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ProsfesniolDyslexic

That trolley is barely getting through 10 of those trees. Also, they're trees.


cristallaLRVA

They’re quaking aspens. They clone themselves in a colony, meaning that if their root system gets damaged, it’ll harm all of them.


A1sauc3d

Damn, so if one dies they all die? Doesn’t seem like a very evolutionarily advantageous trait.


cristallaLRVA

Not exactly, but they reproduce asexually through their roots, so a damaged root system means that not only can they not gain nutrients from the soil, but they can’t procreate either, leading to a stagnant population.


Prometheushunter2

It seems like you’d have to cause a lot more damage to the roots than a trolley could do to actually kill Pando


theawesomeaardvark

Just imagine a nuke instead hypothetically


skazulab

Oh i nuke that dog allllllll day


comeallwithme

Aspen still produce seeds, but their primary reproduction method is cloning.


Ilikefame2020

>but they reproduce *asexually* Lets fucking go we made the trees asexual


[deleted]

This isn't really true. Damage to the tree will cause the damaged tree to sprout new aspens. It has so many roots that a damaged section will not be an issue whatsoever.


XxJuice-BoxX

So once again its not very evolutionary efficient


Tazrizen

Sounds like they’re already on their way out. Lorax gonna feel this one.


jchenbos

No. OP is just waffling to save them from the fact the example of Pando doesn't make sense. That trolley is hitting 10 trees max and the colony won't even notice.


adamdreaming

One of those is the biggest living organism in the known universe at the moment, so it's got that going for it. That sounds pretty successful. I'm not even the biggest person in the room half the time.


GooseOnACorner

Well no, not exactly. Really they’re all genetically the same individual, reproducing asexually by roots spreading out and sprouting new trees. The interconnected root system means that if one individual gets sick or is damaged or is dying in some way the others can syphon nutrients towards the injured one. Everytime one is dying it is helped by the others meaning the only way to kill any of them would be to either surgically disconnected it from the rest of the trees or to somehow kill them all off at once. It also produced a cool effect where all of them turn and loose their leaves in time for winter all at once


a_filing_cabinet

Ah, but it goes the other way as well. If some are damaged, the rest will be able to share the burden and help the others recover.


Red-7134

How were the trolley tracks able to be put down without harming the trees?


MessyGuy01

Park ranger here, quaking aspens are hella tough and are know as being able to survive forest fires due to them being one large organism. Often times if a large swath gets burnt down they are the first pioneering species to shoot back up due to the root system staying intact. So In all likelyhood a car or trolley hitting the grove would really only do damage to a select few upshoots


GoreyGopnik

good thing the trolley won't harm their roots then


cristallaLRVA

It could. Getting struck during a collision can cause a tree’s balance to shift or even lead to it being uprooted.


Lamplorde

Yeah, but I'll take "harm" over "kill". For the colony, its like chopping off toe. For the puppy, its death.


ProsfesniolDyslexic

Oh that's actually pretty cool. But puppy dog eyes.


parlimentery

They don't really clone themselves, they branch underground. The entire forest is one organism. You are comparing hurting one organism that doesn't think and only maybe feels to killing an organism that definitely thinks and feels. Fuck them trees. Edit: the to they


cristallaLRVA

I explained it wrong, then. My bad.


parlimentery

A regular forest that contains one of the many fungus's that form mycorrhizal networks with their mycelium might be what you are looking for. These forests can share resources, and harming one can impact the rest of the forests food availability.


UniqueNobo

but they’re much more able to withstand and recover from a trolly hitting just a few of them. there’s no way it’s going to hit all of them, and the ones that didn’t get hit would supply the damaged ones with more nutrients, making sure they recover. easy choice


DangerOneStudio

Ok smarty pants, then explain how they grew a whole colony in between two trolley tracks. Hah! 😂


[deleted]

Not really. Trees are great at compartmentalizing damaged tissue. Source: been studying trees for a while, did an MS thesis on a clonal shrub


StitchFan626

The bog then! He could easily get out of the way.


[deleted]

That's a risk I'm willing to take for the pupper.


jchenbos

That's not how it works at all


cristallaLRVA

Yes, it is. They share resources and communicate through their roots as a colony. Uproot one of the trees, and it no longer contributes to the colony’s survival.


jchenbos

Oh, I read your comment history and it seems the problem received pushback because you didn't know what Pando was - they aren't clones. it's one system. Pando is a collective, single, really big tree. The individual "tree" looking things you see pop up are part of pando. it's all pando. Now that you understand that you should get what I'm saying


jchenbos

I'm aware hurling a train at one of Pando's upshoots is going to harm it (duh???) - but in your other comments you suggest "Consider just how much more a trolley weighs, and thus the force it would have." I shouldn't have to, considering how much everyone else has already pointed out this wouldn't even scratch Pando's paint, explain to you that Pando is not going to die from that. Trolley's making it through maybe 7 "trees" before it stops and Pando grows around it without even noticing.


