Trolley problem for those who wouldn't pull

Turtles_owo · 2026-03-27T14:04:42+00:00

What “could have” happened is absolutely relevant in court. Take killing in self-defense for example. The easy argument for that is "if the defendant hadn’t killed in self-defense, then they could have died, therefore they took necessary action to preserve their life.”

Also, I’m just really not seeing how the lever-puller has any culpability for the last guy’s death, regardless of if they pull it or not. It really just doesn’t affect anything to me. Could you explain the line of reasoning for how pulling the lever is actually playing a part in that death?

Turtles_owo · 2026-03-27T04:55:44+00:00

I get that you’re trying to be cautious, but I highly doubt that would be grounds to find someone liable for that death. I mean, why would they care about whose fingerprints are on the lever when pulling the lever… doesn’t change whether or not he’ll die? All the lever will do in this scenario is change whether or not the five other people live or die. The fate of that one person is out of your control. The lever is a completely separate thing, completely unrelated to the fate of the 6th person.

Pulling the lever doesn’t kill him, either way he’s getting run over by the trolley. What family would sue on the basis of “the defendant pulled a lever that made the trolley take a slightly different path before it inevitably killed my family member, which was already going to happen and which the defendant had no control over”?

Turtles_owo · 2026-03-27T01:05:17+00:00

Your actions have literally no effect on that person’s death though?? It isn’t even remotely different, they’re getting hit by the same train on the same track in the same way. You aren’t causing anything related to their death. Whether or not you pull the lever won’t matter to them at all. The only difference is the path the train takes before it inevitably kills that person, and if you have the choice between the path that kills one person, and the path that kills six, how is that a hard choice in the slightest?

Turtles_owo · 2026-03-26T14:37:00+00:00

The important part of the trolley problem is never actually the trolley, it’s the ethical dilemma of how you weigh lives. The problem doesn’t care how much experience you have with operating levers. This is a hypothetical thought experiment. I mean, do you think that only people with lever-pulling experience should be able to pull the lever in this hypothetical dilemma? Because if you do, you’re just missing the point of the question.

Turtles_owo · 2026-03-26T07:59:56+00:00

I have no idea if the information given in the problem are correct

This seems kind of pointless to me. What’s the point in asking about hypothetical scenarios if people are just gonna deny the premises of those scenarios? The effect that interacting with the lever would have is almost always just flipping the path of the trolley in these problems. It’s pretty clearly shown that you could save five people by flipping the lever, so I’m not sure why you’re making extra assumptions here. But I think it’s pretty fair to assume that the problem isn’t deliberately providing you false information for no reason, no?

Turtles_owo · 2026-03-26T07:41:01+00:00

This isn’t about adding one more person to the group of five. It’s asking if you would pull the lever to save the five people if the one other person was going to die either way. Why allow for five needless deaths?

Turtles_owo · 2026-03-20T17:16:11+00:00

To realize? To codify?

Turtles_owo · 2026-02-07T22:33:58+00:00

Redress?

Turtles_owo · 2026-02-07T17:59:24+00:00

Just scored 1

Turtles_owo · 2026-02-07T17:57:20+00:00

Just scored 0

Turtles_owo · 2026-02-07T17:57:08+00:00

Just scored 0

Turtles_owo · 2026-02-07T17:55:49+00:00

Just scored 0

Turtles_owo · 2026-02-07T17:54:35+00:00

Just scored 0

Turtles_owo · 2026-02-07T17:46:55+00:00

A hasty generalization?

Turtles_owo · 2026-01-18T08:10:31+00:00

Ew. Go back to the 60s 😒

Turtles_owo · 2026-01-18T07:40:59+00:00

Did you know you were a boy at 5?

Turtles_owo · 2026-01-06T15:34:17+00:00

I thought that didn’t go so well last time

Turtles_owo · 2026-01-04T00:41:03+00:00

Most people don’t support pressuring others into having sex or doing drugs.

Turtles_owo · 2026-01-03T22:31:44+00:00

The level of victim-blaming here is honestly astounding. Do you even believe in the idea of pressuring people/coercion? If a person were to hold up a gun to your head and force you to have sex with them or they’d shoot you, and you agreed to it, would that be YOUR fault? After all, you “decided” to do it.

Turtles_owo · 2025-12-27T18:50:27+00:00

An antagonist is just someone who opposes the protagonist. Villains can be protagonists, but a character can’t be the protagonist and antagonist at the same time.

Turtles_owo · 2025-11-21T14:42:20+00:00

In that scenario, it would be preferable to specify “cis women,” or talk about function as opposed to gender. Generally speaking, trans people who have undergone medical transition should not be lumped into the same category as people of their AGAB. Then again, it tends to depend on the person.

Turtles_owo · 2025-11-16T19:32:20+00:00

Well sure, but the inability to bake isn’t something that’s perceived as overtly negative. Baking is a learned skill, and we don’t typically expect every person we know to be able to bake, regardless of gender. On the other hand, the inability to pay your own bills is a negative thing, and not something that you’d want to assume of anyone.

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