That sounds a bit like muddling the hypothetical, along the lines of "well, if I don't let my family be tortured to death, all those strangers dying would destabilize society, which would also cause my loved ones harm".

That was the sort of lines I was thinking along, yes. Framing the question in that fashion... I'm having some trouble imagining numbers of people large enough. It would have to be something on the order of 'where x contains a majority of any given sentient species'.

The realization that I could willingly consign billions of people to death and be able to feel like I made the right decision in the morning is... unsettling.

As the saying goes, "if the hill will not come to Skeeve, Skeeve will go to the hill".

I wish I could upvote you a second time just for this line. But yes, this is pretty much what I meant; I didn't intend to imply that I wanted my self-image to be accurate and unchanging from what it is now, I'd just prefer it to be accurate.