Okay, things are slow at work this week and my idle curiosity continues. As mentioned in the other DINAO threads (Sex! Imprisonment!), in college, my friends and I would play a game called “Death is Not an Option.” You present participants with two equally gruesome options, and they HAVE to pick one-- death is not an option. Therefore, if you’ve opened this thread, you must answer; death is not an option (which means you can’t say “Ugh, I’d rather DIE” than choose either of those!”).
Next topic up: Amputation!
Would you rather:
1)Have both thumbs chopped off with a cleaver
2)Have your left leg hacked off at the knee with an hatchet
Both thumbs? Not even a hard choice…prosthetic legs are miles ahead of prosthetic hands/fingers. Without a thumb, hands are much, much, MUCH less useful…yeah, you could get by…for instance, I typed this entire post without using my thumbs…but typing is pretty simple compared to things requiring more dexterity.
I lost complete use of my right thumb for a couple of months years ago, and it made life a lot harder. I’d hate to have both thumbs chopped off. (Still only have about 75% use of that thumb.)
As those above have said, I don’t think the options is even in the same league. I’d prefer to lose my right leg, as that’s the side with the bad knee, but either leg is still far easier to do without than both thumbs.
Leg. I sprained my thumb once, and had a splint on it. I was amazed how useless my hand was. Without a leg, I could get a prosthetic, use a crutch, etc, and still use my hands.
I chose thumbs for one reason: I couldn’t stand the idea of someone taking a hatchet to my leg and HACKING it off. I would imagine it would take three or four (or more) swings to get through it. No thanks.
A meat cleaver, on the other hand (ha!) would be one quick THWACK and thumb’s gone!
Provided I wouldn’t bleed to death, which I’m assuming given the entire premise of the thread, take my leg, no question. No thumbs=pretty much a massively reduced standard of living, while one leg is pretty easy to deal with, all things considered. Especially if it’s lost at the knee, where prosthetics make it pretty easy to do about 95% of what one can do with a real leg.
Thumbs. I could survive on my own immediately after losing both thumbs. I could adjust to using another finger for my space bar.
The leg though, would incapacitate me. I’m fat and over forty and my knees already feel pressure with both for balance. I’d probably have to deal with a wheelchair at least at first, and that would keep me out of my house. Especially the tiny restroom.
What kind of people say thumbs? Honestly, try doing up buttons without thumbs. I’m sure you could get pretty good at it with time, but holy cow it is going to suck for a long time.
Leg is gone for me, no question. Opposable thumbs FTW.
Distance runners, maybe? I’m with the majority here. I could continue in my career with a prosthetic leg, or even an homemade peg leg, but not without thumbs.
One factor is…um, wouldn’t getting your thumbs cut off with a cleaver hurt less than getting your leg cut off with a hatchet? I mean…that would be a lot of hacking. I did vote for the left leg myself, though, considering that in the long run, it would probably suck to not have my thumbs.
