BOQ: How far would you go to earn two billion dollars?

[Petoux]

Below are questions to see if you would do that particular question for two billion dollars and why:



1.). Would you go for two billion dollars if you had to kill a member of your own family to get it?




2.). Would you go for two billion dollars if you had to get a permanent sex change to earn it without being able to change back?




3.). Would you go for two billion dollars if you were required to remove a limb permanently and never get a replacement (i.e.: robotic arm, fake arm, prosthetic, etc.)?




4.). Would you go for two billion dollars if you were not able to have children or get married and be alone for the rest of your life while living on a deserted island?




5.). Would you go for two billion dollars if you were required not to eat for a whole entire month (this is possible by the way as long as you keep drinking water)?




6.). Would you go for two billion dollars if you were required to eat nothing but McDonalds for every meal (INCLUDING snacks and dessert), every day, for a whole year?




7.). Would you go for two billion dollars if you had to jump off a 120 foot cliff into icy cold water without any safety gear (like a parachute for example) or anyone to aide you if something went wrong to get it?




8.). Would you go for two billion dollars if you were required to blow up an important building while people were still inside it?




9.). Would you go for two billion dollars if you had to murder a poor homeless innocent child and videotape the whole thing and put it on the internet (youtube lol)?



10.). Would you go for two billion dollars if you would have to be raped in front of your family and friends to get it?



11.). Would you go for two billion dollars if you had to have sex with the same sex for an hour on a porno movie (if you are a female, this is easier for you to answer ... so instead ... would you have sex with an animal for an hour on a porno movie?)?



12.). Would you go for two billion dollars if you were required to drive on the opposite side of the highway in rush hour traffic going full speed in a Lamborghini for 10 minutes going 180 mph?



13.). Would you go for two billion dollars if you were required to swim the English Channel (20 miles) without any breaks of any kind or have any aide (a boat, helicopter, etc) of any kind to get it?



14.). Would you go for two billion dollars if you had to get plastic surgery in a place you wouldn't want it, and be required to have it permanently?



15.). Would you go for two billion dollars if you were required to have 3rd degree burns inflicted on you on 35% of your body?



16.). Would you go for two billion dollars if you were required to stab yourself with a very sharp knife with full force into your heart?



17.). Would you go for two billion dollars if you were required to drive through a church in your car?



18.). Would you go for two billion dollars if you were required to marry the same sex and be with them the rest of your life not being able to get a divorce, annulment, or relationship with anyone else of any kind?



19.). Would you go for two billion dollars if you were required to go back on time and be on board the titanic, and in order to get the money, you would obviously need to survive WITHOUT having the knowledge of it hitting an iceberg and then sinking?



20.). Would you go for two billion dollars if you were required to have all of your hairs all over your body waxed off, and your hair shaved bald, and to have it kept that way for the rest of your life (can't grow it back EVER)?



21.). Would you go for two billion dollars if you were required to swim with great white sharks for 24 hours without being in a cage or in any protective gear of any kind while bleeding?

[Josef ben Loewe]

I have basically put the different questions into two different categories:

- Inflicting harm on others (1, 8-10, 12, 17) is something I will not do for 2 billion. Note that I included the being-raped-in-front-of-your-family and the riding-on-the-wrong-part-of-the-road questions, as you severely damage others by doing so.
(Btw, this becomes a much more interested question when you have to choose between not inflicting any possible harm or to give 2 billion to charity which is (as far as I remember) enough to stop anyone from dying of hunger/thirst for a looooong while. Ie: if you would save 2 billion people by hurting 20, would you do so?)

- Things that only affect myself (2-7, 11, 13-16, 18-21) are more dubious. I would only see the point of getting 2 billion if I would actually survive unless I would give all the money away (though I would be tempted to do so anyway). Even though I can be pretty stoic about my own physical health, harming/killing myself also hurts others so I would not like to do it, but I might be tempted. I wouldn't go swimming with the white sharks (too much risk) but I would start training to cross the channel (also dangerous but not as much). Changing my diet is perfectly alright (both the eating nothing and eating MacDonald crap).
The questions about sexuallity are harder. I think that I would be able to live with another man while it of course depends on who the other person is. I can see myself love some of my friends so much to be able to daily live with them, but the erotic part would need a lot of alcohol ;). Even though I'm as straight as any heterosexual I wouldn't try not to love the person I would fell in love with, even it if was a man. The sex change question is hard to answer... I would consider it, dunno if I would do it.
Though I it is not completely impossible for me to have sex with a male, there is absolutely no way I would do a porn movie even it was with a woman. Private sex tapes of your love and you is quite alright, but I honestly despise commercial sex tapes.

