You are an astronaut on an expedition to Mars when you encounter an Alien. Luckily, it speaks English, and you begin an exchange of cultures: history, art, technology, and food, whereupon the Alien interrupts:
“Our species has strong feelings about ice cream flavors. Tell me, what is your favorite flavor? If you answer chocolate, all is well, and our races can coexist. If you answer vanilla, we will annihilate every human.”
This is a dilemma, for you strongly prefer vanilla ice cream, but you have preferences against both lying and having humanity annihilated. You consider your moral framework.
“I like chocolate ice cream,” you lie. One tiny moral lapse is worth saving all humanity.
“Aha!... (read 217 more words →)