I've sure many have heard the train dilemma; for those who have not, I might as well include it in this post.

You are positioned at a switch, next to a rail track. At the end of the track, there is a split to the other track; one track has 5 people on it, the other, 1 person. There is a train heading towards the people, and you, being at the switch, may decide to switch the track (Killing one person but saving 5 lives), or do nothing (let the train hit the 5 people). What do you do?

I ask this because I wish to posit a new formulation of the dilemma, and see what some answers may be. So here is my reformulation;

You are positioned not at the switch, but instead, on the track itself. The train is barreling towards you, and your death is surely to follow.

My question;

Do you close your eyes?

I think in that situation I wouldn't be able to close them. Plus I want to have open eyes when I'm found dead to creep people out.

I've actually thought about this for a long time. It's a hard question to answer seriously. I mean really think about it;

You keep your eyes open, and you may experience the last moments of your life. You see the train coming, and it terrify's you; maybe you brace for it, maybe you scream like a fool, or even laugh! Yet, ironically, it is likely that with all the adrenaline and etc, that you've never felt more alive. Hell, maybe some freak chance of having your eyes open will allow you to see that one final chance/opportunity to avoid the train, and you seize it.

But maybe you close your eyes. Likely, you do so out of fear. The train hurling towards you so fast almost like it forces your eyelids shut. Or, maybe, you close your eyes because you accept the inevitable end; you find some peace with yourself, a quiet calm takes over and you just let it happen. Perhaps it is neither of these; perhaps you close your eyes to imagine and remember all the beautiful things that brought happiness to your life. Your friends, family; favorite song, or poem, or quote... As if the fleeting moment between the train barreling towards you, and hitting you, is actually enough time to remember; and so you cling desperately to this memory, your last refuge, you're final resting place.

I still don't know...... maybe this is a question that cannot be answered. Maybe it is the case, that when we face death, we do so in that moment, alone, in the best possible way we can.

As for another variable, I would turn in the opposite direction and put my back to the train. I am terrified of death and never wish to die (though I know it's inevitable ) . I would not face death as I try to avoid it now I would do the same in the train situation. The train being a physical metaphor for my death. I would turn my back and not be able to cast eyes upon it for I would know that it is fast approaching.

Originally posted by Myomistress
The train being a physical metaphor for my death. I would turn my back and not be able to cast eyes upon it for I would know that it is fast approaching.

Well, assuming you could move, tis an option. I wonder though, if you could satisfy my curiosity, what the difference between closing your eyes and turning around is? I realize there is some metaphorical difference here, in turning around; but is it not the same as simply closing your eyes?

I don't know, I feel like if I'm just closing my eyes, I'm acknowledging that it's happening but if I turn around, I'm still trying to I guess mentally block the fact that it's happening. Sort of like I do now when I try to just box death out of my life entirely and try to never think about it if I can help it. If I were to just turn around in that situation, I would be in the same thought pattern and the same course of action. I just have a feeling that whenever my ticket is finally up that I'll still be denying it until I just drop. I'll be gasping and things will begin to go dark and I'll just tell myself "You're not dying... You're going to wake right back up... Be right as rain again..."

Very interesting response, actually.

So you are saying that, simply by closing your eyes, you acknowledge that your death is here. I would ask you, then, is the case not the same in turning around?

Either way, it seems the main differentiation here is that, in turning around, it is almost as if one is trying to maintain a sense of normality (though given, in a very abnormal situation!); an attempt to maintain control of one's life (via exercising it/ turning around) , despite the obvious fact that there is no control to be had.

It is indeed disturbing to think about death; what comes after, all that jazz. Inevitably, this topic is almost always followed by questions of god, existence, etc. ; I'd like to avoid that as much as possible, because sometimes these things just confuse everything even more. I formulated this problem in an attempt to simplify the question (and that of the answer). We talk about God, and existence, and this and that, as this abstract concept, this thing that's "Out there", and frame it as something that is universal for all. The simple question of "Would you close your eyes?" cuts through everything, and strips it down just you, and the train.

That being said, I would encourage you not to be afraid of death, but at the same time, foster that attitude of "right as rain". You never know when it might save your life

Well no actually, I do not think you are derailing it at all! Even the normal formulation of this problem (being at the switch) is challenging that idea of control; it (the submission of one's control) seems to be the very precondition to accepting the scenario and giving your answer. You are just sort of thrown about the switch, with no say; you are just there, and this is happening, and you have to decide.... much like life itself.

