You are given
the chance to choose
between opening two doors.
Behind one sits
a very hungry tiger.
Behind the other
you’ll find
$100,000,000.
Do you reach
for a doorknob?
If you were given a 50/50 chance between the kind of wealth that can not only change your life, but also that of anyone you choose, or if-not-certain death, at the very least incredibly serious injury–would you take it?
In my case, I’m not a gambler and I’m extremely afraid of large jungle cats, so I’m a definite “No, but thanks for asking!”
How about you?
I honestly have no idea what I’d do. Sometimes my curiosity as pushed me to make risky choices and other time’s I’ve been proactive in thinking about safety first. I also suspect my choice would change depending on where I was in life at that moment.
This is a trick question. The money is coated with a fast-acting poison that kills instantly upon contact with skin. The tiger is a rare herbivore breed and is worth a fortune because it lives on green leafy vegetables and is trained to use a litter box (albeit a very large litter box). You WANT to get the door with the tiger. I wouldn’t dare touch that deadly money, thank you very much.
If I knew the tiger would quickly kill me in the initial pounce I might go for it.
But other than that, nope.
Given that being eaten alive by animals is number one in my top 5 fears, and that my luck is what it is, I’m good with the old paycheck-to-paycheck existence 😉
Being eaten alive is fucking TERRIFYING.
NOPE!
I’m happy and while I have a need for a million dollars, it wouldn’t be worth being eaten!
But that could be coming from the perspective of relative economic security and the resulting privilege of comfort.
As much as I fear getting rich all of a sudden, I think I’d participate. First, if I die by tiger, that’s kind of a crazy awesome way to die. I’d be like a gladiator. Also, I’d stipulate that if I die, a decent sum of money should go to a needy charity or hungry families; that way I don’t die in vain. And if I won instead of getting mauled, I would donate half my winnings to poor families and tigers without money.
NOPE NOPE NOPE. Anyway, the kind of assholes who’d set this experiment up in the first place would probably find a way to cheat the money part–like giving it to you in Bitcoin or something.