Two Ethical Questions!

[Girish11]

I think I inadvertently got a bit personal on that question. Asking hypothetical questions is a completely different comfort zone altogether. So I change topic thus:

Again a two scenario case:

Scenario A) You see a train charging towards a group of (say 5) children playing on the track. In an alternative track there is a fully grown man. You, the driver, have a button in control. If you press the button the train would change tracks and hit and kill the man. If you do nothing all the 5 children will die.
What would you do ?
Scenario B ) You are bystander and you see the traion rushing at the group of kids. There is no paralell track.There is this large man next to you and you can surprise him and push him on the tracks. If you do that the train hits and kills the man but stops and thus the kids are saved. If you don't do anything the kids will die.
What would you do ?

Hi PR,

Please dont worry at all, there were totally no hard feeling
or any such thing when I wrote the last post just in case you
think there is any.

Re the 2 new questions:

Scenario A, I would press the button, change tracks and save
the kids.

Scenario B, Also, I think I would save the kids by pushing the
large man.

Please tell me your views on this and your answers to these
2 questions too.

Rgds.

[P_R]

Do feel any different in responding to the scenarios ?

[Girish11]

Do feel any different in responding to the scenarios ?

Sorry PR, did not understand your question.

[P_R]

Do feel any different in responding to the scenarios ?

Sorry PR, did not understand your question.

In both scenarios you said you were goingf to kill the man. in Scenario A you had to press a button and in scenario B you had to physically push the man.
I am asking about the process of deciding. Are you equally ready to kill the man (to save the kids of course) or are you more hesitant in one case than the other ?

[Badri]

PR: You are not a practicing psychiatrist, are you?

[P_R]

PR: You are not a practicing psychiatrist, are you?

Bored reader is more like it

[Badri]

What with constructing all those hypotheses and pointing out the differences, I surmised you must either be a lawyer like you accused me once, or a psychiatrist!!

[P_R]

What with constructing all those hypotheses and pointing out the differences, I surmised you must either be a lawyer like you accused me once, or a psychiatrist!!

Originality is all about suppressing your sources 8)

[Girish11]

Do feel any different in responding to the scenarios ?

Sorry PR, did not understand your question.

In both scenarios you said you were goingf to kill the man. in Scenario A you had to press a button and in scenario B you had to physically push the man.
I am asking about the process of deciding. Are you equally ready to kill the man (to save the kids of course) or are you more hesitant in one case than the other ?

Yes PR, as you doubt, the decision making in both the cases
is not equally easy or fast, in my case, after I finished reading
the scenario A, I could make the decision immediately, after
reading scenario B, the decision was not immediate, I had to
think over it a little bit more, the thought of personally
pushing a person to the tracks and killing him did feel very odd
and it was not easy to digest even the thought. Did think
of other things such as why it has to be this person standing besides me, why not myself etc. but again, the scenario B
in my opinion meant to say that the person who has to make
the decision is
not strong enough to stop the train whereas the big person
who could be pushed is strong enough to stop the train.
But finally the decision was the same although not as fast
as scenario A.

Your comments and your views on the 2 scenarios please.

[Sandeep]

Senario A : Its easy 5:1. I will go for the single guy

Senario B : Saving is one thing and killing assuming that will save is another. I dont think i will kill a man believing it will save others.