People can break moral rules to reduce harm
The American scientists of Michigan State University in their recent research studied people's behaviour in certain difficult situations. Could people sacrifice someone's life to rescue the other ones or not.
Imagine the situation in which a runaway train heading toward 5 people who cannot escape it. Would you rescue the 5 people having killed only one person if you have the power to reroute this train?
It is a very difficult choice, isn't it?
People who took part in that research have been put in a 3 dimensional setting and given the power to kill 1 person to save 5. As a result, 90% of participants had rerouted the train. The scientists explained that people could break a moral rule in order to reduce harm.
The leader of this research, Professor Navarrete is interested in the topics of morality, how do people come to their moral judgments.
In his other study people were presented with a 3-D simulated version of the classic dilemma though a head-mounted device. Sensors were attached to their fingertips to monitor emotional arousal.
In the virtual world, each participant was supplied with a railroad switch where 2 sets of tracks veered off. Up ahead and to their right, five people went along the railroad in a steep ravine that prevented escape. On the opposite side, a single person went along in the same route.
There are only 2 ways out in this situation- let the five people die or pull a switch and reroute the train to the route where was the single person. 90% of participants pulled the switch to reroute the train and killed the one person and only 14 participants allowed the train to kill the five people. The results are similar to the past research of Professor Navarrete.
The study also showed that people who did not pull the switch were more emotional. There is no exact reason for it. May be they were very anxious to make a right choice.
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