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The Truth About the Trolley Problem
The trolley problem has become almost cliche as a use of philosophy in pop culture. But why are we so fixated on hypothetical ethical dilemmas? And does thinking them through actually teach us anything? Or is the trolley problem just kind of a joke? Let’s find out in this Wisecrack Edition: The Trolley Problem: Deep or Dumb?
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=== Watch More Episodes! ===
Nihilism: Are We Missing the Point? ► https://youtu.be/QgD-2z6eUYA
Where Did All The Smart People Go? ► https://youtu.be/aBu6fNy5lAA
Optimism is Killing Us ► https://youtu.be/00aZ2-Z1OcU
Written by Michael Burns
Researched by Tom Whyman
Hosted by Michael Burns
Directed by Michael Luxemburg
Edited by Benji Dunaief
Produced by Olivia Redden
Music courtesy of Epidemic Sound
#TrolleyProblem #Philosophy #Wisecrack
© 2023 Wisecrack / Omnia Media, Inc. / Enthusiast Gaming
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What's your solution to the Trolley Problem?
(The weirder the better.)
I know I didn’t just see a video about ethics sponsorer by betterhelp
8:95 100% – In fact. I said almost the same thig to my 9 year old when we discussed the trolley problem last weekend.
And… again… I think that this is real world applicable.
It's like a fire drill for your brain. You need to know what is right before you can do what is right.
The solution is to pull the lever as the first wheels cross, to tokyo drift the trolley and hit all 6 people instead.
The only reason why I should be suspicious of what you say in this video is that, since I so badly want it to be true, I might be prone to accept it prematurely.
You see – I for a long time have felt insecure about how I am inadequate in the area of moral philosophy because I am so averse to trolley problems. I HATE pondering trolley problems for the very kinds of reasons that you mention in this video — but felt that if I do not indulge them, I am being lazy in the area of moral philosophy.
Your video assures me that not only am I right to hate the idea of entertaining a trolley problem -but that I even hate doing so for the right reasons. However, the Art of Skepticism tells me that I should be extremely cautious of things that are that reassuring.
Use the Force to stop the Trolley. What? That's not a realistic answer? Well, it's not a realistic question either.
16 minutes of fluff. Cut it down dude. This could have been 3 minutes long with a minute long ad. Youtube broke you.
You really could have just given a spoiler warning instead of intentionally being as much of an asshole as possible to the people you spoiled the show to.
In practice, the lever is a remote control that changes the color of the taillights from red to blue.
Serioously if you are in a Trolley with no brakes don't wait for the problem to occur but jump out of the trolley as fast as you can !
Telas have already killed people using driver assistance autonomous modes
I mean it's obvious right?
The potholders should have pulled the lever and let the trolley run straight into the fat guy's butthole. That gives the trolley a chance to clear the path while also giving the fat guy a chance of surviving while also possibly being dislodged from the cave hole after taking a trolley to his cave hole. And in the event the trolley doesn't clear the path, the potholers can then use the dynamite with the intent to blow up the trolley which just happens to be lodged in the fat guy's butt. The trolley gets to run someone over, the fat guy gets a chance to survive being run over while also being freed from the cave hole. Even if he's not dislodged, he gets a SECOND chance to survive AND he gets a trolley dislodged from his butt at the same time!! The potholders don't murder the people on the other set of tracks the trolley was heading towards, they give the fat guy a chance to survive, they even assist in the removal of a trolley that is lodged in his fat butt, and finally the potholers all escape the rising cave waters….
….with their crowbars in perfect condition to brain everyone outside the cave that just watched.
And that ladies and gentlemen, is what Chidi saw when he saw the Time-Knife.
I've been meaning to watch the good place for awhile, and I still do, but ngl you made me want to watch it less. Not even for the spoiler. I managed to skip over it. You made me want to watch it less because of how you smugly said that if a spoiler bothers you that's a you problem, not a me problem. You know that some people are bothered by spoilers. We know this is scripted, so you made the deliberate choice to spoil it. That's fine. But don't then push it onto other people for being bothered by the spoiler. If you wanna spoil it then either just spoil it and move on so you don't interrupt the flow or give a warning beforehand. A lot of people spoil stuff without warning then say sorry afterwards, which is bad in scripted content, because you don't give a warning and you're interrupting the flow. You made it even worse by spoiling it then taking the time to smugly defend spoiling it and blaming others for being bothered by spoilers. This was more frustrating than it should have been. I literally wouldn't have even cared really if you just spoiled it and moved on
You can probably skip philosophy101 altogether if the trolley was transporting the ship of Theseus
What people do not notice is that trolley problem is actually capitalism propaganda because it is already loaded question which assumes that your option is between killing someone and doing nothing as the assumption that you do not influence world unless you deliberately decide to get involved When in reality if you CAN do something but YOU decide not to do then you are just as responsible as if you did it. If you were able to switch tracks but you didn't then it means YOU killed 1 or 5 people either wasy you are responsible for some deaths from now on.
this can be seen as the famous claim that power comes with responsibility as if you have power the you automatically become responsible regardless if you chose to use your power or not.
Wow, those are some incredibly stupid objections to a simple philosophical exercise. Like those poor folk who can't the very concept of a hypothetical question.
And in case you're wondering, the Trolley Problem isnt really a problem in the sense of a conundrum. It's a problem in the sense of a test. It can be answered wrongly. Li ertraisns for example can contort themselves to a position in which they walk away from the decision, imagining there is some moral excuse because they didn't cause any of this. Obviously delusional. And no, to forestall, this isn't an example of a conflict with utilitarian ethics, although it is within it.
A key option not discussed is killing yourself rather than rationalising the death of others.
The Catholic view on abortion is a little bit more nuanced, then portrayed in the video. If the fetus threatens the life of the mother, even the Catholic church allows abortion (my mother was in that exact situation). And even if someone decides to have an abortion without such circumstances, it is not an unforgivable sin – the mother won't have to burn in hell for eternity, she only has to confess it in her next confession and the priest will give an absolution. It is considered a sin, but it is a bit oversimplified to say it is equal to being a serial killer or a woman, who has murdered her husband to marry her secret lover. The Catholic church (and a normal priest) knows, that things can be complicated and there can be many reasons, why a mother ddecides to terminate her pregnancy. The church only refuses to view it as something, that is totally ok to do, because it is ending a human being's life.
im starting to think tim pool sucks and is an idiot