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Comment by tmlb | Hacker News Reader

Would your answer change if you were stuck on the trolley quite literally for eternity, rather than just the remainder of your biological life?

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On a serious note, it feels worse in every case that the end of your life is in the hand of an external actor.

Best case scenario you can do what you want and deal with whatever urge you have at your pace. Worst case scenario you don't have agency, and just stay stuck suffering instead of dying. Personally I'd take the chance.

My response, to leave them there was based on 1) not taking lives as a result of my decision, and 2) if they're alive, they might eventually find a way to stop the trolley and get off. My choice gives them that chance, in my opinion.

Would it change if you were stuck on the trolley with the type of people that seem to occupy my city's transit now that fare enforcement no longer happens and no one is asked to leave the trolley at the end of the line?

> stuck on the trolley quite literally for eternity

What "literally" means in this case? Am I completely certain that I'll be stuck on the trolley for eternity? I would think that I'm having a psychotic break and delay my decision.

Literally, as in, if a passenger finds a way of getting out of the trolley somehow, they will be put back in so the thought experiment can continue working as intended. Absurd amendment to an absurd trolley problem.

That is I'm literally in a hell eternal. That will take time to sink in.

That depends - am I bored for eternity, or is there interesting stuff for me to do?

You're stuck on a trolley.

...but do I have an internet connection and a laptop? When they invent VR, can I have one of those?

Passengers implies there are other people. Some find human interaction entertaining.

Maybe, maybe not. You won't know until you're aboard the trolley.

If it were truly the one single opportunity I will ever have to choose to stop existing, it's a tougher choice for sure.

But on the other hand, I might be so curious about what in the heck happened in the world outside - the world that led to this universe where it will be impossible for me to die for eternity, and somehow I know this with absolute 100% certainty - that I still opt out.

Well, perhaps it is not possible to die in this universe, and there are several takes on this idea, see e.g. quantum suicide on wikipedia, or perhaps time starts looping (e.g. you reincarnate as yourself), or perhaps you even reincarnate as somebody else (in the future or in the past). Remember: we know very little about what is time and consciousness.

The "you have solved philosophy" message at the end of the game is very far from the truth.

If I live for an eternity I figure out how to make my own big bangs eventually, all while still being on the trolley.

Does the trolley have toilets?

No, but it also doesn't have food or drinks. So where you're going, you won't need toilets.

It's gonna be a short eternity in that case...

Why would I kill myself (or someone else) just because I’m granted eternal life? Seems absurd to me.

50 more years to live? Okay. 50+? Kill me immediately!

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