Survival of the fittest?

In class this week we did an activity based on a true event. A bunch of students went in the front of the room & stood in a "boat" that was tapped on the floor. When our teacher told them they needed to kick out 7 people it was a hard choice, because who are you to tell someone they were not able to stay on the boat & would most likely die if they were sent over board? The majority of the people that got kicked out were people who were old, had no training in medicine or sailing, or suffered from a health condition.

But I found this a little weird... maybe it is because of my background or maybe I just think differently. Why would you kick off the people who were the weakest? Maybe they had the mindset of "only the strong will survive" or maybe they were only thinking of themselves, but I thought for sure that the weak should stay on the boat & the strong would be kicked off. They do have a way stronger chance of survival then an old couple, or an army vet. who had only one leg.

Maybe your culture looks at survival differently. Some would find it better to save the old because they would not be able to fend for themselves, maybe the young because they are the future, maybe the women because well they are women, maybe the smarter people because education is important, or maybe the strong because they earned it

If you were in this situation... what would you do?