A Talk Show in China Ponders Ethics

–by Ashley Zhou

In China, there is a breakout show on the Internet: Qipa Talk. It is a show that debates hypothetical ethical and practical problems. Ashley was intrigued. Here is a sample of her favorite episode. 

“There are two boats trapped in the ocean–Boat A containing you and 99 other people and Boat B containing only one person. There’s a button on Boat A, and if anyone presses it, this boat would be safe, but Boat B would explode. If no one presses the button, twenty minutes later, Boat A and 100 people would be buried at sea. Would you press the button to blow up Boat B and save the 100 people?” This is one of the many debate questions discussed in the Chinese talk show Qipa Talk. In this show, debaters on each team try to persuade 100 audience members to side with them within three rounds of debating.

The above is one of my favorite questions; the question is a paradox. Debaters have given very interesting and sharp points answering this topic. In the show regarding this question, in Round #1, the initial voting was 63 to 37, which means 63 people chose to press the button. The affirmative held several central arguments: they argued human history wouldn’t have been written without sacrifice of the minority. If no one takes an action to save the 100 people, those who took no action have to take the blame. And, nobody wants the blame. It’s very necessary for man to sacrifice.

The negative side responded in rebuttal: the value of life should not be counted depending on quantity. The minority doesn’t always have to compromise for the majority; Humans cannot be sacrificed. Nobody wants the responsibility of killing.

The best part in the show is when the two coaches on each side express their ideas and points. They usually jump out of the box of the topic itself and go on to better incorporations of it. They try to argue from the perspective of the whole human race. They want the audience to understand that beyond the debating skills they want to convey healthy outlooks and values of life.

In this case, in the final vote, 72 out of 100 people voted to NOT push the button–thereby refusing to sacrifice the one life to save the many. The debaters for the negative won over 35 voters. The voters decided the best action is to do nothing. Most accepted that they may die with the majority and chose not to kill to save themselves and others.

–edited by Gaven Li