Would You Kill Someone To Save Others?

[user681 0]

Imagine You are on a runaway rail car and the brakes have failed. You assess the path in front of you and realize you are going to run over a group of ten people. There is no warning horn and they will not be able to hear you. However, you realize that there is another railway to switch to but there is a man stuck on the track. If you are to switch the rail car to the alternate track, the stuck man will certainly be killed. Conversely, if you choose to not move the rail car on the alternative track, the ten people will certainly be killed. The rules here are that you have to choose between deliberately killing the stuck man or doing nothing in which case the ten men will die. You cannot pick some alternative solution such as jumping off the rail car or killing yourself. Don't debate whether the ten people or the one man are good or bad people, or whether you know any of the people personally. You know nothing about any of them except that they are on the track. So the question is do you kill the one stuck man in order to save ten? He is but one and the ten are many. However, if you were not present on the rail car, the ten men would die anyway. You have the power to choose who lives and who dies. The ten men are already in the path. Should they be the ones to die? Who are you to choose the fate of either choice? Do you use your free will to deliberately kill the man who would have remained alive, or do you decide you cannot take such a responsibility, and just let fate happen. Free will or fate?. Which do you choose, and why?

[FouGilang 0]

I should just kill them all already... Just kiddingSince i dont know any of them, i'll send that stucked man to heaven and hoped the others are grateful for their long live =]

[rayzoredge 2]

This kind of dumbs down the morals of the question and relies on simple practicality.One loss is better than ten, so you would pick the one.However, let's throw a twist in here.Let's say that the one is a six-year-old girl, and the ten people are full-grown adults.Or one adult and ten elderly people.Since you don't know any of them, how easy would it to think in the more practical way? I think that instinctively people would make a quick decision based on the age group and the numbers, then make that swerve. No matter what, the consequences afterward is always going to keep you up at night, even if you find out that the one or ten people turned out to be douche bags or wanted criminals.

[FouGilang 0]

come to think of it
if you "think of it" for that long time on "which one will you send to heaven", it's just the same as this one

you decide you cannot take such a responsibility, and just let fate happen.

say, how much is the time for you, when you happen to "on a runaway rail car and the brakes have failed, and realize you are going to run over a group of ten people", to think?
1 day?
you'll eventually strike those ten people, and certainly be killed, when you think for such a long time .____.

for that, "since i don't know any of them" like i said, i choose the one
oh and yes, 10 souls is better than 1 souls "since i dont know any of them" =]

[TheDarkHacker 0]

For me this question is a little weird. What was motivation to create this topic... or it was just an idea?OK it doesn't matter.I am not that kind of people and i can't kill no one,just with jokes with my family or friends.I would never kill no one,but that doesn't mean i don't want to save my family or friends.I would keep my friends and family safe,and i would try to say that they will not die,and i am gonna call police I never heard about someone which want to attack all people i know.If something happens i would try to help them,how to hide and live somewhere while good time comes.

[eurobeat 0]

i choose the 10 people because one or more of those 10 people might have a hot chick.while the stuck man have 0% probability that hava a chick coz his a mannnn >

[rob86 2]

I can't help but wonder why there are a bunch of adult men hanging out on railway tracks, why none of them can hear or see an incoming train, and why nobody's helping the man with his foot stuck who's probably screaming his head off. Due to the weirdness of the situation, and since you say they will all die, I'm going to assume that fate is predetermined. That is, in reality I would head for the people who AREN'T stuck, and hope they move out of the way, but in this particular situation, it seems like fate is holding these 10 people on the tracks -- they are stuck as well as the man who is stuck. I guess it only makes sense then that it would be less bad to run over a single man. Maybe it's fate that put that man there, stuck in the tracks, to be struck by your train. Maybe it's karma - of the Earl Hickey kind.If it was a child on the tracks, I would definitely avoid her (or him), because at that age they probably don't understand the danger as well as adults. Maybe it's just me, but I think any adult standing around on railway tracks (and aren't stuck) isn't that smart. Maybe it's a van full of people and it's stuck on the tracks..hmm.Here's a twist on the question, in one direction you see ten well known 'douche bags', on the other track... you see a kitten. Awww.

[networker 0]

I think the obvious answer is to have the one person die,and then save the ten people. Don't forget that one death affects a lot more people, so obviously ten would have even more effect.I think it's obvious really, regardless of the age of thepeople.

