# The magical killing box **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 4, 2011, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-magical-killing-box/601885 "2011-11-04T19:04:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![PandaBear77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@PandaBear77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PandaBear77)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2011, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-magical-killing-box/601885/41 "2011-11-06T20:18:24Z")
Oh yeah I’d be all over that. A LOT of countries would be holding surprise elections. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2011, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-magical-killing-box/601885/42 "2011-11-06T21:46:31Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > I will not. What, never? You won’t _ever_ judge anyone else, in case their moral standards permit or encourage whatever it is they’re doing? ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2011, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-magical-killing-box/601885/43 "2011-11-06T22:26:25Z")
Is it instant? Like if a guy was running for a touchdown could I pop him off before the goal line? ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2011, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-magical-killing-box/601885/44 "2011-11-06T22:36:11Z")
Nowadays? I would try to destroy/hide the box. Back in the day? Before they found the right meds for me? [bipolar] Watch out anyone and everyone–including myself. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2011, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-magical-killing-box/601885/45 "2011-11-07T18:26:44Z")
I’d finally win Celebrity Death Pool. ---
**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:** [November 7, 2011, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-magical-killing-box/601885/46 "2011-11-07T18:38:19Z")
I would think about myself and press the button as softly as possible. ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2011, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-magical-killing-box/601885/47 "2011-11-07T20:07:35Z")
Frankly, the box sounds kind of handy in a hostage situation, but you don’t want suffering. You want them to go quick, like switching off a light. The point is to save innocent lives. You don’t want them to have time to pull a trigger. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2011, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-magical-killing-box/601885/48 "2011-11-07T20:13:06Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > I’d finally win Celebrity Death Pool. Is it wrong that this made me laugh? I don’t know how long it would take me to use the box but I don’t believe I would be able to destroy it and I certainly wouldn’t trust anyone else enough to give it to them. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2011, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-magical-killing-box/601885/49 "2011-11-07T20:17:10Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > What, never? You won’t _ever_ judge anyone else, in case their moral standards permit or encourage whatever it is they’re doing? Well…that about sums it up. I do stuff that I think is ok but which others feel warrants stoning or burning, and other folks believe it’s ok to do stuff which I find absolutely incredible. Who’s to say which values are wrong? In case there’s a bit of _reductio ad absurdum_ brewing (so baby-rapers should be left to rape babies?), I should probably point out I see a distinction between moral judgment and legal process. I also recognize psychosis can lead to some really weird/violent behavior that can necessitate curtailing some personal freedoms. But there’s a difference between saying “that’s dangerous” and “that’s wrong.” ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2011, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-magical-killing-box/601885/50 "2011-11-07T20:32:31Z")
Hey, look. All those famous terrorists just dropped dead. Close up shop, boys. We’re done here. > [@Jbone](#): > > [http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Infant-Left-in-Car-Overnight-Dies.html](http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Infant-Left-in-Car-Overnight-Dies.html) Oh, come on. It was an accident. That makes you shake with rage? The woman has two other young boys…would you really kill their mother because she accidentally chased her pain meds with a glass of wine an hour later? It wasn’t like she shook, starved, or drowned the kid. She just got distracted feeding her other two kids that she forgot to go back outside. Hell, I doubt I’d even convict her if I were on a jury, let alone _kill_ her! ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2011, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-magical-killing-box/601885/51 "2011-11-07T20:33:56Z")
> [@JoelUpchurch](#): > > You want them to go quick, like switching off a light. It’s not quick at all. And I’ve now invented the box. I thought of all of you and then pushed the button. It might be a few decades before it takes effect. But eventually… ha! Feel my wrath! ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2011, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-magical-killing-box/601885/52 "2011-11-07T20:38:32Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > It might be a few decades before it takes effect. But eventually… ha! Feel my wrath! Heh…sort of like the ‘quivering palm?’ (Men Who Stare At Goats) ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2011, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-magical-killing-box/601885/53 "2011-11-07T20:44:03Z")
> [@JoelUpchurch](#): > > Frankly, the box sounds kind of handy in a hostage situation, but you don’t want suffering. You want them to go quick, like switching off a light. The point is to save innocent lives. You don’t want them to have time to pull a trigger. For just a second I thought you were talking about using it on the hostages. ---
**Author:** ![Jbone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/58f4c7/32.png) [@Jbone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jbone)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2011, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-magical-killing-box/601885/54 "2011-11-07T20:48:20Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > For just a second I thought you were talking about using it on the hostages. Pop quiz hotshot… ---
**Author:** ![Lare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/53a042/32.png) [@Lare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lare)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2011, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-magical-killing-box/601885/55 "2011-11-07T20:54:14Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > It’s not quick at all. And I’ve now invented the box. I thought of all of you and then pushed the button. > > It might be a few decades before it takes effect. But eventually… ha! Feel my wrath! You are familiar with [corbomite](http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Corbomite)? I have some. Let’s hope you weren’t thinking of me. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2011, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-magical-killing-box/601885/56 "2011-11-07T21:50:41Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > Well…that about sums it up. I do stuff that I think is ok but which others feel warrants stoning or burning, and other folks believe it’s ok to do stuff which I find absolutely incredible. Who’s to say which values are wrong? Me, obviously. And frankly, as a moral relativist, you’d have no recourse without revealing yourself to be a hypocrite. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2011, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-magical-killing-box/601885/57 "2011-11-07T22:00:29Z")
> [@Jbone](#): > > Suppose someone gave you a magical box with a button on the top, and said that if you push the button, the person you are thinking of at the time will somehow die. I would start with the person who gave me the box - what kind of evil person walks around handing out magical killing boxes?!? They must be stopped! ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2011, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-magical-killing-box/601885/58 "2011-11-07T22:37:21Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > Me, obviously. And frankly, as a moral relativist, you’d have no recourse without revealing yourself to be a hypocrite. If, by that, you mean I don’t have the right to tell you you’re full of beans cuz you’re not the boss of me, then I agree. But just because I allow you your right to your own opinion doesn’t mean I have to adopt it. And if you tell me I’m wrong, then you’re agreeing with me in principle. ---
**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:** [November 7, 2011, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-magical-killing-box/601885/59 "2011-11-07T23:12:55Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > And if you tell me I’m wrong, then you’re agreeing with me in principle. My head hurts! ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-magical-killing-box/601885/60 "2011-11-08T06:07:57Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > And if you tell me I’m wrong, then you’re agreeing with me in principle. No, it doesn’t. _You_ have forfeited your judgement of what is right and wrong, I have not. If you would say “killing rapists, arsonists and kidnappers is wrong”, but are unwilling to say “killing innocent people is wrong”, then you are either a hypocrite or a fool. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-magical-killing-box/601885.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-magical-killing-box/601885.md?page=4)