Comment on The Prisoner's Trolley Problemma
Tudsamfa@lemmy.world 4 weeks ago
This is only superficially a prisoner’s dilemma. In a true one, you cannot get a better result for yourself no matter what the other person does, but here if you assume the other person pulled the lever, there is no reason to pull the lever yourself.
To fix this, you can have 4 relatives on the trolley, and 5 of the opposite faction way back on the middle track. Both do nothing, 1 relative of each is killed. One guy switches the lever, their relatives are all fine, other guy loses 5. Both switch, crash with all 8 relatives on the trolley dead.
TargaryenTKE@lemmy.world 4 weeks ago
I see what you’re trying to do and you’re not necessarily wrong, but you’re kinda perpetuating the attitude that inspired someone to make this meme in the first place
Tudsamfa@lemmy.world 4 weeks ago
I’m not sure I follow. Should this meme’s creator not have been inspired?
TargaryenTKE@lemmy.world 4 weeks ago
Touche. But no, my point was more of a haphazard reflection on how both the Trolley Problem and Prisoner’s Dilemma are (by design) built on the idea of reducing human life and/or morality and empathy down to a math problem. It is a method of thought that has its purposes, sure, but I think too many people make that their default setting, which makes dehumanization more commonsublllif subconsciously. Idk man, I’m going through some stuff
postmateDumbass@lemmy.world 4 weeks ago
Given that this problem is given during corporate interviews … it probably screens for the requisite level of sociopathy.