I'm sure you know the train question. If a train is going along and the conductor sees a child on the rails, but can change rails to another track, but that one has five. What do you do?
The actual answer is changing tracks has the train going slow so it doesn't derail. I have had family in the train engineering business for generations. So the actual answer is, the brakes you're going slow enough to stop easily.
I realized that yesterday while watching some old Doctor Who near a train station.
Anyway, the reason why I bring it up is I am arguing with someone that the answer is there, but not given by the original question. Also, no one thought to ask anyone in the train industry. I looked the guy up, and he's a lefty. It makes me realize that much of our society is based on the idea of false choices. There is always another answer, but the media and government act as if there is no alternatives. Then we make sure to ignore all evidence pointing to alternatives. This is society, trying to make a choice while the train stops on its own.
You misstated the trolly problem & got it backwards:
The point is that you can do nothing and 5 die, or pull the lever and 1 dies. The answer reveals things about yourself.
People who pull choose to have 5 lives over 1. It's simple and utilitarian. The fact that they "kill" the 1 is irrelevant because they consider doing nothing to be "killing" the 5 all the same. A puller knows how to take responsibility and be a man.
People who refuse to pull are cowards who know that society won't punish them for doing nothing because laws don't work that way, and they are afraid of the personal consequences if they pull. So they act selfishly and let 5 people die because at least then they won't get in trouble. Of course these people invent all kinds of bullshit excuses as to why they don't pull because nobody likes to admit being a selfish coward.
No that's not the "actual answer" it's being a double coward and refusing to engage with the question by trying to change the rules of the hypothetical.
Because it's a hypothetical not real life. It doesn't have to be a fucking trolly, it can be anything. Nobody gives a shit if it's "realistic" or not.
IMO you're a non-puller who just doesn't want to admit it and can't cope.
The original hypothetical is from the point of view of a bystander standing next to a switch.
The only control they have over the trolley is to either pull the switch or not pull the switch. We can go on to assume that the trolley is unmanned, so shouting won't help. Perhaps the trolley operator is running along behind after the trolley ran off down the hill.
The trolley operator died suddenly.
https://twitter.com/DiedSuddenly_/status/1594828053980807169?s=20&t=JSHEnp7zNf97Dfew0GTh6g