Saturday, October 01, 2011

Dog Do Dilema

Today, as some of you may have guessed was the LDS general conference. Today one of the talks made the point that so many people can't define a moral dilema. I can.

I like to walk my dog at night. Its cooler and the walk seems more like an adventure. My pretty puppy went potty, but in picking up the poo-poo the situation presented a perfect philosophical problem. I am cold and cannot find the world's worst dolmathe left by my dog. Here is the dilema: Do I continue searching in the dark for puppy's "lost treasure" though I am cold and getting colder or do I consider my own needs and leave "puppy suprize" for some poor soul to find in the morning? The central question is whose needs should trump? Do my needs outweigh another's or should others be a priority in life?

In first aid, and on airplanes they say to treat yourself first and to place your own oxygen mask on before helping another. In business and evolution it often seems to be a me first, self survival ethos. But this isn't the only school of thought. Scouting says to help other people at all times. The Order of the Arrow praises those who thought least of themselves. Christianity says to help your fellow man and to put others first.

Do I think of only myself call it good that I searched for as long as I could, go inside and get warm leaving a mess for someone else to clean up or possibly step in? Or do I think of others bear the cold and keep searching until I find that "hidden landmine?" Is the gesture of offering an action enough, or does an action need to be carried to completion to count?

I think ultimately, in the end, it doesn't matter what I did, but what will you do do?

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