause and effect. What he does with the money afterwards is his business.

 

[BlueFlame]

I would give him money for lack of a logical reason not to - giving him money would more likely cause good than harm and wouldn't affect me in any negative way (it would actually make me feel good), so why not?
And if he blows it on crack and hookers, at least I gave him an opportunity to change his life!
I suppose what I'm relying on is my love of utilitarianism and my unrelenting optimism

 

[disregard]

I definitely would not, because if I had an infinite amount of money and word got out that I gave money away I'd be up shit creek without a paddle.

 

[Halla74]

I'd give him some cash.
If the shoe were on the other foot, I'd sure as hell hope he'd do the same.

 

[Little Linguist]

Nah, if I had shit-loads of money, I'd probably have good connections, so I could hook the guy up with a job and have him get his own money, boost his self-esteem, and have long-term perspective, if he wasn't a total fuckwit, that is. But we said he's pure-hearted, so I'm assuming he just had a rough go and got fired from a good job or something.

 

[Tycho]

In this case you can still have a logical attitude towards supporting beggars in general.

I'm relucant to support beggars, not because I couldn't miss the money, but because I don't want to give them an incentive to keep living on the street. (At least in my country there's plenty of help available.)

 

[Serendipity]

I would ask him how he came into being as he is over a cup of coffe/a meal.
[After loads of "what ifs'"...]
I would share what I could and what would be appreaciated and cared for, by him.


From one type to another, and it never ends; How can one waste it?


Does he vanish as soon as I take my eyes of him? In that case I'd probably not even be able to give him money. xD Unless I had it in my hand. And if that was the case and I knew that he would vanish then I would grab him give him the cash and turn my eyes elsewhere to find out if I vanish with him but if he doesn't vanish because I still "sense" him in an almost form of seeing him then I would ask him and tell him of his fate (him vanishing) and ask if he wanted a meal and then ask if he has a thread on him so that we can tie eachother to eachother so that one or the other won't vanish.


Or perhaps I would just ask him if that's what he wants.


In the end, it could be viewed upon as I gave him enough to caretake for the rest of his life.



If I had an infinite resource of money, it had to be monopoly money because otherwise I would flood the system even before I got my hands on it.

 

[INTP]

if i had infinite amount of money that would mean that i wouldnt lose any money if i gave him some, so why wouldnt i give him some money?

 

[disregard]

if i had infinite amount of money that would mean that i wouldnt lose any money if i gave him some, so why wouldnt i give him some money?

It takes time
If you gave him some, others would want some
Costing you more time
This could possibly cause you to feel unappreciated and resentful

 

[Polaris]

Ideally, I would send him off to college or something, but that doesn't seem to be an option in this scenario. Since I don't think it's healthy to support the beggar's condition, either for society or the beggar himself, I would give him three hundred dollars and implore him to buy some decent clothes and get a job. In all likelihood, he would end up choosing to stay on the streets--very few beggars get where they are by sheer chance--but at least I'd have done an act of generosity.

 

[INTP]

It takes time
If you gave him some, others would want some
Costing you more time
This could possibly cause you to feel unappreciated and resentful

this

...whether you give him money or not the energy you wasted in that time is exactly equal..

 

[disregard]

this

That doesn't make sense. Being bombarded by requests from people asking you for money would take up considerably more time than if you were to have never been asked a second time.

 

[INTP]

That doesn't make sense. Being bombarded by requests from people asking you for money would take up considerably more time than if you were to have never been asked a second time.

infinite amount of money doesent make any sense either

 

[BlueFlame]

It takes time
If you gave him some, others would want some
Costing you more time
This could possibly cause you to feel unappreciated and resentful

The first scenario cannot be effected by loss of time.
Any scenarios after that cost you energy would be their own separate decisions, I assume.
The assumption that giving one person money leads to having to give other people money doesn't make any sense to me.
First of all, if you never see the beggar ever again, how would it get out that you're giving away free money unless you give him your business card or announce it yourself?
And, secondly, why do you have no ability to say *no* in the future, just because you said *yes* once? Or is your point that simply being asked takes time?

 

[disregard]

First of all, if you never see the beggar ever again, how would it get out that you're giving away free money unless you give him your business card?

Good old word of mouth? The news? Tons of ways.

And, secondly, why do you have no ability to say *no* in the future, just because you said *yes* once?

That is not the issue. The issue is the exponential increase in requests. People stopping you. Calling you. Writing you. Stalking you. Hunting you.

 

[BlueFlame]

Good old word of mouth? The news? Tons of ways.

But how would they know who you were unless you were famous? You'd just be some guy/girl who gave another guy/girl some money.
But having an infinite amount of money seems like it would make you famous unless you ran away to Fiji immediately upon acquiring it, so maybe you have a point.

That is not the issue. The issue is the exponential increase in requests. People stopping you. Calling you. Writing you. Stalking you. Hunting you.

Alright, Scrooge. But if you had an infinite amount of money, I imagine those issues would be handled by your entourage/foundation. You don't have to waste your time and energy on frivolous matters when you can pay someone else to do it.

 

[miss fortune]

I give homeless people money even if I'm broke! Standing around out in the cold sucks, they might as well get my spare change for doing so and adding texture to my city

if I had an infinite amount of money I'd give MORE than the spare change... why should I have all the luck?

 

[ThatsWhatHeSaid]

You set up a pretty simple cost/benefit analysis, which to me is logical. If he had a good heart, I would give him money.

 

[miss fortune]

^ you'd be one of those people who'd drop a $20 on the ground and if he returned it you'd let him keep it and if he didn't you'd call the cops, aren't you?