[Echo_of_thunder 1]

I think the obvious answer is to have the one person die,and then save the ten people. Don't forget that one death affects
a lot more people, so obviously ten would have even more effect.
I think it's obvious really, regardless of the age of the
people.

Good Choice and the right one as well. Better 1 than 10 if not more. you have to think of the people also riding on the train too. by hitting 10 people you have a greater chance of a derail I would think. so the answer is 1 person and not the 10.

[user681 0]

I can't help but wonder why there are a bunch of adult men hanging out on railway tracks, why none of them can hear or see an incoming train, and why nobody's helping the man with his foot stuck who's probably screaming his head off. Due to the weirdness of the situation, and since you say they will all die, I'm going to assume that fate is predetermined. That is, in reality I would head for the people who AREN'T stuck, and hope they move out of the way, but in this particular situation, it seems like fate is holding these 10 people on the tracks -- they are stuck as well as the man who is stuck. I guess it only makes sense then that it would be less bad to run over a single man. Maybe it's fate that put that man there, stuck in the tracks, to be struck by your train. Maybe it's karma - of the Earl Hickey kind.
If it was a child on the tracks, I would definitely avoid her (or him), because at that age they probably don't understand the danger as well as adults. Maybe it's just me, but I think any adult standing around on railway tracks (and aren't stuck) isn't that smart. Maybe it's a van full of people and it's stuck on the tracks..hmm.

Here's a twist on the question, in one direction you see ten well known 'douche bags', on the other track... you see a kitten. Awww.

Yeah but then the question would kinda be biased

[inverse_bloom 0]

What if the douche bags where holding bags of cash. What then?, the kitten or the nasty douche bags loaded with "small" coins? Personally, If any of the douche bags were my neighbours that would be quite a conundrum.

Edited October 27, 2009 by inverse_bloom (see edit history)

[.:Piper_2051:. 0]

OK the way I see it is that 1 soul is better than 10. but If im already going on the track of ten and they arent trapped or stuck im staying on course following the old big rig rule of dont deviate or your at fault. If the ten get hit and all die its their fault for standing there looking at a runaway train going "hyuck hyuck, look at da purty lights down der cleatus..." I mean come on, saving one smart person thats trapped is worth killing 100 idiots... All in all the old attache is true... YOU CAN'T FIX STUPID; STUPID WILL FIX ITSELF...

[NxTGaming 0]

How about i'd rather kill myself then the man on the rail or the ten people?Saving 11 lives. ;D But thats only when i feel that there is nothing for me to do on Earth =X

[seanbig 0]

I don't think this is something once could ever predetermine. I'd only assume that once in that position, some sense of internal instinct would kick in and one would act in whatever way that comes about thereafter. I suppose a lot of it does have to do with one's moral positioning on life as you've come to know it. Some people do tend to obviously be more compassionate than others... and some find it much more difficult to make those kind of tough decisions. I think it's a matter of circumstance. You'd need to think and act quickly and weigh your options accordingly. For me... I trust my judgement, I always have. If I've got a gut instinct to save one group over another (or as mentioned above, sacrifice myself to save both), then so be it. If it's my time, it's my time.

[Okara KAmi 0]

It's not really a matter of free will you know, because if I saw 10 people in the tracks ahead of me, and I had the knowledge to change their fate, then it is with my free will that I allowed them to go forth. In both cases, I use my free will to decide which one of the parties gets to be dinner for the birds tonight. And hey, since I'm using my free will anyway, I might as well pick the lesser evil, right? Switch tracks and open the slaughter house on the one man. Then, as I am a superfluously poetic person, I would write a formal letter to the family of the man I just killed, explaining to them why I did what I did. See the basis of this question was:Would you rather murder 1 man or allow 10 to die? But both cases, is murder. Allowing the train car to go forward when I'm in full power to change it, makes me guilty of their deaths. Of course with the help of lawyers I can convince the court that I "didn't know how to operate the train" or that I "didn't see the men on the rails" and I could weasel my way out of the situation, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm still at fault for both instances. And hey, if I'm gonna get the big red stamp of man slaughter on my rep sheet anyway, I might as well make it as pretty as possible. Which, in this case, would be to avoid killing a dozen innocent people.