IAWYC, except that being perceived as indecisive is only a downside when trying to appear high-status within a group. Signaling moral conflict and indecision among peers or superiors might not get you admired, but it’s a safe choice when the options are ugly (until there’s a group consensus and your conformity is sought).
But yes, again, there’s signaling in both directions, and that’s all it amounts to for most of us talking about trolley. For some people (e.g. heads of state), though, these decisions actually have to be made now and then; I’d prefer that some systematic decision criteria exist for those cases; and I find it interesting to talk about them in the abstract.
IAWYC, except that being perceived as indecisive is only a downside when trying to appear high-status within a group. Signaling moral conflict and indecision among peers or superiors might not get you admired, but it’s a safe choice when the options are ugly (until there’s a group consensus and your conformity is sought).
But yes, again, there’s signaling in both directions, and that’s all it amounts to for most of us talking about trolley. For some people (e.g. heads of state), though, these decisions actually have to be made now and then; I’d prefer that some systematic decision criteria exist for those cases; and I find it interesting to talk about them in the abstract.