Would you rather...

The scenario is that there is a 'runaway train' that is heading towards a fork in the track.
On one side of the track there are five people tied to the track.
On the other side there is only one.
Without your intervention, the train would continue along the former line, killing all five people.
You have the ability to switch the points so that the train travels along the latter line of the fork, killing only the one person.
For the sake of this argument, the following points are assumed to be true:
-You do not know any of the people tied to the tracks.
-They are all considered to be of equal importance to each other.
-The people tied to each line are unable to escape and will be killed.
-One cannot stop the train.
-You are the only person who has the ability to change the points.

what would you do?

 

I would intervene and sacrifice the one person in order to save the lives of five others.

 

With the points you gave, I'm sure a lot of people would sacrifice that one person, including myself.

 

Ditto. Tbh if i was that one person id say to sacrifice myself to save the others. Its only natural that one dies in order to save many. The lesser of two evils.

 

i forget what this type of morality is called:

the type where it is moral to choose the option that will create the more good or create the least evil is the moral option

 

"Sacrificing a few to save many"

In situations like this, the operator would choose Quantity over Quality, besides, the operator does not know the Quality of the people so Quantity determines which track the operator would go which in this case is the track with the 1 person tied.

 

My question would be.

If i were to leave the train to kill the 5 people, would i be known for the ordeal or would i be anonymous and know one know that i could have changed it.

If i was Anonymous i would kill the 5.

[I'm sadistic I know, but i have pretty much no remorse for anything I do.]

 

Utilitarianism.

I would choose wouldn't be able to choose. My justification:

Had I not been there, the 5 people would've died anyway.

 

I wouldn't do anything.
If you switched the tracks, one can say you would be killing someone.

 

Moved to general discussion, this is not debatable.

 

I wouldn't do anything, since I don't have the right to decide about the one person's life.

 

I'd Have a poo and then play runescape.. They have no inportance to me, But at least they can be in heaven together.. also How would this even happen

 

I'd throw myself in front of the track leading to the one person, and die with him/her <3

 

Kill the 5 people, I'm about to start a genocide so less population the better.

 

I will try to pull the trigger right away when the train comes to the two separate lines and try to derail the train. So no-one dies.(If there aren't any passengers).

If there are people in the train they I'll pass by and whistle like nothing is happening and pretend that I do not know that the train is a run-away.

 

1 mourning family is alot better then 5 ..

 

The real question: Are any of them women, and how good looking are they?

 

I would walk away
I wouldn't want the power to choose a person's fate on split timing without any reasons. better let nature take it's course..

 

Hard decision, obviously. I went back and forth a couple times. I think I finally decided that I would change the points, killing the one.

My problem with changing it in the first place was that you're essentially killing one person.

However, if you choose not to change it, then by knowing that the track is heading towards the five people...you can be considered to be killing 5.

Lack of action should not be a scapegoat; by knowing the track is on the rails then your decision either way would be seen as killing in a sense and saving in another sense. Since all their lives are equal, then by choosing the one person to kill, you are essentially saving five. Whereas in the other manner, if you choose the five people to kill, you are only saving one.

 

If they were all good looking chicks, then I would rescue the group of 5. If not, I would ask them who can pay me the most to save them.

Otherwise, I'd probably save the 5 or else I would get a shit load crap from the press etc for only saving 1 person rather than 5.