# Answer me this, time traveler: would you save Adam Walsh? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 23, 2008, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answer-me-this-time-traveler-would-you-save-adam-walsh/460980 "2008-08-23T00:50:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![diggleblop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@diggleblop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diggleblop)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2008, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answer-me-this-time-traveler-would-you-save-adam-walsh/460980/21 "2008-08-23T15:12:21Z")
Screw the Tv show, I’d save his life. To this day I still think about that poor little boy, being as I have a son a little older than he was at the time, I constantly worry about him. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2008, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answer-me-this-time-traveler-would-you-save-adam-walsh/460980/22 "2008-08-23T15:20:21Z")
Okay, so would you save Edith Keeler? What about Thomas and Martha Wayne? ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2008, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answer-me-this-time-traveler-would-you-save-adam-walsh/460980/23 "2008-08-23T15:57:53Z")
Thomas and Martha? Yes. In a second. Edith Keeler… is a bit trickier, because my world would no longer _exist_ if she survived. With Thomas and Martha, you have to think of all the good they would have done if they lived. Gotham might not _need_ a Batman if they’d been around. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Controvert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@The\_Controvert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Controvert)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2008, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answer-me-this-time-traveler-would-you-save-adam-walsh/460980/24 "2008-08-23T16:00:09Z")
[QUOTE=Bryan Ekers] I save Adam Walsh but I also steal his lunch money because I need 1981 currency to start my personal computer empire. [/QUOTE] That’s ridiculous. You can’t start a computer empire with lunch money. The better answer is to follow the kid to figure out who the culprit was so you can turn them in for the reward money. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2008, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answer-me-this-time-traveler-would-you-save-adam-walsh/460980/25 "2008-08-23T16:11:37Z")
I’m guessing John Walsh would trade that show to get his son back without a moment’s hesitation. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2008, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answer-me-this-time-traveler-would-you-save-adam-walsh/460980/26 "2008-08-23T16:34:15Z")
Save Adam, no question. IIRC, when Adam was kidnapped, there was no way for local authorities to co-ordinate their efforts when it came to looking for missing children. There was no Amber Alert. There was no national database, either. John Walsh, being the man that he was, was instrumental in bringing change after his son’s death. I would submit, if some clerk had stopped Adam’s kidnapping, we’d be talking about some other bereaved parent who lost a child and brought attention to the holes in law enforcement and was hosting _America’s Most Wanted_. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2008, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answer-me-this-time-traveler-would-you-save-adam-walsh/460980/27 "2008-08-23T17:26:14Z")
[QUOTE=BobLibDem] I must have been the only person that had to Google to see who Adam Walsh was. Of course I’d save the kid. [/QUOTE] Me too. I’d save the kid, butterfly effect be damned. ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2008, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answer-me-this-time-traveler-would-you-save-adam-walsh/460980/28 "2008-08-23T17:46:45Z")
I’d take pictures of the kid being abducted and, if possible, the crime. After John Walsh has completed his life’s work in Adam’s name, and before the killer dies or escapes justice, arrange for the photographs to be released so Walsh can have some closure upon the killer’s conviction. He deserves that much. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2008, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answer-me-this-time-traveler-would-you-save-adam-walsh/460980/29 "2008-08-23T18:01:18Z")
[QUOTE=Annie-Xmas] If I go to a mall today and see a child abduction, of course I’m going to save the kid. I have no way of knowing whether said child will be the next Hitler or find a cure for AIDS. You do what is right at the time, without thought of the future. I’m sure John Walsh would agree we should save any child from being abducted. [/QUOTE] I call this the Miss Pym approach and I agree with it. (Miss Pym after a murder mystery, _Miss Pym Disposes_, by Josephine Tey. In it, the lead character mentions this type of dilemma–do you save the one hiker, knowing that an avalanche will occur because of your rescue and wipe out an Alpine village? The answer is something very close to **Annie’s**. Do what you think is right and let God dispose. The village may not be wiped out at all…) ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2008, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answer-me-this-time-traveler-would-you-save-adam-walsh/460980/30 "2008-08-23T18:50:37Z")
