1. Where's your life headed?
I am not sure, but I am trying to figure it out. I am working on it.
2. How would you react if there were irrefutable proof that God doesn't exist? How about if there were irrefutable proof that God does exist?
It would not likely change anything that I already do. In my understanding, God exists in the belief that God exists. If there is belief, then there is more than ample proof already.
3. What are the best and worst parts of human nature?
best: rare, real connections
worst: general selfishness
4. If pressing a button meant you received 5 million dollars but it also killed 5 people somewhere in the world, would you press it? What if it killed only 1 person, or killed 20 people? What if the people were among those you knew?
it depends. How badly do I need the money? What do I need it for? Where will the money come from? Do I get to choose the people who die? Is it random? Are they innocent children? Are they confessed murderers on death row, caught on video doing the deed?
5. What is the purpose of art in society?
enjoyment, edification, challenge
6. What are the most important factors in maintaining a well-functioning society? What does it mean for society to function well?
the social contract. I agree to do what we all want, you agree to do what we all want, we all agree to what we will not put up with, we agree where the boundaries are, and agree to what the consequences will be if the boundaries are breached. That tacit agreement is society, and when everyone follows it, that makes it function well.
7. Are some lives more valuable than others?
yes. Prehaps that means I am utilitarian and cold ... but yes.
8. If sacrificing your own life would save the lives of a specific number of strangers, how many strangers would need to be saved for you to do it? What if the people were friends? How about family?
It is not as if most people get to plan it like that: "10 days from now, I will sacrifice my life for [a specific number of] strangers." It is an immediate decision, of which one is either capable or not. I do believe that some people are more likely than others, and that those people are drawn to certain careers.
9. What is most likely to bring about the extinction of the human race? How can it be avoided?
we could be headed in that direction right now. More because of the way people are treating each other and behaving like selfish assholes than because of the threat of the virus itself.
10. Do people have a right to be happy or should they have to earn it?
only good people have a right to be happy. Deciding that you are a good person, and also that you have a right to be happy, and also earning it - that is some of the hardest stuff in life.
11. If you died today, what regrets would you have about your life?
impossible things. Missing the chance to have a baby. I finally met someone who I would have liked to have done that with. Saying the words "I love you" when I had the chance. Buying the dress. Taking the trip. Taking the chances.
My regrets are not about what I did and wish I had not done. They are always about what I missed out on.
12. Should governments make laws to protect people from hurting themselves?
it happens all the time - and yes, I think it should. You can't legislate against stupidity, but you can enforce the social contract with some rules that save people from themselves. It is expedient; seatbelts and helmets and curfews keep people from needing to be cleaned up off the roads, which reduces police and ambulance and road crew costs (for instance).
13. Are humans better at creation or destruction?
I think that people are casually creative and determinedly destructive. Over the course of their lives, I think more people have more positive than negative to offer. People are more good than bad.
[excerpted from here - in no particular order; the title quotation is by Daniel Quinn, from Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit]
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