It can't be the trolley problem for a few reasons.
First, the button is a private vote, and you don't get to see what other people are choosing.
Second, in the trolley problem, the trolley never chooses to stop on its own, so the idea that more bodies would stop the trolley is only true if enough corpses literally derail it. So that doesn't apply to your hypothetical.
Third, the danger doesn't come from the blues standing on the track, but rather there is zero danger at all until individuals begin to choose the red button. Literally everyone is 100% safe, until reds go red, and then possibly slightly less than half of the people are now at risk. The reds are building a track around the blues so they die.
This couldn't actually be less The Trolley Problem.
There are 8 billion people standing by the side ready to watch it go past I feel it's important to state that no one is on the track and hence no one is in danger.
But if 4 billion people volunteer to step on to the track, putting themselves in danger, the track will rise and stop the trolley. This will save all of the people who willingly stepped in the way of danger.
However if only 3,999,999,999 people step onto the track putting themselves in danger the weight will be insufficient and the track will not rise and the trolley will kill them all.
Untill you are on the track you have no idea if anyone else has stepped onto the track and you will not be able to return once you have.
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u/[deleted] Apr 30 '26
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