Monogatari Series - Volume 30 - Chapter 1.10

010

“Do you know about the Trolley Problem? What exactly is the problem with it?”

My wife, the minivan owner, who was once known as the Cyclone and now as Mrs. Araragi Hitagi, inquired with this sensitive topic while exercising her natural rights to steer and accelerate our vehicle en route to Nasu Highlands in Tochigi Prefecture—the trolley problem?

It was hardly the most suitable, auspicious, and fresh topic for a couple on their honeymoon, but at this stage was there anything left unsaid about this exhausted issue? 

“Well, I have a rough idea, actually. You are on the trolley. Should you continue straight, you’ll end up knocking down the five workers on the rails. But if you pull the lever, you can change the course of the trolley—and lying ahead, there’s only a single worker. So, either you run over five people or avoid them and accidentally hit one. That’s the tough dilemma that it puts the responder in, right?”

“Mm, I think that’s pretty much the gist of it… though there’s another version where you’re not actually right on the trolley but near an external lever, seems like the impression of being on the trolley is easier to convey. So, if you understand that, you should also understand what the problem is.”

From the passenger seat, I responded first.

This was my first trip not just to Nasu Highlands but moreover to Tochigi Prefecture itself. And sitting in this seat, I had no means to assist Hitagi with any navigation. My sole task here was to entertain the driver and prevent her from getting bored, as her smartphone, securely fastened to the dashboard holder, speaks up the directions.

Machines have taken our jobs.

It was a three-hour trip to our destination.

That’s closer than Helsinki.

“I don’t understand. It’s not like I’m going to get run over, so why not just keep going straight ahead?”

“A cold-hearted answer.”

“Please give me a reason why I have to accomplish such a huge workload as operating a lever.”

“Such a person is the driver of this minivan?”

“Nice, isn’t it? It’s the one from the first time I drove you, but I love how it has a glass roof. I didn’t intend this, but it’s perfect for watching the stars during a car sleepover. It’s not an exaggeration to call it our bridal car.”

“Oh, absolutely, Senjougahara-senpai. I mean, Araragi-senpai,” came the voice of agreement from the right rear seat. Hitagi’s loyal aide, Kanbaru, who was aiming for a career in a field that required high ethical standards, hadn’t agreed with the trolley problem just yet.

“Isn’t the problem really asking us to simplify the question—whether it’s more important to save five lives or one?” Kanbaru rationalized. “In medical terms, it’s called triage.”

“I see. So you are given the responsibility of riding on the trolley and gripping the lever, just as I, the driver, have been entrusted with the lives of the passengers. You really have a way with words, Kanbaru, my dear junior. Your explanation is so easy to understand. Athletes in the future who are examined by you will surely be fortunate. If I had continued with track and field, I would have liked you to be my attending doctor, too.”

She was spoiling her way too much.

We couldn’t join the rowdiness festival, then—maybe, this newlywed was more delighted by the rare outing with her middle school junior than to be on our honeymoon.

But that’s fine.

“So the correct answer is to pull the lever and plunge towards the one person. Either way, it’s quite simple, isn’t it? Calling this a problem is like inventing a problem that doesn’t exist, and that, in itself, is the problem.”

So that means it’s a fabrication of a nonexistent problem—though that is what thought experiments are all about. Or to put it in a mathematically persuasive manner, since the four-color theorem has already been proven by computers, it’s no longer considered a problem?

In any case, just small talk.

“The correct action is to jump off the trolley.”

Then, from the opposite side of the back seat—the child seat set on the left side—came a rather grumpy voice.

“I suppose, if one can jump off without causing mischief, that would be an option. However, it’d be a rather ironic twist if that resulted in the loss of one’s life. Surely the prerequisite should be to protect one’s life above all else—before considering the lives of five or even just one other.”

“Well, to call it a premise, Shinobu, this is one of those problems where it’s forbidden to do anything other than manipulating the lever.”

“If any action other than operating is prohibited, then it’s likely that even thinking is prohibited. As the lady of the house says, you have no choice but to plunge in.”

Though the logic had been stated, if it was a thought experiment, surely thinking would not be prohibited—and so, the one referred to as the lady of the house, Hitagi, nodded in agreement.

“Yes, that’s right, Shinobu-san.”

Ooh. A conversation between the two of them.

Hitagi and Shinobu were talking.

Not necessarily because we were heading towards a honeymoon focused on stargazing, but the atmosphere felt like it was being shared by everyone.

