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submitted 1 year ago by alphacyberranger@lemmy.world to c/programmer_humor@programming.dev

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[-] blackstampede@lemmynsfw.com 70 points 1 year ago

I'd pull the lever to kill one person immediately. Assuming the decision maker at each stage is a different person with different opinions on moral, ethical, religious, and logical questions, then it's a near certainty that someone is going to pull the lever to kill the people at their stage. If you're lucky, it's the very next guy. If you're not, it's the guy killing a million people a couple of iterations later. If I'm the first guy, I'll take the moral hit to save the larger number of people.

[-] docAvid@midwest.social 12 points 1 year ago

I agree with your logic, so far as it goes. However, there are, currently, just over eight billion humans in existence. If my quick, over-tired math is correct, that means only 34 people have to say no, until we run out of people to tie to the tracks. Assuming, at that point, the system collapses and nobody dies, I'd guess 34 people would refuse - might be the better choice.

[-] blackstampede@lemmynsfw.com 4 points 1 year ago

Oh yeah. I was assuming an infinite series (somehow). Also, odds are good that out of 34 people, one of them would misunderstand the rules or be crazy enough to do it anyway for various reasons. I'd probably still do it.