[Sisyphean Paul]

Some of those are easy, others are just twisted. Morally though, saying "no" to any of them is, in a way, a very selfish act. Consider all the good that could be done with $2 billion if the money was used for food and medicine. The WFP and FAO estimate that about a billion people suffer from hunger and malnourishment. That is a lot of suffering that could be prevented. Even in scenarios that demand that I harm or kill others, one has to compare the relative suffering caused to that being relieved.

That said, I still don't think I could bring myself to do many of those things, such as killing a family member or a child. Choices that involve only myself would be much easier to agree to, on the other hand, even some of the crazier ones like stabbing myself in the heart. Assuming that I could dish out the money whether or not I survived, of course.

[Sighter Tnailog]

"11.). Would you go for two billion dollars if you had to have sex with the same sex for an hour on a porno movie (if you are a female, this is easier for you to answer ... so instead ... would you have sex with an animal for an hour on a porno movie?)?"

This question is, in all frankness, offensive. Not in the way that some of them are -- in that you're forced to contemplate whether you'd do something dangerous or horrible in order to get money. Those I have no problem with. But this one is, in the very way in which it is asked, offensive.

It should instead focus on having sex with the sex opposite your normal orientation. As it stands, it implies that the default and normal state is to appreciate only sex with the opposite sex -- and makes no provision for those with different gender norms and/or sexual orientations.

Because, as it stands, I would find it very easy to make 2 billion in this fashion; having sex with a member of the opposite sex would be much more difficult.

The part about women having an easier go of a same-sex encounter is also offensive in its own way, but I'd rather not open up the textbooks on gender theory 101 amidst the sausage fest that is Althanas.

EDIT: Ditto #18. The question assumes that no one reading it could possibly be gay; it assumes that the only possible and normal audience is heterosexual. That's offensive.

[Rayse Valentino]

I'd have sex with Sighter for 2 billion dollars.

Hell I'd do it for free. And I'm not even gay.

[Duffy]

It also implies lesbianism is okay but homosexuality isn't, and that both are not preferable to bestiality in the moral continuum.

[Knave]

1.). Would you go for two billion dollars if you had to kill a member of your own family to get it?

Which one?

2.). Would you go for two billion dollars if you had to get a permanent sex change to earn it without being able to change back?

That would defeat the purpose of gaining a lot of money.

3.). Would you go for two billion dollars if you were required to remove a limb permanently and never get a replacement (i.e.: robotic arm, fake arm, prosthetic, etc.)?

Only if I could get the prosthetic. The left arm wouldn't be missed too much, and, for what its worth, there are some fairly incredible prosthetics which are ridiculously strong. As the Adeptus Mechanicus might say: Praise the machine, condemn the flesh. Power fist FTW.

4.). Would you go for two billion dollars if you were not able to have children or get married and be alone for the rest of your life while living on a deserted island?

Um... what the hell would I do with two billion dollars in that situation? Sleep in, on, and with it? Teach it to play baseball? Have raw lucre take care of me in old age? If yes to these things I will gladly create a living town of money people.

5.). Would you go for two billion dollars if you were required not to eat for a whole entire month (this is possible by the way as long as you keep drinking water)?

Yes. Easiest two billion I'll ever make.

6.). Would you go for two billion dollars if you were required to eat nothing but McDonalds for every meal (INCLUDING snacks and dessert), every day, for a whole year?

No, I'd die of rat poison, and the haunted sloshing grease lining my arteries and throat.

7.). Would you go for two billion dollars if you had to jump off a 120 foot cliff into icy cold water without any safety gear (like a parachute for example) or anyone to aide you if something went wrong to get it?

You'd die, no exceptions.

8.). Would you go for two billion dollars if you were required to blow up an important building while people were still inside it?

Homicide on strangers requires a motive, if you're willing to buy my hatred and give it direction, this wouldn't look like such an abhorrent idea.

9.). Would you go for two billion dollars if you had to murder a poor homeless innocent child and videotape the whole thing and put it on the internet (youtube lol)?

