THE VIDEO SHELF · trolley problem
The Trolley Problem in Real Life
Vsauce's Michael Stevens stages a realistic version of the trolley problem with unsuspecting subjects who believe they must decide a life-or-death outcome. The Mind Field episode compares what people say they would do with what they actually do.
Why HN readers recommended it
Recommended as a worthwhile real-world experiment whenever trolley problems or moral dilemmas come up.
This is a summary from the source dataset, not an endorsement by Hacker News or the video creator.
Video & recommendation details
- Creator / channel
- Vsauce
- Topic
- trolley problem
- Format
- documentary
- Level
- general
- HN recommenders in dataset
- 3
- HN mentions in dataset
- 3
- Recommendation years in dataset
- 2021–2026
These counts and years describe the included Hacker News records; they are not YouTube views or the video’s publication date.
From the original HN conversations
Excerpts from the recorded comments. Follow each source for the full comment and surrounding discussion.
The youtube channel vsauce tried putting people in this situation by putting them in a fake railroad switching outpost and having the operator step out for a phonecall. They took care to educate the subject exactly on how the system works without them suspecting anything, …
wongarsu on Hacker News · 2021-02
In Hypothetical Judgment versus Real-Life Behavior in Trolley-Style Moral DilemmasThey did this experiment in real life [VIDEO] . It's not 100% perfect but it is still an amazing test.
Sceptique on Hacker News · 2022-07
In Absurd Trolley Problems> Perhaps something to think about in a scenario like this. Personally I think it's interesting that some people are so quick to condone aggressive attacks on powerful people, yet have no comment on those powerful people committing lower levels of violence against the masses. …
Imustaskforhelp on Hacker News · 2026-04
In Sam Altman's home targeted in second attack
Summaries, classifications and recommendation records are from the HackerTube source dataset. Read about this library and its limitations.