fossilesque you’re one of my fav posters

First, I start moving people to hotel rooms...

In the top one you will never actually kill an infinite number of people, just approach it linearly. The bottom one will kill an infinite amount of people in finite time.

Edit: assuming constant speed of the train.

The first one, because people will die at a slower rate.

The second one, because the density will cause the trolley to slow down sooner, versus the first one where it will be able to pick up speed again between each person. Also, more time to save people down the rail with my handy rope cutting knife.

I think it was numberphile, or maybe vsauce, who did a video on infinities. It was really interesting. I learnt a lot, then forgot it all.

Is there a way to take both routes?

Bottom.

Killing one person for every real number implies there’s a way to count all real numbers one by one. This is a contradiction, because real numbers are uncountable. By principle of explosion, I’m Superman, which means I can stop the train by my super powers. QED

I don't think we want a world where there are any sort of infinity of people, and I don't think a tram is the solution to revert a world from having its infinities to having a finite number

I also see practicality problems in tying even a small infinity of people to railway tracks, as that requires yet another infinity of people to hold people down, and another infinity of people people to do the tying (as well as the infinities of people to do the tying and holding on the other track) and all of those people will have to be fed and watered with infinite amounts of food and water (some infinities of people for infinite time), the infinities of people tying people down would need some education, implying infinite teachers

It's a logistic nightmare

I pull the lever, if the cart goes over the real numbers it will instantly kill an infinite amount of people and continue killing an infinite amount of people for every moment for the rest of existence.

If I pull the lever a finite amount of people will die instantly and slowly over time tending twords infinity but due to the linear nature of movement it would never actually reach Infinity even if there are an infinite number of people tied to the track a finite amount is all that could ever die.

I thought that the correct answer to these was making a loop on the right, merging the lines.

Top case is not the smallest infinite; going for prime number would save a lot of time for a lot of people before they die

Use the fact that a set people corresponding to the real numbers are laying in a single line to prove that the real numbers are countable, thus throwing the mathematics community into chaos, and using this as a distraction to sabotage the trolley and save everybody.

I mean, the bottom. The trolley simply would stop, get gunked up by all the guts and the sheer amount of bodies so close together. Checkmate tolley.

Bottom has infinite density and will collapse into a black hole killing everyone, and destroying the tram and lever.

The second one. It'll be a bit rough, but overall should be a smoother ride for the occupants.

Good to know there are roughly 6 real numbers for every integer

I ignore the question and go to the IT and maintenance teams to put a series of blocks, physical and communication-system-based, between the maths and philosophy departments. Attempts to breach containment will be met with deadly force.

The top one, because time is still a factor.

Sure, infinite people will die either way, but that is only after infinite time.

This hypothetical post is a thought crime!

Bottom. No matter what your "real" number assignation in the queue is, theres an infinite number of people before the train gets to you. Therefore every single person will live a full life before the train reaches them.

Considering that there's a small but non zero chance of surviving getting ran over by a train some of them are gonna survive this and since there are infinite people that will result in infinite train-proof people spawning machine

Getting killed by a train is apparently just an inevitability in this universe. Either choice is just the grand conductors plan.

An infinite amount of people on the track implies that the track is infinitely long. If that is not the case and the track is a normal length then the sudden addition of all that bio-mass in a finite space will cause a gravitational collapse. But will the collapse start on the first track or the second? Either way I hope you saved your game because you might lose your progress.