 After listening to the podcast, write at least 300 words expressing what you think should

happen when humans are forced to play god.

 Support your thoughts with ethical reasoning. Include the ethical theory you think people
should use if they are forced to play god and why you selected that theory. (Utilitarianism,
Kant, Ross, Rawl, Natural Law)
 what you think should happen when humans are forced to play god.

I think when healthcare providers are faced with situations such as a warzones, natural
disasters and pandemics it makes the most sense to me to triage those who are the highest risk
first. I believe that it is best to set up a system or protocol that health care providers can follow
when triaging patients that way they can unbiasedly prioritize the most high-risk patients more
objectively and fairly without letting emotion get in the way. Triaging those who are at the
highest risk first makes the most sense to me because they are facing more immediate danger and
require the most attention within that moment. I don’t necessarily think that they are “playing
god” because if the health care professionals had the opportunity to save everyone, I’m sure they
would, rather I think they are forced to face constraints and make difficult decision when
operating within them. I also believe that in these emergency situations it is important to
prioritize the safety of the most vulnerable populations first, for example in the podcast during
Hurricane Katrina when the hospital had flooded they agreed on evacuating babies and critical
patients first, doing this saves as many people as possible. However, I found it unethical and did
not agree and with them deciding that those who had a DNR should be the last priority. I also
believe that factors such as socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, etc. should not be considering
factors when making these deskins, because all human life is deserving. It was interesting to the
different perspectives people had on this issue when researchers asked them what they think
should be done. It is also a little scary to think about this because it is very applicable to what is
happening today with the COVID pandemic. As humans it is hard for us to make these decisions
without letting emotion get in the way however this causes an underlying bias and unfairness
even when we are not aware of it. This relates to a quote that really stood out to me from the
podcast episode which was:

“How do you make compassion work on that large of a scale without caring about people, or
caring about some people more than other people? If you don’t systematize it, you risk
choosing people based on factors that really aren’t fair … If we do have to make the choice,
how do we do it? Rationing triage is an inhuman act which humans are trying to do, but the
fact of their humanity makes it impossible. You have a ‘God’ role, but no human can fit it.”
 Support your thoughts with ethical reasoning. Include the ethical theory you think people
should use if they are forced to play god and why you selected that theory. (Utilitarianism,
Kant, Ross, Rawl, Natural Law)

I don’t think that there is a single ethical theory that should be used because when these
situations it’s not just black and white so using one theory in a particular circumstance may
not be the most ethical. I think that I’m leaning more to the utilitarian perspective, where
there is emphasis on the idea of the greater good and considering how we can save the
greatest number of lives. However, as the podcast continued to when the women was begging
for oxygen and the reporter had given it to her this idea had changed because it would’ve
been unethical if the reporter did nothing. The issue with utilitarianism is that it’s hard to
follow strict rules and guidelines without morals or emotion, it makes it easier to just give up
on a person. Ultimately I think it would be best to combine various ways to make a decision,
maybe starting out with a utilitarian view to save the most lives, however, since this will
likely categorize people into such a large group, it can be narrowed down randomly that way
it is more fair and guidelines can be followed without emotion interfering.