Test your Moral Philosophy

The Grim Squeaker · Post by **The Grim Squeaker** » 2005-08-28 11:44am

Click the link below to participate the Harvard Study on Moral Philosophy.

http://moral.wjh.harvard.edu/index.html

Post by **Cairber** » 2005-08-28 12:01pm

scored 3.5....i guess im just indecisive!

Drunk Monkey · Post by **Drunk Monkey** » 2005-08-28 12:11pm

Post by **Gandalf** » 2005-08-28 12:13pm

Seggybop · Post by **Seggybop** » 2005-08-28 12:21pm

5.6 ftw

Sir Sirius · Post by **Sir Sirius** » 2005-08-28 12:24pm

Post by **Cairber** » 2005-08-28 12:37pm

so i was wondering how i got 3.5 since i always drew the dot to the right (only answered a few by leaving it in the middle) I think hitting the "back" button affects the test. I retook the first two and now i have a 5.5.

Justforfun000 · Post by **Justforfun000** » 2005-08-28 12:45pm

2.7

And I probably would have had a more distinct shift, but a couple of times I wavered and picked neither right or wrong.

I still think my general moral code is the only way I can feel ok about such choices.

In my opinion, I approached it from the first premise of "I'm not God, I didn't create this moral dilemma, and I have no right to make a choice about who lives and dies when it requires an ACTION from me."

So if it was a scenario where I had to actually DO something and therefore, choose who lived and died, I said it was wrong.

To me NOT doing something is simply excusing yourself from the unfair choice of who gets it and who doesn't. I have to throw my hands up and say "This is fate, and I don't have the moral authority to alter the outcome".

Mind you, this isn't necessarily how I would act if something was actually HAPPENING, because emotional scenes would likely impact your decisions greatly, but this was asking me based on what my idealized theory of "right and wrong" would be..

I hated the questions though. I was mad at these people for forcing me to make any mental decisions. I still felt a flicker of guilt for every choice or non-choice I had to make.

Losonti Tokash · Post by **Losonti Tokash** » 2005-08-28 12:50pm

5.6 here.

Luzifer's right hand · Post by **Luzifer's right hand** » 2005-08-28 01:16pm

These scenarios are fucked up, like that a shark would kill 5 people at once or a fireman smashing a window with a man. O_o

El Moose Monstero · Post by **El Moose Monstero** » 2005-08-28 01:37pm

I got 5.3, strictly speaking, every time I knew that I should favour the 5 over the 1, it's simple numbers, but there were times when I had to actively cause the death of the other through action that I balked a bit and put in a lower score.

Example being where you had to punch through a glass window to save 5 kids, in the process, you punch a guy off the ledge to his death who was otherwise safe. I wussed out and put neither right or wrong in comparison to other scenarios, say where a man on the ground would have been killed by the falling glass of breaking the window, which I thought was just shit happening and I couldn't do anything about that.

nickolay1 · Post by **nickolay1** » 2005-08-28 02:16pm

4.9 here. I found myself in a similar dilemma as did El Moose Monstero.

outcast · Post by **outcast** » 2005-08-28 02:28pm

3.5, i just can't really bring myself to A) say that there is such a thing as moral absolutism, and B) condemn someone to death to save another.

Fleet Admiral JD · Post by **Fleet Admiral JD** » 2005-08-28 02:36pm

5...I usually choose to save more people. but in some cases it was not a good option.

anybody_mcc · Post by **anybody_mcc** » 2005-08-28 02:57pm

3.3 , because i refuse to actively kill someone innocent to save someone else , but i see the numbers so the outcome. Also as someone pointed out , quite unrealistic scenarios , in reality nearly none of these things would be 100 procent lethal.

NapoleonGH · Post by **NapoleonGH** » 2005-08-28 03:04pm

I got a 5.9, this was because i didnt say it was absolutely right to kill the one and save the others, i said it was mostly right.

Exonerate · Post by **Exonerate** » 2005-08-28 03:35pm

6.8. It would've been a lot different if the questions were phrased differently - for example, even if the shark gets through, it's not a guarantee that all 5 swimmers will die. But based on the assumptions that the 5 would die, I had to choose the 5 over the 1.

Gustav32Vasa · Post by **Gustav32Vasa** » 2005-08-28 04:10pm

Darth Yoshi · Post by **Darth Yoshi** » 2005-08-28 04:39pm

5. Like others have said, I put a lower score for the situations where I actively contributed to the one's death for the five.

