Posted by John Nichols on October 07, 2005 at 15:53:51 from 165.91.198.54 user Mcneacail.
In Reply to: Re: Mine exploration - checklist posted by Ian E-N on October 07, 2005 at 12:22:38:
Ian:
You have given what must be considered the best example of a situation where a consciously accepted act becomes an involuntary accepted act that I have seen. The party are presumably all sober, competent when the party enters the mine. If someone becomes cold and wet they may lose enough body heat or become so tired that they can no longer make what I would call a well reasoned competent decision. At that point the team leader takes over their decision making in as far as is needed for the person to survive.
(May I use your example in my paper; I will of course acknowledge the source).
The team leader has now a stricter safety standard to apply as they become responsible for the person. It is a subtle thing, but we are seeing it play out in New Orleans where the elderly were not evacuated and drowned. The owners of the nursing homes are facing criminal charges. If it had been 20 years olds in a YMCA and they decided to stay the YMCA is not liable i.e. the Florida idiots who stand on the sea wall and let the surge rush over them even though the police tell them no! It is the matter of perceived competence.
The people in the world who do not have competence to some extent are the young, the sick, and the frail elderly. Thankfully we are past the stage of leaving our burdensome elderly in the snow to die (aka Michener in Centennial).
The ethics in this decision making process are precisely what AR wrote about in his novels. His perception of ethics is tremendous and has been a major influence on my life. Yes my wife thinks I am dotty, I know another TAR member whose wife expresses it so much better than I ever could.
The papers I write are about extreme events and loss of life. The ethics in this is very interesting but so is the ability to reduce the death toll, which is my primary interest. The TARBoard gives me the occasional sounding board and place to find reality. For that Peter I really appreciate your humour, wryness, and at times plain ornery nature. You have taught me a lot in the last few years.
It also gives me a place to try out the ideas, so I apologize if it appears technical at times, I only post if I think there is some AR link or it is about the board (like CSS with Jock), but my research has a purpose to save the lives of the young, frail elderly and the sick. My iconic figure is a tubby bald man walking across a field smoking a pipe. That took fortitude.