the life boat

Okay the life boat activity is a hypothetical story where you are on a sinking ship and get into a lifeboat. You are only able to save 4 of the 7 people in the freezing water. There rest will be left to die. Who of the following would you choose and why?
A prostitute
The ship’s 2nd in command
A mother and young child (they only count as 1)
A 16 year old boy
A 86 year old survivor of the holocaust
An 80 year old woman
A nurse
Now if you’ve read Donald Miller’s, Searching For God Knows What you are familiar with this activity. And you’ll have the same difficulty making a choice, with the understanding that all life has value. No matter who or what they do, or how long they have lived. A life is a life.
However this is an activity that exposes what cultures value as important. Typically Americans choose people with youth and status. The prostitute, and the two oldies are left behind. We say, “They’ve lived a good long life,” or “They’re trash and not worth saving.”
In China, the mother and young child are regarded as two each because they are each burdensome, and the remark was made, “China is overpopulated as it is. Let the child die and do China a favor.”
Now I kept quiet in my group and let the others decide. I was pleasantly surprised when the Swazi women recognized the value of each one. Swazi culture respects the wisdom of their elders and so the two oldies were not dismissed. And they saw that a prostitute was a person too, and deserved to live.
I don’t exactly remember which ones my group chose but some of the ideas the groups threw out were:
The mother and child because it was 2 people and the child would live on for many years.
The nurse because she would be helpful to us in case we got sick
The prostitute because they didn’t want to reinforce the stigma that prostitutes are worthless, or they have proven resourceful in survival.
Tthe 16 year old boy because he has a long life ahead of him, or he was young and healthy and could row the boat.
The ship’s 2nd in command because he would have knowledge of the sea.
The oldies we wise.
Now after making our decisions, more is revealed about each person. Does this make a difference to your decisions?
The prostitute is a male. (We were told that most all-male groups are crestfallen when they find out. Hmmm. What was their reasoning I wonder?)
The 2nd in command was responsible for the sinking ship and was blinded during the accident
The mother actually works aboard a small sea craft and is the only one who knows anything about navigating the small life boat. (We were told that most people only see her in conjunction to the small child. The idea that she might have a skill is never considered. She is seen as a mother, that’s it.)
The 16 year old boy is a parapalegic
The 86 year old holocaust survivor is the only person with proven survival skills.
The 80 year old woman is a doctor with over 45 years of experience, and sharp as a tack
The nurse has only 6 weeks of training, and is horribly incompetent.
Would that affect your choices? It did in our group. Many of the women got flustered and angry. “We should have chosen XXX, not XXX. I told you!” Their underlying message was clear. All life is valuable…but I’ll only waste my time on those who are proven valuable to me.
Yikes. That’s telling.