Re:Will your driverless car kill you so others may live?
by tunesmith on Thursday December 10, 2015 @03:32AM
(#10709584)
That's not really the point - knocking down that example doesn't knock down every possible scenario where uncomfortable questions come up.
We were talking about the Trolley Problem at a recent dinner with friends, and one of the guests remarked about how it was like Star Trek; "The Needs Of The Many" versus "The Prime Directive".
So it's a general argument about where a car has the capability of making an uncomfortable utilitarian choice (The Needs Of The Many), or of simply shutting off any ability to affect matters and let nature take its course (The Prime Directive). The uncomfortable bit there is that with the latter, there's still that actual choice (by the designers or whoever) to follow the Prime Directive - it's arguably not "natural" anymore.
We were talking about the Trolley Problem at a recent dinner with friends, and one of the guests remarked about how it was like Star Trek; "The Needs Of The Many" versus "The Prime Directive".
So it's a general argument about where a car has the capability of making an uncomfortable utilitarian choice (The Needs Of The Many), or of simply shutting off any ability to affect matters and let nature take its course (The Prime Directive). The uncomfortable bit there is that with the latter, there's still that actual choice (by the designers or whoever) to follow the Prime Directive - it's arguably not "natural" anymore.