My reason for problems with pushing the man from the bridge has to do with complications arising in my brain. I know the man I push will probably be killed, but I *don't* know that his death is going to prevent the deaths of the 5 - for all I know, it's just one more death. Flipping the switch - I don't know if the train will change tracks, I merely hope it will and I'm hoping the person will somehow manage to avoid injury.
Yes, I know I'm not supposed to think it through. Can't help it.
YT comments demonstrate that people have great difficulty putting concepts into words, so I suspect that a considerable portion of the incoherence results from being unfamiliar with justifying such thinking, rather than that decisions are solely due to the "linguistic" analogy.
I think that this is a design flaw. They are not controlling for unfamiliarity with verbalizing automatic judgements for which there is no "written" rule.
Pushing the man is *active* harm; a track is a given.
I would conclude from the 1 : 5 cost : benefit that I *should* push the man from the bridge, but it would be terribly hard to actually do it. It's not a committment in the way that the train is committed to a track.
The train must go down one track or the other, so better to try. Even if the train doesn't change tracks, at least you tried to save 5.
I suspect that the actual moral-decision mechanism is *sequential* rather than either-or.
Does anybody consider the following: the bystander on the bridge, instead of pushing a heavy man (which is very distasteful to me), throwing him- or herself (if s/he is also 'heavy'), thereby saving lives. Honestly, I did consider this. :)
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McLuvin411 11 months ago
Excellent -- plan to use it in my evolutionary psychology class (even if I have to push a fat man off a bridge to do it).
memills2 2 years ago
What a good and interesting video! (Even if I've watched it already :D)
dewinthemorning 2 years ago
On pangeaprogress or on the other channel? ;D
musekiteer 2 years ago
Pangeaprogress, I think.
dewinthemorning 2 years ago
That's where I found it. I simply downloaded it as an mp3 and "illustrated" it -- which was a great deal more work!
musekiteer 2 years ago
My reason for problems with pushing the man from the bridge has to do with complications arising in my brain. I know the man I push will probably be killed, but I *don't* know that his death is going to prevent the deaths of the 5 - for all I know, it's just one more death. Flipping the switch - I don't know if the train will change tracks, I merely hope it will and I'm hoping the person will somehow manage to avoid injury.
Yes, I know I'm not supposed to think it through. Can't help it.
AncientAtheist 2 years ago
There are also issues with "doing harm". I do no harm in flipping a switch. I do harm in pushing a man from a bridge.
AncientAtheist 2 years ago
YT comments demonstrate that people have great difficulty putting concepts into words, so I suspect that a considerable portion of the incoherence results from being unfamiliar with justifying such thinking, rather than that decisions are solely due to the "linguistic" analogy.
I think that this is a design flaw. They are not controlling for unfamiliarity with verbalizing automatic judgements for which there is no "written" rule.
Pushing the man is *active* harm; a track is a given.
musekiteer 2 years ago
@musekiteer,
"Yhey are not controlling for unfamiliarity with verbalizing automatic judgements for which there is no "written" law."
You are, apparently, very much acquainted with psychology, you should be one of the organizers of such an experiment. :D
dewinthemorning 2 years ago
I would conclude from the 1 : 5 cost : benefit that I *should* push the man from the bridge, but it would be terribly hard to actually do it. It's not a committment in the way that the train is committed to a track.
The train must go down one track or the other, so better to try. Even if the train doesn't change tracks, at least you tried to save 5.
I suspect that the actual moral-decision mechanism is *sequential* rather than either-or.
musekiteer 2 years ago
After I have finished the "impact of religion" video, I think that I'll make another about the sequencing.
musekiteer 2 years ago
Looking forward to the "impact of religion" video.
dewinthemorning 2 years ago
"I 'should' push the man from the bridge".
Does anybody consider the following: the bystander on the bridge, instead of pushing a heavy man (which is very distasteful to me), throwing him- or herself (if s/he is also 'heavy'), thereby saving lives. Honestly, I did consider this. :)
dewinthemorning 2 years ago