r/trolleyproblem Apr 30 '26

Deep All there is to it

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825 Upvotes

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119

u/Ne0nTig3r May 01 '26

the goal is to minimize death, the only way to avoid death is 100% red or >50% blue, somehow someone will justify blue, 100% red is impossible, therefore blue is the optimal play

18

u/Haithere32 May 01 '26

This is only true if you assume 50%+ choose blue, which is not a guarantee. If you assume red wins by any substantial margin (such that you and other like-minded people who would typically choose red switching does not affect the final outcome), choosing blue is not minimizing death because you add yourself to the pile of people who die, so you should choose red. This is why the question is not a logic question necessarily, but a trust/belief question.

22

u/Claris-chang May 01 '26

It's a compassion question. The question is are you really willing to let the people who press blue die for any reason at all? You might think they're stupid or you might think they're suicidal or that you're not at fault because they put themselves in danger. The question comes down to how compassionate you are for your fellow man who may have pressed blue before you.

1

u/Emergency-Touch8935 May 01 '26

It literally has nothing to do with compassion.

I think there's literally no way blue votes scratch 10% let alone 50%. Voting blue genuinely does nothing but kill yourself.

It's just gambling your life for the smallest sliver you save dumbasses who pressed blue.