The Trolley Dilemma

• By: Bob Mutascio
• On: 09/27/2021 23:23:23
• In: General
• Comments: 0

The classic Trolley dilemma (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolley_problem) poses the following moral question. Five people are tied to one track and one person is tied to another track. You control a switch that changes the track. The issue is, do you do nothing, and five people die, or do something, and cause that one person to die. (I particularly love the way they looked at this problem on the show The Good Place.)

But, that sees the world only in a binary context, and we all know that life is not like that, only yes or no, good or evil, right or wrong, etc. There are always shades of grey.

So, the outside-the-box solution is to wait for the front wheels of the trolley to pass the switch, then pull the switch and throw the rear wheels down the other track. All 6 people are saved, the trolley derails, and the deranged conductor is either dead or injured.

But there's even a more fiendishly clever option. As soon as the front wheels cross the switched rail, throw your switch only halfway. The rear wheels get jammed into the center of the rails, stopping it (trolleys don't move all that fast.) Or at the very least, the rear wheels would also jump the track and derail the trolley, saving all six people, the trolley car, and allowing the Snidely Whiplash-like conductor to be arrested. BONUS: You're a hero!