undefined | Better HN

0 pointsserenloss5y ago0 comments

While no less arbitrary, your metric for comparison seems shallow. I had already decided the panda should die before you finished that question, not the other way around.

The panda won’t be missed by many.

0 comments

mcny5y ago

> I had already decided the panda should die before you finished that question, not the other way around.

I appreciate replies on HN as they show the flaw in my assumption.

Speaking of assumptions, indulge me for a moment: I kind of find the trolley problem difficult because all legality aside, I feel like if I pull a lever and one person dies, I am responsible for that one death but if I don't pull the lever and n people die, I wouldn't feel as bad. Is there a name for this?

I mean like the idea that if something happens by my action that is worse than if something happens by my failure to act. I mean who am I to choose those n lives over that one life, right?

serenlossOP5y ago

Choosing not to act is choosing nonetheless. You are responsible in both situations. You didn’t set the events into motion, no — but you had full awareness of the inevitable consequences that would result from acting or not. You must make the choice, therefore, that you can live with. This is the nature of the human experience.

wgjordan5y ago

> Is there a name for this?

It seems to go by negative and positive duties (or rights, or obligations) in the literature.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse