The study of ethics need not be academic or intellectual. I encourage students to see how having a strong ethical framework, or a solid set of life principles, will help them make the right choice in everyday incidents. A great example of this is the TV show called “What Would You Do?” This cheesy show sets up questionable scenarios using actors, and video records the reaction of bystanders. Asking yourself what you would do often reveals your life principles, or allows you to refine those principles through the exercise of responding to the scenarios on the show.
OK, so it is clear I need to get out more; pathetically, this show is on Friday nights. For years I wondered who these people were that watched television on Friday and Saturday nights. Now, two children and a husband later, I know. Lucky for you, ABC allows you to watch full episodes online. So you can watch anytime you want. Or you can watch Friday nights like me; I won’t tell.
I am warning you that some of these scenarios are ridiculously silly. This week there was a “bug in my soup” setup where actors were seen by other diners in a restaurant putting a fake bug in their soup and trying to get a free meal. This isn’t much of an ethical dilemma to me; you have nothing to lose by telling the management so it isn’t a very hard decision. But last year (yes, I just admitted I watched this last year too) there was an interesting scenario that is a perfect counterpart to our study of the duty to rescue (this comes early in LA346 and a little later in LA245). The law imposes no duty to help someone in peril if you are a bystander. John Quinones and his crew on the show set up the following rescue scenario: somebody falls down on the street and seems hurt. The question of what you would do, it turns out, is answers in large part by what that person looks like. You can guess how this shapes up: we are more likely to help women, or well dressed white men, and less likely to help poorly dressed (homeless appearance) or minorities.
The show, in all its silliness, reveals a lot about how we act when we think no one is watching. For me, analyzing how I would react quickly reveals some of my life principles. If I am with my children, I am less likely to help men. For me, it isn’t worth the risk that the man might become violent and hurt them. The life principle I follow here, and in many cases, is that my children’s health and safety is paramount. Of course I am stereotyping when I suppose that women are less likely to hurt us than men. But any life principles I have about treating people equally are trumped by my children’s safety.
Anytime any of my students, especially those in LA346, want to offer their analysis of what they would do to a scenario from the show, feel free. You can respond to this post, or raise it in class.
