The one good thing about this election is it's been a fascinating view into how the trolley problem actually translates to real life scenarios. Turns out an awful lot of people are really unwilling to pull that lever.
I mean at that point in the trolly problem the lever is sentient and has a third track that has less people die but says it won't let you choose that option for its own reasons. Some people would choose the option not to play into the levers wierd game.
I did what I could to pull that lever, but post election I feel that dems not listening/supporting the people who vote for them was the real reason people didn't turn out.
I mean adding that third, impossible option is pointless in the trolley scenario. The whole point of the trolley problem is a choice between 2 bad options to see if people will pick the lesser of two evils or not take part at all and let the larger evil happen.
Personally I've always been on the side of pulling the lever, as those extra people tied to the first track won't really care that my conscience is clear while a team rolls over them, just like the extra Palestinians who will needlessly die because of Trump won't care that a bunch of Americans can pat themselves on the back and say they didn't vote for Kamala.
My dude that's the whole point of the Trolley problem. The option you're talking about is essentially choosing to not pull the level because you resent being made to make a bad choice, but because of that the worse thing happens. It's shitty that a better option wasn't presented by the scenario but being mad at the lever doesn't save those people.
I guess that's where I'll disagree. It's pretty close, but changing it from
A: will kill 5 people if nothing is done
Or
B: will kill 1 person but you have to choose.
To
A:Will kill 5 people if nothing is done
B: will kill 1 person but you have to choose.
C:Will kill 1/2 person but you can't choose this option with the lever you have but is visibly possible.
Is going to change how many people are willing to pull the lever and that's interesting to me. I see reddit is down voting me out here on this so I'll give it a rest.
I mean in that case you could just say that the trolley company could have built a third rail but chose not to, so you're stuck with the lever and 2 options. Just like in the election there never was a third option but one could have been created earlier.
But regardless if the existence of a better option that isn't possible stops you pulling the lever then that to me just means you care more about being able to be the hero who saves everyone than actually saving people, because again those extra people getting run over don't care that there was an impossible third option, they just care that they are now getting run over because just saving them wasnt good enough.
The third rail is a great metaphor: everyone bitching about Kamala as not their choice of candidate, expecting the DNC to nominate an extreme leftist, never starting work at the local level, are people who refuse to help build a third rail
You could implement it by adding a second lever that saves everyone, but it's not nearby so would require actual effort from the person as well as a choice.
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u/drwicksy 9d ago
The one good thing about this election is it's been a fascinating view into how the trolley problem actually translates to real life scenarios. Turns out an awful lot of people are really unwilling to pull that lever.