I wouldn't like to think that I could....
I have served in the army... and thankfully was not in a position to have to know about killing for sure.
I haven't met anyone that has killed who didn't regret it.. (aside from those labelled mentally ill)
I can think of situations that I would struggle in. I can think of many situations where my emotions have been such that I have frightened myself with their intensity. But I am unable to say categorically what my emotions would be like in any given circumstance.
I actually hope that I would not be able to kill anyone. :shock:
If killing was the only way to protect my loved ones, then yes, without question.
However, I would like to think that I'd only use the necessary force- but if that wasn't possible in the circumstances then so be it.
Life is precious- and the lives of my (or anyone elses) innocent loved ones more precious than the life of someone who could/would do them intentional harm.
As others have pointed out, this is an interesting hypothetical question - but not one that any of us is likely to have to face in reality. I hope.
I found 's post was the one that resonated most with me - but it raises a different question. Could I kill in cold blood? No, I don't think I could. Admittedly I have never been in the forces (I don't think the cadets counts in this instance!) so I have not received the required level of training. However, I think being part of a firing squad would trouble me for the simple reason that the person I am being asked to kill has never done me any personal harm. As I say, training might make a difference.
As for protecting my children, I am sure I would do anything. At least, I hope I would. If someone was about to hurt my children (or any other close member of my family) I suspect that I would simply 'lash out' with whatever came to hand - bare hands if necessary. That might well result in the death of the aggressor, but that would not have been my aim or intention. For that moment I would have been concerned only with preventing harm from coming to those who depend on me - there would have been no 'thought' in it at all. Rendering the person unconscious would have been sufficient, but I wouldn't have that level of control. I also have no doubt that the effects afterwards would be pretty severe (uncontrollable shaking, nausea etc.) and I would have thought that recurrent nightmares were very likely.
A more disturbing question is do we have the capacity to kill those who are not a direct threat to us or our loved ones? Despite many of us saying that we couldn't kill except to protect our nearest and dearest, if that were really true then wars would be far rarer and more short-lived than they actually are. War brutalises people and the moral boundaries are vastly different from normal life. In such situations can any of us be really sure that we would keep our morals and our perspectives intact? Or would we be swept along with the tide and end up as killers ourselves? Sadly, I think we all have the capacity to do that. If that wasn't the case, then history would be rather different.
Will - sorry, didn't mean to get that heavy.
If my children/family were at risk then instinct would probably take over and I would, however in reality I hope that I never face that situation.
Otherwise ... no I could never take a life ... whilst the person themselves may "deserve" it (a word I use for lack of better), do the family and friends of that person deserve grief and heartbreak?
Cx
well surely the hypothetical question should be............
" what sort of reason would you need to kill another human?"
I am of the opinion you can sit down in a safe environment and calmly think about what you would do… logically weighing up the pro’s and con’s and using a large proportion of your brain to make that hypothetical choice of whether you could or couldn’t. You may try to use imagination. You may try to compare the hypothetical situation with previous experiences. The best you will come up with though is a hypothetical answer.
In unexpected or unfamiliar highly stressful/terrifying situation it is not always those conscious/logical parts of the brain that take control… for many people it is more likely to be the primitive brain that overrides all normal thinking and it has one purpose… to keep you alive. This part of the brain has no logic, no emotion, no pausing to work out what to do. It makes your heart race to increase blood flow, along with making sure your intake of oxygen increases. It decides if you need to be pumped full of adrenaline. It prepares you to fight or get the hell out of there. It acts independently from your conscience, so if it trips into action… you can forget what you planned to do (well come to think of it you WILL forget what you planned to do without giving any consent to yourself to do so). One more important thing… it’s not always consistent in what it makes you do.
The primitive brain will make one person run, one person fight and another freeze to the spot they are standing. It may kick in partially or fully. It may take control for a second or two or longer.
So until you have the confidence that you can control your primitive brain in such a situation, it is not really possible to say what you would actually do by using the logical bit.
Whilst it was not a situation where a family member was about to be killed, I can think of a situation which I did experience where what I thought I would do and what I found myself doing turned out to be two completely different things:
I was driving a vehicle which ended up being pushed across two lanes, by a lorry impacting the nearside, and placing me in front of an oncoming truck. I had a split second vision of the truck heading towards me not stopping and pushing the engine through, trapping my legs. Logic tells me in that situation to get out of the way, jump out of the door before the oncoming vehicle hits. What actually happened was I found myself just sitting there but (and god knows how I did it) with my knees up to my chin and my feet on the seat. I thought I had been sitting like that for no more than a second or two. I don’t remember the truck stopping at all. First thing I was aware of was a guy tapping on my door asking if I was alright (with my legs up on the seat). He was actually the truck driver of the oncoming vehicle who had stopping and had time to get out and come to my vehicle. He’d asked me if I was alright several times before I even heard him.
I certainly wouldn't have guessed that this is what I would have done.
Then there is the term ‘red mist’, often used in relation to road rage - where people find themselves doing something incredibly aggressive or even violent without fully realising what they are doing, until they are doing it or have done it.
So I guess sitting here with no pressure, no stress, no danger and all the time we need to think about what we would do… with the best imagination in the world… it is not happening, so at best all we can do is guess.
The scenario of protectivity seems the first port of call in 'justifying' the ability to unleash one's killing instincts. but this it also includes self preservation as well.
Many people will kill in an emergency situation, to try and get out of a crisis. Its the instinct to survive at any cost. its not information that gets put about but unfortunately it can happen during fire emergencies, being trapped in confined spaces, during group suffocations. Nasty indeed..
Interesting question, and strangly enough I was in a situation a couple of years ago when something happened within my personal life. If I had or if I ever did find this person I would kill them without hesitation.
Could I kill them, again yes without hesitatioin. I did not have to think about it, I just knew that I would be capable and I would still do it now.
I was always taught 'revenge is a dish best served cold' if I ever find the person that hurt my loved one I would take revenge
Sorry I know its a radical but thread hit a raw nerve with me
no not intentionally there are very few cases where there is no alternative, and I don't think I could knowingly do it, extreme force yes but killing on purpose no. Not sure I could live with myself. A mercy killing on the other hand .... possibly
Absolutely - after being in a horrible position once I made the concious decision that, in any event where it's a choice between us getting into serious danger and them being killed then it would ALWAYS, and I do mean ALWAYS, be them.
At the end of the day, in my opinion, the minute a person decides to comit a crime against an individual then he has forfeited his right to the standard protection which we give each other.
Will you are correct. Time at war does change you. You are also wrong, even with certain death and no way out other than to kill there are some that still can not kill.
A man who will run through a hail of bullets to save a friend, still can not kill. Even a man who can not kill will exchange his life for another. Being able to kill is not the mark of a man. Being able to stand up for one's friends and justice is the mark of a man.
...and my opinion as to why wars last so long? It is because we can not kill. Think about it the first battle, 90% die on one side 80% on the other. How could anyone live with casualty figures on that scale.
Travis.
Civilisation or progress or whatever you call it, but 2 hundred years ago it was quite normal to have to defend one's self and many of these instincts were right up front in the process.