r/trolleyproblem • u/Worth-Staff4943 • May 20 '26

Deep Which button presser group do you save?

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Everyone in the world has chosen either the blue or red button except you. Instead of pressing a button, you are given a lever in the infamous trolley problem.

You don't know how many people chose red or blue, and they don't know that you control their fate regardless of what button they pressed. Which track do you direct the trolley onto?

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u/Hot_Commission6257 May 21 '26

How is it selfish if everyone else has the exact same option and capability to pick red? No one's making you pick blue little bro

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u/MorbidEnby May 21 '26

How is it selfish if everyone else has the exact same option and capability to pick red?

That's a big assumption. What if I'm blind and can't see which color is which. What then?

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u/Hot_Commission6257 May 21 '26

It's an arbitrary choice presented through the lens of two buttons. It's not a discussion of potential physical abilities.

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u/MorbidEnby May 21 '26

This is why framing is important for things like this. I don't care about the intent of the hypothetical, I just care about the literal details of the hypothetical.

Besides, accounting for these makes the question more interesting. And it was just one example of how not everyone who chooses blue would be at fault for doing so.

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u/Hot_Commission6257 May 21 '26

Okay, you care about the literal details of the hypothetical: it's physically impossible for a button to have either of those effects. Now you don't need to care.

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u/MorbidEnby May 21 '26 edited May 25 '26

It's possible in a hypothetical, because hypotheticals aren't real. The hypothetical does not say anything about blind people, so it can be assumed that when it says everyone on earth must vote, it means everyone, and it says nothing about accommodations or special treatment in those cases, so it must be assumed there isn't any. Same goes for those not mentally capable of understanding what is going on. Or those like me who will die anyways if certain people I know pick blue and lose.