• Zwuzelmaus@feddit.org
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    4 hours ago

    What is “now”? Seems you have more than one “nows” - or your variation makes no sense.

    That machine decides before you in time, but after you in logic - otherwise it would not be a perfect prediction. So you can never decide for an empty track.

    • NeatNit@discuss.tchncs.de
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      3 hours ago

      Yup, that’s the premise. It’s just an annoying thought experiment. Your actions physically can’t change the past, but somehow they still do, because the past was decided based on a perfect prediction of your actions. I was just playing devil’s advocate. I agree with your answer 100%.

      “Now” is the moment where you decide whether to pull the lever. As is conventional in trolley problems, this moment can last anywhere from 2 seconds to hundreds of years :)