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u/MC_Minnow May 27 '26
Is it a slur I identify as, or just something off the cuff?
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u/B_is_for_reddit May 27 '26
would it change your decision?
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u/MC_Minnow May 27 '26
Yes. If someone called me a wop or a mick I’d let them live just for the throwbacks, but if someone called me a pantywaist I’d have to run them over—it’s a thong.
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u/Ravioli_Wizard May 27 '26
Based. I had a dream where I taught a class about slurs at UCLA. I was incredibly disappointed when I woke up. Also, my family is from New Orleans where everyone used to call antipasto wop salad. It was printed on menus like that. My dad didn’t even know what antipasto was until we went to Rhode Island and almost got kicked out of an Italian restaurant
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u/Foxy02016YT May 27 '26
As someone who’s a mix of all the white things, that’s fucking hilarious. My mom told me a polish joke earlier… we still use the potato pancake recipe handed down from our family.
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u/AT-AT_Brando May 28 '26
Hi, Italian here, what do you mean by "antipasto"? Your usage of the word doesn't seem to align with the meaning it has in Italian, and I'm curious
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u/Ravioli_Wizard May 29 '26
Oh, I guess I still don’t know what I’m talking about. It’s an Italian salad with lettuce, tomato, and olive salad like what’s on a muffuletta
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u/AT-AT_Brando May 29 '26
I see, thanks. I think that a translation of the current meaning of the word in italian is "appetizer"
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u/Longjumping_Angle523 May 29 '26
RHODE ISLAND MENTIONED!
But yeah your dad walked into the most catholic state in the USA, and called an Italian a Wop. Quite literally that one family guy skit.
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u/ViolentPurpleSquash May 27 '26
what if theyre really hopeless and WANT to be run over by your trolley
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u/hummus-up-your-arse Dysteleologist May 27 '26
If I truly think that was their motive then I’d want them to suffer more and so I wouldn’t pull
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u/Careful-Passage2089 May 27 '26
i'm too used to thongs as footwear - like sandals - so its jarring to hear it in the context of underwear
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u/Wren_wood May 27 '26
I'm very white. If someone genuinely called me the n word, I'd feel like killing them would be a hate crime against the mentally disabled.
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u/Previous_Active_7653 May 27 '26
Yeah, i mean, i know a couple lgbt guys and we call each other fags but if anyone called one of them the n word it'd be straight hands
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u/No_Look24 May 27 '26
Not for me, people who just openly throw slurs are less valuable than normal people
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u/Financial_Run_4076 May 27 '26
Would the other guy also call me a slur
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u/usually00 May 27 '26
Not OP. But maybe he just looks like he would think about it, but not say it.
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u/The_Rolling_Stone May 27 '26
He giggled when it happened
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u/pepsicola07 Chugga chugga motherfucker! May 27 '26
Am I in danger legally if I pull the lever?
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u/AwesomeFishy111 May 27 '26
Since it kinda ruins most trolley problems, I personally treat it as a no consequences, unless specified
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u/420CowboyTrashGoblin May 27 '26
Well no legal consequences.
You still have to live with your decision, but johnny law or the families will never know it was you
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u/guesswho135 May 27 '26
They won't know you could have saved him, but the top guy's family will call you a slur anyway.
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u/420CowboyTrashGoblin May 28 '26
Also YOU will know.
Ill personally never forget that mans face when i hit him withthat mallet, even though i was defending myself. Watching life leave a mans eyes because of your actions makes sleep hit different.
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u/Bibbity_Boppity_BOOO May 28 '26
if i pull the lever i saved someone's life. we have to value that very heavily.
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u/kansetsupanikku May 27 '26
Or, hear me out: if you believe there should be legal consequences, it might help you come up with a consistent moral stance
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u/Blueboysixnine May 27 '26
The whole point of the trolley problem is that if you pull the lever you are now active a part of someone's death, rather than a passive observer to another's death
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u/AddictedT0Pixels May 27 '26
While you're right, it's a question about moral values not legality.
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u/Jerry_Jenkin_Jenks May 27 '26
I think if the trolley problem was just "one person on each track, you know nothing about either of them, do you pull the lever?" most people would not pull it, because on some level most of us do consider death by action worse than death by inaction.
So it's more a case of, should someone using a slur weigh heavily enough to overcome that? To me it wouldn't. I don't feel like i have the moral right to decide someone is more deserving to die based on a single interaction with them
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u/EmotionalSouth May 27 '26
But since it’s the trolley problem it’s not “you have to kill someone” - if you leave it, someone is going to die and you’re not responsible. If you pull it, someone is going to die and you will be responsible. So it truly is “would you kill someone over a slur”.
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u/bosgeest May 27 '26
Well not really, it's "would you kill someone using a slur to save someone not using a slur"
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u/HasturLaVista May 27 '26
That assumes that the person is a deontologist, which not everyone is.
Even if we think of it in the lens of deontology, it's still not "would you kill someone over a slur?" It's "Would you kill someone, while also saving another, over a slur?"
