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Extremely obligated.

13 (12.9%)

Very obligated

21 (20.8%)

Moderately obligated.

23 (22.8%)

Slightly obligated.

12 (11.9%)

No obligation.

23 (22.8%)

Trash option for snarky answers.

9 (8.9%)

Total Members Voted: 99

[kaijyuu]

Just something I'm curious about.


No conditionals. This question is asking about how you feel toward any random individual regardless of their traits. In other words, how much obligation you have toward someone simply because they are a sentient being and nothing else.
If you only feel obligated to help those who help you (such as family (hopefully)), you should probably select "no obligation."
If you feel moderate obligation towards everyone but have certain exceptions (like those who have hurt you), you should still select "moderate obligation."
Also remember how much power you actually have. Yes there are starving children in Africa or whatever, but not helping doesn't really mean you don't care; it means you don't actually have the power to do anything.

[Vector]

I put "extremely obligated," though there's domains in which I will help and domains in which I historically will not help, I've got boundaries, etc.; and I feel angry about the idea of helping people who have hurt me, though I usually do it anyhow.  Being intentionally unhelpful/destructive is generally not a thing.

[hops]

I like to help peiple out. I'm very aggressive about being useful. I guess it's fueled partly by my irrational hatred at the bystander effect.

[King DZA]

The chosen purpose of my current state of existence is to be as much an overall benefit this world (and to a considerably smaller degree, this universe as a whole) and its inhabitants as is ultimately possible. To aid all Earthly life in realizing its fullest potential, thus allowing life itself to become a generally more fulfilling experience for all, while simultaneously sparing future generations from the same cataclysmic monsoon of bullshit we all today must put up with. So, extremely obligated, I suppose.

[Gunner-Chan]

Generally, zero. Unless I know someone very well I'm not helping unless there's absolutely no reason NOT to help. Like if I bought too much to eat at a restaurant and someone else looked hungry or couldn't afford something.

I used to feel the other extreme, but I found doing that made me a nervous wreck. Olwga talked some sense into me and that was honestly the first step towards me actually being happy.

[Ogdibus]

I feel no obligation, but I do feel a desire, often times.

[Frumple]

I feel no obligation, but I do feel a desire, often times.

Hrrg, this, yes. Often a very strong desire, especially when it's only moderately (or less) trouble on my part. And I would generally consider it optimal behavior -- the better off folks around me are, the better off I am, and the more likely my primary desires are going to be fulfilled. So long as the first doesn't interfere with the second, anyway -- it does little good to trade one happiness for another.

But obligation to help... no, not so much. I do consider myself to have an obligation to not screw other people over, but anything beyond that is optional. That's the base minimum to improve things, so... that's my obligation point. Everything else as time, energy, and other considerations allow.

[Criptfeind]

I put No obligation. Although I am interested in what others are going to say.

[LordBucket]

How obligated do you feel you are you to help others?

No conditionals.

There is no duty except that which is chosen for one's self. Duty cannot be imposed by a third party or by circumstance. It is not possible for me to become obligated to perform any task except through my own choice.

how much obligation you have toward someone simply because they are a sentient being and nothing else.

Obligation cannot be imposed. Obligation is not the result of circumstances. Obligation exists through free will choice only. The fact of someone being in need is irrelevant. The fact of me having or not having the power to provide assistance is irrelevant. All that is relevant is choice.

If there's a man dying of starvation in the street and I have extra food that will go to waste if I do not give it to him, there is no obligation. If I'm walking down the street and I see someone dear to me be raped and murdered in an alley, there is no obligation. If I'm the guy at the airlock deciding whether to let my fellow spaceship crew members back inside the ship, there is no obligation.

There is only choice.

[Criptfeind]

Sure but some of us also want to communicate with each other.

[kaijyuu]

*stuff*

Well yeah whatever.

I'm mostly interested in what people's self-imposed moral codes are and how willing they are to follow them. I'm less interested in their desires. So I can't just ask people "would you give food to a homeless person" or something, because I want to distinguish between the person who'd give food for warm fuzzies and the person who'd give food because they feel it's the Right thing to do. Personal desires aren't universalizable (though please don't tie all this to Kant despite me using that term).

[Luke_Prowler]

Preform good, not because one must, or one should, but because one CAN do good. That's how I see it, and as such I always try to help others when I have the ability to.

[kaenneth]

I always want to help people; but I've learned that giving people what they want, isn't always helpful.

[misko27]

I help people help me. In that sense, I am extremely obligated.

No it's really that. Helping people furthers my aims. So that's what I do. My interests most often align with the common welfare, and thus I work to improve it. If they didn't it'd be different. But I can't really think of many ways where I am served by malignance. I don't enjoy hurting in and of itself, which is probably a biggie.

[Graknorke]

I'm not at all obliged to help people.
If I do help someone it's because I want to rather than have to.