Trolley Problem/Consistency in Ethics

[Athene]

Wow.... this is about the best version of the problem, that I have seen.  I think someone mentioned, that in a common form of the dilemma, one is pushing some fat guy onto the tracks.  And at this point, I was fairly confident in my answer... No you can't do that.   Changing it to a switch somehow makes it different.  But why?  

To my mind, there's no essential difference between pushing the fat man onto the tracks and flipping the switch. The presence of the switch in the dilemma simply serves to allow for physical (and emotional) distance in completing the same action.

The idea that it makes the action more ethical/moral is little more than a comforting trick of the mind, IMO; An illusion.

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I'm not even sure New York state's depraved indifference law would require anyone to pull the switch or do the surgery.

I'm confident that depraved indifference laws don't require citizens to "intervene" by way of human sacrifice.