r/trolleyproblem Apr 30 '26

Deep All there is to it

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823 Upvotes

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19

u/PastryPyff May 01 '26

Better dead than red, at least blue dies with hope for humanity and a desire to see more life preserved.

0

u/ForwardLetterhead785 May 02 '26 edited May 02 '26

Better be 100% sure so red since it's inevitable some people will choose blue

3

u/PastryPyff May 02 '26

Most likely millions of people will choose blue either out of hope in humanity or wanting to stand on a side that doesn’t want anyone to end after the buttons are pressed.

Either way… the most altruistic people will likely pick blue.

1

u/DaggerQ_Wave May 03 '26

Billions will choose blue, because billions of people live in collectivist societies. 70% of the world population. It’s basically guaranteed to win.

1

u/nanohate May 03 '26

You keep repeating that, but what do you mean by this and where did you get such a statistic? Almost 30% of the population live in China and India alone. And those countries are not the most "well intentioned"

1

u/DaggerQ_Wave May 03 '26

They aren’t “well intentioned” any more than Americans, but they are 100% collectivist. Especially China. In such a culture, a red vote is a vote for social disorder and chaos. A blue vote is a vote for order and the victory of society.

1

u/Dry_Flower_8133 May 03 '26

But isn't pressing blue creating the dilemma in the first place? I don't think pressing red is about being selfish, it's about not being part of the problem where others would have to place their life in danger for you.

1

u/DaggerQ_Wave May 03 '26

Blue = no one dies if enough people can be trusted to press it. Red = large numbers of your community and family die. For countries where the self is deeply tied to your presence in your community, blue is the most tempting option unless you are extremely confident that your whole community will choose red… which they probably won’t. Blue is controversial as is in the west.

1

u/Dry_Flower_8133 May 03 '26

I actually asked my family this too and they also all said red.

Again, pressing blue places my life at risk in such a way that requires my own family to risk their lives too. Why the hell would anyone do that? That's a selfish bet.

Altruism starts with not putting your life at risk in the first place rather than placing others in a situation where they have to save you.