Posted on Oct 27, 2014

9 Moral Dilemmas That Will Break Your Brain

Take this poll to see how your answers to these classic moral dilemmas compare to everyone else's. Are we all terrible people?!

by Tracy Clayton

BuzzFeed Staff

NOTE: Some of the subject matter here is a little dark, but that's what makes these problems so challenging. Proceed at your own risk!

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Your Best Friend's Wedding

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You are at your best friend's wedding just an hour before the ceremony is to start. Earlier that day, you came across definitive proof that your best friend's spouse-to-be is having an affair with the best man/maid of honor, and you catch them sneaking out of a room together looking disheveled. If you tell your friend about the affair, their day will be ruined, but you don't want them to marry a cheater. What do you do? (Source: Listverse)

Tell your best friend; sure the day will be ruined, but better a day ruined than an entire life.

Tell your best friend; sure the day will be ruined, but better a day ruined than an entire life.

Say nothing; your job is to be supportive and participate in your friend's happiness.

Say nothing; your job is to be supportive and participate in your friend's happiness.

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Your Best Friend's Wedding

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Tell your best friend; sure the day will be ruined, but better a day ruined than an entire life.
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Say nothing; your job is to be supportive and participate in your friend's happiness.

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Robbin' Hood

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You are an eyewitness to a crime: A man has robbed a bank, but instead of keeping the money for himself, he donates it to a poor orphanage that can now afford to feed, clothe, and care for its children. You know who committed the crime. If you go to the authorities with the information, there's a good chance the money will be returned to the bank, leaving a lot of kids in need. What do you do? (Source: Listverse)

Turn the robber in to the authorities; right is right.

Turn the robber in to the authorities; right is right.

Say nothing since the money went to what you deem a good cause.

Say nothing since the money went to what you deem a good cause.

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Robbin' Hood

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Turn the robber in to the authorities; right is right.
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Say nothing since the money went to what you deem a good cause.

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Company Policy

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You have a job as network administrator for a company that also employs your best friend's husband. One day, your best friend's husband sends you a message asking you to release an email from quarantine. This requires you to open the email, at which point you discover that it's correspondence between this guy and his secret lover. After releasing the email, you find yourself in a pickle. Your instinct is to tell your best friend about his husband's infidelities, but divulging the contents of company emails is against company policy and you could lose your job. Once it becomes plain that your best friend found out about his cheating husband through a company email, all trails will inevitably lead to you as the leak. Do you tell him about the indiscretion? (Source: PsychoPixi)

Yes; your loyalty to your best friend eclipses any company policy.

Yes; your loyalty to your best friend eclipses any company policy.

No; it sucks that your best friend has a cheating husband, but you can't risk losing your job.

No; it sucks that your best friend has a cheating husband, but you can't risk losing your job.

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Company Policy

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Yes; your loyalty to your best friend eclipses any company policy.
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No; it sucks that your best friend has a cheating husband, but you can't risk losing your job.

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A Sinking Sensation

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You've been on a cruise for two days when there's an accident that forces everyone on board to abandon ship. During the evacuation, one of the boats is damaged, leaving it with a hole that fills it with water. You figure that with 10 people in the boat, you can keep the boat afloat by having nine people scoop the filling water out by hand for 10 minutes while the 10th person rests. After that person's 10-minute rest, he or she will get back to work while another person rests, and so on. This should keep the boat from sinking long enough for a rescue team to find you as long as it happens within five hours. You're taking your first brake when you notice your best friend in a sound lifeboat with only nine people in it and he beckons you to swim over and join them so you won't have to keep bailing out water. If you leave the people in the sinking boat, they will only be able to stay afloat for two hours instead of five, decreasing their chance of being rescued, but securing yours. What do you do? (Source: Listverse)

Stay in your boat and hope that you are all rescued in five hours time, before the boat sinks and you all drown.

Stay in your boat and hope that you are all rescued in five hours time, before the boat sinks and you all drown.

Jump ship and join your friend in his boat and hope that the others are rescued within two hours.

Jump ship and join your friend in his boat and hope that the others are rescued within two hours.

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A Sinking Sensation

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Stay in your boat and hope that you are all rescued in five hours time, before the boat sinks and you all drown.
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Jump ship and join your friend in his boat and hope that the others are rescued within two hours.

