The Real lJ Idol, Topic 9: Trolley Problem

[my_name_is_jenn]

He was drinking again. She could smell it as soon as she walked into his house. She didn't even have to call out for him. It wouldn't have mattered if she did. He was passed out on the couch, oblivious to the world around him

Comments

[rayaso]

What a great re-working of the original trolley problem! The original problem is impersonal (5 people on 1 track; 1 person on another), but by using this situation you have personalized it, which puts another spin on it. Would you kill your father to save your son, and several others? Ethical dilemmas take on a different dimension this way. Well written!

[my_name_is_jenn]

Thank you!

The Wikipedia entry for "Trolley Problem" mentioned a couple of scenarios, one being that the one person on the track was your own son. Another scenario asked if you would intentionally push someone onto the tracks, rather than simply flipping a switch, to stop the trolley.

The one that asked if you would sacrifice your own son was what gave me this idea.

[bleodswean]

EEEEE! She definitely made her choice and didn't seem to have to linger over the consequences too long! A nice, determined response to the prompt!

[my_name_is_jenn]

No, she definitely didn't feel any guilt about her choice. She knew what she had to do.

Thanks. :)

[eternal_ot]

Whoa! This was an amazing take! Lovely. I had come across this scenario pertaining to a surgeon killing a traveler to cure five patients and I felt weirdly uneasy. But here, you managed to sell me this story. The personal touch and the situation helped. Kudos! Really well done.

[my_name_is_jenn]

Yikes. The idea of a surgeon killing a traveler to cure five patients makes me uneasy, too.

I think, after growing up with an alcoholic father, the last straw was when he was able to help his grandson but refused to do it because he wouldn't be able to drink for a few days, was something so simple that it just made the decision easy for her.

Thank you so much. :)

[majesticzaichik]

Dang intense! He was more useful in death than in life.

[my_name_is_jenn]

Indeed. As she said, all he was doing was abusing good organs.

[tonithegreat]

Yowch! The smack of the concrete was visceral. I almost wondered if the old man suspected what his daughter was doing and allowed it because deep down he knew it was the best answer. Either way, it read like she made the choice to me.

[my_name_is_jenn]

You know, I never thought about that possibility, but now that you mention it, I can definitely see him having some small inkling in the back of his mind that this was maybe going to happen and still going with it anyway.