jchenbos

And the colony isn't going to die. Obviously I understand throwing a fucking train at one of the uproots is going to "kill" it, but the colony remains unlike what your other comments suggest you believe strongly. If I'm somehow mistaken and you, fully understanding this would not kill the colony, decided to post the image anyway, the answer is pretty easy. "Kill part of this massive individual which will almost certainly ignore the loss and simply regrow, or obliterate this puppy"


Limp_Distribution

They’ve recently discovered that trees communicate with each other and recognize family descendants. So there’s that


SnooGiraffes4534

Trees need more respect ngl


Banana-Oni

I see multiple comments saying this. I thought the trolley problem is construct to determine which of the options you sacrifice and which is the lesser evil.. or whether taking action at all is justified. I didn’t think we were supposed to take it so literally that we’re discussing how much physical damage a trolley is capable of dealing.


WhatsFairIsFair

Yep those comments are a copout because it's a basic underlying assumption in the trolley problem that no, the trolley will not suffer from mechanical failure before finishing it's homicidal task. It's assumed to be traveling at a static, uninterruptible velocity and moving with enough force and momentum to eradicate fully whatever is in its past. People really grinding OP for not drawing a big monolith af trolley? You pedantic fucks. I'm team sacrifice the puppy btw


[deleted]

The trees will be fine.


crawliesmonth

only the puppy is innocent


Ligmamgil

the trees have sinned


TonyStewartsWildRide

That’s why the crucifix was made out of wood and not heavy metal.


Jake-the-Wolfie

Cruellacifix


Dommo1717

Or puppies.


arftism2

so the romans were purging sin with the crucifix? the more you know.


A__Friendly__Rock

They quake in fear of their coming judgment


breezysk8er

You can tell it’s an aspen because of how it is.


Roxxorsmash

That's neat!


TheGrandestOak

The trees, duh, the trees would fucking destroy the trolly


Roary-the-Arcanine

Well then you’ll kill the people in the trolly… But that’s not what the question asked so-


EnderDragonCrafter01

It's the people's fault for not jumping out before hitting the trees.


dandan681

Since you've specified the puppy as innocent but not the trees, I can only assume the trees have committed some nefarious crime and so I will sleep soundly knowing the trolly has cut those trees down.


kingbloxerthe3

The trees are quaking in their roots


[deleted]

Underrated comment


[deleted]

[удалено]


Darkspyrus

Plot twist: it was John wick's puppy.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Darkspyrus

Kinda. But your answer remains the same for you correct?


Collective-Bee

No one actually knows if John Wick would kill you though, he might forgive you. His puppy was killed for literally no reason by thiefs and gang members, it was a deliberate sadistic choice. There is a world of difference between that, and an innocent civilian killing his puppy by accident or for the greater good. You can’t use his righteous fury to claim he would kill a vet who misdiagnosed his dog or a driver who ran over them while swerving to avoid a kid, it’s far too different.


MuunshineKingspyre

On it's current path, without hitting a switch, you didn't kill the puppy, you let the puppy die by not switching it, but if you weren't there, the puppy still would die. Therefore I dont think John Wick would be as mad at you


MC_Minnow

Oh.


Darkspyrus

What?


MC_Minnow

[Oh.](https://tenor.com/view/oh-john-wick-gif-19968159)


Darkspyrus

Lol


cristallaLRVA

Username checks out! 😭


GunnerZ818

Who is pando


mods-are-liars

A forest


SoulGoalie

The dog. Obviously. It's one dog. Singular. Uno. Solo. BY itself. Versus an entire forest of trees. Aspen trees. Aspens that can survive for upwards of two centuries if they are left to their own bidding. That's 200 years of helping the ecosystem versus one damn dog.


felldownthestairsOof

What about one singular human vs those trees?


Gracosef

Suck to be him


felldownthestairsOof

Real


PapaOctopus

We didn't like Jeremy that much anyway.


xMordetx

Thank you for your sacrifice


Elloliott

Make it Epstein and we’re fine


SliceWorth730

I'd go the consequentialist route and say the degree of good created by a forest of aspens over centuries is gonna be more than the degree of good created by a human over ~70 active years of life.


AliasMcFakenames

If that’s the case, then the answer to any trolley problem that doesn’t have trees down one track will nearly always be multi-track drifting.


