this post was submitted on 06 Nov 2023
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Science Memes

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I'll flip the switch back and forth as quick as I can in hope of catching trolly as it changes and causing it to derail.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Best change to get hit by the trolly is to not attempt to flip the switch. So I choose to do nothing

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago

There's a 5/6 chance someone is put onto the side rail (the one the trolley won't go down without interfering with it)

There's a 1/6 chance someone is put onto the main rail (the one the trolley WILL go down)

You're more likely to be on the side track if you're involved in this scenario, so if you wanna get hit you SHOULD try to flip it (if you're the one on the side track, it guarantees a hit. If you're one of the 10 people on the main, you have a 90% chance of having a dead switch and should try anyway)

Unless being tired at work is making me miss something

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

From a purely utilitarianism perspective, assuming all utility is linear and unscaled:

5/6 chance I'm on the side track * 1 person saved = 5/6

1/6 chance on the main track * 1/10 chance my switch is real * 10 people saved = 1/6

Seems pretty clear that you should not flip the switch. However, if I am on the main track, this thinking will lead to no-one flipping the switch and no lives saved whereas everyone thinking it will lead to a guaranteed save -> utility of 10/6.

If I can assume more than half the people can be rational and will think like me then I should flip the switch.

If I cannot, I should not flip the switch.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Except that if people are chosen randomly there is 2/3 chance that you are on the main track according to Bayes. Let's assume there are 10 people.

The probability to be chosen is 1/6 (all are chosen if 6 is rolled) + (5/6) × (1/10) (only one is chosen to go to the side track if 1-5 is rolled) = 15/60 = 1/4.

The probability that you are on the side track knowing that you have been chosen is the probability that you have been chosen knowing that the side track is selected (1/10) × the probability that the side track is selected (5/6) divided by the probability for you to be selected at all (1/4), so (1/10)×(5/6)/(1/4) = 20/60 = 1/3. So there is a 2/3 chance that you are on the main track.

If you do not flip the switch, (2/3)×10 = 20/3 people die.

If you flip the switch, 1/3 (you if on side track) + 10 × 2/3 × 9 / 10 (switch misfires 9 out of 10 times if on the main track) = 190/30 = 19/3 die. This is slightly better than not flipping the switch, you save 1/3 people more. That's an arm and a leg.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

There surely must've been a more comprehending way to phrase the dilemma.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Half the fun of trolley problems is adapting them to puzzles for which they are utterly unsuitable: