RE: #1 Thought experiment - "The Trolley Problem"
May 19, 2016 at 6:33 am
(This post was last modified: May 19, 2016 at 6:45 am by The Grand Nudger.)
(May 18, 2016 at 9:40 pm)bennyboy Wrote: Actually, this inaction in a group setting is a well-studied phenomenon in psychology. It is especially common in large groups where there is no clear leader-- everyone kind of looks around for direction, and nobody takes the lead. This happens all the time with things like heart attack or seizures: someone will clearly be in serious trouble, and passers-by will literally walk right past them, pretending not to notice. However, if ONE, just one person, takes action, a dozen more will immediately jump in to help.
Women, by the way, are told to shout "fire" if they are being raped, because the chance of being saved if they shout "rape," even in an alley off a busy city street with many passers-by, are very poor indeed.
Well aware, still not onboard with your assessment, but no reason to bicker. Weigh that against the beatings of dissidents and undesirables, civilian casualties of war, and honor killings. Good people, doing the right thing. Acting on their moral intuitions...to deleterious effect. I can't help but suspect that if more of us did less, there might be more of us left, and that some portion of the remainder is due to those who wouldn't raise the billy club, the rifle, or the throwing stone.
You and I might be willing to do some envelope math with human lives based upon how it gives us the feels, but I'm not at all certain that the outcomes of that willingness are desirable played out in the aggregate, or that we have room to condemn those who either wouldn't, or could't. Lets not forget that, in the end..particularly in this thought experiment, we would be condemning someone for refusing or being unable to commit a murder.
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
