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What is worth it to you to lay down your life in the name of something? And if anything, is it worth it to die knowing that you are helping others, even if you won't recieve the rewards?

There are the obvious answers here for most people, but I'd like to here some valid, outside the box reasons.

I suppose I'd let myself die if the alternative could hardly be considered living.

Only if you're convinced that you can accomplish more with your sacrifice than you could if you continued to live out your life.
I don't really think I'd consider giving up my life for much of anything unless my body and/or mind were rapidly failing, or if the cause was something huge.

To save someone, I think.

Getting rich.

Saving people that I value more highly than myself. There aren't many.

But yeah, if for some reason my life were worth less to me than it is now, I might be more willing to sacrifice it. Things like extreme suffering and terminal illness would be examples.

for a cookie

DemonzLunchBreak wrote:Saving people that I value more highly than myself. There aren't many.

QFE

crescor wrote:for a cookie

You mean to be the dance commander!

candy

on a more serious note, i would maybe sacrifice myself for my children, but only if i had lived out my life as much as i wanted to

The Gold!

Nah umm .. well i guess for someone important to you

Hmmm, it's very hard to answer realistically when you aren't in the situation. But after some soul searching I think I could sacrifice my life to save most people younger than me, whether I knew them or not. For some reason the thought of oblivion doesn't scare me too much, and sometimes sounds a little appealing. I know age is an arbitrary reason, but without knowing them it is the best superficial measure of a person's potential for further life.

I'm probably over estimating my capacity for altruism though.

It has to be a good cause, that won't just be for the benefit of one, but a society, or a group of people believing in something that can change the world positively and/or having a goal that would be worth you sacrificing your life for the greater good. Which there isn't many out there, but I'm sure people would be willing to.

What manner of sacrifice are we talking about? Would I be killing myself, or getting killed by someone else? And would it be quick and painless, or slow and drawn-out?

I like to think I would sacrifice myself to save another person, people or a way of life. But until the situation arises, I can't be sure enough of my courage to make a definite choice.

I would die for an undying legacy.

I would kill myself if I knew that it wouldn't be the end.

There are people and concepts I'd risk my life for, but if I was guaranteed to die? I don't know that I could do it for any reason, unless my life was already not worth living.

I'd do it for the ladies.

Or what Tsutaku said. He pretty much managed to nail my opinion on the matter.

I'd die for something else if I knew what was after death and approved of it. There has to be SOMETHING after that tunnel.

Otherwise, I'd leave myself a way out of the deadly situation. Except perhaps old age, that's a little harder.

Friends and family, as long as it wasn't in vain.

maestro wrote:There are people and concepts I'd risk my life for, but if I was guaranteed to die? I don't know that I could do it for any reason, unless my life was already not worth living.

Exactly what I was thinking.
If there was some hope of survival, almost always no. There are, however, some people and things I know could make a better difference in the world than myself, so I'd die for those things. But that's like one in a trillion concepts/people.

I have a enormous fear of dying, or most important, of not being here, of stop living and learning and experiencing all the good stuff that I still don't know.

Although I think like this, I've another bigger fear: Losing my parents. Would I sacrifice myself to save them? ... Don't know. Would I have the courage? Most certainly not. I'm not that great to sacrifice for anyone.

of course, no one can know what they would do until they are put in the situation, so none of this means anything

I could take the easy way out and say "something more important than me"

I think I would sacrifice my life for any purpose that would achieve more than the rest of my life. Now, that's assuming me being completely selfless, which I know wouldn't happen. It would have to be something very significant.

Id sacrifice my life in a period of zealous religious fervor, personally. Preferrably involving plasma grenades :)

I'd offer my life for you.