Would you feel guilt from this hypothetical situation?

Question

Lets say you want to cross a busy street. The other side of the street is crowded with people walking down the street. You are at a stop light and they have a button that you can press to let the light know you are going to cross. You push the button to wait for the light to change and a bomb goes off across the street killing people. You later find out from a police officer that someone wired a bomb to the traffic light button and you caused the bomb to go off when you pushed the button.

Would you feel guilt for pushing the button? I don't mean a sense of remorse, IE a sense that what happened was horrible and you wouldn't have done it again if you knew what was going to happen. I mean actual guilt, that those people died because of you and its your fault.

Answer 1

No.  Naturally with hindsight I probably wouldn't have pushed the button - maybe.  It really depends on how busy the traffic was and how badly I wanted to get across the street.

But guilt?  No.  That's like saying that the US government should feel guilty for the fact that Iraqis are killing each other.  It's Iraqis doing it, not Americans.  Same principle here - I didn't plant that bomb.

Answer 2

Yes I would. I think I would know I had no intent to harm anyone and I would know that there was no way to know about the bomb but knowing myself the way I do I would blame myself for not seeing what was going to happen and I would beat myself up thinking about what I missed that could have clued me in.

Answer 3

no...it wasn't me

Answer 4

No because it wouldn't be my fault it would be the fault of the person that set the bomb.

Answer 5

Whew ! I'd just be glad the bomb wasn't on my side of the street.

Answer 6

No. I'd feel a lot of emotions -- sadness, anger, fear, but I wouldn't blame myself for what happened. How could I know that the traffic light was wired to a bomb?

Answer 7

I would feel used - as though I were an unwitting pawn in a horrific game.  But guilt - no.  That would presume that I knew of the potential ramifications of pushing the button, but chose to anyway...

Answer 8

People say no, because logically thinking, you shouldn't feel guilty from this situation. But humans don't always think and act logically, we are not robots, there are emotions involved as well. Most likely I would feel guilt from this situation, as would most people, unless they're sociopaths.

Answer 9

I probably would at first, out of a completely emotional reaction. But eventually I'd calm down and realize that I wasn't part of the plan, and that if it hadn't been me, it would have been someone else.

Answer 10

I think Ryde's answer was very honest!!

I'd probably feel guilty.. nothing I could have done.. I didn't know.. but you'd still have that feeling.

Answer 11

Nope I wouldn't feel a moments guilt since I had nothing to do with their deaths. The person or persons responsible for building the booby trap are solely at fault for this.

Answer 12

No. How would I have known.

Answer 13

interestingly... yes.

in all likelihood most people would feel guilt.  can't help our psychology, but it's the same for survivors of catastrophic events of all types.  we feel guilt for surviving while those around us perish.

Answer 14

absolutely! but thats just the kind of person i am, if my friend did it i would tell them not to be

Answer 15

No, because it wasn't me that did it. It wasn't me that wired the bomb and hid it there waiting for someone to use it. It could have been anyone and there is nothing to feel guilty about.