Imagine you are standing beside a long train track that branches into two paths—let's call them path A and path B. Along the line is a problem.
There's no need to worry, because the issue's already been reported and by the time you stumble upon the tracks, there's a team of six men, hammers and pickaxes and all manner of tools in hand, working hard to fix it. Five of the men joke and chat and work on line A. Another man works alone on line B.
You smile, feeling the faint breeze as a train horn sounds in the distance. The men haven't noticed it yet.
You glance along the track. The train, small with distance, fades onto the horizon and speeds toward the men. You look at your feet and find you're standing precisely where the track begins to branch. The lever to change which path the train takes is in front of you and currently, it is set toward line A.
In the real world there would be no issue. You could shout and wave and get the men out of the way and they'd be bound to hear the train in time. But not here. Not in this book. In this book, the men are deaf and blind, and you're mute and frozen.
So you have a choice.
You can pull the lever, switching the train to track B and condemning one poor man to death—or not. Instead, you could sit back and watch as the train ploughs into five.
Make your choice.
Do you pull it?
Let's shake things up a little. Whether you pulled the lever or not (although I'm guessing most of you did), consider this new problem.
Everything is exactly the same: the tracks, the train, and the five workers on the line. There is still just one person on line B but this time they're no stranger.
Think of the person you care about most in this world: a partner, a friend, a mother, a father, that one boy in class, or the girl at work. Whoever it is, whoever pops into your head, is on that track.
Now, this is different, isn't it?
Those five workers, you don't know them from Adam. They could be good men, bad men, or something in between, but the question remains the same. If you pull the lever, your loved one dies.
Are you hesitating this time? Are those five lives worth more?
Whatever your choice, maybe now you can understand. Understand why I chose what I chose and did what I did.
Because let's face it, who cares about numbers when you can have love?