this post was submitted on 27 Feb 2024
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submitted 9 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] [email protected] 88 points 9 months ago (6 children)

It's always better to gain a full understanding of the system when trying to make important decisions.

The trolley has two sets of wheels, leading and trailing, both of which must remain on the same set of tracks.

The switch is designed to enable the trolley to change course, moving from one set of tracks to the other.

Throwing the switch after the leading set has passed, but before the trailing set has reached the switch points will cause the two sets to attempt travel on separate tracks. The trolley will derail, rapidly coming to a halt. If the trolley is moving slowly enough to permit this action, nobody dies.

Source: former brakeman (one of the people responsible for throwing switches), section hand (one of the people responsible for installing switches), and railroad welder (one of the people responsible for field repairs of switches).

[–] [email protected] 43 points 9 months ago (2 children)

I'm pretty sure that leads to multi-track drifting, and so all the people die.

Source: https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/facebook/000/000/727/DenshaDeD_ch01p16-17.jpg

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago

This is quintessential anime action. So ridiculous, yet so awesome.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago

🤣

Don't worry, the first body or two will take care of it!

[–] [email protected] 16 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I'm no expert, but I'd expect such a slow moving trolley to eventually derail itself anyway on account of all the corpses

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago

Yes, or come to a halt. You'd be surprised at how little it takes to reduce the already low friction to nothing. A bit of blood and a bit of resistance will bring it to a halt pretty quickly.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I think you just passed the Trolley version of the Kobayashi Maru. Well done.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago

Thanks. This is the first time I've seen a jokey enough presentation to feel comfortable in treating it as a hypothetical reality rather than a moral/ethical exercise.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 9 months ago

OR... if you can keep the wheels spinning really fast, you could "drift" the trolly, keeping a set of wheels on each track and kill everyone on both tracks into infinity.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 9 months ago

Way to stop the trolly problem dead in its tracks.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago (1 children)

If the leading wheels are allowed to continue any interval down the original track, uncountably infinitely many people die.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Only if those people can also be infinitely packed into the distance the leading truck (the set of wheels) manages to travel.

Which, I guess is fair play in a thought experiment involving different sizes of infinities. :)

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

I think that wad the premise, yeah.