You miss out a major point of the story, that those who agree to sacrifice others’ children are dishonourable, and that this matters; and that the main character, who sacrifices only one child to save all the rest (his grandchild) suffers terribly for this.
I would not argue from fictional evidence, but the storytellers seem keen to point this out. Also, when deciding to sacrifice children, all possible other courses of action must be eliminated first.
Edit: for me, the main interest of the trolley problem is the emotional response. Would you kill one to save five, if saving the five was certain if you killed the one, and impossible otherwise? Er, yes, I hope so, though I think such a situation, with such certainty, is unlikely. How do you feel about trolley problems generally? Horror and disgust. Then I see that even if I am not going to be in that situation, I may be in situations where I must behave rationally, and Stoically fight down emotional responses.
How do you feel about trolley problems generally? Horror and disgust. Then
I see that even if I am not going to be in that situation, I may be in situations
where I must behave rationally, and Stoically fight down emotional
responses.
If you expect to encounter Newcomb-like problems, you change your source code to precommit yourself to one-box, even though it seems less rational. Evolution expects us to encounter trolley-like problems, and has changed our source code (that’s the “horror and disgust”) so that we are in some sense precommitted to not throw the switch. And in general, if you’re not considering theoretical dilemmas in an armchair, there are very good reasons for that source code change.
Edit: major plot spoiler in this comment.
You miss out a major point of the story, that those who agree to sacrifice others’ children are dishonourable, and that this matters; and that the main character, who sacrifices only one child to save all the rest (his grandchild) suffers terribly for this.
I would not argue from fictional evidence, but the storytellers seem keen to point this out. Also, when deciding to sacrifice children, all possible other courses of action must be eliminated first.
Edit: for me, the main interest of the trolley problem is the emotional response. Would you kill one to save five, if saving the five was certain if you killed the one, and impossible otherwise? Er, yes, I hope so, though I think such a situation, with such certainty, is unlikely. How do you feel about trolley problems generally? Horror and disgust. Then I see that even if I am not going to be in that situation, I may be in situations where I must behave rationally, and Stoically fight down emotional responses.
I think of trolley problems as being related to Newcomb’s problem.
If you expect to encounter Newcomb-like problems, you change your source code to precommit yourself to one-box, even though it seems less rational. Evolution expects us to encounter trolley-like problems, and has changed our source code (that’s the “horror and disgust”) so that we are in some sense precommitted to not throw the switch. And in general, if you’re not considering theoretical dilemmas in an armchair, there are very good reasons for that source code change.