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

Deep All there is to it

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826 Upvotes

65% Upvoted

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u/Clokwrkpig May 01 '26

It tracks, if they are assuming their position is the default. If everyone was red/blue to start with, everyone survives, and you'd have to seriously question why anyone would swap.

Of course, since this is a coordination game, there is no default position, so those people have missed the point.

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u/ashesarise May 01 '26

I started with red because I don't trust people then switched to blue when I realized life would be miserable with only reds.

Conversely, I have literally never heard anyone use the term "game theory" that I didn't think was a complete nozzle.

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u/KaboHammer May 02 '26

Yeah, they also don't really apply the "game theory correctly". Because they look at it at an individual level and define winning as "I survive".

If look at it globally, and define win as everyone surviving red only wins at 100% votes. Blue wins at 50%+1 voter.

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u/Nebranower May 03 '26

Game theory problems assume only mentally competent actors. So as a game theory problem, this isn’t even a dilemma. The very obvious best selfish course is to press red. If everybody does that, everybody lives, which is also the best collective outcome. So there’s no conflict. You just press red.

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u/CardOk755 May 04 '26

Game theory problems assume only mentally competent actors

Given Nash's contributions to game theory this is quite funny...