An age-old dilemna: You are now in charge of a trolley

[Brackets]

I definitely wouldn't do anything. If I did, one person would die instead of 5, but then I would be directly responsible for that one person's death, and who am I to decide who should live and who should die?

It would be like if when I'm a doctor, killing one ill patient in order to harvest their organs and save at least 5 other patients - although that would save more people, it's not my decision to make to actively kill someone.

 

[Eldin]

my god how fat is this guy that he can stop a trolley?

but in all seriousness, if you didn't write this story with so many loopholes (you didn't say they were tied up or anything, what's stopping them from getting out of the way?), then yes logically I would say sacrifice the one to save the many. but in real life if this insane situation actually occurred obviously I am not a heartless murderer and probably couldn't bring myself to throw a guy in front of a trolley.

also, the fat guy could obviously overpower me, I mean he's not just going to stand there and let me push him off a bridge, he's probably going to fight back. and if he's massive enough to stop a speeding trolley then I probably don't have enough strength to push him off anyways.

if there was enough time maybe I could convince him to jump and sacrifice himself. like, "listen man you've got to save those people, you'll be a hero!". then he agrees and gets an article in the paper.

OR I push him (with a bulldozer I happen to have handy) and then use that as an excuse to get away with the murder. tell the cops he jumped to save them, then I get off scot-free and he gets remembered as a hero!

there's just so many ways this thing could go

 

[oath2order]

I definitely wouldn't do anything. If I did, one person would die instead of 5, but then I would be directly responsible for that one person's death, and who am I to decide who should live and who should die?

It would be like if when I'm a doctor, killing one ill patient in order to harvest their organs and save at least 5 other patients - although that would save more people, it's not my decision to make to actively kill someone.

So you'll let everybody die okay

 

[KarlaKGB]

So you'll let everybody die okay

its not quite as simple as that, for many, standing by and doing nothing while ppl die is more palatable than actively taking a life to save others, especially if there are no "good or bad" guys.

altho shes also a medical student, and unless im wrong, theres nothing in the hippocratic oath that forbids u from doing nothing, but actively doing harm is a nono

 

[Brackets]

So you'll let everybody die okay

Umm no? As a doctor, we're supposed to take care of EVERY patient to the best of our abilities. That does NOT involve actively letting one patient die just so that others can live. Would you prefer a doctor to kill, I don't know, your mum/dad so that that they could save a few others?
And just like with the fat man, I wouldn't actively make him die to save others. I'd probably feel guilty either way but at least if i DONT push the fat man then it would be the same outcome as it would if I hadn't been there, if that makes sense.

 

[oath2order]

Killing my parents vs killing a stranger is incomparable Annachie

 

[Brackets]

Killing my parents vs killing a stranger is incomparable Annachie

I said a DOCTOR killing your parents. I'm just making the point that although it seems better to save more lives, actively killing someone is worse because it's not someone's choice to decide who gets to live or die - the one person being killed is still a person, someone's son, someone's father, so it would be wrong to kill them

 

[oath2order]

A doctor killing my parents vs a doctor killing a stranger is not comparable Annachie.

 

[Brackets]

A doctor killing my parents vs a doctor killing a stranger is not comparable Annachie.

now you're just being difficult. I was just trying to have a discussion but never mind.

 

[Eldin]

A doctor killing my parents vs a doctor killing a stranger is not comparable Annachie.

to a doctor your parents ARE strangers

how is that not comparable?

 

[Brackets]

to a doctor your parents ARE strangers

how is that not comparable?

exactly - I was just trying to make the point that although people are strangers to YOU they aren't strangers to someone else

 

[Amissapanda]

...Trouble with the trolley, eh?

Sorry, I had to.

 

[hulaburger]

plottwist theyre all dumb deaf and blind and also genderfluid

check ur trolley privilege

- - - Post Merge - - -

my real dilemma here: WTF is a trolley

 

[KarlaKGB]

check ur trolley privilege

- - - Post Merge - - -

my real dilemma here: WTF is a trolley

my interpretation is a shopping cart

 

[Beleated_Media]

That's all I would say

 

[Tao]

my interpretation is a shopping cart

Same...I'm really confused to how it's a danger to anybody...

 

[MozzarellaSticks]

How fat is this man that he can stop a trolley? Because odds are he has gotten so big he exploded first.

 

[Mango]

id let the people standing in front of the trolley die

 

[hulaburger]

why does he have to be fat tho

 

[tamagotchi]

"get out of the ****ING WAY YOU *****"