GGaD » The Trolley Problem

Russet · August 9, 2024 13:36:09

I'm sure you all know of the trolley problem or at least have heard of it. But I wanna know how you would answer. A rundown:

You are standing at a lever next to the train tracks. You see a trolley hurtling towards five people tied down onto the tracks. You can pull the lever to divert the trolley, and it will move onto a different track, saving the five people. However, this new track has one person tied down to it, and if you pull the lever, you may be responsible for their death. What do you do?

GalaxianExplosion · August 9, 2024 14:18:54

Bro comes back after half a year and asks us if we'd kill 1 or 5

My true answer: I open my third eye, render the situation a dream, and exit the scenario without having to make a decision B)

-Galaxian-

Time · August 9, 2024 16:11:54

I had a whole conversation about the trolley problem and a few of it's variants in my philosophy class, it was pretty fun

Anyways I went with the basic answer and said pull the lever for now because that's what most people say. However circumstances may change depending who are the people on the tracks or how I may interact with the problem (ie instead of pulling the lever I push someone onto the tracks)

SpecterTheGreat · August 9, 2024 16:13:45

No way bro wants to push someone onto the tracks that's not a trolley problem that's murder 😭

GalaxianExplosion · August 9, 2024 16:15:27

I have to concur with Specter. Personally I think even flipping the switch counts as murder, like honestly who is thinking "5>1" when you see a trolley hurtling towards some people

-Galaxian-

Time · August 9, 2024 16:16:37

Seee look that really changes the perspective of things! I'd be less inclined to push someone onto the tracks to save the rest because of the increased personal element. Plus it involves forcing an innocent/bystander that had nothing to do with the issue into the situation. Even though techincally the 1 person tied to the tracks is also a bystander in a way, the way of how personal it is when you are the person pushing someone else gives an extra emotional tie in I feel some people wouldn't expect. Like instead of pulling the lever, you are the lever itself.

Last edited by Time (August 9, 2024 16:19:41)

SpecterTheGreat · August 9, 2024 16:18:12

GalaxianExplosion · August 9, 2024 16:18:46

GalaxianExplosion · August 9, 2024 16:19:16

Becoming less inclined to meet Timmy in real life now that I know he might push me onto the tracks to save 5 people :skull:

-Galaxian-

Time · August 9, 2024 16:23:36

It's kinda like ordering a hitman to do a killing vs pulling the trigger yourself. Despite the same result, the feeling behind it is way different.

GalaxianExplosion · August 9, 2024 16:27:05

Bro :skull:

-Galaxian-

Time · August 9, 2024 16:30:24

That one I was intentionally leaning into it, but the idea still stands: Pulling the lever vs pushing the person gets the same result, but someone may not push the person due to the method in which the result is achieved

GalaxianExplosion · August 9, 2024 16:37:14

Idk man my class generally agreed that both of things are just murder from different distances, I think your class might have some kinda problem

-Galaxian-

Time · August 9, 2024 16:50:55

Nah the point still still stands, I wasn't declaring it murder or not murder, I was just stating the possible increased feelings of emotion that someone may have when pushing someone rather than pulling a lever, which may result in them not actually taking action

GalaxianExplosion · August 9, 2024 16:58:58

Yeah, so basically how different forms of murder are associated psychologically to different sentiments, I get it :skull: like strangulation, bludgeoning, and stabbing being very personal forms of murder compared to, say, long-term neglect and abuse

-Galaxian-

AshTheAvaricious · August 9, 2024 17:52:03

flip the switch when the trolley is half-way through the split. it turns off automatically and cannot progress to harm either group. and if that doesn't work everybody's dead and nobody will know

Russet · August 9, 2024 17:57:26

GalaxianExplosion wrote:
Bro comes back after half a year and asks us if we'd kill 1 or 5

My true answer: I open my third eye, render the situation a dream, and exit the scenario without having to make a decision B)

-Galaxian-

Just curious teehee

Time · August 10, 2024 22:31:14

What would yo do Russet?

Russet · August 11, 2024 18:12:05

Time wrote:
What would yo do Russet?

If I were hypothetically in this situation I would create a poll on a message board describing my dilemma and get the users to vote on what I should hypothetically do

Time · August 11, 2024 18:50:04

Hypothetically huh?

And what would the users say? Hypothetically?

Russet · August 12, 2024 17:57:53

Time wrote:
Hypothetically huh?

And what would the users say? Hypothetically?

Well hypothetically the poll would be tied between pulling the lever and a secret third option and the users would be busy discussing how the circumstances affect one's feelings towards being responsible for someone's death

Time · August 12, 2024 19:09:17

And would this hypothetical message board lead to any conclusions or really not do too much for the hypothetical predicament?

Russet · August 12, 2024 22:09:52

Well hypothetically the trolley ran over the five people because I was too preoccupied making this hypothetical poll

Time · August 12, 2024 22:20:12

ohhh

that's pretty cool I guess?

LazyOwlViolet · August 13, 2024 10:43:08

Oh I’ve seen this before
The answer is to pull the lever at the right time to force the tram partially on both tracks and force it to stop since the wheels can’t turn that far and will get stuck

Time · August 13, 2024 14:19:03

Oh look at you and Ash trying to be smarty pants here

What if such an option was impossible to pull off? What if the stakes were the same but the issue at hand had a different context?

What would the result?

Last edited by Time (August 13, 2024 14:22:14)

Echowo · August 13, 2024 17:12:35

Why is the trolley so unsafe ): and who is responsible for putting the people on the tracks and making us be in that situation ):

Echowo · August 13, 2024 17:14:45

Echowo wrote:
Why is the trolley so unsafe ): and who is responsible for putting the people on the tracks and making us be in that situation ):

Also I feel like there's some OSHA violations going on if six people were able to be tied to a track ): this is a very hostile environment

GalaxianExplosion · August 13, 2024 18:04:32

Speaking of hostile environments, I think we should be doing a background check on who these people on the tracks actually are. 'Cause I have a list of people who actually deserve being run over by a trolley, and if the five individuals currently on the tracks don't deserve it, I can go in and replace them real quick so no lever turning is needed

-Galaxian-

SpecterTheGreat · August 13, 2024 18:59:42

The version of the trolley problem I've always heard is one person whom you really care about vs. 5 people, not the 1 random person vs. 5 random people so yeah idk I was just thinking about that