Oh by gods, just derail the bloody thing!
this post was submitted on 19 May 2026
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So if you saved the immortal would the immortal go onto suffer but in different ways
Absolutely yes, because it means nothing since this scenario is impossible.
Since he's immortal, some form of extreme violence like a concentrated explosion would destroy the chain quickly and free him with minimal separate regeneration cycles.
Since he's immortal, why doesn't he free himself after he gets severed the first time
His head and legs are crushed. He's not really a (mobile) person post-crush.
Well he should have thought of that before getting chained to the tracks
Everyone should read The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula K. Le Guin.
Le Guin is honestly an absolute titan of a writer. Incredibly thought-provoking stuff.
Scenario 1: It is difficult, but not impossible to free the man from his chains or otherwise disrupt the functions of the trolley. You can eventually save him, so switching the trolley to his track is morally correct.
Scenario 2: The man cannot be freed from the track, the trolley will never stop running him over, and his suffering will never end. From a purely mathematical standpoint, he will eventually experience more suffering than the mortals tied to the track, so it would be more moral to allow the trolley to kill them and end their suffering immediately. ON THE OTHER HAND, if he's immortal and can't be freed, he will also experience infinite suffering just from being forever tied to an empty track, so it's arguably no different if he's being run over or not, so it would be more moral to give him the trolley and then let the other people go free so they can go out and enjoy their lives.
Who says being tied to the track is infinite suffering? How is it any worse than the absurd meaninglessness of our own existences? Could Track Guy not find joy in hearing the singing of nearby birds, or find freedom in his own thoughts? We could still talk to him, keep him company, maybe he would enjoy teaching or hearing stories, discussing philosophy. He could write a novel.
Even if he was being run over by the trolly every so often, couldn’t he find something worth living for in those moments in between? One must imagine Track Guy happy.
So infinite suffering is worse than taking 5 lives, but finite suffering isn't.
Then, where's the cutoff? Would it be fine if he can be saved after 1 week? A year? A millennium?
Not infinite suffering, as the trolley battery will only last for 10,000 years.
Sigh... unzips solar panels
Welcome to: sun swallow earth after become red giant.
how much work will it take? who will organize it? who will pay for it? will my taxes go up?
ALOT. Me. You. Without a dbout, but it's unrelated
well fuck it then, leave him on the track and sell tickets and t-shirts
The limit is 2016000 moments, give or take
The planet the trolly is on is not infinite. Earth will be consumed by our sun freeing his from his suffering. He can then live out eternity floating through the cosmos. Even if he is immortal, can he survive the heat death of the universe?
Uncountable infinite then.
In the book Elantris by Brandon Sanderson, there are inhabitants of the city of Elantris who are demi-gods: very long lived, and regenerate almost instantly from wounds so pretty hard to kill. But a curse befalls the city and the inhabitants go from regenerating wounds to not being able to heal at all. The pain from the initial moment of a stubbed toe persists with you... forever or until the curse is lifted.
In one part of the book and it has been I think 20 years of the curse, some characters are considering how to relieve themselves of the pain. If the body was cremated, would that end it or would the pain of being created persist with whatever is left?
Your comment about the sun freeing the immortal from suffering made me think of this. What if the immortal isn't freed from suffering by being engulfed by the sun?
Yes because while he's dying again and again, I can find a way to derail the trolly.
I think the premise is that you can only try to break the chains.
very difficulty
Some people have never had to cut through chain quickly, and it shows.
Give me 10 minutes with my cordless angle grinder and a fresh pack of cutting discs and I'll have every link cut from head to toe
Or 20 minutes with a hacksaw and I'll at least have a link cut that allows me to unravel the chain.
Or just make the immortal person Jeff bezos and I'll just call it a day?
He's just wrapped in chains. Roll him so he goes groin first once, because fuck him for making me get out of my ~~chain~~ chair, then roll him the rest of the way to safety. He can starve the rest of the way out of the chains.
Well, since the train passes every 10 seconds, I'd say you reasonably have to batch this job in 5-second bursts, maybe shorter to be safe. Even if you focus on just one link per side on this "very heavy-duty chain", I'd say this poor soul would die at least 30 times just while you're working. Plus imagine all the blood you - and your tools - would be splattered in. What's that going to do to your angle grinder and your fresh cutting disks?
Without getting into specifics, I'm 100% confident I can cut through up to 12mm of hardened steel in under 10 seconds with one, assuming I get the alignment right and the steel isn't going to shift on me. Given it's being called "heavy duty" chain, I'm going to assume a layman's version of that and say 12mm is probably overkill, but let's just go with that.
10 seconds of grinding. I'll give myself 3 seconds to run in, 3 seconds to run away. 6 seconds to cut, we'll go with 4 of those actually making contact. That's 3 trips per half-link (you need to cut through both sides of a link to pull the chain apart) so 6 in total to break one strand.
I'd say 30 deaths is generous.
And again without getting into specifics, blood on brushless tools doesn't do much, especially if I use some corrosion resistant coatings on the sensitive contacts.
Ultimately though, one would hope the immortal being is willing to accept the temporary trolley torture if it means the others can be rescued
Kill the 5.
those who pull the lever in omelas
Negotiate with him. You'll kill the 5, but the immortal has to work for you as your personal assassin for as long as you live. Send him after billionaires.
The 5 will be remembered for their sacrifice for the greater good.
Rip up the tracks, thus stalling the tram before it gets to immortal man.
"With this tram's death, the thread of prophecy is severed. Restore a saved game to restore the weave of fate, or persist in the doomed world you have created."
or derail it with a penny
Edit: I know that wouldn't actually work. It was a joke.
Yep penises
Edit well it's official my autocorrect is funnier than me
That was supposed to be "two pennies"
Just install a switch
Sisyphus trolley
Has anyone heard from nancy?