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Centrists gonna centrist...
(lemmy.world)
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this post was submitted on 14 May 2024
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Well I mean that's kind of a bad thought experiment too, yeah, because I really like lasers, and me personally I'd want to talk about a laser that's so powerful and efficient that it can kill someone just with the power from a hand crank. Like, that's an insane laser, that has to be like, an extremely efficient highly calculated phased optical array, that's some science fiction level technomagic, there. I'd also wanna know, why the human test subjects, you know? Are they horrible criminals, or, are they clones without brains, or p-zombies, or like what's up there? I don't think any ethical self-respecting scientist would wanna test out their shit on some random variable humans like that, and that shit wouldn't be really like, publishable in a paper, I would imagine. Supplementary questions are maybe like, why am I the one that has to power the laser from inside the cage, rather than them having like an Igor to do it for them, are they just going to kill me afterwards, are they going to kill me if I do nothing, what's the deal there?
This whole scenario smells pretty fishy to me, I'm gonna go with like, this is probably a milgram experiment style of thing, to me.
Though, through tough, thorough thought, this experiment kind of falls flat as an analogy, because the lasers both power up randomly and will kill people no matter what I do, and neither crank really does fucking anything, so it's more like you're just the guy in the ludovico chair, and you have funny little cranks you can turn if you want, as like a distraction from the fact the lasers are going to kill everyone no matter what you do.
Thought experiments are not known for their realism, and I don't have a problem with picking it apart as long as you would also pick apart the original trolley problem. However:
I literally specified mad scientists.
Oh yeah I guess I missed that. I mean, I dunno, I guess this sort of brings up a question, right, of, can the scientists not be mad but also still be ethical and self-respecting? And, does it require a degree to be a scientist, or can you just sort of be one by nature of engaging in the scientific process? Because somehow I can't imagine a scientist that would pull this sort of thing off to have been able to actually graduate.
Also yeah I'd definitely critique the trolley problem. It's a metaphor for like, different ethical philosophies more commonly, but kind of counterintuitively I find that the ethical philosophy modeled as the one in which you don't pull the lever, is oftentimes the less problematic philosophy. Not as modeled in the problem, but just sort of, as it actually works out. Deontology is based, I guess.
More than that though, like, what is this, the 1920's? Is there a mustache twirling villain running around tying people to trolley tracks? More than that, we still have trolleys? Why is it a trolley, and not a train? Trains require a much longer amount of time to stop, trolleys go pretty slow, so I imagine they could stop for a person on the tracks quite easily, probably even if the brakes were cut. How have I found myself to be the one pulling the lever in the first place, have I been wheeled in on a gurney by this mustache twirling character, or have I just found myself at the lever at an inopportune moment seconds before the trolley crosses and kills? If it's the latter, I wouldn't be able to predict my reaction, most people wouldn't be able to, it's a spur of the moment emergency decision, it's like deciding whether or not you try to push someone out of the way of an oncoming bus or something, it's not really a reflection of your moral character as much as your reaction time. If it's the former, I think we could all blame the mustache twirling villain for whatever the outcome may be regardless of whatever decision I make in this stupid saw style trap.
So, I dunno, trolley problem, kinda sucks.