I watched the homeless hunter once, it pissed me off, this question pisses me off. Why would you even ask this? Its the most useless hateful question on this list so far. Did you think of this one? Cause that would make you a sick person, man! ~o~

10.). Would you go for two billion dollars if you would have to be raped in front of your family and friends to get it?

What kind of rape? Is alcohol involved? Roofies? Details make the difference, but really its all variances of NO.

11.). Would you go for two billion dollars if you had to have sex with the same sex for an hour on a porno movie (if you are a female, this is easier for you to answer ... so instead ... would you have sex with an animal for an hour on a porno movie?)?

I'm with Duffy on this one, the latter portion of this question is needlessly offensive. And no, simply because I couldn't if I wanted to.

12.). Would you go for two billion dollars if you were required to drive on the opposite side of the highway in rush hour traffic going full speed in a Lamborghini for 10 minutes going 180 mph?

10 minutes? You'd have to pay me for two seconds. Two glorious seconds of champagne popping, Lamborghini driving awesomeness ultimately ending in fire. Glorious fire.

13.). Would you go for two billion dollars if you were required to swim the English Channel (20 miles) without any breaks of any kind or have any aide (a boat, helicopter, etc) of any kind to get it?

Am I allowed an inner-tube? Or those air things you stick on your arms?

14.). Would you go for two billion dollars if you had to get plastic surgery in a place you wouldn't want it, and be required to have it permanently?

That is so thoroughly vague I can only say yes.

15.). Would you go for two billion dollars if you were required to have 3rd degree burns inflicted on you on 35% of your body?

Life as a bubble boy looks far too unpleasant, especially with all that money going toward powerful medicines instead of powerful drugs. (jking)

16.). Would you go for two billion dollars if you were required to stab yourself with a very sharp knife with full force into your heart?

WHAT IS WITH YOU AND SUICIDE?

17.). Would you go for two billion dollars if you were required to drive through a church in your car?

The house of God is no different from anywhere else in the world, an omnipresent being being everywhere. If he be omnipotent, then he can tend his flock. If he is omniscient then he may warn those who would be in danger. If he be ominbenevolent, then there is nothing to fear.

If he is one of these things, but not them all, then I have no worries. And if he is malevolent, he shall join me, and we shall rule together. MUHAHAHAHAA.

18.). Would you go for two billion dollars if you were required to marry the same sex and be with them the rest of your life not being able to get a divorce, annulment, or relationship with anyone else of any kind?

Why marriage only provides the best other to be found. A life partner, a best friend, someone whose benefits are sweet, tender companionship and the deep penetrating understanding that can only be found in a soul mate. A totally platonic soul mate.

19.). Would you go for two billion dollars if you were required to go back on time and be on board the titanic, and in order to get the money, you would obviously need to survive WITHOUT having the knowledge of it hitting an iceberg and then sinking?

Why must all these questions involve me killing myself? And in terms of trans-temporal wagers, couldn't I just look up my future self in the past and see whether or not I made it?

20.). Would you go for two billion dollars if you were required to have all of your hairs all over your body waxed off, and your hair shaved bald, and to have it kept that way for the rest of your life (can't grow it back EVER)?

... I do fancy the pristine and sparkling appearance of Mister Clean, his hairless and powerful form a parable for what men might be if they were more like God. I'd do this one in a heart beat.

21.). Would you go for two billion dollars if you were required to swim with great white sharks for 24 hours without being in a cage or in any protective gear of any kind while bleeding?

...

[Hysteria]

In honesty though, it is still more morally acceptable for a woman to have a 'fling' with someone of the same sex and not be considered a lesbian, than it is for a man to have a smilar relationship. Added to that, while both cases (woman v woman and man v man) would be embarrasing later in life (as they are recorded), I belive that the man v man would have a greater impact on that persons life because becuase men generally hold positions of power, and there is still a lot of negative attitudes to homosexuals and male bisexuals within male groups. At least that is my observations of the society around me.

As for the marrige one, it should have said 'with the sex you are not attracted to' or perhaps even better 'with the cleaning lady from family guy'.

"Hey honey, can you pass the milk?"
"No... no... you pass."
"But the milk is just there."
"No... no... me need milk for breakfast."
"But you're bowl is full! Come on!"
"No.. no... you go buy."
"I bought milk the other day!"
"Is no good, have watery taste."
"I don't mind the watery taste."
"No.. no... you buy full cream from now on."
"Oh for christs sake..."