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The Accidental Samaritan

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You're involved in a two-car crash on your way to work one morning in which you accidentally hit and kill a pedestrian. As you get out of the car, you are intercepted by a tearful woman who seems to think that she hit and killed the pedestrian. You're not sure why she thinks she hit the person, but she is convinced. There's only you, the woman, and the person you hit on the road; there are no witnesses. You know that whoever is deemed responsible will probably be sent to jail. What do you do? (Source: Listverse)

Confess your responsibility; you wouldn't be able to live with the guilt of an innocent person being in jail for a crime you committed.

Confess your responsibility; you wouldn't be able to live with the guilt of an innocent person being in jail for a crime you committed.

Let the woman take the blame; the thought of being locked away from your life and family is too much to bear.

Let the woman take the blame; the thought of being locked away from your life and family is too much to bear.

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The Accidental Samaritan

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Confess your responsibility; you wouldn't be able to live with the guilt of an innocent person being in jail for a crime you committed.
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Let the woman take the blame; the thought of being locked away from your life and family is too much to bear.

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A Day At The Beach

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Your family is vacationing alone on a private stretch of beach with no lifeguard. Your daughter and your niece, both 7, are best friends and eager to get into the water. You caution them to wait until the water calms some, but they defy you and sneak in anyway. You soon hear screams of distress and find them both caught in a strong current. You are the only swimmer strong enough to save them, but you can only save one at a time. Your niece is a very poor swimmer and likely won't make it much longer. Your daughter is a stronger swimmer, but only has a 50% chance of holding on long enough for you to come back for her. Who do you save first? (Source: Listverse)

Save your daughter first; you know that your niece will probably die, but you can't bear to lose your child.

Save your daughter first; you know that your niece will probably die, but you can't bear to lose your child.

Save your niece first and hope that your daughter can hold on long enough for you to come back for her.

Save your niece first and hope that your daughter can hold on long enough for you to come back for her.

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A Day At The Beach

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Save your daughter first; you know that your niece will probably die, but you can't bear to lose your child.
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Save your niece first and hope that your daughter can hold on long enough for you to come back for her.

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The Spouse And The Lover

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You are an EMT on the scene of a car crash that involves your spouse and the lover you didn't know s/he had. They are both gravely injured, your spouse's injuries the worst of them. You can tell it's unlikely s/he will pull through. Meanwhile, his/her lover has a neck wound that will prove fatal if pressure isn't applied soon. Whom do you choose to work on? (Source: PsychoPixi)

Work on your spouse; even though s/he cheated and probably won't pull through, your loyalty lies with them.

Work on your spouse; even though s/he cheated and probably won't pull through, your loyalty lies with them.

Work on his/her lover; they can definitely be saved, and even though you may hate them, saving them is your job.

Work on his/her lover; they can definitely be saved, and even though you may hate them, saving them is your job.

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The Spouse And The Lover

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Work on your spouse; even though s/he cheated and probably won't pull through, your loyalty lies with them.
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Work on his/her lover; they can definitely be saved, and even though you may hate them, saving them is your job.

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A Difficult Decision

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You and your son are prisoners at a concentration camp. You son tried to escape but was recaptured and sentenced to hang at the gallows. To send a message to all others who may try to escape, the guard orders you to pull the chair out from under your son; if you refuse, the guard will kill your son and another innocent person in the camp. What do you do? (Source: Listverse)

Tearfully pull the chair out from under your son.

Tearfully pull the chair out from under your son.

Refuse to pull the chair out from under your son, ensuring both his death and the death of another inmate.

Refuse to pull the chair out from under your son, ensuring both his death and the death of another inmate.

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A Difficult Decision

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Tearfully pull the chair out from under your son.
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Refuse to pull the chair out from under your son, ensuring both his death and the death of another inmate.

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A Doctor's Dilemma

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You are a doctor at a top hospital. You have six gravely ill patients, five of whom are in urgent need of organ transplants. You can't help them, though, because there are no available organs that can be used to save their lives. The sixth patient, however, will die without a particular medicine. If s/he dies, you will be able to save the other five patients by using the organs of patient 6, who is an organ donor. What do you do? (Source: Listverse)

Keep patient 6 comfortable, but do not give him the medical care that could save his life in order to save the other five patients.

Keep patient 6 comfortable, but do not give him the medical care that could save his life in order to save the other five patients.

Save patient 6 and let the other five die; it's unfortunate, but that's not your call to make.

Save patient 6 and let the other five die; it's unfortunate, but that's not your call to make.

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A Doctor's Dilemma

vote votes

Keep patient 6 comfortable, but do not give him the medical care that could save his life in order to save the other five patients.
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Save patient 6 and let the other five die; it's unfortunate, but that's not your call to make.