Moral Stories

Story 58

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 turn 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 the cubicles at this time.

Question

Do you reduce weight by pushing the emergency switch which detaches the last cubicle, so that the other ten miners can 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: Impersonal