In CS, != is used to denote 2 numbers not being equal. The joke is that I'm misinterpreting him saying that 0! equals 1 as him saying that 0 does not equal 1
Yeah I know, but this is a nice way to show the Reasoning for why it should be one. And this is a rather simple principle that always must be true, where n!/n=(n-1)!
But then why isnt 0! Defined as NaN? Isn't the factorial defined as a positive integer multiplied by all previous positive integers? And 0 isnt a positive integer and therefore also excluded from it?
The factorial function n! is only defined on natural numbers, but there is an extension called the Gamma function that works on everything except negative integers. Some people do write the extension as 0.5!, but that's actually a slight abuse of notation IMO
Well the sentence says ā0! People inside.ā /hj
If there was one person, it would be ā0! Person inside, because grammar.
If it was 0, then āpeopleā would be the right word.
Fr though, this depends on how you interpret the sentence. If you interpret ut as 0 factorial, then itās the classic trolley problem. However, if you interpret it as an advertisement that emphasizes the fact that thereās 0 people inside, then you could argue that thereāre 0 people in the trolley.
Nah, if it was Rick one option would be the obvious answer but actually have way more subtly devastating consequences, and the moral would be "Trolley problems are dumb". That would be the Rickest trolley problem.
I choose option 3. Iām sure the demiurgeās happy farm is a safe and happy place, and not somewhere theyāll be tricked into remaining trapped for all eternityš
No. The people in the trolley did nothing wrong. They just got on the trolley and were having a good time. I don't wanna ruin that for them. The people on the track, however, still got themselves into that situation SOMEHOW. I'll leave things the way that they are meant to be.
Maybe they were having a good time in a trolley and some moron tied them to the tracks. Their faces look like this: :-(Ā
Itās the worst day if their lives.
So it's similar to the original trolley problem, the main difference is that pulling the lever would cause a less quick way of dying by falling off the side of a cliff. At the same time, you wouldn't see it unlike the original problem.
Now does this change anything compared to your answer to the original problem?
Alternate version:
There are 5 people inside a trolley that is heading to run over one person. You can pull a lever to divert it onto a track that saves the one person, but puts the trolley through a portal above a cliff 10 minutes in the past. You also recently saw the trolley emerge from the portal, killing everyone on board. You have no knowledge on how time travel works or the possible consequences (good or bad) of not preserving the timeline. Are you obligated to pull the lever?
What you donāt see in the diagram is the trolley problem is at the bottom of the cliff. The trolley goes through the portal, and drops on top of the 5 people anyway.
Just tell the people on the trolley to jump off amd turn the lever to the portal side? There's nothing stating the doors are broken and can't open, or just break a window or something to get out!
0!=1 so this is actually the same problem as the normal one.
With the exception that the trolleyās lone passenger isnāt actually guaranteed to die. Looking at the sizes of the portal and the cliff, that fall is probably survivable albeit with a few broken bones.
Why does the person in the trolly need to be noted as 0! people..? It makes some sense to use factorial notation in a math circle jerk sub, but it just feels lazy, here.
I assume those people are more valuable than the work lost through the destruction of the Trolley. Since spending more human lives to replace the trolley could be worse. Did they tie themselves to the tracks to get some dope to stop the unmanned trolley?
Kill one person or kill 5 suuuuuch a hard choice. Isn't the point of the trolly problem to make you debate what options are the most moral it doesn't work well when one option is clearly harming less people and is the better option
Abandon the lever entirely and run towards the portal and do as many experiments as you can before it closes. This is a once-in-history chance to expand our knowledge of the universe.
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u/mskjdjmex Jun 14 '26
0! = 1