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)