Mostofuswouldsacrificeonepersontosavefive.It’saprettystraightforwardbitofmoralmath.Butifwehavetoactuallykillthatpersonourselves,themathgetsfuzzy.

That’sthelessonoftheclassicTrolleyProblem,amoralpuzzlethatfriedourbrainsinanepisodewedidalmost20yearsago,thenupdatedagainin2017.Historically,thequestionsposedbyTheTrolleyProblemaregreatforthoughtexperimentationandconversationsatacertainkindofcocktailparty.Now,newtechnologiesareforcingthatmoralquandaryoutofourphilosophydepartmentsandontoourstreets.

Sotoday,werevisittheTrolleyProblemandwonderhowatwo-tonhunkofspeedingmetalwillmakemoralcalculationsaboutlifeanddeaththatstillbaffleitscreators.

SpecialthankstoIyadRahwan,EdmondAwadandSydneyLevinefromtheMoralMachinegroupatMIT.AlsothankstoFieryCushman,MatthewDeBord,SertacKaraman,MartinePowers,XinXiang,andRoboraceforalloftheirhelp.ThankstotheCUNYGraduateSchoolofJournalismstudentswhocollectedthevox:ChelseaDonohue,IvanFlores,DavidGentile,MaiteHernandez,ClaudiaIrizarry-Aponte,ComiceJohnson,RichardLoria,NivianMalik,AveryMiles,AlexandraSemenova,KalahSiegel,MarkSuleymanov,AndeeTagle,ShaydanayUrbani,IsvettVerdeandReeceWilliams.

EPISODECREDITS 

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