Dilemma 2/28/09

You have the magical power to stop one and only one of the following two scenarios. Which would you prevent?

1. Fish are genetically modified to glow in the presence of certain pollutants.
2. Corn is genetically modified to contain easily extractable antibiotics.

Dilemma 2/27/09

You have the magical power to stop one and only one of the following two scenarios. Which would you prevent?

1. Human embryos are genetically manipulated to have certain traits (e.g., sex, specific eye or hair color) before they are implanted.
2. People cannot have children unless they get a parenting license.

Dilemma 2/26/09

You have the magical power to stop one and only one of the following two scenarios. Which would you prevent?

1. Your partner becomes verbally abusive.
2. Your partner becomes physically abusive.

Dilemma 2/25/09

You have the magical power to stop one and only one of the following two scenarios. Which would you prevent?

1. You lose the ability to read.
2. A close relative becomes paralyzed.

Dilemma 2/24/09

You have the magical power to stop one and only one of the following two scenarios. Which would you prevent?

1. Your email and internet chat programs stop working.
2. Your telephone stops working.

Dilemma 2/23/09

You have the magical power to stop one and only one of the following two scenarios. Which would you prevent?

1. The politician you most admire is involved in a serious illegal activity which is publicly exposed and punished.
2. The politician you least admire is involved in a serious illegal activity which is never exposed or punished.

Dilemma 2/22/09

You have the magical power to stop one and only one of the following two scenarios. Which would you prevent?

1. Your favorite movie star is badly injured during filming.
2. Your favorite movie star's stunt double is badly injured during filming.

Dilemma 2/21/09

You have the magical power to stop one and only one of the following two scenarios. Which would you prevent?

1. All automobiles suddenly stop working.
2. Television and the internet suddenly stop working.

Dilemma 2/20/09

You have the magical power to stop one and only one of the following two scenarios. Which would you prevent?

1. You lose your income.
2. You lose the ability to read.

Dilemma 2/19/09

You have the magical power to stop one and only one of the following two scenarios. Which would you prevent?

1. Your local climate changes and you end up with blizzards six months out of the year.
2. Your local climate changes and you end up with drought and extremely hot temperatures six months out of the year.

Dilemma 2/18/09

You have the magical power to stop one and only one of the following two scenarios. Which would you prevent?

1. You are stranded on a desert island with your least favorite politician.
2. You are stranded on a desert island with no books.

Dilemma 2/17/09

You have the magical power to stop one and only one of the following two scenarios. Which would you prevent?

1. You lose the ability to read.
2. You lose the ability to talk.

Dilemma 2/16/09

You have the magical power to stop one and only one of the following two scenarios. Which would you prevent?

1. A fertility clinic loses its supply of frozen embryos.
2. A fertility clinic loses its supply of donated egg and sperm.

Dilemma 2/15/09

You have the magical power to stop one and only one of the following two scenarios. Which would you prevent?

1. Your pet disappears one day and never reappears.
2. Your pet has a stroke and becomes permanently incapacitated.

Dilemma 2/14/09

You have the magical power to stop one and only one of the following two scenarios. Which would you prevent?

1. You have a heart transplant.
2. Your closest loved one has a heart transplant.

Dilemma 2/13/09

You have the magical power to stop one and only one of the following two scenarios. Which would you prevent?

1. You can always hear what other people are thinking.
2. Other people can always hear what you are thinking.

Dilemma 2/12/09

You have the magical power to stop one and only one of the following two scenarios. Which would you prevent?

1. A full school bus crashes.
2. A full tour bus crashes.

Dilemma 2/11/09

You have the magical power to stop one and only one of the following two scenarios. Which would you prevent?

1. You are late for an interview that could get you the job of your dreams.
2. Your child gets a bad case of the flu.

Dilemma 2/10/09

You have the magical power to stop one and only one of the following two scenarios. Which would you prevent?

1. A neighbor steals a thousand dollars from you and skips town with your money.
2. You lend a thousand dollars to a neighbor for what you think is an emergency situation. You find out later that the neighbor has lied and has skipped town with your money.

Dilemma 2/9/09

You have the magical power to stop one and only one of the following two scenarios. Which would you prevent?

1. In our effort to explore Mars, we accidentally wipe out any microbial life it might have.
2. The first human colony on Mars is wiped out by an undiscovered Martian virus.

Dilemma 2/8/09

You have the magical power to stop one and only one of the following two scenarios. Which would you prevent?

1. You are stranded in the wilderness with nothing to eat except cockroaches.
2. You are stranded in the wilderness with nothing to eat except worms.

Dilemma 2/7/09

You have the magical power to stop one and only one of the following two scenarios. Which would you prevent?

1. A child dies of cancer after the parents refuse medical treatment for religious reasons.
2. A child dies of cancer after prolonged and difficult medical treatments fail.

Dilemma 2/6/09

Ah, the difference a word makes.... Here is how I originally intended yesterday's dilemma to go, which will be today's dilemma:

You have the magical power to stop one and only one of the following two scenarios. Which would you prevent?

1. Human-animal hybrid cloning is successful.
2. Extinct animal cloning is not successful.

(And, for the intrigued, attempts at both of these things recently made the science news circuit. The extinct ibex baby managed to live for a few minutes. The human-animal hybrid clones proved unsuccessful. So far.)

Dilemma 2/5/09

You have the magical power to stop one and only one of the following two scenarios. Which would you prevent?

1. Human-animal hybrid cloning is successful.
2. Extinct animal cloning is successful.

Dilemma 2/4/09

You have the magical power to stop one and only one of the following two scenarios. Which would you prevent?

1. Iran builds nuclear weapons.
2. Afghanistan builds nuclear weapons.

Dilemma 2/3/09

You have the magical power to stop one and only one of the following two scenarios. Which would you prevent?

1. A doctor on the verge of curing cancer dies.
2. A young child in a refugee camp dies.

Dilemma 2/2/09

You have the magical power to stop one and only one of the following two scenarios. Which would you prevent?

1. A dozen wild monkeys are used for medical testing.
2. A dozen wild monkeys are put in a small zoo.

Dilemma 2/1/09

You have the magical power to stop one and only one of the following two scenarios. Which would you prevent?

1. All of Shakespeare's works vanish from the world.
2. All of your favorite author's works vanish from the world.