bad choices?
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From: South Bay
bad choices?
hmmm...just read this today...what do you think?
comments?
Which one will you choose?
A group of children were playing near two railway tracks, one still in use
while the other disused. Only one child played on the disused
track, the rest on the operational track. The train came, and you were
just
beside the track interchange. You could make the train change its
course to the disused track and saved most of the kids.
However, that would also mean the lone child playing by the disused ; track
would be sacrificed. Or would you rather let the train go its way?
Let's take a pause to think what kind of decision we could
make................
Most people might choose to divert the course of the train, and sacrifice
only one child. You might think the same way, I guess. Exactly, I thought
the same way initially because to save most of the children at the expense
of only one child was rational decision most people would make, morally and
emotionally. But, have you ever thought that the child choosing to play on
the disused track had in fact made the right decision to play at a
safe place?
Nevertheless, he had to be sacrificed because of his ignorant friends who
chose to play where the danger was.
This kind of dilemma happens around us everyday. In the office, community,
in politics and especially in a democratic society, the minority is often
sacrificed for the interest of the majority, no matter how foolish or
ignorant the majority are, and how farsighted and knowledgeable the
minority
are.
The child who chose not to play with the rest on the operational track was
sidelined. And in the case he was sacrificed, no one would shed a
tear for him. The friend who forwarded me the story said he would not try
to
change the course of the train because he believed that the kids playing on
the operational track should have known very well that track was still in
use, and that they should have run away if they heard the train's sirens.
If the train was diverte d, that lone child would definitely die because he
never thought the train could come over to that track!
Moreover, that track was not in use probably because it was not safe.
If the train was diverted to the track, we could put the lives of all
passengers on board at stake! And in your attempt to save a few kids
by sacrificing one child, you might end up sacrificing hundreds of people
to
save these few kids.
While we are all aware that life is full of tough decisions that need to be
made, we may not realize that hasty decisions may not always be the
right one. "Remember that what's right isn't always popular... and what's
popular isn't always right."
comments?
Which one will you choose?
A group of children were playing near two railway tracks, one still in use
while the other disused. Only one child played on the disused
track, the rest on the operational track. The train came, and you were
just
beside the track interchange. You could make the train change its
course to the disused track and saved most of the kids.
However, that would also mean the lone child playing by the disused ; track
would be sacrificed. Or would you rather let the train go its way?
Let's take a pause to think what kind of decision we could
make................
Most people might choose to divert the course of the train, and sacrifice
only one child. You might think the same way, I guess. Exactly, I thought
the same way initially because to save most of the children at the expense
of only one child was rational decision most people would make, morally and
emotionally. But, have you ever thought that the child choosing to play on
the disused track had in fact made the right decision to play at a
safe place?
Nevertheless, he had to be sacrificed because of his ignorant friends who
chose to play where the danger was.
This kind of dilemma happens around us everyday. In the office, community,
in politics and especially in a democratic society, the minority is often
sacrificed for the interest of the majority, no matter how foolish or
ignorant the majority are, and how farsighted and knowledgeable the
minority
are.
The child who chose not to play with the rest on the operational track was
sidelined. And in the case he was sacrificed, no one would shed a
tear for him. The friend who forwarded me the story said he would not try
to
change the course of the train because he believed that the kids playing on
the operational track should have known very well that track was still in
use, and that they should have run away if they heard the train's sirens.
If the train was diverte d, that lone child would definitely die because he
never thought the train could come over to that track!
Moreover, that track was not in use probably because it was not safe.
If the train was diverted to the track, we could put the lives of all
passengers on board at stake! And in your attempt to save a few kids
by sacrificing one child, you might end up sacrificing hundreds of people
to
save these few kids.
While we are all aware that life is full of tough decisions that need to be
made, we may not realize that hasty decisions may not always be the
right one. "Remember that what's right isn't always popular... and what's
popular isn't always right."
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Was that in some article about charity? I had to read that article and he has a bunch of other analogies like that, except they use a bugatti on one track and a child on the other, and the author basically goes on to say that if you do not give 100% of your income after spending only what you need to survive, you are an incredibly bad person and you deserve to die. It was the worst article I have ever read, and somehow the guy is a professor at an ivy league school.
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From: Stockton
I'd let the train keep going the way it is.
