# Choose between 10,000 random people dying, or 100 innocents you choose. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 6, 2011, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-between-10-000-random-people-dying-or-100-innocents-you-choose/588097 "2011-07-06T21:36:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-between-10-000-random-people-dying-or-100-innocents-you-choose/588097/21 "2011-07-07T13:54:26Z")
I’d pick 100. The people I select would likely be wearing backwards baseball caps or sunshades indoors, or driving an Escalade or something. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-between-10-000-random-people-dying-or-100-innocents-you-choose/588097/22 "2011-07-07T13:56:17Z")
Sports arena? Sports fans? I’m sorely tempted to say the 100,000 just for that. 🙂 But, no, I’ll pick the 100 people. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-between-10-000-random-people-dying-or-100-innocents-you-choose/588097/23 "2011-07-07T14:08:56Z")
In any given workday I deal with 1-2 people who I’d be happy for Odin to kill for free. If he’ll allow me a good enough memory to dredge their names out of my mind then I’d happily supply him with over a 1000 names and wish him on his way. Barring that, I could easily rattle off about 30 people I’d like him to “take care of”, and then get 70 random people from somewhere. Certainly better than 10000 innocents. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-between-10-000-random-people-dying-or-100-innocents-you-choose/588097/24 "2011-07-07T14:25:30Z")
> [@Mr\_Shine](#): > > In any given workday I deal with 1-2 people who I’d be happy for Odin to kill for free. If he’ll allow me a good enough memory to dredge their names out of my mind then I’d happily supply him with over a 1000 names and wish him on his way. Barring that, I could easily rattle off about 30 people I’d like him to “take care of”, and then get 70 random people from somewhere. Certainly better than 10000 innocents. This gives me a horrible, horrible thought of people I’d like to see him take care of…some that I really shouldn’t be thinking of this way. No, don’t give me the choice. I am only a flawed human being. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-between-10-000-random-people-dying-or-100-innocents-you-choose/588097/25 "2011-07-07T14:37:23Z")
I think a lot of people are trying to find a workaround on the word “innocent.” I don’t think Odin is trying to do you any favors-he would know if you really considered your picks innocent in your own eyes, and would definitely call you on it if you tried that “following the letter of the law, but not the spirit” bull. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-between-10-000-random-people-dying-or-100-innocents-you-choose/588097/26 "2011-07-07T14:45:48Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > My last few IMHO threads have been distressingly and uncharacteristically based on reality. Thought I’d return to form before anyone worried I was Pod!Skald. > > Odin, Lord of the Aesir and the rare sky god honest enough to admit he’s a son of a bitch, appears to you one day. Establishing his bona fides by turning some innocent passersby into frogs and grinding his heel on their impuissant bodies, Odin explains that he’s bored and has chosen you to alleviate that state. Odin has decided to go on a killing spree. This is a given; he’s going to kill a whole lotta people. Exactly how many is entirely up to you; the identify of those people is partly up to you. > > Here’s the deal. When you and he are done talking, Odin will mount Sleipnir, speed over to the nearest sports arena with a game in progress, and start skewering people with Gungnir. He’ll keep this up until he’s killed 10,000 people. If he runs out out of victims he’ll just pop over to another public place; if he loses count he’ll just start over. No one – man, woman, dotard, newborn – will be spared. But that’s not to say you can’t hold down the death toll. All you have to do is specify 100 specific people for him to kill, and those are the ones he’ll off. For the most part Odin doesn’t care what criteria you use; it can be random names in the phone book as far as he cares. But since he wants this to be a genuinely hard choice, you may NOT choose persons already condemned to execution by a court of law, people already terminally ill; public figures are also off limits. > > What do you choose? Is it better to keep yourself free of the stain of guilt by not getting involved at all, or to reduce the death toll by 99% by bloodying your own (metaphorical) hands? > [@Czarcasm](#): > > I think a lot of people are trying to find a workaround on the word “innocent.” I don’t think Odin is trying to do you any favors-he would know if you really considered your picks innocent in your own eyes, and would definitely call you on it if you tried that “following the letter of the law, but not the spirit” bull. The only use of innocent in the OP was the people Odin killed to establish his identity. The only limitations on the victims you choose are :you may NOT choose persons already condemned to execution by a court of law, people already terminally ill; public figures are also off limits. That said he’s not doing you any favours. Most people will suffer guilt no matter which choice they make or how they choose the victims. ---
**Author:** ![MegaBee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f0a364/32.png) [@MegaBee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MegaBee)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-between-10-000-random-people-dying-or-100-innocents-you-choose/588097/27 "2011-07-07T16:34:21Z")
He wants the names right this minute, or can I have like half an hour to search the Internet? Also, how far below the Pope does the Catholic Church hierarchy cease to be public figures? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-between-10-000-random-people-dying-or-100-innocents-you-choose/588097/28 "2011-07-07T16:41:26Z")
