On my upcoming Manifold survey, I will ask the following question:
Your planet is being terrorized by a giant dragon. Every day, the dragon demands that 10,000 people be given to it to consume. The dragon is so large and powerful that all previous attempts to defeat it have failed miserably, so much so that it has become accepted as a fact of life that the dragon simply cannot be vanquished. Because of this, philosophers have come up with all sorts of justifications for the dragon's existence to prevent people from despairing at their inevitable fate in its jaws. However, recent breakthroughs have found a way to pierce the dragon's scales, such that it may soon be possible to build a weapon capable of destroying the dragon once and for all. There is a great public debate surrounding this, with some arguing against this as an affront to nature. Do you take their side and support the tyrannical dragon?
Yes, the purpose of the dragon is to eat humans, and our purpose is fulfilled most truly and nobly only in being eaten by it.
Yes, I believe that might makes right, and the dragon has the right to eat humans as he pleases.
Yes, we should not have the arrogance to try to change nature. Who knows what horrible things could result if we kill the dragon?
Yes, the dragon provides the useful role of preventing our species from becoming overpopulated. We need a dragon to eat us for the sake of the ecosystem.
Yes, but only because I'm into vore.
Yes (other reason/multiple)
Neutral, I think there are equally strong reasons for and against killing the dragon tyrant.
Neutral, I don't really care if the dragon eats me or anyone else.
Neutral, I am a fervent believer in the golden mean. Rather than considering these two extreme positions, I think that we should only kill half of the dragon while keeping the other half of his body alive.
Neutral (other reason/multiple)
No, the dragon kills millions of people each year, and we should do whatever we can to stop him, even if it is difficult and leads to some new issues that we will have to solve.
No, I don't want to get eaten by the dragon.
No, I want to save my loved ones from being eaten by the dragon.
No, imagine how cool it would be to kill the fucking dragon! Like, holy shit man, that would be so awesome!
No (other reason/multiple)
Resolves to the percentage of respondents who pick a Yes option, or equally to both bins if the percentages is on the boundary between two of them. I might add more reasons if people in the comments suggest reasons that I think are either common or funny enough to include.
See Plasma's Manifold Survey for other questions about the survey.
The survey is officially out! You can take it here: https://forms.gle/xZqWVxuY5irgLigu9
