#141: Trolley Problem, Fortunate Misfortune & How Zen Traps You
3 Ideas in 2 Minutes on Moral Conundrums
I. Trolley Problem
There’s a trolley heading down a track and it’s out of control. If it isn’t stopped soon it will run over five people tied to the tracks. Who cares how they got there? You have to act now. But the only way to prevent the five certain deaths is to pull a lever to divert the trolley to a second set of tracks. Then only one person will be killed.
This Trolley Problem is a famous thought experiment highlighting several moral dilemmas. Do you think that pulling the lever and actively killing one person is inherently wrong? Regardless of the consequences? Or is it your duty to minimise suffering by signing the death warrant of one individual?
If you enjoy solving problems with only bad solutions, you may be interested in my article on the Trolley Problem Meme: 9 Witty Variations of the Ethical Dilemma.
👉 On a related note, check out my new essay on the Gell-Mann Amnesia Effect: Why You Shouldn’t Trust the Media. (At least not entirely.)
II. Fortunate Misfortune
Something seemingly unfortunate can easily lead to positive outcomes or benefits. At least in the long run. Known as Fortunate Misfortune, this moral paradox is based on the idea that adversity and hardship are catalysts for growth and positive change.
We’ve all experienced this in everyday life. Your gamma-radiation experiment has failed and you’re all upset that you’re turning into a green monster every time you get angry. But fast-forward a few years and your condition suddenly allows you to survive the use of a powerful gauntlet to save the galaxy from a purple mass-murdering maniac. Or as my great-grandma used to say:
No disadvantage is so big that there wouldn’t be an advantage to it.
(Very proud that I managed to reference Avengers: Endgame and my great-grandma in the same paragraph.)
III. How Zen Traps You
Getting ourselves out of a moral conundrum requires us to spot it in the first place. Philosopher Alan Watts explains how Zen teachers help their students by trapping them in dilemmas:
It’s just like someone being put in a squirrel cage, or set to chasing his own tail, or trying to catch his own shadow. But under the supervision of a teacher who knows exactly what’s going on. The teacher himself has been through it. And he’s not like the other kind of teacher who is still a student and is urging his students to keep on the rat race because he’s still on it.
Finally it dawns. You see, when you persistently do something absurd, eventually you’ll have to see it. As [William] Blake said, ‘The fool who persists in his folly will become wise.’
But if you’re really consistent about it, if you really go for that foolishness. Then you’ll suddenly realise that you have made yourself absolutely absurd. Then there is nothing to do but laugh.
―Alan Watts
According to Alan Watts, the way of Zen is to confront students with paradoxical situations and impossible problems. Eventually, they will see through the futility of it all. 🐘
Have a great week,
Chris
themindcollection.com