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BBC iPlayer - Analysis: Thought Experiments

Thought experiments on how we make moral decisions.

EDIT: a train is on a track, broken brakes. there are 5 people trapped on one line. one person trapped on the other line. you can switch the trains direction. Nearly everyone decides that one death is morally acceptable than allowing 5 to die.
same scenario: except there is only one line with 5 people trapped. But, you are standing next to a fat man on a bridge. pushing the fat man off will stop the train(!!), thus saving 5 lives, at the expense of one. Most people decided that this was not morally acceptable, even though the choice of 1 life for 5 was the same. (under these conditions, its because you are directly involved with the one dying)

People, when asked if it was morally the right thing to do to save a life of a drowning child, if the consequence was ruining a good pair of shoes (through wading into the river), large majority said it was the right thing to do. But, when offered the option to make a charitable donation, to the value of a pair of shoes, to save lives of many children, in Africa, the results are not as high.

People tend to make a moral stance, and then retro-fit evidence to support a pre-determined decision.

Weird.

(perhaps this would make a good thread in between trades)
 
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mercy mercy

You know, sometimes we’re not prepared for adversity. When it happens sometimes we’re caught short. We don’t know exactly how to handle it when it comes up. Sometimes we don’t know what to do when adversity takes over. And I have advice for all of us. I got it from my pianist Joe Zawinul who wrote this tune. And it sounds like what you’re supposed to say when you have that kind of problem. It’s called ‘mercy, mercy, mercy’.


YouTube - Mercy, mercy, mercy
 
 

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