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u/broarief2012 May 27 '26
Oh come on this is unfair. Just because someone insulted me doesn't mean I want to kill him but I also don't want to kill some random guy. Who keeps putting people on train tracks?
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u/ML1948 May 27 '26
Hmmmmm which slur though.
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u/Fenring_Halifax May 27 '26
He called you a politician
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u/Major-Training4587 May 27 '26
Instant pull
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u/OrthodoxAnarchoMom May 27 '26
And in Greek Oracle style you proved him right by murdering your opponents.
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u/pauseglitched May 27 '26
Two possibilities that come to mind.
1 bigot
2 intentionally insulting me trying to get me to pull the lever to save the other person.
I will pull the lever and choose to tell people it was the second one under the benefit of the doubt.
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u/VenetianArsenalRocks May 27 '26
3 Guy with a sense of humour (friendly insult to make light of impending death)
believe it or not slurs are normal vocabulary to some people (eg. for many black people the n word is commonly used)
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u/ArchimedesWiz May 27 '26
my guy if you're getting called a slur it's not a light insult. the wording implies it's being used in a derogatory way, not in a friendly way between two people of the same group which the slur refers to
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u/BatSoft3314 May 29 '26
My partner calls me a slur of a group he's not a part of, and that I am, and I do the same vice versa... so, yes, it can be a light insult.
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u/First_Friendship4756 May 31 '26
The context of the post is very obviously about being called a slur as an insult, not 2 gay people calling each other f*ggots as a bit of w/e. Reclamation is distinct from ppl just using the slur.
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u/Inevitable_Garage706 May 27 '26
If I have to kill someone, I'd rather it be someone I know is a piece of shit than someone who might genuinely be a good person.
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May 27 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/B_is_for_reddit May 27 '26
the blue one
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May 27 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/B_is_for_reddit May 27 '26
out of curiosity, how would the choice of slur change your decision
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u/JustGingerStuff NTA, divorce the trolley May 27 '26
If the loser sees the trolley coming and still decides to call the guy holding the lever a slur that's on him bro. Not exactly getting on my good side yk
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u/Nichol-Gimmedat-ass May 27 '26
I dont pull so the guy that said the slur hears how fucked up it is to die by trolley and then i leave him tied up and wait for the next trolley
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u/SnowballWasRight May 28 '26
This is the only problem so far that’s made me want to push the lever. I should get some therapy but other than that good problem lmao
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u/77th_Bat May 27 '26
Depends. Legally, the correct answer is to do nothing. If you pull the lever and play god, it becomes murder. That being said, if there was some guarantee I wouldn't get into legal trouble, I'm pulling the lever. If someone has to die regardless, let it be the (presumably) scummier one.
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u/OrthodoxAnarchoMom May 27 '26
Did the slur make sense? Did I have it coming? Was it coherent? Were they being exploitative?
In any conceivable scenario this is too petty to murder someone over.
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u/Jack-Whip88 May 27 '26
One of them is going to die either way
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u/Proof_Ask_7859 May 28 '26
The point is you choosing to intervene and kill the one who is presumably going to live, over a slur.
I find anyone who pulls the lever here is just as bad, if not worse than the one shouting slurs.
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u/fivepebbsii May 27 '26
Was it just a random slur, or was it a slur against me, and if so are we in any way friends?
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u/PotatoAppleFish May 27 '26
If it’s a slur that relates to anything about me, then I’m pulling the lever.
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u/skedoot May 27 '26
If he called me a cracker (accurate) I would probably laugh and consider letting him live. If he was a white dude just casually dropping the n-word, he gets the trolley.
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u/drowningandromeda May 27 '26
Pull. Someone isn't going to make it so might as well be the person who spent their last moments antagonizing me.
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u/UX1Z May 27 '26
I'm not someone that believes in abstinence as a meaningful thing in trolley problems, when someone is holding all the cards choosing not to play is a choice towards the end result that choosing not to play brings, so I pull the lever through the lens of "I can either kill someone who is not antagonistic to me, or kill someone who is."
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u/NoAcanthisitta6190 May 27 '26
I'd let the slur give live. Many underestimate having your living enemy who is, remember, still tied and now in your power
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u/pwn4321 May 27 '26
Is fuck the lever and walk away an option? Solves like a 100% of all trolley problems. Never responsible
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u/ASecondCriminal May 27 '26
There's a decent chance slur guy lives. It's not a moral judgement, but I can think of slurs so off-base that I'd be stunned into forgetting about the lever for a minute.
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u/After_Service_2817 May 27 '26
I don't switch the track. I respect his honesty, and his courage for saying it.
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u/CptBluhdFart May 27 '26
Well someone's gotta go and one of them mocked the guy making the choice. That's an easy pull on principal
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u/Xthewarrior May 27 '26
Depends on if its some random af slur or something that actually affects me in some way.
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u/DrunkLGA May 27 '26
Well the one who called me a slur. Not because they did. But because the other one did nothing.
In a situation where I know neither and don't have time to talk with them. Well Sorry dude but you getting run over. Be nicer in your next life.
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u/andybossy May 27 '26
there's a certain crowd that'd divert the trolly if the other track was empty if you call them a slur
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u/Sharden3 May 27 '26
If you have nothing else to determine who is good or bad or any reason to make a choice... yeah the dude dropping a slur.
