I didn’t downvote this, because it seems good-faith and isn’t harmful. But I really dislike this “friendly” style of writing, and it doesn’t fit well on lesswrong. It’s very hard to find things that are concrete enough to understand whether I disagree or not. Rhetorical questions (especially that you don’t answer) really detract from understanding your POV. Some specifics:
But most of us patch together a little of this and a little of that and try to muddle through with a philosophy that’s something of a crazy quilt.
Citation needed. In fact, purpose of statement needed—what does this actually assert, and how does it help in understanding … anything?
In either case you are asked whether you will sacrifice one life to save many, and so from one perspective the two story variants seem to be essentially identical, only differing in inessential details.
But only a TINY bit of reflection indicates that the differences are nowhere near inessential. Choosing between 5 people who’ve gotten themselves tied to the railroad tracks vs 1 person who has is simply a different situation than pushing an innocent bystander off a bridge. You don’t need to resort to a sledgehammer of different fundamental structures.
And you desperately want to be able to tell the next-of-kin “It wasn’t me—I had no choice!”
Not even close. It was me; I made the choice, and I understand that it sucks. For those who did not pull the lever/push the innocent, they ALSO made the choice, and it sucks.
I assume the audience here is a mix of sophisticated people who of course know all about the trolley problem, etc., and newbies who are attracted to rationalism or the LW ethos and are here to learn more about stuff. So I write in a mix of modes. I can’t say I’m confident about how I navigate this… it’s just kind of a gut feeling that there’s room for multiple styles.
As for your first point about ”...crazy quilt,” I expand on this later in the essay when I discuss how responses to the trolley problems show that commonly people sometimes lean on deontological reasoning, sometimes on consequentalist reasoning.
For the second point, I think my “so from one perspective” caveat anticipates your objection. If you are first confronted with the lever-pulling scenario and think “well, this is just a matter of simple mathematics,” the second scenario reminds you that there are other factors to consider.
For the third point, congratulations on having an existentialist perspective on this matter, but I’m confident that this is far from universal.
I didn’t downvote this, because it seems good-faith and isn’t harmful. But I really dislike this “friendly” style of writing, and it doesn’t fit well on lesswrong. It’s very hard to find things that are concrete enough to understand whether I disagree or not. Rhetorical questions (especially that you don’t answer) really detract from understanding your POV. Some specifics:
Citation needed. In fact, purpose of statement needed—what does this actually assert, and how does it help in understanding … anything?
But only a TINY bit of reflection indicates that the differences are nowhere near inessential. Choosing between 5 people who’ve gotten themselves tied to the railroad tracks vs 1 person who has is simply a different situation than pushing an innocent bystander off a bridge. You don’t need to resort to a sledgehammer of different fundamental structures.
Not even close. It was me; I made the choice, and I understand that it sucks. For those who did not pull the lever/push the innocent, they ALSO made the choice, and it sucks.
I assume the audience here is a mix of sophisticated people who of course know all about the trolley problem, etc., and newbies who are attracted to rationalism or the LW ethos and are here to learn more about stuff. So I write in a mix of modes. I can’t say I’m confident about how I navigate this… it’s just kind of a gut feeling that there’s room for multiple styles.
As for your first point about ”...crazy quilt,” I expand on this later in the essay when I discuss how responses to the trolley problems show that commonly people sometimes lean on deontological reasoning, sometimes on consequentalist reasoning.
For the second point, I think my “so from one perspective” caveat anticipates your objection. If you are first confronted with the lever-pulling scenario and think “well, this is just a matter of simple mathematics,” the second scenario reminds you that there are other factors to consider.
For the third point, congratulations on having an existentialist perspective on this matter, but I’m confident that this is far from universal.