In my opinion, even when believe we have submitted control to something, we still have it, inasmuch as it leaving us is by our will. That's at the heart of the idea behind something like revolution; or when we tell someone to "be the bigger person" when confronted with an aggressor; or how we give our "consent" to others, be them politicians, banks, etc.

So you see, the very state of our world affairs is a product of each of our doings; many people wish to point fingers and lay blame, but the fact is that it is happening because you/we have given consent, implicitly or explicitly, through either your words or your deeds. Through extremes or deficiencies, perhaps somewhere in the middle, by way of our contempt, our malice, or indifference; the world is ugly, because we willed it as such.

Ironic, is it not? We come to exist through a process which we have no control of, and when we're here, we insist that we control it.

I would jump off the tracks!! In the event that I were somehow STUCK there, I would DEFINATELY keep my eyes open, slap on a brave face, flip that train the bird.. and watch it take my life. Reminds me a bit of getting a shot or having blood drawn, when I was younger I would watch as the nurse plunged the needle into my vein...as I got older, I had a couple run-ins with bad nurses-blew the veins...after that I stopped watching. Then, after a few years of NOT watching when it was time for immunizations or a blood draw, I realized I had developed a fear of needles. It actually HURT to get shots and blood draws. I figured out that if I watch now, I'm not afraid anymore and it doesn't seem to hurt as much. In several bad situations since then, in the face of fear, I've found it's easier to watch when you know something terrible is coming your way. Don't fear the reaper, I guess that's my motto.

I would most likely close my eyes. And, IF I was even able to think about it, I would bend my head down toward the train that was the first thing that got hit. I would hope that would be the quickest, most pain-free way to go. I have read and heard about stories where people get stuck on train tracks and a train is coming and is too close to stop. I always think of one in particular when that subject comes up:

I don't know how many years ago it was. I think it happened in the mid to late 1990s. Couldn't tell you where it happened, either (I did a Google search but couldn't find anything about it). But, a teenage girl's foot got stuck in the tracks and she was with her boyfriend. They both tried and tried to get her foot free, and when they realized they would not be able to get it loose, the boyfriend hugged her until the train hit them, killing them both. I can't imagine how terrifying that must have been.

Originally posted by anon4m05


You are positioned not at the switch, but instead, on the track itself. The train is barreling towards you, and your death is surely to follow.

My question;

Do you close your eyes?

edit on 9-11-2012 by anon4m05 because: (no reason given)

No, I would face it head on, until the last moment. Every action, thought, and my being has lead me to that moment on the tracks.

Might as well head it face on, rather than duck and cover.

We always have a hint as to where life will lead us on the tracks.

Answer your question?

No, I would face it head on, until the last moment. Every action, thought, and my being has lead me to that moment on the tracks.

Might as well head it face on, rather than duck and cover.

We always have a hint as to where life will lead us on the tracks.

Answer your question?

Yup! Another interesting response here; it seems you keep your eyes open, not to embrace death, bur rather, to embrace life (at least, what little is left of it). Is this correct?

I spoke to my sister about this, and she had a unique take on the question.

She said that because it was a train symbolizing death, that the question would likely prompt people to choose "eyes closed" because, let's face it, a train barreling towards you is a little freaky. With a train, she said, She would close her eyes.

She also went on to state that if it was not a train but, say, a fluffy pink cloud of poison gas which resulted in instantaneous death, she would probably keep her eyes open. She equated the "fluffy pink cloud" to dying of old age, perhaps with loved ones around, and the train as an abrupt and unfortunate end.

I think either way I'd keep my eyes open

Originally posted by anon4m05



Yup! Another interesting response here; it seems you keep your eyes open, not to embrace death, bur rather, to embrace life (at least, what little is left of it). Is this correct?

I embrace them both, because realistically, death is a part of life. There is no way around it. What will be, will be.

I believe that whatever we think we are or we might do it falls apart in the moment of death.

Death is maybe the only moment of truth in our entire life, and as such it has the power to strip us naked of anything that is illusion. It's the end game, no more trying, no second chances. There's no one to impress anymore, to put up a beautiful mask, and even if there is, it doesn't matter anymore. I believe that all our constructed perceptions and self images will disappear, and we'll be left only with those traits of character that are too deep to even be aware of. Is a moment when we are actually facing ourselves, maybe for the first time.

I would like to think that I would close my eyes in acceptance, to make peace with myself. But Is also possible to scream in terror with the eyes wide open. I can't say now what I would do in a situation I never encountered before. I never met myself like that before.