Trolley problem. Just that.

[BB_Tensei]

I looked around to see if this had previously been discussed on the forums. I couldn't find a thread that showed it, so I thought I'd make it. Serious answer only, although feel free to go haywire in the replies.

I don't think I need to explain it, but just in case:

Before you stand two train tracks, running side by side.​

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The first track has five people, all upon it tied.​

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The second track- only one- similarly bound.​

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In the distance, a chugging; the train starts to sound.​

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Your hands rest on a lever, the six start to cry;​

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Pull it, and kill the one, or let the five die?​

I'd say no trolley, no problem! Same goes for people.

 

[Generic.Archdemon]

 

[MatchaChocolate69]

Without further information, the logical choice is to save the five and kill the one.
But the moral dilemma is that by pulling the lever, you choose to kill, becoming a murderer. Not pulling the lever means you're abstaining from the decision, somewhat like Pontius Pilate. For Dante, you would be an "Ignavo" condemned to Limbo, despised by both Hell and Heaven. However, ethically, you're not committing murder.

It depend who are the one alone on the train. If it's someone I'm close to, you can add 50 people on the other I will still let them die and save the one.

Knowing that the one is someone dear to me, I would definitely save the person dear to me at the expense of all the others.



There's a Korean drama on Netflix based on this concept. I don't fully recommend it because it's a bit heavy, but it's well-acted. I'd give it a 6/10.

 

[Voidiris]

Knowing that the one is someone dear to me, I would definitely save the person dear to me at the expense of all the others.

Based.

 

[beast_regards]

Before you stand three train tracks, running side by side.

The first track has five people, all upon it tied.

The second track there is a technocratic corporate bureaucrat who made up this problem.

The third track is empty.

In the distance, a chugging; the train starts to sound.

Your hands rest on a lever, the six start to cry;

Would you send the train to the empty track so this situation could repeat itself endlessly for the sake of the development of Amazon-Google driving cars you wouldn't even be able to afford? Or would you make the corporate technocrat happy by killing five innocent people for a new algorithm to feed? Or would be sacrifice the corporate technocrat so this situation would never repeat?

 

[Generic.Archdemon]

@Prince_Azmiran_Myrian

 

[Generic.Archdemon]

 

[LuoirM]

People let the trolley problem squay them because of the follow up question and their immediate thought was to collerate the two instances while in most of standard and aceptable moral conduct, we would just like to try and do what's best in our view in that perticular instance by "profits" and "ethics"

I'll pull.

 

[Generic.Archdemon]

 

[LuoirM]

Legally, I could claim that I was trying to derail the trolley if the police starts talking too much

 

[Generic.Archdemon]

 

[Generic.Archdemon]

 

[Woolen_Bat_Monkey]

So many choices ‍

 

[Generic.Archdemon]

 

[TransCatGirl]

This is a boring trolly problem.


THERE IS A CIRCULAR TRACK.

On the track is a trolly. It is powered by electricity. It will never run out of power. It goes around and around. You have a switch. If you flip the switch, the trolly comes to a stop, then reverses direction. If you keep flipping it constantly, you can basically keep it still. If you stop, it takes about three minutes to complete a circle.

They chain a five year old girl on the tracks.
They lock you in a room with the switch and a window that lets you look right at the girl.
At best, you can time it so you can wait two minutes 59 seconds before flipping the switch, or she dies at 3 minutes.

They will not let you out until the girl is dead.
No Food. No water. No breaks.

So. What do you do?

Button smash, hit the button as many times as possible in as short a time as possible. two reasons
1. my only hope of saving the girl is a mechanical failure in the train and constantly switching directions is my only shot
2. It's set up so I lose, this will be less traumatic than not pressing the button at all and presumably it would still kill her but I hopefully won't feel the same guilt.

 

[TheMonotonePuppet]

Isn't this necroing a thread? It is literally 6 days until it meets the rule of 3 months, so it is close enough, no?

 

[TsumiHokiro]

Isn't this necroing a thread? It is literally 6 days until it meets the rule of 3 months, so it is close enough, no?

6 days. Strictly speaking, it's not necroing. More flexible thinking, it's necroing.

 

[Generic.Archdemon]

It is literally 6 days until it meets the rule of 3 months, so it is close enough, no?

That's a lot of words, but from what I understand I did not necro a thread because there is still 6 days. Which is almost 7, and 7 is a week.
A week is almost 1/4 of a month.
In other words it's still quarters of months before I broke any rules.

 

[TheMonotonePuppet]

That's a lot of words, but from what I understand I did not necro a thread because there is still 6 days. Which is almost 7, and 7 is a week.
A week is almost 1/4 of a month.
In other words it's still quarters of months before I broke any rules.

*shrugs* It looks like a fun thread anyway. Glad you resurrected it before it was dead.

 

[TheEldritchGod]

Button smash, hit the button as many times as possible in as short a time as possible. two reasons
1. my only hope of saving the girl is a mechanical failure in the train and constantly switching directions is my only shot
2. It's set up so I lose, this will be less traumatic than not pressing the button at all and presumably it would still kill her but I hopefully won't feel the same guilt.

And thus we come to the problem with trolley problems. Reality rarely is binary. Everything has flaws, everything is subject to entropy, there is always a chance for a miracle.

You can never truly get an answer to the question, because its not the answer that matters. Are you a fatalistic who gives up, or are you someone who spends every moment looking for flaws in the system to exploit.

In my case, you'd be surprised how long I can stay awake, and if you gave me a lever, you gave me metal. I'm sure I can remove the lever and find a way to keep flipping it.

Then in-between flips, I'm scraping that window. I used to make stain glass windows with my father. I know how little of a flaw it takes to break glass, even layered safety glass.

I got at least 40 hours to carve a groove and break that window.