Yeah, this is the problem I have with the fat man trolley problem. I am not a railway engineer, nor am I a physicist. I have enough knowledge of railways to understand how a switch works and what the consequences are in a few seconds of observation. But knowing a fat man would stop a tram? How do I know that? I don’t have a deep enough understanding of the physics and mechanics of trams to know that! Did a rail engineer tell me to push the fat man? Well then she can do it, I’m not risking making the wrong decision based on her hunch! I can’t even imagine looking at a fat man and seeing his body as a tool I can murder in order to stop a tram. Who the hell thinks that way during an emergency? I’d never come up with that idea even if I was a rail engineer!
Yeah, this is the problem I have with the fat man trolley problem. I am not a railway engineer, nor am I a physicist. I have enough knowledge of railways to understand how a switch works and what the consequences are in a few seconds of observation. But knowing a fat man would stop a tram? How do I know that? I don’t have a deep enough understanding of the physics and mechanics of trams to know that! Did a rail engineer tell me to push the fat man? Well then she can do it, I’m not risking making the wrong decision based on her hunch! I can’t even imagine looking at a fat man and seeing his body as a tool I can murder in order to stop a tram. Who the hell thinks that way during an emergency? I’d never come up with that idea even if I was a rail engineer!