[QUOTE=Fish] I’d take pictures of the kid being abducted and, if possible, the crime. After John Walsh has completed his life’s work in Adam’s name, and before the killer dies or escapes justice, arrange for the photographs to be released so Walsh can have some closure upon the killer’s conviction. He deserves that much. [/QUOTE] And I’m not sure what you deserve, saying that you would take pictures of his son’s horrific death in order to provide him some “closure” later, instead of saving a little boy from torture and death. I mean, for Christ’s sake, they only ever found his head… :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2008, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answer-me-this-time-traveler-would-you-save-adam-walsh/460980/31 "2008-08-23T19:00:26Z")
Oh really? And how would I go about saving a little boy, huh? Tackle a psychopathic murderer by myself, in public, and hope not to die? Chase off a pedophile on my own? Or would you rather I boast and brag, “Oh yes, saving children from murderers is something I can do blindfolded”? I’m not physically powerful enough to save children from murderers, me. And I’m smart enough to realize that yes, I could _hang around_ Adam all day, and maybe it would scare off a pedophile — and the prowling perv would just find some _other damn kid._ Call me cold-blooded if you want. At least, at the very least, if the pedophile takes _this_ kid, some good would come of it. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2008, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answer-me-this-time-traveler-would-you-save-adam-walsh/460980/32 "2008-08-23T19:10:21Z")
Simply standing nearby would almost certainly be sufficient. ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2008, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answer-me-this-time-traveler-would-you-save-adam-walsh/460980/33 "2008-08-23T19:36:19Z")
And that would stop the pedophile from killing a child how? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2008, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answer-me-this-time-traveler-would-you-save-adam-walsh/460980/34 "2008-08-23T19:48:17Z")
[QUOTE=Fish] And that would stop the pedophile from killing a child how? [/QUOTE] They don’t go after children who are attended by adults or if there are witnesses. That’s not how they operate. Abductors actually snatching kids away from adults is pretty rare. Even if he did try to snatch the kid anyway, all you’d have to do is scream and get the attention of other people in the store. The guy isn’t going to make it anywhere once people are alerted that he’s trying to abduct a child. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2008, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answer-me-this-time-traveler-would-you-save-adam-walsh/460980/35 "2008-08-23T20:15:27Z")
Exactly. ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2008, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answer-me-this-time-traveler-would-you-save-adam-walsh/460980/36 "2008-08-23T20:16:18Z")
A pedophile is going to snatch a child when there’s no adult watching. My presence would save one child, on one day — but it would not stop the pedophile from attacking any _other_ child that day, or _any_ child, including Adam, any other day. Sure, I could stand there and save Adam. At what cost? Some other kid would be on the chopping block… and maybe that kid’s father won’t be inclined to do the good deeds that John Walsh did. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2008, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answer-me-this-time-traveler-would-you-save-adam-walsh/460980/37 "2008-08-23T20:17:58Z")
[QUOTE=Fish] Sure, I could stand there and save Adam. At what cost? Some other kid would be on the chopping block… and maybe that kid’s father won’t be inclined to do the good deeds that John Walsh did. [/QUOTE] I think if you asked John Walsh, he’d take his child back, alive. In a heartbeat. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2008, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answer-me-this-time-traveler-would-you-save-adam-walsh/460980/38 "2008-08-23T20:19:26Z")
[QUOTE=Fish] And that would stop the pedophile from killing a child how? [/QUOTE] Oh, for God’s sake. Adam was kidnapped from a Sears store. It wasn’t like the Toole raped and murdered him in the middle of the lawnmowers. Most pedophiles like to get the kids out quick and quiet, with no notice. If there were any adults hanging around, the guy would have moved on. Maybe to another child, maybe to die of cirrhosis of the liver, maybe to be hit by a car. But to stand by and watch a child be kidnapped? What’s wrong with you? You’re implying that \*this \*child had to be murdered for the changes in law enforcement to come about. I would submit that it would have happened anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2008, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answer-me-this-time-traveler-would-you-save-adam-walsh/460980/39 "2008-08-23T20:28:02Z")
[QUOTE=Fish] A pedophile is going to snatch a child when there’s no adult watching. My presence would save one child, on one day — but it would not stop the pedophile from attacking any _other_ child that day, or _any_ child, including Adam, any other day. Sure, I could stand there and save Adam. At what cost? Some other kid would be on the chopping block… and maybe that kid’s father won’t be inclined to do the good deeds that John Walsh did. [/QUOTE] What future kids are saving by standing around doing nothing? ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2008, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answer-me-this-time-traveler-would-you-save-adam-walsh/460980/40 "2008-08-23T20:39:26Z")
I’d kidnap Adam first, but let him go unharmed the next day or too. John Walsh is still motivated to protect other children. Everybody wins. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answer-me-this-time-traveler-would-you-save-adam-walsh/460980.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answer-me-this-time-traveler-would-you-save-adam-walsh/460980.md?page=3)