The Trolley Problem
There is a runaway trolley barrelling down the railway tracks. Ahead, on the tracks, there are five people tied up and unable to move. The trolley is headed straight for them. You are standing some distance off in the train yard, next to a lever. If you pull this lever, the trolley will switch to a different set of tracks. Unfortunately, you notice that there is one person on the side track. You have two options: (1) Do nothing, and the trolley kills the five people on the main track. (2) Pull the lever, diverting the trolley onto the side track where it will kill one person. Which is the correct choice?
My view, aided by the accelerating advancements in genome and neuroscience, is that there is no free choice available. People's actions are dictated by genetic inheritance and past and present environmental circumstances.
Those conditioned for survival of the species will not pull the lever while the person concerned only with personal survival may just walk away from the problem because it doesn’t affect them. After all they are not tied to the tracks and they don't want to get involved.
See Murder of Kitty Genovese .
Paul Hunter
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