The Moral Dilemma

[dray]

Actually, the correct analogy. The pilot may pull the handle all he wants, my comment was about the plane delaying firing the ejector in order to save lives on the ground. Does a machine owe more to its primary user or to others, is the basic question.

The train in the video didn't choose the path on its own, nor it moved the other fellow from another line......the kid took both the decisions, it was his choice. He could have sent the train to the other line after moving the fellow, or at least could have sent the train over one fellow instead of 5-6...The machine didn't take any decision, the kid took it...

 

[VCheng]

The train in the video didn't choose the path on its own, nor it moved the other fellow from another line......the kid took both the decisions, it was his choice. He could have sent the train to the other line after moving the fellow, or at least could have sent the train over one fellow instead of 5-6...The machine didn't take any decision, the kid took it...

How does that work in real life? The engineer in the train cab cannot select the path the train takes, since the switches are controlled centrally, and those in the control room cannot see what is ahead on the track. Complex systems have divided responsibilities for a reason.

So have I working as a medical officer during my military career. If it was someone I knew, I was saddened. If it wasn't, they were merely something to talk about during our debrief.

But a debriefing is not rubber-necking. Very different.

 

[dray]

How does that work in real life? The engineer in the train cab cannot select the path the train takes, since the switches are controlled centrally, and those in the control room cannot see what is ahead on the track. Complex systems have divided responsibilities for a reason.

That was not a real life situation, the boy was asked to choose, and he chose....

Besides, in real life the driver would apply brake if he could, if not, then at least he would NOT deliberately pull another fellow under his train.

Do note:

1. The boy could save all of the fellows on the track

2. He could let one to die by saving others

3. It's odd, but he could kill all of them

He chose the last option.....surprisingly!

 

[VCheng]

That was not a real life situation, the boy was asked to choose, and he chose....

Besides, in real life the driver would apply brake if he could, if not, then at least he would NOT deliberately pull another fellow under his train.

Do note:

1. The boy could save all of the fellows on the track

2. He could let one to die by saving others

3. It's odd, but he could kill all of them

He chose the last option.....surprisingly!

Is the child old enough to comprehend the choices being placed before him?

 

[Fenrir]

But a debriefing is not rubber-necking. Very different.

That isn't quite what I meant anyway. Attraction, something to discus, something to watch - from near or far - but not something that is tragic for anyone other then those with an attachment to the victim.

I look at the recent police shootings in the US as an example. It's tragic for the victim and their immediate contacts, but for those removed from the incident itself it's a conversation, a case study, something to watch with interest and hopefully something that'll spurn action to lessen the future incidents. But tragic? Not generally for the greater population who are too far removed from the incident.

I recovered several victims during my time in the Air Force... I found it best to just focus on my work and not let emotions weigh on me. In a way I became desensitize, and that's more or less a good thing for a soldier. It was a tragedy for the victims family and friends. But for me, it was just another day at work.

The only time I can say I've been effected by the death of someone was during the 2011 Utoya Massacre where not only was I part of the response and hazard team sent to cleanup, but I actually knew one of the victims. Mass events like this, more then a single death, weigh heavily on the individual and greater population.

I still have pictures I took during our response that I kept with me up until my retirement from active service, just as a reminder of the horrors of that day. There's nothing quite as chilling as battlefield wounds. I'm no stranger to the dead, I've been unfortunate enough to have held my fair share of the drowned or frozen, but that day scars me more then any other for its sheer size.

Your perspective likely differs from mine, I respect our divergent views, but my experience has me disagreeing with Mr. Stalin.

 

[VCheng]

Your perspective likely differs from mine, I respect our divergent views, but my experience has me disagreeing with Mr. Stalin.

Thank you for the explanation, which I understand, but we can still respectfully disagree with each other's views over this topic, depending on our understandings of what rises to the level of a tragedy and what does not based on one's emotional attachment to a death, or deaths.

 

[dray]

Is the child old enough to comprehend the choices being placed before him?

Not sure, he was just playful, that's why I am not showing grave concern about it and added a few smileys in my initial posts with words like 'child prodigy', 'potentially great politician', etc. But it's an interesting choice anyway...! 'Machines' have nothing to do with that choice in this case.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

Watch this video:

And then visit this site, scroll down and click "Start Judging".

http://moralmachine.mit.edu/


Post any remarks.

@Syed.Ali.Haider @Joe Shearer @hellfire @salarsikander @cloud4000 @wiseone2

Interesting quiz.
My highest was following the law when it comes to pedestrians. I never looked at who was in the car. I think how many people are in the car is immaterial.

As a pedestrian who is following the law there is ABSOLUTELY ZERO excuse for somebody hitting you. If a bus with 100 people on it loses its brakes...well unfortunately the people in the bus are now expendable. It should swerve around you and if that means the bus flips over and explodes and everybody on the bus dies...well that's simply the way it has to be.

 

[Thəorətic Muslim]

it loses its brakes

So you values to lives of the occupants based on the value the owner places into maintaining his/her vehicle.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

So you values to lives of the occupants based on the value the owner places into maintaining his/her vehicle.

The pedestrians in the crosswalk have the right to be there. The car doesn't. So if the owner doesn't have his car in good shape the passengers should be suing the car owner for the ramifications of having the car being forced to crash because of owner/maker negligence instead of having a pedestrian being hit. It doesn't matter if there are 10000 people in the car and one 99 year old lady in the crosswalk.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

The pedestrians in the crosswalk have the right to be there. The car doesn't. So if the owner doesn't have his car in good shape the passengers should be suing the car owner for the ramifications of having the car being forced to crash because of owner/maker negligence instead of having a pedestrian being hit. It doesn't matter if there are 10000 people in the car and one 99 year old lady in the crosswalk.

So if there's a choice between a pedestrian in the green and something else...you have to pick the other choice no matter what is..(wall or into 100 other pedestrians who are in the red.)

Not sure what the law says about cats and dogs. Probably best to run them over in the green. I suspect the law says otherwise. But you could get the judge to overturn it claiming better them than people.