Welcome to your nightmare

[Elrundir]

In honesty though, it is still more morally acceptable for a woman to have a 'fling' with someone of the same sex and not be considered a lesbian, than it is for a man to have a smilar relationship. Added to that, while both cases (woman v woman and man v man) would be embarrasing later in life (as they are recorded), I belive that the man v man would have a greater impact on that persons life because becuase men generally hold positions of power, and there is still a lot of negative attitudes to homosexuals and male bisexuals within male groups. At least that is my observations of the society around me.
It is more socially acceptable. I know that's probably what you meant but it's an important distinction.

Anyway, even though that may be the way of it in society, there's no reason we should perpetuate the stereotype.

And also, now I have to find that Family Guy clip because somehow I've never seen it.

[Letho]

It also implies lesbianism is okay but homosexuality isn't...This is probably the way the majority of heterosexual males think anyways. And as one of them, I understand that. I think lesbians are hot, and I usually wince at their male counterparts. And that's only a step away from finding such things repulsive, and thus unacceptable. Of course, I'm not saying that's okay, I'm just saying that it's the way most male brains work, or at least the brains of the heterosexual males I know. Lesbians = :D, gays = :(

[Sighter Tnailog]

Just for the record, my point is not that it isn't, for a lot of people, true that gays aren't considered somehow worse than lesbians, or more threatening to our society's sick and unhealthy constructions of masculinity.

Although, this "lesbians are hot" thing that straight guys like to say is usually a tautology in which what they really mean is that *hot* lesbians are hot. It tends to be far less true for women whose standard of attractiveness doesn't mesh to the straight male desires at play when we say "guys love lesbians." Furthermore, guys often find lesbians hot because, well, what they're watching is porn lesbians. Porn is great at making an illusion of accessibility; that the person transformed into an object for your daily fap might be accessible, you might be able to transport him or her (even if only in your imagination) into your bedroom. *Real* lesbians, that is to say, not Katy Perry kissing girls with only a tertiary intention of making a statement about gender, a secondary intention of appealing to the male gaze, and the primary intention of making money on a horny, male-gazy culture, often find that their inaccessibility to men makes men angry -- the streets are littered with awesome lesbians who have had to handle such phrases as "you just need a good fucking" and "you're just a lesbian because you hate men" from guys who, as often as not, are insulted that there might be women in this world who don't want to sleep with them. And in many parts of the world, it gets worse than just rude phrase: it can result in such terrorist acts as corrective rape ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corrective_rape).

The question is not problematic in that its reader is forced to think about the straight male privilege that suffuses society; if that's all it did, it would be good! The question is problematic, instead, in that it reinforces straight male privilege by asking the question in a way that assumes "straight male" is normal and other expressions of humanity are merely deviations of the norm. It makes no room within the framework of the question that its reader might be anything but a straight male -- and if a woman, certainly not a lesbian, or at least inclined to lesbianism when it benefits men who want to stare at your boobies. It effectively writes entire classes of human people out of the human story, and that's what I object to.

ALL THAT SAID, who cares, it's a question thread on Althanas. It bothers me, but the male gaze is more dangerous in a lot of other places. I'm more concerned, actually, with questions about murdering homeless children. But harsh homophobia is endemic in the world of online gaming, and I wanted to call out this because Althanas is actually one of the few safer spaces on the internet in that regard, and I'd like to see it stay that way.

[Hysteria]

And also, now I have to find that Family Guy clip because somehow I've never seen it.

That particular sketch I just made up.

[Elrundir]

That particular sketch I just made up.
Damn. You should start writing for them immediately in that case.

[Sighter Tnailog]

It is times like these, Hysteria, that make me wish I had a "like" button. Facebook has warped my mind.

[Sulla]

I've felt the urge to upvote so many comments in this thread. Althanas fills me with pride sometimes.

As much pride allowed by visiting a play-by-post roleplaying board.

[Amsen]

Knave's post was absolutely filled with WIN. It literally had me laughing out loud for most of the read.

[Petoux]

I wasn't trying to be offensive or discriminatory or homophobic etc etc in any way shape or form so I apologize for that. I was trying to think of questions where it would be the most unlikely someone would do that particular act to get the money, and I guess ended up with that.

Anyway ... answer the questions continue!!

By the way, you don't have to answer all the questions if you don't want to.