In recent years researchers have been undertaking more and more studies about the decisions humans make when it comes to moral dilemmas.
Most studies show that there are differences in the choices men and women make. One study even asked the question if respondents would go back in time to kill Hitler.
The studies found that when responding to moral dilemmas like this people go through complex thought processes in order to come to a decision. Considerations include social acceptance, positives and negatives, benefits and consequences.
It would seem everyone has different standards, with some willing to cheat at an exam or during a game because they think it is doesn’t have any real negative effects.
When looking at the difference between how men and women make a moral decision, women are more inclined to weigh up the right and wrong of the dilemma without considering the consequence. However, men and women were pretty much equal when making a moral decision based on whether its consequences are right or wrong.
The researchers say that the results show women experience equal levels of both the right and wrong of the action and its consequences, so that means they are using both their emotions and reasoning to make moral decisions. But this also means that it is more difficult for them to make moral choices.
The researchers are hoping to conduct further studies to see if this also applies to day to day decision making at work and at home, not just moral dilemmas.
When it comes to killing Hitler, there were more than 25 attempts on his life, all made by men. There were four attempts on his life prior to 1933 when the Nazis gained power in Germany. Once they were in power, the first attempt was in 1934 by Beppo Römer.
Beppo was a member of the Communist Party of Germany and fought against the Nazis, including making his assassination attempt on Hitler. He was arrested and held prisoner at the Nazi’s Dachau concentration camp for five years. Surprisingly he was then released, but re-arrested in 1942 for being involved in more Hitler assassination attempts. Beppo was then sentenced to death and executed in 1944, the IBT Pulse reports.
The last assassination attempt on Hitler’s life was by Claus von Stauffenberg in 1944. The plan was known as Operation Valkyrie, and was brought to the big screen and TV in various adaptations over the years, but most recently in the 2008 Hollywood movie ‘Valkyrie’ starring Tom Cruise as Stauffenberg.