The lever is powered by AI
this post was submitted on 23 Apr 2025
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That comic isn't the trolly problem though. For it to be a problem you need to give a shit about both tracks. This is just an image of the real world. :(
For it to be the trolley problem, you have to make a value judgement between action (hitting the lever) and inaction (letting the trolley roll past).
The original conceit of the problem (trolley hits five people or you move the switch and it hits one person) is about the culpability inherent in personal agency. Mathematically killing one person is better than killing five people. But by switching the trolley, the singular death becomes your fault rather than just some event that's happening beyond your control.
This is the real moral dilemma. All the iterations on the trolley problem - questioning which track has a higher value/need - are a divergence from the original psychological problem of assuming culpability for an existing problem by altering it.