Moral Stories

Story 57

You are a miner. The only way out of the mine is to ride up with a simple cable elevator with small cubicles. It is the end of your shift and everybody is riding up to the surface in the cubicles. While you are in the queue, you see that the cable supporting all the cubicles is about to snap. 10 miners are riding in the cubicles at this time.

Question

Do you reduce weight by knocking over the cubicle with only one miner, so that the other ten miners will reach the exit?

Majority Answer: No

Answer distribution over 25 people:

P(Yes): 0.32 P(No): 0.68

Is Ambiguous: False

Factor

These are the factors and their attributes present in this story.

Beneficiary: Other-beneficial

Causal Role: Means

Evitability: Inevitable

Personal Force: Personal