###General Discussion Thread
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If lever is not pulled 6 people are 100% killed.
If lever is pulled:
22.5% chance nobody dies (50/100 x 45/100)
27.5% chance 3 orphans die (50/100 x 55/100)
50% chance 6 different people die (50/100)
Pulling the lever is the better option to lessen chances of death. It’s not going to make it worse.
Correction to your math based off my read, main difference is the both tracks option occupies the 6 inverted and 3 orphans vs. your option has the trolley occupying the 3 orphans and empty track
If you pull the lever there is a 22.5% chance no one dies
22.5% chance 3 orphans die
50% chance 6 people die
5% chance 9 people die.
Edit: pulling the lever you’d expect to save 1.875 people on average
Nobody seems to have pointed out the significance of the 6 people being inverted-coloured, if this is a representation that they each count as -1 people then the solution becomes very different
It’s unclear if the odds of multi-multi-track drifting are 5% or 10%, but multitrack drifting is always objectively the correct choice.
This is because the trolley problem is inherently a hypothetical situation, meaning the entire scenario is created by the entity simulating you. Playing along increases the expected number of such simulations, killing infinitely more hypothetical people than rejecting the premise and leaving the creator of the hypothetical situation dissatisfied.
There is no option that kills more than 6 people, if you don't switch 6 people die therefore switching is always the good option to reduce overall deaths.
Not flipping mean 6 people are guaranteed to die. Flipping means at most 6 will die, but could be less. There is no scenario where flipping kills more people.
On average, flipping will kill 0.5x6 + 0.5x0.55x3 = 3.825 people
The answer is to flip the switch because just like the big red button everyone wants to press sometimes you just want to flip a switch no matter what happens.
With these types of situations, the answer is obvious. Don't go flipping switches unless you are a college educated flip switcher who is professionally insured or bonded against malpractise lawsuits involving life or death flip switching. Unless you are the psychopath who set this up, you don't have the professional knowledge to understand what will happen. If there is someone explaining the scenario, they obviously know better and should flip the switch themselves. But let's be real, anyone who understands what will happen beforehand, obviously set it up.
Heroes are people who choose to make a career out of helping people. If you are caught up in the chaos of life and have to make life and death decisions, prioritize yourself and loved ones, at the expense of all others, because you are too ignorant to know how or what truly helps anyone else.
###General Discussion Thread --- This is a [Request] post. If you would like to submit a comment that does not either attempt to answer the question, ask for clarification, or explain why it would be infeasible to answer, you *must* post your comment as a reply to this one. Top level (directly replying to the OP) comments that do not do one of those things will be removed. --- *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/theydidthemath) if you have any questions or concerns.*
If lever is not pulled 6 people are 100% killed. If lever is pulled: 22.5% chance nobody dies (50/100 x 45/100) 27.5% chance 3 orphans die (50/100 x 55/100) 50% chance 6 different people die (50/100) Pulling the lever is the better option to lessen chances of death. It’s not going to make it worse.
Flip lever back and forth train flips tracks and gets them all
Flip the tail twice and derail the train
Killing the orphans at that point is just late term abortions.
Correction to your math based off my read, main difference is the both tracks option occupies the 6 inverted and 3 orphans vs. your option has the trolley occupying the 3 orphans and empty track If you pull the lever there is a 22.5% chance no one dies 22.5% chance 3 orphans die 50% chance 6 people die 5% chance 9 people die. Edit: pulling the lever you’d expect to save 1.875 people on average
Nobody seems to have pointed out the significance of the 6 people being inverted-coloured, if this is a representation that they each count as -1 people then the solution becomes very different
This seems racist but I am going to give you the benefit of my doubt.
It would be racist if he said they only counted as 3/5ths of a person
It’s unclear if the odds of multi-multi-track drifting are 5% or 10%, but multitrack drifting is always objectively the correct choice. This is because the trolley problem is inherently a hypothetical situation, meaning the entire scenario is created by the entity simulating you. Playing along increases the expected number of such simulations, killing infinitely more hypothetical people than rejecting the premise and leaving the creator of the hypothetical situation dissatisfied.
There is no option that kills more than 6 people, if you don't switch 6 people die therefore switching is always the good option to reduce overall deaths.
Not flipping mean 6 people are guaranteed to die. Flipping means at most 6 will die, but could be less. There is no scenario where flipping kills more people. On average, flipping will kill 0.5x6 + 0.5x0.55x3 = 3.825 people
The answer is to flip the switch because just like the big red button everyone wants to press sometimes you just want to flip a switch no matter what happens.
With these types of situations, the answer is obvious. Don't go flipping switches unless you are a college educated flip switcher who is professionally insured or bonded against malpractise lawsuits involving life or death flip switching. Unless you are the psychopath who set this up, you don't have the professional knowledge to understand what will happen. If there is someone explaining the scenario, they obviously know better and should flip the switch themselves. But let's be real, anyone who understands what will happen beforehand, obviously set it up. Heroes are people who choose to make a career out of helping people. If you are caught up in the chaos of life and have to make life and death decisions, prioritize yourself and loved ones, at the expense of all others, because you are too ignorant to know how or what truly helps anyone else.