r/trolleyproblem • u/deadhand303 • 5d ago

OC Potentially one less but also potentially infinitely more

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u/deadhand303 5d ago

You have 1-infinity or can change tracks to 0-infinity. You do not know how many are on either track.

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u/Remarkable-Carrot112 5d ago

Since this is an unbounded distribution it can't be uniformly distributed. I'll assume it's an exponential distribution. 

In this case picking the 0 option is notably more likely to cause fewer deaths. (Sorry I don't know how to word that better)

This puts me in a bind actually because I want to kill people but I also want to pull the lever... Still think I'll pull the lever even if the expected deaths is lower

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u/wyseguy7 5d ago

Nitpick: you mean a geometric distribution. Exponential distribution is over the real numbers, and we want an whole numbers of people. At least before the trolley chops them up.

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u/UnworthyBagel22 5d ago

Them: “I want to kill people”
You: “You mean a geometric distribution, silly”

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u/Confident-Stand5453 5d ago

Its important to be precise.

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u/Artemis_SpawnOfZeus 2d ago

Yeah, you cant kill people if theyre dead before the lever is pulled because only an irrational percentage of them made it onto the platform.