WEBVTT - How Trolley Problems Work

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<v Speaker 1>Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera.

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<v Speaker 1>It's ready. Are you welcome to stuff you should know

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<v Speaker 1>from how stuff Works dot Com? Hi, and welcome to

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<v Speaker 1>the podcast. I'm Josh Clark, as staff writer here how

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<v Speaker 1>stuff Works dot Com and with me as always is

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<v Speaker 1>my trustee editor Chris Pallette and his fantastic goatee Chris. Today,

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<v Speaker 1>I want to talk about how the trolley problem works.

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<v Speaker 1>Very cool article that I wrote and you edited. So

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<v Speaker 1>do you want to give some background on the trolley problem?

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<v Speaker 1>What is it? Well, it's every San Franciscan's worst nightmare. Um.

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<v Speaker 1>Imagine if you will, that there's an out of control

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<v Speaker 1>trolley speeding down the tracks and if nothing stops it,

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<v Speaker 1>then it's it's going to go out of control. It's

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<v Speaker 1>gonna flip and kill the people on board. Five people, right,

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<v Speaker 1>Well that's yeah, five or you know fifteen? Hey, you

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<v Speaker 1>know it could be fully loaded? Who yes? Um? But

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<v Speaker 1>the problem is these people are gonna die unless you

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<v Speaker 1>do something to stop it. But you know it's speeding alley,

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<v Speaker 1>what are you gonna do? Um? Until you notice that

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<v Speaker 1>the track has a switch in it and that you

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<v Speaker 1>could actually switch the the the track with this lever

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<v Speaker 1>that you happen to be standing next to. Well, that's great, right,

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<v Speaker 1>You're you're gonna switch it to another track. You're gonna

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<v Speaker 1>save the lives of people in the trolley because it's

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<v Speaker 1>going to give them a chance to slow down and stop.

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<v Speaker 1>Except there's somebody on that other track, and if you

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<v Speaker 1>pull that switch and save the lives of all the

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<v Speaker 1>people on the trolley, then it will kill this other man.

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<v Speaker 1>So it's an ethical dilemma. What do you do? It

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<v Speaker 1>is an ethical dilemma. And there's the second part. What's

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<v Speaker 1>the what's the second part? Well, the second part is this,

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<v Speaker 1>there's no switch. There's just one track with an out

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<v Speaker 1>of control trolley and several people on it who are

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<v Speaker 1>going to die unless you do something. Um next to

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<v Speaker 1>you stands a a person. Um you know, probably not

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<v Speaker 1>a diminutive person. It would have to be somebody big

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<v Speaker 1>enough to stop a trolley. But if you push them

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<v Speaker 1>on top, on in front of the trolley onto the tracks,

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<v Speaker 1>then you could stop the trolley and you know by

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<v Speaker 1>slowing it down. But obviously you know the trolley would

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<v Speaker 1>run over this person and kill them. That as a

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<v Speaker 1>door nail, that is, so, what do you do? Do

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<v Speaker 1>you sacrifice one life for many? That is a an

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<v Speaker 1>excellent question and it's one that's been plaguing people since

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<v Speaker 1>it was first produced in the sixties. UM. This this

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<v Speaker 1>philosophical problem. It shows the distinction between allowing to die,

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<v Speaker 1>which is, you know, pulling that lever and sending the

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<v Speaker 1>man on the auxiliary track to his death, and actually

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<v Speaker 1>actively killing somebody, which is pushing the less than diminutive

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<v Speaker 1>man in front of the trolley. UM. What would you do, Chris?

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<v Speaker 1>You personally, would you pull the lever? You know, it's

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<v Speaker 1>one of those situations, UM, where you never know what

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<v Speaker 1>you're really gonna do until you're actually thrust in that situation,

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<v Speaker 1>and it's easy to say one way or the other,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, based on I've got all the time in

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<v Speaker 1>the world to make the decision. If I you know,

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<v Speaker 1>sitting right here right now, I would say yes, I

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<v Speaker 1>would I would uh sacrifice one person's life for the

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<v Speaker 1>people on the trolley. UM. But you know, there's always

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<v Speaker 1>the option of standing there horrified and watching it all

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<v Speaker 1>happen and then realizing afterward that you know, would you late,

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<v Speaker 1>would you push the man in front of the trolley. UM.

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<v Speaker 1>That is much much tougher, UM, because then I would

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<v Speaker 1>actively be killing somebody, uh to save the lives of

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<v Speaker 1>someone else, you know. I I saw another article since this,

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<v Speaker 1>uh this has been published that suggested, you know, there

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<v Speaker 1>there are many ethical dilemmas like this. It's it's funny

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<v Speaker 1>how the study of these kinds of questions has exploded

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<v Speaker 1>in in UM colleges and universities. UM. And I saw

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<v Speaker 1>this this additional one where what would happen if you

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<v Speaker 1>had a trap door and you could drop the person

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<v Speaker 1>to his death instead of you know, making pushing actually

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<v Speaker 1>pushing him on the tracks. I don't know if I

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<v Speaker 1>could actually kill somebody to save the lives of someone

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<v Speaker 1>else if I were accent, you know, if it was

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<v Speaker 1>an act of saving a group of people and it

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<v Speaker 1>was a passive thing, you know, it would be much

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<v Speaker 1>easier than if it was active. Your response is actually

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<v Speaker 1>pretty much fall in step with the majority of people.

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<v Speaker 1>Most people answer that they would pull the lever uh ergo.

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<v Speaker 1>They are okay with dispatching someone to their death as

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<v Speaker 1>long as they don't have to get their hands dirty.

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<v Speaker 1>Most people draw the line at pushing the large man

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<v Speaker 1>in front of the trolley. Um, and I can understand that.

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<v Speaker 1>But what that talks about, What that that this closes

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<v Speaker 1>is the our society's view of utilitarianism. Now, I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>doesn't it make sense that under any circumstance you push

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<v Speaker 1>one man to his death to save five or fifteen.

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<v Speaker 1>You're you, you've saved four more than you've taken. It

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<v Speaker 1>just makes sense. But we draw the line at that,

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<v Speaker 1>And um, we've actually developed we've we've used that kind

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<v Speaker 1>of philosophical view to develop rules in our society. Take,

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<v Speaker 1>for example, transplants patients. Um, if you have somebody who

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<v Speaker 1>likes to beat up kittens and they have a bunch

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<v Speaker 1>of great organs, Uh, why don't we just kill those people,

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<v Speaker 1>take their organs and deliver them to five people who

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<v Speaker 1>don't beat up kittens. You know, it's these kind of

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<v Speaker 1>dilemmas that that were faced with every day. And thank

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<v Speaker 1>God for philosophy, is all I have to say. Read

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<v Speaker 1>How the trolley problem works on how stuff works dot

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<v Speaker 1>com for more on this and thousands of other topics.

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<v Speaker 1>This is how stuff works dot com. Let us know

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