Daily dilemma:
You are a switchman in this example There is a runaway trolley barreling down the railway tracks. Ahead, on the tracks, there are five people tied up and unable to move. The trolley is headed straight for them. You are standing some distance off in the train yard, next to a lever. If you pull this lever, the trolley will switch to a different set of tracks. However, your kid is tied down to this second set of tracks. What will you do? (For this one, feel free to choose either one of the two generic options, or get creative within reason)

It's been told and retold, with different variations, jokes, and ideas built on top of it. It's a great question in my opinion, it really does show where one's heart and ideas lie. Would you sacrifice the lives of strangers to save those you love? Or would you value the lives of these innocent people, with their own loved ones and stories ahead?

In reality, I don't think I've ever answered it for myself, but right now, for the sake of the question, I would go with saving my child. If I were a parent faced with this problem, hit in the heat of the moment with no time to think, derailing the track to kill the five in order to save my child would be my first instinct.

"Getting creative within reason" is very interesting. Obviously, people have tried to find loopholes in the original question—untying your child and setting the path that way, jumping in front of the train, stopping the trolley altogether. I don't have anything to add here, but I'm interested to see what others might come up with, and what dictates 'out of reason'.

— I hope this helps. Have a stellar day

lunical21 lunical21 · Answer 2 · 2021-03-02T17:15:28+01:00

Answer:

Assuming that the train could stop once done, I'd try and sacrifice myself. I would never be able to risk 5 innocent lives in return for my kid, nor would I want to lose my kid so five people could live. So, at the expense of my child's happiness, I'd jump in front of the train so all 6 people could be saved.

If the train can't be stopped, I'm sure it would be any parent's instinct to save their child. Five lives compared to a kid might seem like the easiest decision to make in the world. But as someone who's really indecisive and would never want to be in a scenario like this, the blood would be on my hands either way. I'd never be able to get over my kid dying and would want to save them, but I'd have to realize that those five people probably have their own family too, and I don't want to be responsible for hurting them like that. I also don't know how old they are, so some could be 80, some could be 5, or there could be whole range of ages, all of them having a whole life ahead of them.

But in all honesty, I'd probably save my kid. The love I'd have towards my own child would be nothing compared to that of five strangers, no matter now much of a "good" person I am. My choice may linger in the back of my mind for the rest of my life, but at least I'd have my kid with me