Thought Experiment: The Shipwreck Situation

I. Introduction

A. Background

Many stories have been written or reported about the shipwreck. The Titanic was

the most famous ship that sank in history. At the time, Titanic was the largest moving

object ever built which ultimately carried over 1,500 people to their death in the ice cold

waters of the North Atlantic in the early hours of April 15, 1912. But have you ever

wondered if you were in that situation? What do you think is the best way to do? What

will you do to overcome a frightening nightmare in your life? You may think you are at

the last point of your life. Maybe we will not dream of getting into such a situation. In this

study, we will know, the things we can do if we are in a shipwreck. We will know how to

deal in this kind of situation between life and death. In this study we will apply our critical

thinking and a system of principles that helps us tell right from wrong, good from bad.

We constantly face choices that affect the quality of our lives and to be aware that the

choices that we make have consequences, both for ourselves and others.

B. Theoretical Framework

In addition to the danger of dying when the ship sinks, there are many dangers

after you’ve survived the initial sinking. Possible dangers include exposure, sharks, and

more. The theory about this scenario is why the ship sank was because there was an oil

leak in its engine However, by getting organized, cooperating with others or crew, and

taking steps to aid in your rescue, you’ll have much better odds of surviving a

shipwreck. With some hard work and luck, you’ll survive this stressful ordeal. If you are
on a ship, maybe you have questions on what to do if this ship sinks? Perhaps if the

problem had been seen earlier the ship might have even prevented its sinking.

C. Statement of the Problem

By the time the ship's captain discovers the problem and the ship is about to sink,

maybe he will know the main reason but there is no way to prevent its sinking. The only

way for them to be saved is to evacuate. I will put myself in this situation. Imagine that I

am involved in a shipwreck situation and a ship has started to sink in the middle of

the ocean. Eleven people have jumped into a life-boat that has been designed for a

maximum of ten people only, and the life-boat is also starting to sink. But the biggest

problem is what should the passengers do? Throw one person overboard and save

ten lives? Or stick to the principle of “do not kill”, which means that everybody will

drown? By this situation, maybe you will ask yourself, will I survive or die or maybe

how can I survive in the water? These are the questions that come to your mind in case

this happens. But in order for you to survive, you need to stay calm.

II. Presentation and critical analysis of data

A. Reality

If you are traveling on a ship, you should think that there are things that can

happen or scenarios that are likely to happen. Fear has taken a hold of every man

aboard on the ship, as it should, our luck is as far gone as the winds that led us. When

the ship is about to sink, you should be ready of actions you need to take . But the

situation is different, suppose I am one of the passengers. This was a hard decision

we had to make because we were deciding the fate of the individuals which can be hard
if you are limited with information.  For me the most difficult part of this was decided who

is worth saving because I kept imagining myself in every person’s shoes knowing that I

am about to die and someone is going to choose that fate for me. Everyone will die if

the passengers do nothing. That’s why everybody must have a contribution. You can

never take the opportunity again so be careful in implementing the solution. By this

scenario, you must think the best solution in the problem.

B. Reflection

In this kind of situation, there is always a way of everything. In this scenario,

everyone is responsible for each other. That’s why the passengers will see the things

that will help to solve the problem. There is always a bright side despite in difficult

times. I encourage the people inside the boat to think of ways or to combine our skills

to be able to survive. If I am one of the passenger, I’d rather choose to throw one

person overboard to save ten lives. But that doesn’t mean I don’t care about the

person or I want to kill him. Because before I decide to push him, I will talk to him first

and ask him to stay in the water until the next life-boat will come to rescue him. And I

will make sure that person is wearing a life jacket and he can swim. And last, I will

pray for him to survive. Maybe in other aspect, that’s unfair but I think that’s the best

thing to do to save more lives especially if there are children or old people inside the

boat.

C. Response

By adding in reflection, I believed that if there’s a will there’s a way. If I were

one of the passengers I would do everything to survive. And I believe that if we have
faith in God that He will not neglect us, I know that all will be saved. God will never

give us a trial which we cannot surpass. Most of all, it's a ship. I know they are ready

for anything that can happen in the middle of the journey. So I believe their life-boat is

not just one. It is enough for all passengers. But in case the life-boat is already full

with passengers, the person who thrown must be calm so he make the right decision.

So in a sunken boat, there is a possibility that there are a lot of floating objects, things

that will float there. He can use it to stay afloat. In this study, we may still apply our

moral values to other people by helping others to gather all the possible actions can

apply during the situation.

III. Summary, Conclusions and Recommendation

The implementation of methods for managing a sinking ship will require the

development of practical measures for verifying compliance and assessing

accountability and responsibility. Therefore I conclude automated monitoring and the

required record keeping are desirable so that crew members and regulating

authorities can readily and effectively ensure that agreed-upon standards have been

met. Maybe I recommend that before the ship sailed, it must check all the engines so

as to avoid a glitch. By the end of this topic, I realized that no matter how beautiful or

large the ship was, it could still sink just like the Titanic and even the richest man on

this ship was not exempted from this incident. In life, it does not matter what your

status is, it matters how you use the life given to you. Because at the end of the day,

life is just borrowed that at any time can be revoked from us. We do not know how

long we will be. So it is very important that you use it correctly. In order to prevent a

malfunction in this case, all guidelines should be carefully considered so as to

prevent the occurrence of an incident. And always put the welfare of passengers first

although the sinking of the ship is inevitable, everyone must be prepared and follow

the advice of the crew and be calm to ensure the safety of everyone. At such times in

our lives, it is difficult to decide but we have to make choices in for us to move on.

References

https://www.philosophybasics.com/branch_ethics.html