Becky N. sent me this:
There is a facebook group devoted to trolley problem memes. [fb]
I am not going to look and see if there is a Sam Harris Ticking Time Bomb meme group. I’m sure there is, and it’s got to be a great trench warfare of tedium.
I approve of this message. Wouldn’t it be fun to cross-post that to a Free Will meme group and watch them chase each other around and around like puppies?
I thought discussions of free will had been declared cruel and unusual punishment.
Both choices involve killing one man standing around doing nothing…
LykeX@#1:
I thought discussions of free will had been declared cruel and unusual punishment.
I have no choice.
Marcus,
What have you been doing?
All of a sudden I’m getting an ad reading “Rencontre entre Infidèles”.
After reading PZ Myers I get ads for a Messianic Bible.
jrkrideau@#4:
What have you been doing?
I have no idea!
I did have some fun a while back when I bought some eros bodyglide (it’s great for shining rubber and waterproofing leather) on amazon and someone who knew me and was reading one of my reviews got a “marcus recommends 50 gal drum of water-based lube” aaaaaah, the smell of “big data”…
If someone were to match ads to my shopping preferences there would be a lot of recommendations for weird and potentially scary things. “People who shopped for this also shopped for 50g containers of cadmium bromide!” (click here to buy)
[That latter is me kidding. I buy that sort of stuff from Fisher Scientific and artcraft chemical. Hm, someday maybe I should do a posting on risk management when shipping toxic substances. I have a couple cannisters containing cyanide and it’s pretty impressive to see how responsibly Fisher ships that kind of stuff.]
starskeptic@#2:
Both choices involve killing one man standing around doing nothing…
The guy standing around in the upper branch is waiting to take his turn with the shovel, because of shovel shortage. He is not a lazy capitalist overseer.
Since this is a hypothetical scenario, why can’t I just get on my dragon and (going Between), move everyone to safety?
Because you’re breaking the ruuuuuuules!
chigau@#7:
James T. Kirk would do it, and so can you!
Or the engine driver could toot the train horn letting the occupants of the Kobiyashi Maroo escape
DanDare@#10:
Or the engine driver could toot the train horn letting the occupants of the Kobiyashi Maroo escape
The train driver’s union could blame the railway repair guys for not putting up safety flags, and for not listening to the train bearing down on them. Trains aren’t exactly stealthy, especially when they slam their brakes on.