The trolley problem

What do you mean "going to"? It's happening right now!

I get it's a meme and I don't disagree with the joke. That said, the trolley problem isn't supposed to be a description of real life, it's a thought experiment to help tease out moral principles.

Also, while there are many things outside our control and many people like billionaires who are screwing us, I don't think it's a helpful mental model to think of oneself as tied up and solely an object being acted on. We can make choices and within constraints we can change some things. And if there were any question about whether we can change things, believing it's impossible in effect means it's impossible.

What do we learn? Only way to be safe is to use public transport.