maggot-monger - Tumblr blog

[maggot-monger]

another thing about this is that in empirical philosophy the trolley problem is often just a basic paradigm format used to compare different more specific dilemmas to each other, rather than just the one standard dilemma. so rather than it just being "5 people on the track vs 1 if you pull the lever, would you pull the lever?" it is very often like "5 adults on the track vs 1 child if you pull the lever, would you pull the lever?" or "you just finished killing someone with your bare hands and as you're leaving the crime scene you encounter the standard trolley problem. would you pull the lever?" or things to that effect trying to figure out what conditions will get people to respond differently to the basic setup

the trolley problem is a different kind of question depending on whether you're thinking about it as a scenario that exists in a context, or a way to isolate variables in a way that is not possible in actual reality. what a context is is additional variables, and physical and social reality have huge numbers of variables. that is realistic, but it is not good for isolating variables, which is necessary for figuring out the mechanics of small pieces of people's reasoning and behavior. situations that are tools for isolating variables are not going to completely reflect how people will actually behave or reason in real situations with a lot of variables because that isn't the point of them*: they will tell you how people think about tiny pieces of problems that consist of many many tiny pieces like the problems they encounter all the time. what you can, should, or would actually do in a physical situation with a physical trolley that was built because of a system that set up a trolley on tracks is an interesting question but it involves a ton of variables. a hypothetical scenario that consists of only the choice while attempting to control for all the other variables is also an interesting question; it is just a different question that tells you different information

*arguably it is also smarter/whatever to ask how you can get around the conundrum because in reality you can do that, but it isn't what the variable isolating scenario is for

[maggot-monger]

all the gay people on here are always posting screenshots from like an alternate universe version of seinfeld where every episode is about george costanza lounging on sofas and in restaurants and monologuing his fearful explorations of the nebulous corners of his gender and sexual identity

[maggot-monger]

Undercover autumn/winter 2023

[maggot-monger]

Laurie Davidson & Nicholas Galitzine Mary & George (1.03)

[maggot-monger]

Charles Cottet (French, 1863-1925)

Grief, 1903

[maggot-monger]

Morpheus, Jean Antoine Houdon, 1777

[maggot-monger]

the trolley problem is a different kind of question depending on whether you're thinking about it as a scenario that exists in a context, or a way to isolate variables in a way that is not possible in actual reality. what a context is is additional variables, and physical and social reality have huge numbers of variables. that is realistic, but it is not good for isolating variables, which is necessary for figuring out the mechanics of small pieces of people's reasoning and behavior. situations that are tools for isolating variables are not going to completely reflect how people will actually behave or reason in real situations with a lot of variables because that isn't the point of them*: they will tell you how people think about tiny pieces of problems that consist of many many tiny pieces like the problems they encounter all the time. what you can, should, or would actually do in a physical situation with a physical trolley that was built because of a system that set up a trolley on tracks is an interesting question but it involves a ton of variables. a hypothetical scenario that consists of only the choice while attempting to control for all the other variables is also an interesting question; it is just a different question that tells you different information

*arguably it is also smarter/whatever to ask how you can get around the conundrum because in reality you can do that, but it isn't what the variable isolating scenario is for

[maggot-monger]

November - Brendon Burton

[maggot-monger]

Silvestro Lega (Italian, 1826-1895)

The Visit, 1868

[maggot-monger]

im extremely devout but nobody can figure out what im worshipping

[maggot-monger]

Pietro d’Azzo

[maggot-monger]

"the correct answer to the trolley problem is to reject its premise" That's explicitly not an answer. If you are the agent in the trolley problem, and you say "I reject the premise", the people still die. It is a made up scenario, yes. It was made specifically to illustrate in a real-world situation where you have limited influence and none of your options are perfect. There are many problems in the real world that you cannot solve by pulling a lever. However, you also cannot solve them by doing nothing. And unlike the trolley problem, you can't just "reject the premise" and exit the scenario. The consequences still happen.

The point is to demonstrate your ethical reasoning. Nobody wants to accept the premise, we want to revise the scenario, or exit the situation, or just find the trick answer that solves everything perfectly, and ultimately, many people decide not to pull the lever. Why? Because it feels worse to take action in a shitty situation than to do nothing and pretend that you never had any influence to begin with.

Except, even if you do nothing, you are still just as complicit in the consequences as if you had pulled the lever. The point is that inaction feels like an inherently neutral choice, even when its consequences are demonstrably worse. The point is that there is no solution where you don't have someone's blood on your hands. Yes it sucks. Yes you want to reject the scenario. That's supposed to happen, you're supposed to feel that conflict, that's part of the test. What we're looking to find out is what you do with that conflict. Do you prioritize emotional comfort or external action?

Maybe one day we'll have built a future where nobody has to confront that sort of problem, but right now, those problems are real and numerous, because whether you accept it or not we were born into a world where people already built massive systems of cruelty, and we all have very limited influence over them. Obviously we don't want these systems to exist. Obviously it won't be solved by a single decision. But if you want to dismantle them you have to actually do something when you have the chance. If you wait around for the Perfect Choice That Fixes Everything, you will die waiting. You can't fix everything all at once. And doing nothing only makes things worse. So do what you can.

[maggot-monger]

I missed drawing them

[maggot-monger]

me normally: i'm not personally a huge fan of modern art

me around right wingers: I love modern art sooooo much and I think there should be litter boxes in schools also

[maggot-monger]

hey uhhh but fr the concept of fallen angels existing but risen demons being an impossibility is kind of a great summary of sin in christianity

[maggot-monger]

unavoidable that you will be the villain in someone else's story. You will be painted in an unfavorable light. You will be the irredeemable one. and all of this will happen despite how nice you might usually be or how kind or how respectful or how warm. and you will just have to move on.

[maggot-monger]

I hope something unexpectedly good happens to you this week.