> [@MegaBee](#): > > Also, how far below the Pope does the Catholic Church hierarchy cease to be public figures? > [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > As Odin is fucking with your head for his own sick amusement, I’m certain you have to name names. Not gonna work, unless you know them by name. I think this eliminates all the “Take this group” type responses. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-between-10-000-random-people-dying-or-100-innocents-you-choose/588097/29 "2011-07-07T17:05:36Z")
Are you kidding? I’ve got a little list… I only get 100? Dammit. ---
**Author:** ![Azeotrope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/0ea827/32.png) [@Azeotrope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azeotrope)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-between-10-000-random-people-dying-or-100-innocents-you-choose/588097/30 "2011-07-07T17:16:45Z")
If you pick the 100 innocents, do you get to include the ones he turned into frogs and then squirped? Or is the All-Father really PMS-ing? ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-between-10-000-random-people-dying-or-100-innocents-you-choose/588097/31 "2011-07-07T17:21:48Z")
I would come up with 100 people to kill. The fact that they’d be relatives of mine and former classmates might draw the attention of police my way, though. Can I get prosecutorial immunity? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-between-10-000-random-people-dying-or-100-innocents-you-choose/588097/32 "2011-07-07T17:29:28Z")
Does anyone else find it interesting that nobody so far has included themselves on the List of 100? ---
**Author:** ![Azeotrope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/0ea827/32.png) [@Azeotrope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azeotrope)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-between-10-000-random-people-dying-or-100-innocents-you-choose/588097/33 "2011-07-07T17:46:18Z")
Suicide by god? ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-between-10-000-random-people-dying-or-100-innocents-you-choose/588097/34 "2011-07-07T17:59:51Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Does anyone else find it interesting that nobody so far has included themselves on the List of 100? I’m not surprised at that; martyrdom isn’t something you should expect of anyone. I _am_ surprised there’s so many people ruthless enough to take responsibility for an unwanted and unasked-for obligation. And would not only consider it saving lives but would be _happy_ to pick who gets to die. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-between-10-000-random-people-dying-or-100-innocents-you-choose/588097/35 "2011-07-07T18:13:39Z")
I’m scratching my head a little by the random // public figure thing. Sometimes public figures do get picked at random. They might not be in the phone book, but movie stars get called for jury duty and so forth. If I picked somebody totally at random and it happened to be what Odin determined to be a public figure, it’s still a no-go? I don’t have anybody in particular I want to off; [del]Kardashian[/del] I’m just asking. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-between-10-000-random-people-dying-or-100-innocents-you-choose/588097/36 "2011-07-07T18:38:40Z")
> [@Apollyon](#): > > I’m also tempted to say that I’d name myself as #100. > [@Czarcasm](#): > > Does anyone else find it interesting that nobody so far has included themselves on the List of 100? Missed one. > [@Bosstone](#): > > I’m not surprised at that; martyrdom isn’t something you should expect of anyone. > > I _am_ surprised there’s so many people ruthless enough to take responsibility for an unwanted and unasked-for obligation. And would not only consider it saving lives but would be _happy_ to pick who gets to die. People talk big but in reality every single name you choose does save 99 lives. There is no doubt that the payment is the burden of knowing you have chosen 100 to die. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-between-10-000-random-people-dying-or-100-innocents-you-choose/588097/37 "2011-07-07T18:57:01Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > but would be _happy_ to pick who gets to die. Surely you know a few people whose loss would be a distinct gain to society at large. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-between-10-000-random-people-dying-or-100-innocents-you-choose/588097/38 "2011-07-07T18:58:48Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > I’m not surprised at that; martyrdom isn’t something you should expect of anyone. > > I _am_ surprised there’s so many people ruthless enough to take responsibility for an unwanted and unasked-for obligation. And would not only consider it saving lives but would be _happy_ to pick who gets to die. Now, this is just weird to me. I would think everyone would know people without whom the world would be a better place, even minor people. For me, the main problem would be to remember some of their names, though I admit there is NO way I would be able to come up with 100 names. ---
**Author:** ![Who\_me\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/958977/32.png) [@Who\_me\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Who_me_1)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-between-10-000-random-people-dying-or-100-innocents-you-choose/588097/39 "2011-07-07T19:01:08Z")
Kill the 10,000, I really don’t care to be involved. Many more than 10,000 people die every day. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-between-10-000-random-people-dying-or-100-innocents-you-choose/588097/40 "2011-07-07T19:11:53Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > I admit there is NO way I would be able to come up with 100 names. One could subcontract. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-between-10-000-random-people-dying-or-100-innocents-you-choose/588097.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-between-10-000-random-people-dying-or-100-innocents-you-choose/588097.md?page=3)