Moral thought experiment. Would you or wouldn't you...

[Cracklepop]

What's your point?

No point! I never intended the thread to have a point, it's just interesting, and the sort of thing people like to discuss.

As for our particular little offshoot here, it isn't related to the OP much at all, I was just replying to this from forrestcupp earlier: ''But pirating software is absolutely nothing like the situation you present.''
So I guess you could say my point (in this post, not the thread) is that this *is* like pirating software (although as I've pointed out, not an accurate analogy at all).

Forum threads don't make sense if you keep following slight topic changes. You have to keep grounded on the OP...

[barbedsaber]

I think the car dealer has chosen a BAD place to set up shop

that being said, IRL, I will almost always go to the smaller business, providing they deliver a comparable product to the big guys.

[t0p]

Ah but taking a free car from the lot of infinity DOES hurt the sales men. Financially sense your taking a free car instead of buying one..

It's a long time since I studied mathematics; but doesn't infinity minus 1 equal infinity?

[MasterNetra]

It's a long time since I studied mathematics; but doesn't infinity minus 1 equal infinity?

Well considering that infinity is by nature ongoing numeric processing, after all how could it not be? So minus 1 from infinity would still be infinity.

[Eqi]

1. if you could not afford a car from the car yard (now or in the near future) would you take one of the infinite cars as your own?
2. if you *could* afford a car from the yard without any *extreme* hardship (not being able to afford rent, or food, etc), would you buy from the car yard or take from the infinite cars?

1. If I can't afford it, obviously I would take one from the infinite cars yard.
2. I'd buy from the salesman if he could come up with a better offer, probably if he's willing to teach me more about the car that I'm buying so I can maintain it properly or if he has dealings with the mechanics in the area. In case I have car trouble, some reliable service would be great (lol, I'm not a mechanic).

However, if I have friends that are great with cars, there's no need for me to rely on the salesman. I'd just grab one of the infinite cars and go straight to my friends in case something goes wrong.

I'm also going to question the price of gas for these infinite cars popping up from the middle of nowhere.

[MasterNetra]

1. If I can't afford it, obviously I would take one from the infinite cars yard.
2. I'd buy from the salesman if he could come up with a better offer, probably if he's willing to teach me more about the car that I'm buying so I can maintain it properly or if he has dealings with the mechanics in the area. In case I have car trouble, some reliable service would be great (lol, I'm not a mechanic).

However, if I have friends that are great with cars, there's no need for me to rely on the salesman. I'd just grab one of the infinite cars and go straight to my friends in case something goes wrong.

I'm also going to question the price of gas for these infinite cars popping up from the middle of nowhere.

Well as mentions his cars come from the infinite car lot, he uses the infinite cars to replenish his stock.

[tgm4883]

You are on a long, straight street, which on one side has a car yard/lot selling cars to people like you. There are no competing car yards anywhere, and never will be.

On the other side of this (infinitely long) street is an infinite number of cars, owned by no-one, indistinguishable from the cars sold by the car yard, currently benefiting no-one, the removal of which cannot directly harm anyone or anything. If the car yard owner goes broke and the car yard is abandoned the supply of infinite cars will be unaffected.

The owner of the car yard is running a business, and wants you to buy a car from him. Every time he sees someone get in one of the infinite cars and drive away he gets upset, because he knows he's lost a potential customer. When he started his business there were no infinite cars across the street, and he bought cars to fill his yard. But now after a sale he replentishes his stock from the infinite cars.

The inspiration for this experiment is obvious, of course. (File sharing - movies in particular)

You have no car, but want one. The questions are:
1. if you could not afford a car from the car yard (now or in the near future) would you take one of the infinite cars as your own?
2. if you *could* afford a car from the yard without any *extreme* hardship (not being able to afford rent, or food, etc), would you buy from the car yard or take from the infinite cars?

Yes, or no?

I'll skip the part where I say this analogy doesn't work.

I'm surprised nobody has taken the stance that the car salesman is immoral for trying to sell us cars that he obtained for free (His initial cars were not free, but you did say he replenishes his stock from the free cars).

[Copper Bezel]

I did accuse him of scalping. = )

[ki4jgt]

Finding something on the street does not automatically make it yours.

But it doesn't make it the car dealer either. It only means you're paying to go to jail with him for becoming involved.

[tgm4883]

I did accuse him of scalping. = )

Sorry, I must have missed that.