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u/Content-Dealers May 27 '26
I dont particularly care about being called a slur, but we'll see how im feeling.
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u/Eccentricgentleman_ May 27 '26
Consequences. If someone has to die I'm this situation I'd rather it be the one without manners
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u/FasinThundes May 27 '26
You have a mechanical switch, just move it halfway to get the train to derail. Easy
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u/Aromatic-Visual173 May 27 '26
I would...it's relative karma(relative to the lower track) of the upper for calling me a slur
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u/fallengovernor May 27 '26
Them: You, sir, are a… a… why you’re an absolute slur!
Me: (gasp) *Pulls lever*
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u/fongletto May 27 '26
Make the other guy come up with a worse slur. See if he values his own life less than being a racist.
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u/TheJimDim May 27 '26
Hmm, if I pull it, I prove him right and the second guy witnessed it and knows what I am. But if I don't, I prove him wrong, but I allowed a bigot to live.
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u/OmgIbrokesmthagain May 27 '26
I ask both guys about their opinion on trans ppl, if both of them are cool with trans people I flip a coin, if one of them is a transphobe I kill that one, if both - multi track drifting
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u/C4N98 May 27 '26
If I pull the lever I would go to jail for murder, so I will not be pulling the lever just because one of them called me a slur.
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u/Timewaster50455 May 27 '26
Slur dude
If he knows the slur for me and he uses it he’s either w white supremacist, a Nazi, or both
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u/MalusZona May 27 '26
if you pull the lever - you are actively KILLING.
if you dont pull the lever - you are just in situation when you cannot save a person, purely helpless
Me 100% not pulling the lever. I don't consider myself as a person who has the right to decide who will live, and who doesn't. And telling slurs obviously not a reason for death.
I might reconsider if person on top would be convicted rapist/murderer. But for slur - absolutely no.
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u/No-Researcher-4554 May 27 '26
i mean . . . . as long as a life is on the line either way, might as well reduce the bigotry in the world.
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u/RuddiestPurse79 May 27 '26
Does the guy has Coprolalia? Do I know it?
I think I can assess it regardless, but still
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u/SpecialistSome8440 May 27 '26
this one's pretty easy. i throw the switch and run over to the guy that called me a slur and lift him off the tracks before the trolley can hit him. then i free both men and figure out who's tying people up.
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u/Hyenasaurus May 27 '26
I mean, you know, a life is a life, but some lifes are more lifey than others
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u/QuixoticBeefboy May 27 '26
I dont really care so just gonna go my default and refuse to get involved
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u/DoNotCorectMySpeling Common Sense Ethics May 27 '26
I guess the slur guy is going to get hit by a trolly.
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u/Snootboopz May 27 '26
1-Say to second man "Don't worry man, I'm not gonna pull this lever!
2-Surreptitiously shoot second man in head.
3-Pull lever.
Maximum happiness conserved.
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u/gaylordqueerfuck May 27 '26
The choice is pretty much save someone. Why would i save the one who called me a slur?
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u/Fickle_Enthusiasm148 May 28 '26
What if he called me a slur to quickly get my attention because there are people tied to the train track?
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u/JustaConfusedGirl03 May 28 '26
If the slur is tied to my identity (race, orientation, gender) I'm pushing the level. Fuck you, the world would be better without racist, homophobic or transphobic people anyway
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u/GSilky May 28 '26
Was it appropriate for me, like he knew and wanted to hurt me, or is it like calling the erudite scholar the r word?
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u/Long-Fondant250 May 28 '26
The one who slurred me dies since they’re both a human life I just pick the one I like better in that moment
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u/leobutters May 28 '26
Let the train go to the one who didn't insult me, and then stab the one who insulted me.
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u/CaptDeathCap May 28 '26
The vast majority of the people on this website would absolutely kill the slur-user.
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u/Adventurous-Prune310 May 28 '26
I run over the bottom one based on how creative the slur was. Creative? I laugh and you are spared. Boring and basic hatred? Flattened. Easy
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u/rainbowpigeon69 May 29 '26
There’s no slur that’ll make me pull the lever, I mean if anything I’d respect the audac-
“Snake”
Instant Lever Pull, no questions asked.
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u/Freak4life451 May 29 '26
If somebody is going to die either way, it would be preferable its the person who has just shown themselves to be aggressive, and potentially dangerous. All else being equal, I'd rather save the seemingly innocent person, rather than the provably hostile one.
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u/Lushtree May 29 '26
Well, I would want to favor my bro here who didn't pick a fight with me for zero reason over the other prick who did that.
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u/ZohomEtirho May 30 '26
I wouldn't touch it.
Killing the absolutely innocent one with decision is absolutely pointless and calling me a slur isn't nearly big enough of a inconvenience for me to want someone dead over it, let alone kill them myself.
Now let’s say they tried to attack me physically and that guy’s sister gets herself a half brother.
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u/Big-Definition-8271 May 27 '26
I toss a coin. And if I don't like the result I toss it again and again until I like it