Morals/Ethics...

[Guest]

I can't see the poll.
But this is too hard to answer. Id want to save those lives but not kill anyone, killing the one would be my doing and not saving the 5 when I could of is still my doing! Arghh there is no answer! Both are as bad as each other so I guess save the 5 in both scenarios.

Now having my mother as the 1 to be killed to save the 5? No, the first one I use logic, the 2nd I use emotions, my emotions would trump logic in that instance.

[MrJones&Me]

O.M.G. a bit of googling & it's reminding me of the movie 'the box'

[Guest1234]

Being in the situations, wouldn't you be morally obligated to act? So by not acting, you would be acting immorally.
By acting you are being responsible for another's life.
It's hard to say, can't win with either situation, really. You're damned if you do, damned if you don't.

[MothersMilk]

I'd appreciate a link on this later too - i tried to google but it just kept diverting to trollyology, the study of contents in peoples shopping carts.

[Hootenanny]

If it were my mother I don't think I would flick the switch to her to save 5 others, if it was heading for her and I could flick it to miss her but get 5 others, I don't know, that would be hard, put under pressure I would probably do it, maybe.

[Ash93]

I wouldnt do anything because my choice would kill someone which would be murder. And how am I to know that that 1 guy isnt a regular blood donor/ donates to charities ect and all of the other 5 are criminal murderers or rapists or that they by sone weird chance all have cancer & are going to die anyway. Hope this sorta makes sense.

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[SassyMummy]

See, I wouldn't view myself as responsible AT ALL if I did nothing. I would be a bystander... a bystander that would have to watch SOMEONE die because of something that had nothing to do with me - a dodgy tram is not caused because of me as I have nothing to do with trams, tram-maintenance or tram-driving.

Doing nothing would make me guilty of doing nothing... which I am fine with. Doing something would make me directly responsible for the one worker on the tram line being killed. Doing nothing it would just be left up to fate... but my intervention means that the one worker will die because of my actions. I am much more comfortable with just letting it play out without my involvement, even if more lives are lost as a result.

Of course if there was a FREE line, I would flick the switch... but I don't think those 5 workers are more deserving of life just because 5 of them are hanging out on the one line.

[sweetseven]

Okay, I'm going to take the action/inaction problem out of the equation - well worsen it really.

There is a ferris wheel that has stopped with two carriages on the opposite sides of the wheel. There was an earthquake and a crater opened up next to it. It is teetering and will fall into the crater soon. You are in the control booth and can turn it one way or the other. You can direct one carriage to go to the ground to let the passenger(s) off and the other will be moved to the top of the ferris wheel high up in the air. There is not enough time to do the full circle and get both carriages down. One carriage contains one person the other contains five. Your options are:

a) do nothing and allow it to fall into the crater with both carriages killing all six passengers, or
b) turn the handle to the left to bring the carriage with one passenger to the ground and lift the other carriage with five passengers higher into the air, or
c) turn the handle to the right to bring the carriage with five passengers to the ground and lift the carriage with one passenger into the air.

[Mum2EandR]

Tough, I'd just turn the handle in the direction it was already going I think..... My shock would take over and I'd just do the automatic!

[MothersMilk]

I wonder if the choice would easier if we had a brief history of the people involved or knew something about them - like if the 5 were wearing prison uniforms and the 1 wasn't would that make it easier to not flick the switch (justifying it as the 5 are criminals so less worthy of living). What if we knew the 1 person was a very up-standing citizen who was involved in important work saving children's lives or whatever - would we then be more likely to let the 5 die instead?
There are so many ways you can twist the questions and really it still seems impossible to answer - who knows how we would really react if in that situation. I guess most would go into shock and do nothing..