The Trolley Problem (from TEDxEd)

In surveys, how do people say they would respond to the classic trolley problem?

• About half would flip the switch to divert the trolley

• About 90 percent would not flip the switch

• There is no pattern; different surveys find very different results

• About 90 percent would flip the switch

The decision to flip the switch, sacrificing one worker to save five, is consistent with which philosophical principle?

• Virtue ethics

• Utilitarianism

• Sentimentalism

• The principle of moral equivalence

The lesson discusses a common variation on the trolley problem that involves:

• A family member as the single person on the second track

• Pushing a large man off a bridge

• Pushing a pregnant woman off a bridge

• A family member as the single person on the second track

In studies of the bridge version, which of the following are mentioned in the lesson as factors influencing the decision?

• The gender of the person surveyed

• The mood of the person being surveyed

• The gender of the person on the bridge

• All of the above

The classic and bridge versions of the problem both activate regions of the brain associated with:

• Conscious decision-making and emotional response

• Processing internal conflict

• A and b

• None of the above

Define the principle of utilitarianism, and explain how it applies to the trolley problem.

Why might the trolley problem be relevant to engineers developing technology for driverless cars?