Up until now, even though they had been very close to each other, they never had any contact points, but now they were in the same car and acknowledging each other. Though there were strong doubts as to whether the first conversation should be about the trolley problem, surprisingly, a theme that had nothing to do with either of them might have been more suitable than starting with a weirdly timid reminiscence or a stiff self-introduction.

An apt choice.

As I considered whether the term “lady of the house” was apt for addressing the wife of a “master,” the situation became somewhat linguistically precarious. Still, it must be admitted that there was no fault in any expression one could choose in this context—after all, it was a little girl speaking from the position of a slave.

“Abstain from the honorific ‘san’. ‘Shinobu’ will suffice. I understand our positions well enough, even if it may not appear so. By becoming the companion and spouse of my master, you also hold a place of importance in my estimation—belonging to an order higher than my own.”

“Very well, then. Shinobu it is.”

The name tumbled easily from her lips, without hesitation.

This quality reminded me of a commanding woman who, even during her middle school days, had organized and led an army at the Senjougahara battlefield—including Kanbaru. Her talents hearkened back to the olden days.

“I can’t help but sense a certain wickedness in the questioner’s nature. They aren’t asking whether we’d choose the lives of the five, or that of the one, in earnest—they’re deriving a perverse pleasure from watching us struggle to make that decision. Isn’t it right to simply run over such distasteful tastes?”

“Your outlook’s always scary.”

I wonder if this wasn’t a dilemma faced by everyone, but with varying degrees? Maybe not medical triage, but the issue had been simplified to a simple thought experiment, allowing for direct engagement.

Even I, in my humble position, had faced similar choices before…

“Well, Shinobu, I’d be curious to hear your reason for insisting on jumping off the trolley. Even if it doesn’t kill you, if it leaves you injured, wouldn’t it be better to just keep riding it?“

“Well, you see—if we remove my body weight, and that of the driver, from the trolley, it should reduce the force of the collision. With a lighter trolley, it might be possible for the five strapped workers to bring it to a halt.”

Oh?

She’d given it more thought than I’d imagined—I’d imagined her to be giving thought only to donuts. There had been no mention of the workers’ physical prowess in the problem statement, but it was implied, given their line of work. You could reasonably assume they’d be stronger than average.

If such a group of workers joined forces, they might really be able to stop an empty trolley. Or at least, it seemed more likely than sending a lone worker to try and halt it; the chances of survival seemed five times higher.

“I see! So what the trolley problem is really asking us, is whether we can come together in the face of adversity—whether we can trust in the bonds between people! It wasn’t some devious riddle after all!”

Kanbaru had grasped the concept nicely. She’d make an excellent doctor someday. Though I was no athlete myself, if I ever sustained an injury on the job, I’d want her to be the one to treat me.

“Hmm, perhaps I should’ve tried seeing things from the worker’s standpoint, rather than the trolley driver’s. Indeed, if I used the four as a barrier, I might be able to save myself.”

In response, the senior was a bit malicious at the core, only, well, it was also the truth. The survival strategy itself, that if five people were herded together, one of them might be saved, was not wrong—all living creatures have managed to survive that way.

“I didn’t think sending in an empty trolley would be the right thing to do, but believing in survival was the key, huh?”

“No, no, Hitagi. There’s no correct answer to the trolley problem. As you said, the goal of the problem is to create conflict. If you come up with a solution like Shinobu mentioned, they’ll just switch the problem from a trolley to a truck, or even a bullet train. That’s just how it goes.”

Such endless variation in the thought experiment is what makes it a thought experiment—or a mean-spirited quiz.

“If you try to read the intentions of the problem setter, they don’t want to cause conflict as much as they want you to make a choice. To prioritize the lives of many over the life of one,” said Shinobu in a cold tone.

Her tone seemed detached, or maybe it was that she was nervous having her first conversation with Hitagi. In any case, it’s not like Hitagi, who once led an army, and Shinobu, who was once the King of Aberrations but actually the king of a nation without any people, could be expected to be good at socializing.

“The intention of the problem setter. Sounds like a college entrance exam study session. It brings back memories, Koyomi.”

“I’d rather not recall it. Kanbaru is a current exam student, isn’t she? Compared to obtaining a medical license, a college entrance exam may not seem like much.”

“It’s hard to compare college entrance exams and medical. There’s a different kind of pressure with multiple-choice exams since you can get a perfect score just by guessing.”

“Isn’t that genius?”

Could it be that we have our own Black Jack junior in our group? What a reassuring travel doctor to accompany us on this honeymoon.18

“Nah, I’m a surgeon, so I’m praying I won’t have to step in. I want to bear witness to this honeymoon as your junior to the very end. Without the need for triage.”

