In the top one you will never actually kill an infinite number of people, just approach it linearly. The bottom one will kill an infinite amount of people in finite time.
Edit: assuming constant speed of the train.
I’m going bottom.
NOT LIKE THAT. Not like sexually. I just mean I want to kill all the people on the bottom with my train.
Too late! Now bend…
Bottom.
Killing one person for every real number implies there’s a way to count all real numbers one by one. This is a contradiction, because real numbers are uncountable. By principle of explosion, I’m Superman, which means I can stop the train by my super powers. QED
Wait until your league of super heroes is up against the axis of choice.
Either that or the humans are so “infinitely packed” that they’re probably already dead squashed into each other.
Now, if you put infinite people in a chamber, and then compress the chamber and then put an infinite amount of compressed chambers inside a chamber… Will we have Real People?
I pull the lever, if the cart goes over the real numbers it will instantly kill an infinite amount of people and continue killing an infinite amount of people for every moment for the rest of existence.
If I pull the lever a finite amount of people will die instantly and slowly over time tending twords infinity but due to the linear nature of movement it would never actually reach Infinity even if there are an infinite number of people tied to the track a finite amount is all that could ever die.
So you’re going to let those infinite people on top stay tied to the track and starve to death slowly‽
I mean, in that case it’s not really a matter of the trolley killing them, per se. The number will tend towards infinity, until it suddenly spikes to real infinity as people starve.
I assume the people spawn into existence as the render distance comes into frame.
Probably better than an infinite number of people waiting an infinite amount of time for there impending doom and then also an infinite number of people starving to death.
you have to remember ℵ^0 in this case is included in ℵ^1 or at least the numerical value is, which is the only information given.
I guess technically you could value one human soul above the other and technically this is philosophy? So I guess technically you should? but anyway everything that happens on ℵ^0 will also happen on ℵ^1 except more will always happen on ℵ^1 than ℵ^0 so whether there is unintended consequences or not doesn’t really matter. it’s always safer to pick the countable infinities.
Unless there is something innately good about physically having more people exist no matter there condition. but you would have to ask a philosopher about that one, I’m paid to pull lever’s not philosophize.
Bottom has infinite density and will collapse into a black hole killing everyone, and destroying the tram and lever.
Ah, so now Schwarzschild is driving the trolley!
Or maybe he’s coming to stop the trolley!
Or maybe Feynman is coming, to renormalize the infinities!
I really don’t know anymore! Aleph nought, Aleph omega…
go away, come again some other… perhaps infinite… day.
First, I start moving people to hotel rooms…
The first one, because people will die at a slower rate.
The second one, because the density will cause the trolley to slow down sooner, versus the first one where it will be able to pick up speed again between each person. Also, more time to save people down the rail with my handy rope cutting knife.
I think it was numberphile, or maybe vsauce, who did a video on infinities. It was really interesting. I learnt a lot, then forgot it all.
The second one. It’ll be a bit rough, but overall should be a smoother ride for the occupants.
Is there a way to take both routes?
Hit the hand brake and drift that sucker.
Running in the 90s intensifies
with my knack for drifting i’ll miss both and hit something else entirely even within this imaginary scenario
You dont have to since the set of all positive integers belongs to the set of all real numbers, you actually hit both tracks by just taking the lower track.
never doubt my ability to mess up the unmessable. i just might stumble into disabling clipping and end up falling forever.
I mean, the bottom. The trolley simply would stop, get gunked up by all the guts and the sheer amount of bodies so close together. Checkmate tolley.
How do we know it’s an accurate illustration? They might have jacked up the trolley with monster truck wheels or something.
I mean, maybe, but I can only go off what I see here.
Top case is not the smallest infinite; going for prime number would save a lot of time for a lot of people before they die
depends on what you mean by “smallest”
In the top case has it been arbitrarily decided to include space in between the would-be victims? Or is the top a like number line comparison to the bottom? Because if thats the case it becomes relevant if there is one body for every real number unit of distance. (One body at 0.1 meter, and at 0.01 meter, at 0.001, etc)
If so then there’s an infinite amount of victims on the first planck length of the bottom track. An infinite number of victims would contain every possible victim. Every single possible person on the first plank length. So on the next planck length would be every possible person again.
Which would mean that the bottom track is actually choosing a universe of perpetual endless suffering and death for every single possible person. The top track would eventually cause infinite suffering but it would take infinite time to get there. The bottom track starts at infinite suffering and extends infinitely in this manner. Every possible version of every possible person dying, forever.
Imagine being the first one being killed on any of these tracks.
The probability of that is…?
Mathematicians tell me, please, because my mind is breaking.
It’s 0. I mean someone has to be the first, but betting on any particular person to be the first will necessarily be a losing bet.
But what if I know Steve’s first and bet it’s Steve?
Then you’re legally obligated to give me half your earnings.
Bottom. Greater probability that it gets stuck in the corpses.
Doesn’t matter, there are not enough people to try this anyway
Depends on the speed of the trolley.
Not with that attitude
