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Has anyone considered the first option? I.e. not actually touching the lever. At least, in the human example of the problem, and not the one related to autonomo
by zo1 12y ago
Has anyone considered the first option? I.e. not actually touching the lever. At least, in the human example of the problem, and not the one related to autonomous vehicles. If so, what do you think of it?
I'm of the opinion that touching the lever would make you liable for the death/harm of the single individual. Sure, you "saved" 5 people and prevented them from coming to harm. But you knowingly decided to harm someone completely innocent in all of this. In my book, that's as good as letting go of the trolley in the first place. i.e. It's no longer an accident, but rather a deliberate (and arguably malicious) act.
- cjbprime 12y agoThe Wikipedia article says that 90% choose to touch the lever, and 10% choose the first option. But people are more in agreement with you than it seems, because changing the formulation to the (ridiculously impossible) "fat man" version of the thought experiment causes most people to change their mind, even though the morally salient features of the experiment (choosing to kill one innocent person in order to save five innocent people) have not changed.
- eloisant 12y agoThis is precisely what the "trolley problem" aims to highlight, and why the question is interesting rather than just being answered "obviously you'll choose one death rather than five" by everyone.