The thing is, the trolley problem presents a very theoretical dichotomy. In real life, such dichotomies are usually false. At the very least, the underlying fac

The thing is, the trolley problem presents a very theoretical dichotomy. In real life, such dichotomies are usually false. At the very least, the underlying facts are usually less clear. Therefore, "do nothing" is a very good heuristic in practice: it gives the subject more time to try to find a third solution. So yes, not acting is in a sense a choice, but evaluating the usual presentation of the trolley problem is unsuitable for judging whether that choice is moral, or even whether it is optimal in a utilitarian sense.