“Are you assuming you’ll have to triage Hitagi and me?”

Well, that could be considered another variation of the trolley problem… If it was a matter of saving five lives against one, there might be conflict, but even if she chose the five, she wouldn’t be blamed for it. And that includes self-blame.

At least an excuse could be made.

But, if it was one-on-one, it would make a direct impression of selection. Personal preferences and values might be inadvertently exposed.

“How would you decide in such a case, in a medical setting? Like, if there were two patients with similar symptoms and you only have enough equipment or medicine for one, what kind of triage would you perform?”

“In that situation, it’s more like a disaster scene than a medical setting—It would probably be a first-come-first-serve basis. If such criteria are not set, everyone would freeze in that speed battle regardless.”

“Hmm.”

The answer couldn’t be found in a multiple-choice test.

That’s the sort of problem of choices it was.

“It might be essential to view each life not as an individual entity but to consider it of equal importance. However, the principle of prioritizing women and children in rescue stems from a perspective distinct from that of chivalry or feminism, and remains a fundamental notion. That is, of course, if individuality is disregarded.”

“Ahh, that sounds familiar… the strategy for survival in the biological sense. Prioritizing the lives of children over the elderly, and women over men, leads to the progression of a species…, or so it goes.”

While this was an oversimplification, there was no question that it would be necessary to have such a simplified perspective in the midst of panic.

Especially aboard a sinking ship.

Or, in a runaway trolley with no brakes… 

“Fundamentally, why on earth is there not a brake on that trolley? It’s also quite odd that five or six workers are working while it’s in motion. Surely, the one who ought to be held accountable is the management.”

The problem is naive, Shinobu said.

I’m sure it was deliberately left broad for the sake of finding creative answers, but if we held the management accountable… Even if doing so would be to weigh down the trolley further, one could argue that it should be staffed with two operators. 

Like a copilot on a plane.

In moments of crisis, this way, the responsibility would be distributed, much like the ambiguity of who presses the button in an execution. Not a pleasant concept by any means, but such a system that allows for accountability to be placed on an individual seemed out of touch with modern times.

It eliminated personal biases and individuality.

“But that’s a perspective from the side of the culprit running people over,” said Hitagi. “From the perspective of the victims, wouldn’t they want responsibility to be clearly assigned? Imagine being hit by a car—if the blame kept shifting from the driver, to the traffic laws, to a structural defect in the car, or even to the government, it would be impossible to even begin pinning down responsibility. In that sense, wouldn’t you want evil to simply be evil?”

It was also true that the world was not only filled with such blatant evils—we had learned this even back in high school. The roles of the victim and the aggressor could be easily flipped, as demonstrated by the trolley problem. In this scenario, was the victim the workers being run over, or the driver who is being forced to make such a bleak choice? According to the specialist in a Hawaiian shirt, none of the passengers in this minivan liked playing the victim role.

“In sum, I guess it all boils down to, ‘be cautious while driving to avoid traffic accidents,’ right, Araragi-senpai?” Kanbaru commented towards Hitagi, and not me—an impressive landing stride for a random conversation.

Still, I wish she’d emphasized that point more strongly. Regardless of whether on Irohazaka or anywhere else, I would absolutely avoid any situation where a driving mistake would result in an unfortunate end to our honeymoon.

Araragi Koyomi at twenty-four, my immortality was merely enough to heal paper cuts quickly. If I were to plummet from a cliff at breakneck speed, I would likely die in a very ordinary way. I certainly did not want to run into a supernatural fox.

“That’s right, I’ll keep that in mind. You’re absolutely on point, Kanbaru. However…” As Hitagi praised her junior, she couldn’t seem to suppress her old self, adding, “In this kind of thought experiment, I always find myself wanting to discover a third option to beat the smug game-master, who forces us to make this difficult choice.”

It wasn’t hard to understand why she didn’t like feeling as though she’s playing into the hands of the problem setter, regardless of which choice she makes. 

If this were the Senjougahara Hitagi from her senior year of high school, she would have unquestionably snapped at such a problem and proceeded to vie for the title of the one who runs over the questioner with a speeding trolley.

“Once you find yourself confronted with such a problem, you know you are being taken for a fool. The crux of the problem lies in the naivety of both the question itself and the sentiment behind it,” remarked Shinobu from her child seat. “They completely fail to consider that the respondent may be a social deviant who would desire to efficiently mow down as many workers as possible if given the chance.”

It wasn’t about agonizing over which life to save.

They would struggle with the inability to kill everyone at once.