[Read the First Post in FULL before voting] Morality Questions

[PrivateJson]

As I'm not God (not sure he exists), I don't feel I should choose who dies and who survives!

So I've chosen the answers where nobody get's killed, and when the result of option 1 killed X and option 2 killed Y, I picked the "do nothing" option.

[[R-COM]TheScot666]

I chose to save the many, save the fat man, save the young man. Why, because to save the many and let the few live, i choose everytime. I would save the fat man and young man, because in the end, could you look yourself in the face, knowing you cut out every organ in a blokes body, and killed a fat man by throwing him in front of a train? I couldn't. Personally i would staty the hell awawy from that goddamn train station!

[Raniak]

I did not interact with any of the switches. Or throw the fat man. Or steal the organs.

I mean, if I was working for the train company and it was my job to do it, I would have done it but I'm not working for a train company and I honestly don't care for those people.



An interesting question would have been something along the lines of:

"A train with your your parents* is going to crash in the water because a bridge is destroyed. Another train with 50 passengers is on the other rail and is going to be safe but you can press a switch to change the directions of both trains to make it that the doomed train survive and the populated train crash"

*could be either your parents, your wife, your dog or your favorite object depending on the question.

[TheOldDog]

In the movie Alive! there is a monologue that goes, more or less, 'Many people came up to me to say that had they been there they surely would have died. To me that makes no sense, until your actually in a situation like that you have no idea how it will play.' I think your poll is in that category, so I did not take it.

[Defiyur]

I think this poll is a little ridiculous and unrealistic in the assumptions it makes about choices available during fictitious events and their speculated outcome. Also a fat man would likely not stop or derail a train.

Originally Posted by SethLive!

I believe morality is a personal decision. It is the job of the fat man to jump, and it is the job of the healthy man to give his life to save the others.

I would let the fat man decide whether to give his life for others.

I would inform the healthy man of the situation, and let him make the call.

If i push the man, or murder the man and harvest his organs, then i am making moral decisions for another man, and disregarding his right to think and refusing his right to determine his own morality.

I agree. I think where this scenario poll has problems is that a 3rd party is making choices for others in times of crisis but that crisis is not so realistic and actually very absurd so "owning" that situation is also absurd to even attempt. If it was a RL scenario it would be a much better poll. Also the morality is all put on one person rather than shared such as (why no warning system/poor/negligent train maintenance? etc etc). It'd be much better for real examples instead of hypothetical ones.

[[R-DEV]Masaq]

... Good grief.

Of course it's a hypothetical scenario and of course you can't say precisely what you'd do in those situations... but that's not what it's looking at.


The questions aren't designed to find out exactly what each person would do, that's not the important bit. The important bit is the explainations; the reasons people give for their choices. No matter were the situation real, no matter if they actually behaved in the way they said they would, the fundemental underlying belief is the interesting bit.

[Brummy]

1. Throw Switch - Save the 20 people
2. Throw Switch - It'll probably be a hard choice, but I'd stop the train.
3. Drop Rock - Same as the first actually.
4. Leave the man - I am not going to push a man in front of a train on purpose. I'd rather jump before it myself with something else or something, no way pushing that man though.
5. Leave man - I'd ask him, if he says no, I'll look for other possibilities.

[Outlawz]

I LOL'd at number four.

I'd push the fat man down but I doubt any obese human has enough mass to stop a train probably weighing 40 tons and going downhill at high speed.

At number 5 I somehow decided to leave the young man alone, don't know why.

[SiN|ScarFace]

Originally Posted by [R-MOD]Brummy

1. Throw Switch - Save the 20 people
2. Throw Switch - It'll probably be a hard choice, but I'd stop the train.
3. Drop Rock - Same as the first actually.
4. Leave the man - I am not going to push a man in front of a train on purpose. I'd rather jump before it myself with something else or something, no way pushing that man though.
5. Leave man - I'd ask him, if he says no, I'll look for other possibilities.

You can step in and kill 6 people but not 7 (by pushing the fat man)? That indicates you wouldn't be able to touch him and kill him but pulling a switch and killing 6 people is easier.

Similar to modern war, press button kill people, easy. I pressed the button and the digital weapon did the deed.

[Defiyur]

Originally Posted by [R-MOD]Masaq

... Good grief.

Of course it's a hypothetical scenario and of course you can't say precisely what you'd do in those situations... but that's not what it's looking at.


The questions aren't designed to find out exactly what each person would do, that's not the important bit. The important bit is the explainations; the reasons people give for their choices. No matter were the situation real, no matter if they actually behaved in the way they said they would, the fundemental underlying belief is the interesting bit.

I get what you are saying but a RL example would be alot more accurate way to judge what people would do and why. I think it's forcing people into a corner to make choices based on hypothetical absurd events and speculation. If you want to know what RL reasons people give for their actions give them a RL event to decide on IMO.