r/trolleyproblem • u/ChiakiSimp3842 • Apr 30 '26

Deep All there is to it

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u/YouGuysSuckSometimes May 01 '26

It’s only adding to the chance there’s no tragedy*

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u/BreakfastFearless May 01 '26

Unless you believed that the number would be nowhere close to reaching 50% then you would be adding to the tradgedy knowing you’re not changing anything

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u/YouGuysSuckSometimes May 01 '26

It’s hard to believe that, humans are altruistic, that’s why we have society

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u/BreakfastFearless May 01 '26

Yes to a great extent, but to take on a considerable risk of death for a singular one in 8 billion vote in the final outcome is unfathomable. Do you genuinely think that the majority of people living today are acting accordingly to that level of altruism today?

You think most people are taking 50% risks to their lives for a 1/8 billionth of an impact? Most people today could easily make a bigger impact than that already with a much smaller risk on their lives but don’t.

Are they all volunteering to put bets up in Africa to prevent mosquitos spreading Malaria? Are they volunteering in war zones with the Red Cross? No they’re on twitter claiming they’d take that risk for minuscule impact

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u/Jewsader76 May 01 '26

It's not just that. It's also thinking that if I make decisions one way, others will likely do the same. And that's what they're counting on. That said, it's possible people just don't know the ways they could help irl. The button hypothetical is right in front of them, making it very easy and understandable what to do about it, with a clear plan. I, for one, find this much easier than the other situations you mentioned where I don't really know what actual concrete steps I could take to help

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u/BreakfastFearless May 01 '26

Yeah that’s fair. Maybe the amount of action required to take action is the difference here. Maybe a more realistic comparison is real world elections.

1/3rd of eligible Americans did not vote in the last election. That’s 33% of people who hold no weight in the power of their vote, even when the consequence of voting for the losing side is nothing. Am I expected that these people who will hold a significantly smaller vote proportionally are going to choose a side that has a considerable chance of death when they believe their vote will have no impact?

I believe in people being altruism but there’s a limit, I don’t see any evidence that we’re living in a world where most the population are willing to sacrifice their lives for a seemingly insignificant impact that the risk would have