The smart kid gets to live, and plus, perhaps the unused track is in need of some serious maintenence and diverting the train would not only lead to the death of the single child, but the derailment of the train and the death of many others sitting on their couches.
The smart kid gets to live, and plus, perhaps the unused track is in need of some serious maintenence and diverting the train would not only lead to the death of the single child, but the derailment of the train and the death of many others sitting on their couches.
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From: Austin
I think you guys are also missing an imporant part of this scenario. The reason trains can change tracks is so that trains traveling in opposite directions can share certain pieces of track. If you switched the train to the other track, you may cause not only that 1 child to die, but also cause a head-on collsion 
Of course, I am not involved in any way with trains and that is just a theory but it makes sense to me 
Of course, I am not involved in any way with trains and that is just a theory but it makes sense to me
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From: Chino
Personally, I would choose to save the group of children.
Although a bit off tangent, one could consider a few other possibilities such as:
-The tracks werent clearly marked so neither child knew which track was safe or dangerous
-The lone child got lost looking for his group of friends and accidentally stumbled upon the safe tracks
-The lone child was an outcast from the group and the safe set of tracks was the only other place he could play
-The lone child just got lucky and picked the safe set of tracks because the other set of tracks was taken
How can we know that the lone child was actually the "smarter" child.
This is probably reading too much into the question but ive got nothing better to do
To put a spin on things, what if a child in the group of children playing on the dangerous tracks had been your son/daughter? Would you choose not to divert the train because the "smart" kid did the right thing and your son/daughter should have known better and it would help strengthen the gene pool?
This question reminds me of a religious story told at this Harvest mass type thing held recently. Its about a drawbridge operator that has the important job of raising a drawbridge at the precise time everyday. His timing is crucial, everyday he would raise the bridge and allow a ship to pass through, and then he would have to immediately lower it so that a speeding train could pass safetly over. One day he wanted to show his son what he did so he brought his son to his workplace. When the time came, he raised the bridge and the ship passed through saftely. However, when it was time to lower it, he noticed his son had gotten away from him and was playing on the gears. He was faced with the choice of lowering the bridge to save the train and killing his son in the process or save his son and let the ppl in the train die. With little time to decide he lowered the bridge and let his son die. I think the story is supposed to be a parable of how God sacraficed his son, Jesus, on the cross to save the rest of the world. Just thought ide share.
Although a bit off tangent, one could consider a few other possibilities such as:
-The tracks werent clearly marked so neither child knew which track was safe or dangerous
-The lone child got lost looking for his group of friends and accidentally stumbled upon the safe tracks
-The lone child was an outcast from the group and the safe set of tracks was the only other place he could play
-The lone child just got lucky and picked the safe set of tracks because the other set of tracks was taken
How can we know that the lone child was actually the "smarter" child.
This is probably reading too much into the question but ive got nothing better to do
To put a spin on things, what if a child in the group of children playing on the dangerous tracks had been your son/daughter? Would you choose not to divert the train because the "smart" kid did the right thing and your son/daughter should have known better and it would help strengthen the gene pool?
This question reminds me of a religious story told at this Harvest mass type thing held recently. Its about a drawbridge operator that has the important job of raising a drawbridge at the precise time everyday. His timing is crucial, everyday he would raise the bridge and allow a ship to pass through, and then he would have to immediately lower it so that a speeding train could pass safetly over. One day he wanted to show his son what he did so he brought his son to his workplace. When the time came, he raised the bridge and the ship passed through saftely. However, when it was time to lower it, he noticed his son had gotten away from him and was playing on the gears. He was faced with the choice of lowering the bridge to save the train and killing his son in the process or save his son and let the ppl in the train die. With little time to decide he lowered the bridge and let his son die. I think the story is supposed to be a parable of how God sacraficed his son, Jesus, on the cross to save the rest of the world. Just thought ide share.
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From: 49th Parallel
I'd save the group of children, let the one kid be a martyr for the rest of them, if he's smart enough to play where it is safe, hopefully he is smart enough to realize that he must be used as the "Sacrificial Lamb" per say, and save the majority. You may die, but you give life to others, which goes back to many Bible parables that I probably don't need to relish about. Sometimes it's your destiny to die, but to know that you saved others in the process will hopefully justify things.
