Would you sacrifice one person to save five? - Eleanor Nelsen
5,260,579 Views
37,038 Questions Answered
TEDEd Animation
Let’s Begin…
Imagine you’re watching a runaway trolley barreling down the tracks, straight towards five workers. You happen to be standing next to a switch that will divert the trolley onto a second track. Here’s the problem: that track has a worker on it, too — but just one. What do you do? Do you sacrifice one person to save five? Eleanor Nelsen details the ethical dilemma that is the trolley problem.
Why might the trolley problem be relevant to engineers developing technology for driverless cars?
Sign in to answer questionAbout TED-Ed Animations
TED-Ed Animations feature the words and ideas of educators brought to life by professional animators. Are you an educator or animator interested in creating a TED-Ed Animation? Nominate yourself here »
Meet The Creators
- Educator Eleanor Nelsen
- Director Eoin Duffy
- Animator Tyler Morgan, Super Dasil, Mahesh, Hovsepyan Karen, Cooper Custom
- Sound Designer David Kamp
- Associate Producer Jessica Ruby
- Content Producer Gerta Xhelo
- Editorial Producer Alex Rosenthal
- Narrator Addison Anderson
