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IT'S A TRAP

⁨573⁩ ⁨likes⁩

Submitted ⁨⁨21⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨fossilesque@mander.xyz⁩ to ⁨science_memes@mander.xyz⁩

https://mander.xyz/pictrs/image/dd931720-08dc-4eea-9268-74fc635a1e79.png

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Comments

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  • missfrizzle@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    you know, I’m not sure you can have an uncountably infinite number of people. so whatever that abomination is I’ll send the trolley down its way.

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  • p3n@lemmy.world ⁨10⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    I do what I always do: run to the trolley, then jump up and pull the emergency stop because I hate false dilemmas.

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    • hakunawazo@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Correct, because if we ignore some important facts you could also have infinite time to stop the trolley. Checkmate, false dilemma creators.

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  • dontbelievethis@sh.itjust.works ⁨20⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Bottom. Greater probability that it gets stuck in the corpses.

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  • _stranger_@lemmy.world ⁨10⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    It’ll make it through maybe 3 infinities before derailing. Go bottom, end it faster.

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  • trxxruraxvr@lemmy.world ⁨20⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Doesn’t matter, there are not enough people to try this anyway

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    • Thedogdrinkscoffee@lemmy.ca ⁨20⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Depends on the speed of the trolley.

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    • SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world ⁨20⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Not with that attitude

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    • eleijeep@piefed.social ⁨16⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Population expansion is exponential but the tram moves at constant velocity, so by the time it reaches the end of the track of 8bn people there will be an exponentially increasing number of people further down the track.

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  • Matriks404@lemmy.world ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Imagine being the first one being killed on top track.

    The probability of that is…?

    Mathematicians tell me, please, because my mind is breaking.

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    • NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      It's 0. I mean someone has to be the first, but betting on any particular person to be the first will necessarily be a losing bet.

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      • silasmariner@programming.dev ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        But what if I know Steve’s first and bet it’s Steve?

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  • krooklochurm@lemmy.ca ⁨17⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    I masturbate until I forget about the decision I have to make and then put off cleaning my apartment until I finally just run out, randomly pull the lever, and never think of the consequences again.

    Of course by that point everyone has already starved to death which is the worst possible outcome.

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    • moody@lemmings.world ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Ah, procrasturbation.

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  • Randelung@lemmy.world ⁨12⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    What about a time loop where only one person dies, but infinite times?

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  • wildncrazyguy138@fedia.io ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    I’d just close my eyes and believe the bodies I’m trampling are imaginary.

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  • CommissarVulpin@lemmy.world ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Okay, so what’s the point of “proving” that there some “infinities” are “bigger” than others? What’s the practical application here? Because an infinite hotel with an infinite number of guests is physically impossible, so I don’t see the point.

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    • carmo55@lemmy.zip ⁨18⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      A practical application is for example in probability theory (or anywhere that deals with measures) such as this question:

      If we generate a random real number from 0 to 1, what is the probability that it is rational?

      Because we know that the continuum is so much larger in a sense than the set of rationals, we can answer this confidently and say the probability is zero, even though it is theoretically possible for us to get a rational number.

      Statistics deals with similar scenarios quite frequently, and without it we wouldn’t have the modern scientific method.

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    • NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Practical application in math tends to be like three degrees of separation and half a century removed from the math at play. In this case, all of modern mathematics is based on set theory, so it's more that this stuff allows us to do other, more practically useful math while knowing what we're talking about.

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    • MBM@lemmings.world ⁨17⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      I’ve never been a fan of just saying “some infinities are bigger than others,” to be honest. Way too easy to misunderstand and it’s also kind of meaningless by itself.

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    • bstix@feddit.dk ⁨18⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      The real numbers also includes the integers.

      The practical consequence of this example is that the integers die regardless of what you choose.

      However infinitely many people will survive if you choose the first option.

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      • CommissarVulpin@lemmy.world ⁨18⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        And yet there can never, and will never, be a situation where an infinite number of people are tied to a railroad track. So this thought experiment is meaningless.

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  • OddMinus1@sh.itjust.works ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Can I group the people into groups of 1, then 2, then 3 and so forth? When the trolley is done with the killing, it will have killed -1/12 people.

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  • AkatsukiLevi@lemmy.world ⁨20⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Hold the lever halfway so the trolley picks both rails at the same time, to ensure highest possible kill comboq

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    • davidgro@lemmy.world ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      That’s effectively just the bottom track, where an uncountable number of people (literally) will die as soon as the train reaches position (0.

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  • Zerush@lemmy.ml ⁨16⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    I use the lever to kill the train driver.

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  • halvar@lemy.lol ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    there are more real numbers than integers though

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    • ThermonuclearEgg@hexbear.net ⁨14⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      The image actually says this

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  • TomMasz@piefed.social ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    I remember seeing a science show on PBS where the presenter explained how there are different infinities by using set theory and the integers/reals. That was mind-blowing at the time.

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  • PhAzE@lemmy.ca ⁨14⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Geez, disconnect the trains so you can hit both lines at the same time, obviously.

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  • ryedaft@sh.itjust.works ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    I reject the premise since there will only ever exist a finite number of people. They will all die. One day the last human will die.

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  • zqwzzle@lemmy.ca ⁨18⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    I take the square root of all the negative real numbers and kill in an entirely new dimension.

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  • bizarroland@lemmy.world ⁨18⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    I would pull the lever and then steal a bus and knock the trolley off of the track, killing the least amount of people possible.

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  • IAmNorRealTakeYourMeds@lemmy.world ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    sort them so you kill one person first, then 2, then 3, then 4…

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  • kometes@lemmy.world ⁨20⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    “smallest”?

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