So I decided to make this blog to discuss mostly science and ethics issues. I got the idea from my genetics text book, which has these ethical situation questions at the end of every chapter. I'll probably draw most of the scenarios from that, but some will be from other sources. I'll probably also be getting into other kind of science debates so feel free to bring things up.
i firmly believe that a grasp of spelling and grammar is no reflection of a person's intelligence.
now for the blog's namesake ethical debate: the runaway trolley. you are at the switch and a runaway trolley is headed towards a group of 5 people and will surely kill them all, unless you flip the switch to divert the trolley down another track, where it will only hit and kill one person; do you flip the switch?
most people say they would sacrifice one life to save 5.
another version of this is the fat man dilemma. in this scenario, instead of flipping a switch, you have to push a fat man in front of the trolley to stop it hitting the 5 people.
far fewer people say they would push the fat man to save 5 people. i think this is because flipping a switch is far less personal and feels less callous than pushing someone to their certain death.
other variations of this scenario:
-the 5 people are in your family or are your friends
-you know or are related to the fat man
-the fat man is on the tracks and the trolley is on a loop. so the trolley will hit the fat man either way, but if you flip the switch so it hits him first, the 5 people will still be saved
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment