r/hypotheticalsituation • u/[deleted] • 4d ago
Trolley Problems [no loopholes] Three men are about to fall to their deaths, you can only save one of them
[deleted]
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u/JobNegative3842 4d ago
see i get that this is a no loopholes situation but by virtue of being able to rewrite reality, you can literally create a reality where you have the other two powers…
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u/UhhSamuel 4d ago
I take the bag, within which is a version of the computer which just gives me a pop-up if my prompt is inadvertently going to do harm such that the original would have killed me, then allows me to edit it to be better.
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u/Titan_Uranus_69 4d ago
Yea, everyone else saying they want option 2 doesn't get the implications of number 3. You can have options 1 and 2 contained in option 3. No need to use the laptop to change reality to save the other two, just kinda reach into the bag and pull out the water bottle and the laptop.
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u/nunya_busyness1984 4d ago
See, the problem with this is that the bag provides what you NEED. Not what you WANT.
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u/UhhSamuel 4d ago
I don't think you understand how much I need that computer to not blow up if I accidentally wrote "hep Linda", then "hep" autocorrects to "hit" and, BAM, I die. But we can't prevent that from happening while I'm typing if I don't have the computer, so I need it.
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u/ULTIMATEFIGHTEER 4d ago
the first can pour his infinite water bottle to put out the fire and save himself the second can rewrite reality to save all of them so only the 3rd really needs saving
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u/SummitJunkie7 4d ago
The second guy can't rewrite reality if he and his laptop burn first... and I don't know if you've ever watched firefighters at work but a neverending water bottle is no guarantee of putting out even a non-magical large fire.
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u/ImberNoctis 4d ago
2 because the person who carries a water bottle with infinite cold water would be able to use the water to mitigate the pit of fire, and the person who carries the purse with infinite space can crawl into the indestructible bag, but the guy with the laptop is probably going to die if he can't type fast enough.
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u/SummitJunkie7 4d ago
Just because the bag is indestructible doesn't mean the inside of it will be fit for human life. It could still get very hot in there or have no air or both.
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u/ImberNoctis 4d ago
It always contains what you need immediately, e.g. breathable air. I'm banking on the infinite space part of it to mitigate the heat. The outside of the bag remains static, but the inside of the bag is infinite. As the volume of the bag increases, the static outside area of the bag means that the surface area to volume ratio of the bag approaches zero. A very small surface area to volume ratio means that the amount of heat being transmitted through the surface area to the inside of the bag would probably not be enough to cook a person hiding inside. The person with the bag just has to wait until the person with infinite water is able to flood the pit with cold water. Then they both use buoyancy as the water rises to get out of the pit.
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u/the-real-jaxom 4d ago
The only reason not to choose #2 is that morality is insanely subjective. I could type on it to give myself super powers, and it could consider it evil to make myself stronger than the rest of humanity.
What if my grandpa was a good person but worked for bad people? Like in your example with the Nazi party: everyone else that grandparent knew in the Nazi party is also dead. Why is it considered evil to revive your grandpa to get more time with him?
Is the morality “anything that could be bad for another human is evil” or how lenient is it? What if I wanted to use it to just inconvenience someone who did something bad to me?
Or is it like you said “with malicious intent.” But that itself leave it open to something like “I genuinely believe that the world would be better if I ruled over it and I destroyed every government and killed every politician. I don’t do this with malicious intent, I have good intentions to try to make the world a better place.” But you killed people and got rid of countries’ democratically elected leaders (in a lot of countries)….
I mean just typing “I want Sally to love me” could be seen as evil because you just took away Sally’s freedom of choice.
Typing “I want 1 million dollars” could be seen as greedy and therefore evil.
Undefined morality issues makes number 2 potentially really bad.
Even typing “I no longer want restrictions on this device” or “I want a different reality warping laptop without restrictions” could be seen as a gateway to doing evil things and therefore brick your laptop.
So yeah I’ll go with number 3, because I need a reality warping laptop WITHOUT restrictions so I’ll pull it out of the purse.
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u/International-Box956 4d ago
The SS were hard-line Nazis, complicit in the worst war crimes of WW2. The USA is not immune to criticism nor is the UK or Canada but the SS are straight evil.
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u/SummitJunkie7 4d ago
I guess 1 or 3. I mean, I don't know anything about these people so can't make any moral judgments on who deserves to live the most. I don't think anybody deserves to be roasted in a fire pit. But someone with an infinite water bottle or an infinite purse that can't be stolen or sold, these things can only really affect themselves. That laptop could be really dangerous in the wrong hands, and I don't know anything about the guy that has it, so, I guess I'd let him and the laptop burn.
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u/OwlIsWatching 4d ago
What's the morality of the laptop? What counts as "doing something evil"? Obviously certain things are morally derelict (the things stated in the post for that item), but on the smaller scale, what is this laptop going to prevent? How do I know it's morals align with mine (IE if I wrote to kill all billionaires, does that count as the level of evil it doesn't like?)
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u/chicksonfox 4d ago
2 is just overpowered compared to 1 and 3. But you didn’t say they have to give the device to me if I save them. I think that’s what you were going for. I would be gambling that I saved someone who would use their device unselfishly, even if direct evil is off limits.
Infinite space purse works great if the holder wants to collaborate with people, with low potential to ruin the world if they want to just make off with it. That’s my choice.
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u/CosgraveSilkweaver 4d ago
3 could contain the laptop too. Though you could just use 2 to obtain 3 as well by writing it in.
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u/Schlag96 4d ago
Is it evil to do evil to an evil person?
This has absolutely, positively nothing to do with my ex wife I promise. Pinky swear, even.
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u/not2dragon 4d ago
The laptop is still too OP even if it can't do the other powers or save the other men. It's still reality warping.
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u/Efficient_Good1393 4d ago
I'm gonna go with 2. It's OP, 3 says what you need, not what you want. 2 also doesn't seem to have supernatural limits, I could write that I got 3 consequences free wishes from a genie.
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u/Immediate_Fortune_91 4d ago edited 4d ago
2 is the clear choice. If I can rewrite reality I don’t need the other 2 things.
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u/video-kid 4d ago
So... drinks on command, physical god, bag of holding that lets you take whatever you want from it?
I'll take the god powers, thanks.
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u/usernamerandomness 4d ago
None. They all burn. I don't know what these 3 men will do with their magic item if I save them and have no guarantee that they will ever help me out if I save them.
If the item is supposed to be a guaranteed reward for saving them, then I pick Man 3. I can get a better bottle and laptop out of the bag.
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u/KeterClassKitten 4d ago
On 2 and 3... 2 is way too powerful, and I wouldn't trust anyone with such abilities, including myself. And 3 is proclaimed to be indestructible.
As for 1, the bottle being damaged or destroyed is arguably the most likely scenario to result in a universal cataclysm.
So, save 1. Use the bottle of infinite liquid to quench the flames and retrieve 3. Enjoy a nice beer from the bottle, then throw into 3. As stated, the bottle is too dangerous. Gladly rock my new man purse.
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u/International-Box956 4d ago
I am deleting this post. Even with the tag, no one cares. All I asked was no loopholes and you went looking for loopholes.
Thanks for that >:(
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u/AutoModerator 4d ago
Copy of the original post in case of edits: There are three buttons, the moment you touch one, the other two become inoperable.
Upon use, a metal floor will appear, allowing the chosen to go free, the other two will roast alive (they are over a pit of fire)
Man 1: carries with him an endless water bottle, always stays cold, can contain anything you currently need or desire to drink. Mimics the taste, carbs and flavor. One drink can stop dehydration, two drinks can sate hungry bellies.
Man 2: carries a laptop with a word processor that can rewrite reality. You can stop, remove, edit or rewrite portions of your life or someone else's life. Never runs out of battery. Immediately stops working if written in such a way as to commit evil (rewrite world war II so that the Nazis won, creating a racist friendly state etc) or desire to bring it about (for instance, if your grandpa was part of the SS and you want him revived, it will stop working permanently. The computer will go up in a mushroom cloud and take you with it if anything involving children is written for malicious intent. Automatically go to hell, do not collect $200.
Man 3: a purse with infinite space, that always contains what you need immediately and cannot be stolen (vanishes upon being stolen), sold ( can't be captured on camera, invisible to all scanning technology and is illegal to sell on eBay or Amazon) or destroyed (made out of mithril leather)
Who do you save and why?
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u/AutoModerator 4d ago
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