I've been thinking about the Trolley Problem, a moral dilemma in which one has to decide whether or not they'll sacrifice one person or group to save another person or group. It's usually a tough decision, but sometimes it seems like a no-brainer. If you have to sacrifice one person to save millions, that's what you do.
But perhaps it's not as easy as the math would make it seem. Maybe when it comes down to the moment of making that sacrifice, of pulling that lever, knowing that the trolley will kill the person I thought I'd be willing to sacrifice, I don't know if I would actually have the guts to pull that lever. I'd like to think that I would try to save as many people as possible, even if that meant directly killing someone, but that decision may prove to be, not just difficult, but impossible to make. I can imagine myself with my hand on that lever, knowing that pulling the lever is, statistically, the right thing to do, but finding myself unable or just unwilling to pull it.
So, while one or two sacrifices may have saved millions, I suppose I shouldn't judge those who chose not to pull the level. If I were them, I'm not sure I could have done it either, even if I, unlike them, thought it was the right thing to do.
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