An Ethical Dilemma...

Many of the problems and principles of introductory ethics deal with runaway trolleys and fat men. Confused! For those who are unfamiliar with these problems, let me elaborate. Here are two scenarios where a bystander can act or not act in an ethical or unethical manner (you decide):

Basic Trolley Problem:
A runaway trolley is hurtling out of control down a track toward five innocent people. If left unchecked, it will continue on its path and kill the five innocent people. Between the trolley and the five victims, there is a switch. If you throw the switch, the trolley will be diverted onto another track and kill only one innocent person. The question is...... Is it ethical (morally permissible) to divert the trolley, saving the five and killing the one?

Fat Man Problem:
Same out of control trolley, same five innocent victims, but this time there is no switch. Instead there is a fat man standing on a bridge overlooking the track. The fat man's weight would be enough to stop the trolley from hitting the five. Is it morally permissible to push the fat man in front of the trolley, stopping it, and saving the five?

Most people would say that in example one (Basic Trolley Problem) it would be permissible, or even mandatory to pull the switch and divert the trolley, whereas it would be impermissible to save the five in the fat man example. Both problems involve sacrificing the life of one in order to save five. What's the difference? Discuss!

To infinity...

and beyond.

One of the topics that has always fascinated me has got be infinity. Both things that are infinity small (like my desire to achieve), and those that are infinitely large (like my ego). But seriously, let's examine a famous philosophical example of infinite smallness.... I give you, Zeno's paradox.

Zeno (circa 450 BC) is credited with the proof that you can never reach your destination, or if taken to an extreme, that all movement is impossible. The argument is as follows:

• Zeno surmised that in order to reach a destination one would have to travel half of the distance first. One then would have to travel half of the remaining distance. Then half of that remaining distance, and so on, and so on. Because there will always be a half way point between the distance remaining and the goal, you can never reach the goal.
• Again, taken to the extreme, it proves that motion itself is impossible. Before I can cover any distance, I must cover half of that distance, and before I can do that, I must cover half of half of that distance, and so on, so that in reality I can never move any distance at all, because doing so involves moving an infinite number of small intermediate distances first.

Wow... I need a moment to ponder my existence.

The coolest thing is that this paradox was not fully resolved mathematically until the mid 1800's. You gotta love the ancient Philosophers!!

I wonder who invented the Whiteboard.....

was the blackboard not good enough?

Let's discuss:

Blackboard vs. Whiteboard (BB vs WB)

• BB is black, WB is white (duh!!)
• Vomitous sound made when running fingernails down BB, no such issue with WB (it squeaks)
• BB is textured and dull (like my wit) , WB is smooth and shiny (like my ass)
• BB chalk is messy and gets on clothes, WB markers are stinky and rub off on hands
• Chalk is rarely stolen from BB shelf, WB markers never seem to be on the shelf when needed
• Chalk lasts until it is gone (down to the nub), WB markers dry out quickly (unless they are stolen)
• BBs are easily cleaned with water and a sponge , WBs are a pain in the ass to clean and require toxic solutions
• Any chalk will work on a BB with little issue, use the wrong type of marker on a WB and feel my wrath (Sharpie = Death)
• You can emphasize your point by banging your chalk on a BB, you can wreck the marker by doing the same on a WB
• Expelled BB chalk can irritate computer technology, expelled WB marker smell can irritate nearby nostrils

I guess when it comes right down to it, the Blackboard seem to have more going for it.

One more thing: Have you ever seen an artistic person draw a well shaded picture on a blackboard (or sidewalk)? Chalk allows for colour overlap, shading, smudging, and all out artistic control. Whiteboards..... suck!

Oh... and most important.... without chalk... we wouldn't have Simon and the land of "chawk drawrings" (phonetic)

If a tree fell in the forest.....

and there was no one there to hear it...... would the other trees laugh at it and call it names?