Would You Push One to Save Five? What The 'Trolley Problem' Teaches Us About Moral Dilemmas

Imagine seeing a runaway freight trolley speeding down the track, which will kill five people. A utilitarian choice needs to be made. But which one?

Jun 23, 2025

yellow and black train on railways — Photo by Ankush Minda on Unsplash

This piece builds on an article I originally published on Medium, with new reflections and presentation for Substack readers.

👉 Read the full piece here:
Would You Push One Man Off a Bridge to Save Five People?

Imagine you watch as a runaway freight trolley speeds down the tracks. There are five people tied to the tracks who can’t escape. The only way to prevent their deaths is to press a lever switch, which diverts the trolley onto another track - but doing so kills one person, who is also tied to the track.

There is no way to warn the people on the track, and even if you did, there is nothing they could do, as they’re tied to the track and can’t move.

Next to you stands a very overweight man, whose weight would stop the trolley from killing the five people on the track - if you pushed him to his death? But what a horrific thing to contemplate.

Could You Do Something Like That?

Could you push the fat man onto the train track to stop the trolley and save five lives?

Most people would outrightly say no. But not everyone would.

Would you take the other option of pressing the lever instead?

The Trolley Problem - A Moral Dilemma in Action

In moral psychology and philosophy, this is called the ‘trolley problem’, and there’s a twist. Studies show that individuals with high levels of psychopathic traits are more likely to say yes to throwing the fat man off the bridge to stop the trolley, and save five lives in return. However, alarmingly non-psychopathic individuals could also make the same decisions, but for very different motives and reasons.

The Dark Side of Utilitarian Choices

In fMRI studies on psychopaths, scientists discovered their emotional brain doesn’t light up in the same way as non-psychopaths, and they easily switch from the ‘personal to impersonal’. The emotional parts of the brain (amygdala and limbic system) don’t light up and show up on brain scans as dark areas. In other parts of the brain, such as the prefrontal cortex and the neocortex, there were noticeable differences also. In brain studies of psychopaths, there is less empathy, less hesitation - just cold, detached logic. One life to save five? Easy, no problem for them. Most people would be horrified to face such a dilemma.

I recently explored this question in depth on Medium, digging into the science behind psychopathy and utilitarian reasoning, and what the trolley problem exposes about how we think and act. If you’ve ever wondered what separates the coldly rational and cold empathic person from those who have hot empathy and are compassion-driven, this one’s for you.

👉 Read the full piece here:
Would You Push One Man Off a Bridge to Save Five People?

What started as Moral Philosophy led to Scientific Discovery

The trolley problem began as a moral philosophy exercise — a way to test how far we’d go to do the “right” thing. But in recent decades, it’s moved beyond abstract ethics and into the realm of moral psychology and science, backed up by research and brain scans, and simulated experimentation.

The result? Some people hesitate. Others don’t. Especially those with certain personality traits — like high psychopathy — who tend to show less emotion and more cold, calculated, logical reasoning based on ‘outcomes’.

Conclusion

So what happens when morality meets detachment and cold empathy?

That’s exactly what I explore in my latest piece — how the trolley problem exposes the emotional and neurological patterns behind psychopathic decision-making and utilitarian choices.

I’d love to know your thoughts.

Would you pull the lever? Push the man? Or walk away?

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