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SOCIETY

제 4 호 What is Your Principle?

  • 작성일 2019-12-06
  • 좋아요 Like 6
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Kicker : SOCIETY (JUSTICE)



What is Your Principle?

Justifying the Rushing Trolley


By Yeon-Soo Kim, Reporter

alodino@naver.com


  Every single person has their own life. Through tides of seconds, we go through particular experiences. It could be a joyful success, sometimes miserable drawbacks, or heartbreaking losses. We catches lessons passing time. Through streams of emotions, we grow our own principle. We define our issues through our principles. We tell ourselves or others whether it is right or wrong by it. However, we need to always question ourselves. Is it logical? 



Do You Have a Right Principle?


  There is a trolley* rushing down the rail. It is unstoppable since its brakes are out of control. Rail’s ending point is, unfortunately, where 5 innocent workers are working, who are perfectly unawared of the upcoming tragedy. In front of you, there is a steering wheel, which can switch the rail system, which will change where this trolley is heading. This other destination is where a single innocent worker is hardworking, also unnoticed. If you stand there, touching nothing, will definitely occur 5 tragic deaths. Yet, if you spin the steering wheel, 5 tragic deaths would change to a single man’s death. What is your choice? In other words, what does your principle say?


△ Trolley Dilemma


Can We Measure the Weight of Lives?


  This dilemma is called the “Trolley dilemma” which is one of the major opposing theories to Utilitarianism**. Thinking saving 5 people by killing, in other words sacrificing, 1 person is logical is actually one of the backbones of Utilitariansim.


  However, in real life, it isn’t simple to weigh human lives. What if the 1 person standing at the end of the rail had an old mother, 5 children, and he was the only man earning money? What if the 5 men were just out of jail, and they were planning serious crime? What if, what if, what if… There will be endless chains of “Why” and “If” in real life as soon as we start to define so called “Justice”. Actually, this “Trolley Dilemma” is one of the hot issues online, which people argue endlessly.



What Happens if the Computer Confronts This Trolley


  Manless automobiles are not only imagination in movies anymore. Human’s science technology is bringing automatic vehicles to real life every single second. Running car is a convenience and a danger at the same time. Mishandled car on a crowded road can lead to a huge tragedy. That is why in every country, people need to pass a particular test to get their driving license. However, we cannot make computers, particualy A.Is, to study driving exam. Programmers, the theoretical fathers of A.Is, need to properly design algorithms properly.


  The trolley dilemma is one of the main issues designing manless cars. A.I’s principle must not follow particular man. Automatic car softwares’ principle need to convince their users, since their instant judgments can risk their users’ lives. There could also be a “Trolley dilemma” driving your own vehicle. For example, lets say that you are driving a car on a highway. At the middle of the road, you notice that your car’s brake is out of control. Frustrated, you look for any emergency exit, but the only thing you find is the fact that you are heading to a huge bus. If you turn your steering wheel you can avoid a serious collision with the bus, but you will inevitably collide with a way much smaller vehicle. A collision with the bus will deifinity cause your serious injury, or even death. However, with the smaller vehicle you have a high possibility of getting a minor injury and the cost of serious damage to the small vehicle. Are you going to turn the steering wheel?


  A lot of people would turn the steering wheel because of survival instinct. Maybe we could justify the turned wheel by saying we cannot control an instant decision caused by instincts. However, automatic driving software is not operated by instant instincts. They are operated by a sophisticated algorithm which is designed by programmers. Programmers have plenty of time to decide which choice would be right.



No One is Right or Wrong


  We can not blame someone ignoring the running trolley to avoid responsibility, or turning their vehichles to save their own lives. People are designed to be selfish, to consider their own lives most important. No one is right or wrong, there are only endless arguments, pros, and cons. The only thing we need to do is questioning endlessly about our own principle. Can we logically define every circumstance? Do we have logical principles?


* a small vehicle with wheels that can be pushed or pulled along and is used for carrying things

** the belief that the right course of action is the one that will produce the greatest happiness of the greatest number of people


Sources:

Trolley Problem – Killing and Letting Die

(http://www.jamesrachels.org/killing.pdf)

Trolley Problem

(https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/the-trolley-problem)

Moral minds by Marc. D. Hauser

(https://www.researchgate.net/publication/226211593_Marc_D_Hauser_Moral_minds_How_nature_designed_our_universal_sense_of_right_and_wrong)

JUSTICE: What's the right thing to do? by Michael J. Sandel

(http://justiceharvard.org/justice-whats-the-right-thing-to-do/)

Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries

(https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/trolley?q=trolley)

(https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/utilitarianism?q=Utilitarianism)