It's series of ethical dilemmas which got me thinking.
This is the initial problem.
A trolley is running out of control down a track. In its path are 5 people who have been tied to the track by a mad philosopher. Fortunately, you can flip a switch which will lead the trolley down a different track to safety. Unfortunately, there is a single person tied to that track. Should you flip the switch?
Beyond the initial problem are various variations on it that may change your original answers due to small and large alterations.
Fat Man:
As before, a trolley is hurtling down a track towards five people. You are on a bridge under which it will pass, and you can stop it by dropping a heavy weight in front of it. As it happens, there is a very fat man next to you - your only way to stop the trolley is to push him over the bridge and onto the track, killing him to save five. Should you proceed?
Loop:
As before, a trolley is hurtling down a track towards five people. As in the first case, you can divert it onto a separate track. On this track is a single person. However, beyond that person, this track loops back onto the main line towards the five, and if it weren't for the presence of that person, who will stop the trolley, flipping the switch would not save the five. Should you flip the switch?
Transplant:
A brilliant transplant surgeon has five patients, each in need of a different organ, each of whom will die without that organ. Unfortunately, there are no organs available to perform any of these five transplant operations. A healthy young traveler, just passing through the city the doctor works in, comes in for a routine checkup. In the course of doing the checkup, the doctor discovers that his organs are compatible with all five of his dying patients. Suppose further that if the young man were to disappear, no one would suspect the doctor.
Sleeping Man:
As before, a trolley is hurtling down a track towards five people. You can divert its path by colliding another trolley into it, but if you do, both will be derailed and go down a hill, across a road, and into a man's yard. The owner, sleeping in his hammock, will be killed. Should you proceed?
The Guilty Men:
"What happens if, on the tracks of one trolley, five men guilty of murder are tied, and on the other, one man is innocent. Should you choose to save the one man, simply because he has committed no crime?"
The President/Your Mother:
"What happens if, on one of the trolley tracks, the President of the United States has been tied by terrorists, and on the other trolley tracks, five average citizens are also tied up. As in the original trolley problem, who should you save?"
"What if the trolley is headed towards five average people you've never met but on the other tracks is your mother?" "Do you flip the switch and save five or save your mother?"
The Ultimate Sacrifice:
As before, a trolley is hurtling down a track towards five helpless people. This time, however, you are on board the trolley yourself. There is a large explosive device on the trolley with you. Detonating it would utterly obliterate the trolley, saving the five people, but killing you. Or you could escape from the trolley, killing the five people, but saving your own life. Should you detonate the device?
What do you think?
I'd love to see another little game like Execution but based around The Trolley Problem, with some sort of online counter which showed player's reactions and choices.
You know in Bioshock where you had to decide whether or not to kill the little girl? I think this is what they were going for. _________________
Only if you know what you're looking for in the registry, but that's not the point of the game. It's to present you with a choice which at first seems like any other video game choice but then you realize it has permanent consequences and that guy is permanently dead. _________________
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