3.12.2010

Do you kill the fat man? Or not?


Folks have different ideas about how to cheer others up.

Among the more , ah, distractin' versions of "cheer up " notes was the dilemma of throwing the fat man on the tracks to save others. Click the fat rottie to see what I mean. ( I know but it seemed really mean to put up a photo of a fat man wif' out his permission, so ya get the rottie)

21 comments:

chickory said...

i killed the fat man and the owners of the rottweiler in the photo. quel horror!

i was 78% consistent and was told i need to examine my morality framework and that 71% of the people who took the test were more consistent than i.

thanks for letting me start the day with another blow to my overall sense of well being.

excuse me i have to go prepare taxes now.

Karl said...

Good morning Aunty Belle,

Well here you go:

Is torture always wrong? No

Is morality about maximising total happiness? No

Is it always wrong to cause another person's death? No

Should you always save the lives of innocent people? No

Should Casey Jones divert the train? Yes

Should the fat man be pushed onto the track? No

Should the saboteur be pushed onto the track? Yes

Should the fat man be tortured? Yes

Your Consistency Score

Your moral consistency score is 100% (higher is better) Well done. This score suggests that you are admirably consistent in the way you view morality. In fact, none of the people who have completed this activity demonstrate greater moral consistency in their responses than you manage. But don't feel too pleased with yourself. Most people don't think about morality very clearly!

darkfoam said...

Your moral consistency score is 75% (higher is better) Unfortunately this score suggests that you lack consistency in your moral framework. Indeed, 71% of the people who have completed this activity demonstrate greater moral consistency in their responses than you manage. You might want to spend some time examining how you think about morality!

oops..

Pam said...

This was so interesting! I received a 100% moral consistency score. And I didn't kill the fat man. Interesting that the fat man has a nuclear device, wasn't that a code name for the nuclear bomb back in the day? It interesting to see that how you might answer a vague concept could be different than how you answer the example scenario. Hmmmm.

P.S., is that not the happiest doggy face you have seen? I bet he just ate a steak or sumthin'

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moi said...

Is torture always wrong? Yes
Is morality about maximising total happiness? No
Is it always wrong to cause another person's death? No
Should you always save the lives of innocent people? No

Should Casey Jones divert the train? Yes
Should the fat man be pushed onto the track? No
Should the saboteur be pushed onto the track? No
Should the fat man be tortured? No

Your moral consistency score is 92% (higher is better) This score suggests that your moral framework is averagely consistent. More precisely, 36% of the people who have completed this activity demonstrate greater moral consistency in their responses than you manage. But there is no room for complacency here. Most people don't think about morality very clearly!


So what. The test is flawed, in that the scenarios it outlines are not a proper gage of consistent or inconsistent morality.

For instance, my belief that maximizing the greatest good/happiness isn't a moral obligation is by NO means inconsistent with the fact that I chose to kill only one person, not five. Nor is my choice about maximizing the greater good.

It's about choosing one life over five, i.e., minimizing the amount of pain, not maximizing the amount of good. That's all. It's what everyone would do, regardless of how they thought - in the abstract – about the concepts of greater good and one's moral obligation to first and foremost make others happy.

And just try pushing a fat man anywhere he doesn't want to go.

Next . . .

Jenny said...

Geez, I have no idea what to do in these situations:

Your moral consistency score is 58%

Chickory can feel better.

I don't believe in torture, yet said torture the dude. I also killed the fat man. Twice.

VERY cool quiz. I liked this more than the typical ones out Cyberspace.

And the owner of the dog? Dear God, that is NOT love.

sparringK9 said...

i killed everybody and called it a freaking day, okay? i tortured, maimed, killed and blew up the train myself. morality? ha! like i care when somebody gives me 100045 gravy basted milkbones a day. im fat and angry. beware of the dog.

Your moral consistency score is 3% (higher is better) This score suggests that your moral framework absent. More precisely, 97% of the people who have completed this activity demonstrate greater moral consistency in their responses than you can even imagine. you are an amoral dog!

Buzz Kill said...

This was pretty funny. The first time through I got 75% but I believe the folowing question is flawed in the way it is worded:
Question 3: It is always, and everywhere, wrong to cause another person's death - assuming they wish to stay alive - if this outcome is avoidable.

It's the "if this outcome is avoidable" part I have a problem with. In my mind anyway, throwing the fat man from the bridge or running him over is unavoidable. One dead instead of 5 is just good business.

I went back and took it a 2nd time in "Grand Theft Auto" mode and got 100%.

So what I got from this is that it's always right to kill and torture. And that's how I roll.

Jenny said...

bwahahahah to Buzz Kill.

Aunty Belle said...

Heh--y'all is all such funny thangs! Know theyself is sometimes a shock, huh?


An' ya can thank me fer only puttin' up the more sedate of the "thought ya could use a laugh" messages thas come over this E-wire. Oh I has the best collection of "bad hair day" pics ever, ( as in, "Hey Aunty Belle, know what a tough time youse havin', so I jes wanna send ya a laugh or two to cheer ya up--thangs could always be worse, right? I mean, like, ya could have REALLY bad hair day like these folks)

Or the video of the man tryin' to break the world record for smashing watermelons --wif his head.

What's worryin' me some is what must mah friends think of mah sense of humor when they send these thangs? Is it mah humor I should worry about, or theirs? Well, like the Troll, I'se confusled.

h said...

I scored 100%. I take that to mean I'm the perfect man and a shining example for all others to aspire to.

I thought that before the test too but it's nice to have further proof.

MamaHen said...

Well, all I could think is that there is NO way any fat man is going to stop a train. I mean, really.

Pam said...

Hi Auntie! Hope your weekend is going well. Came back to see what everyone else scored on this test. Although I was a perfect woman at 100%, my inner self might go the way of K9 and just take 'em all out. In fact, I want to join up with her and Moi and the underground resistance once Viva La Revolicion comes along....

Anonymous said...

Torture is efficient. Efficient health care is coming soon. If it's right for a few innocent people on one track to die to save more innocent people on another track, why not let some innocent chronically ill people die so more innocent healthy people can have government health coverage for their hemorrhoids?

fishy said...

I took your exam, my consistency score was 100%, which means my original belief parameters were NOT changed because of circumstance. :-)

Kymical Reactions said...

here is my results. I was 92% consistant.

Is torture always wrong? No

Is morality about maximising total happiness? No

Is it always wrong to cause another person's death? No

Should you always save the lives of innocent people? Yes

Should Casey Jones divert the train? No

Should the fat man be pushed onto the track? No

Should the saboteur be pushed onto the track? No

Should the fat man be tortured? Yes


hummmmmm. I always thought I'd have killed the fat man. interesting.

POOR PUPPY!!!!! said...

POOR POOR DOG!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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