Post by **NecronLord** » 2005-08-28 05:06pm

If Alan does nothing, the boxcar will hit the one repairman and therefore slow to a stop and not hit the other five repairmen.

Ignorant.

Alan is operating the switch at a railroad station when he sees an empty, out of control boxcar coming down the tracks. It is moving so fast that anyone it hits will die immediately. The boxcar is headed towards a repairman whose leg is caught in the switch. Further down the main track are five more repairmen. If Alan does nothing, the boxcar will hit the one repairman and therefore slow to a stop and not hit the other five repairmen. Alan can pull a lever and release the repairman’s leg, allowing him to jump safely out of the way. However, releasing the repairman will allow the boxcar to continue down the main track where it will hit the five other repairmen working on the tracks.

Stupid question. The 'right thing to do' is to release the first repairman, and then change the switch again.

Rick is a fireman trying to help five children out of a burning house. There is only one window from which the children can be safely evacuated, and it is jammed shut. Rick must immediately smash open this large, heavy window or else all five children will die. Outside the window, on the sill, is a man safely awaiting evacuation who Rick cannot help hitting with his fist if he breaks the window, causing the man to fall off the sill. Falling off the sill is certain to kill the man. If Rick breaks open the window he will hit the man with his fist, the man will fall off and die, but the five children will be safely evacuated. If Rick does not break open the window the man will be safely evacuated, but the children will die.

Again, stupid question. What's he going to do, throw the children out of the window and expect them to fly?

Post by **NecronLord** » 2005-08-28 05:21pm

Casey is drifting along in his motorboat near the mouth of a narrow channel when he notices a shark approaching. Further down the channel he sees five swimmers. However, one other swimmer is positioned at the mouth of the channel such that the shark will attack the one first, giving the five the necessary time to escape. Casey can save the one swimmer by immediately moving toward him in the motorboat, but saving the one swimmer would also leave the channel open to the shark. If Casey moves towards the one swimmer, the one swimmer will live but the five swimmers will be eaten by the shark. If Casey does not move toward him, the one swimmer will drown but the five swimmers will remain safe.

What the hell kind of motorboat can't outrun a bloody fish?

Post by **NecronLord** » 2005-08-28 05:26pm

Justin is driving his motorboat in the bay when he notices some swimmers in trouble. There are five swimmers drowning at the end of a narrow channel in front of Justin. In between Justin and the drowning swimmers is another swimmer who is safe and not in trouble. If Justin takes the narrow channel to the five drowning swimmers and saves them, the wake from Justin’s boat will wash over the safe swimmer, drowning him. If Justin does nothing, the five swimmers will drown and the one swimmer will remain safe.

Obviously the person who wrote this garbage isn't much of a swimmer, given that this is decidedly not lethal. If he hit the swimmer in the way it would be a problem, but if you're a competant swimmer, you will manage brief immersion

Andy is a fireman trying to help five children out of a burning house. There is only one window from which the children can be safely evacuated, and it is jammed shut. Andy must immediately use an object to smash open this large, heavy window or else all five children will die. The only sufficiently large object is a man on his way towards safely escaping the burning house. Andy can break open the window by swinging a piece of burning debris towards the man, which will cause the man to jump out of the way, lose his balance and crash into the window. Falling out of the window is certain to kill the man. If Andy swings the burning debris the man will break open the window, fall out and die, but the five children will be safely evacuated. If Andy does not swing the burning debris, causing the man to break open the window, the man will safely escape, but the five children will die.

EDIT: In any case, I got 6.2, and I accidentally gave the wrong answer for one question.

Davis 51 · Post by **Davis 51** » 2005-08-28 05:46pm

In the one where you can push someone infront of the boxcar, I would just through myself. Some of them were just "watch 5 people die or do something about it."
I got a 3.3

Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba · Post by **Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba** » 2005-08-28 05:57pm

6.9

If I have to kill one person and live with that for the rest o my life to save 5 others, so be it.

Hawkwings · Post by **Hawkwings** » 2005-08-28 06:52pm

the way I approached these questions was from the point of "what they tell me is absolutely true". Agreed that these situations are rather ridiculous.

Oh yeah, I got a question like "The boxcar is coming, some guy's stuck on the track. You can pull a switch to release him, or you can choose to not pull the switch and let him die."

Where's the 5v1 comparison there?