Ethical Question

[avram]

There’s a classic late-night dorm bull session-type question: If you had a time machine, would you go back and kill Hitler, thus preventing the Holocaust? There some assumptions buried in this question — Would killing Hitler actually prevent the Holocaust? Let’s assume that it would. Or rather, let’s assume that Hitler was somehow so intrinsic to how German politics went that if he was removed from it, the Holocaust (and maybe even World War 2) wouldn’t have happened. Let’s also ignore the various other things you’d probably do with a time machine — follow Jesus around with a camcorder; give your younger self stock tips; buy up lots of Action Comics #1, Uncanny X-Men #92; and alpha Black Lotuses and Mox gems; give Jefferson some tips on how to phrase the Bill of Rights.

So, is killing Hitler the right thing to do? Easy answer: Of course not. Why? Because killing Hitler isn’t the least harmful way of removing him from politics. It may be the easiest, just one quick gunshot and it’s over, but if you're willing to put in some time and effort, you could just follow him around making sure that he gets caught in enough embarrassing screwups that his political career never gets anywhere. Or you could use some of the fortune you’ve amassed with all your time travelling and become the young Hitler’s art patron. I suppose the question gets more interesting if the time machine only allows you one round trip. But even with just one trip you could probably prevent the Reichstag fire.

But for me, there’s a far more interesting question. See, my mother’s family comes from Germany and Hungary, and they didn’t get to the States till after the war. My dad’s family was in the US. Muck about too much with European history and my parents might never meet; I get edited right out of the timestream. So here’s the bull session question for the rest of you: Imagine yourselves with my family history; would you prevent the Holocaust if it meant you, yourself would never have existed?

Comments

Re: Yourself and what it takes to get you

[avram]

Hey, Jo! Welcome! Didn't expect to see you here. (Welcome to Fred, too, but I didn't expect you less than I didn't expect Jo.)

I'm not sure I value my present self all that much. Had I a time machine, I'd gladly go back and try to pressure my past self into making all sorts of different decisions that I'd hope would improve my present lot (leaving aside the question of whether that time-travelling self would ever get to experience the modified present), and I don't just mean the stock tips. Not that past-me would take most of the advice, the stubborn, lazy little snot.