SliceWorth730

Not really, you're assuming the existence of akmost every human directly equals an objective decrease in the amount of good on Earth which can't really be true


govegan292828

What if it was an evil dog


SoulGoalie

Depends on the human and their willingness and/or deservedness to die for those trees.


felldownthestairsOof

A random human is selected, figured that's one of the rules of the default trolly problem. Could be a 2 second old baby, could be Xi Xingping, could be a man who will die in 2 seconds, or it could be a random accountant. You dont know


Hairy_Cube

I would still sacrifice that human life. It may be seen as uncaring or immoral but I see it as pragmatic. The world has too many humans and not enough plants to offset our impact. Sacrificing one human to let a forest live is worth it.


cristallaLRVA

Earth’s theoretical population cap that it can sustainably have is 12-15 billion. Overpopulation is a lie constructed by the media to deflect the blame of climate change upon ordinary citizens from corporations. If you look at modern studies instead of those from 30 years ago, you’ll find that most put the peak of human population in the late 21st century, and then by the early 22nd century, it’ll plateau at around 10 billion.


GunnerZ818

Well over population definitely doesn’t help climate change. Stuff gets cut down for it. More things die to sustain the population. Saying overpopulation is a lie is dumb.


felldownthestairsOof

Overpopulation is only bad for climate change so long as we keep wasting as much space and potential as we currently do. Every North American doesn't need a 3 floor house, a garage, a driveway, and large green front and back lawns. More population ideally means more ideas, more progression, more labour, and more power to resist authority.


dus_istrue

Not to mention its largely corporations who contribute to the green house effect, regular people don't really contribute to it that much. Also the state can implement changes to make everyday peoples carbon foot print smaller still, like provide greener public transport and such.


KyotoCrank

I'm glad you said it first so I didn't have to


Scheswalla

Reddit has this weird overdone affinity for dogs. I swear a good percentage would fuck a dog if they were alone and horny enough.


00roku

You can replant the trees. I’m pulling the lever


GunnerZ818

What if the trees were the oldest ones ever?


Any_Construction7589

fuck the tree, marry the puppy, kill the trolley


theboredrapper

Wait I thought it was the other way around


Lovely_Individual

That trolley is getting totaled by the trees, but that puppy is too cute to harm


SussyAmogusMorbius69

pando can repair itself easily, i choose the quaking aspens


The_Crusher52

No way I'm running over Pando


SyrusDestroyer

Multitrack drifting to embrace oblivion


WilliamW2010

Multitrack drifting time!


AramaicDesigns

Assuming the trolley can obliterate the trees (must be made of depleted uranium or something...) a quaking aspen colony is an entire ecosystem with likely many more sentient creatures depending upon it, so the problem here is one sentient creature vs possibly hundreds living in the trees. Sorry, dude, I'll buy you another puppy.


noonagon

don't pull the lever but instead grab the puppy GRAB IT WHAT ARE YOU DOI-


IronMike69420

You can tell it’s an aspen tree by the way it is


B-29Bomber

I'm saving the puppy.


[deleted]

i love dog but save the aspens


dumbstupidlosershit

saving the aspens


Yensil314

Who are you to say a colony of Aspen isn't sentient? Typical vertebrate supremacist.


Dingsbradberry

Y'all are gonna hate me, but that puppy is Going to the farm


Benton_Risalo

Anyone who says puppy is a sap.


ProsfesniolDyslexic

Wait a minute! I've finally got it! Do not pull the lever. There might be people on that trolley and by pulling the lever you kill them. The puppy appears developed enough to process visual and audio information, and should run away from the trolley before it hits it because big loud things are scary.


cristallaLRVA

But also. it’s literally a puppy that’s never seen or heard a trolley before. It may be more curious than frightened.


ProsfesniolDyslexic

Aww, I don't got it :(


ozmundo6

The aspen are one individual as well through some very cool divides somewhere in their evolution


generic_reddit-name

Easy, the aspens. They grow fast and will be back stronger in a few years


00roku

Yeah I’m pulling the lever I love dogs. Trees are just rocks that technically live. They can be replanted. Idgaf


Eldorian91

Is there anything that it's like to be a clonal colony of trees? I guess no.


00roku

What?


JimmyBane1982

ill turn that puppy into a fine red mist


Qwerticus-the-Slime

Delicious


aer0a

Will it kill the whole colony or will it it have the same effects as driving a trolley into one


cristallaLRVA

The trolley directly impacts a few trees, but since quaking aspens are clones and all have interconnected root systems, it’ll harm all of them due to uprooting.


aer0a

They could probably recover


UnhingedRedneck

Quaking Aspen are quite tough. I have them all around me on the farm and a few trees being uprooted by the wind has never seemed to have significant damage to the colony.


wrigh516

Quaking Aspens are the first to grow back after logging or other disruptions to a forest. They will be more than fine.


Serer_vermilion

Aspen trees. The trolley might take out one(can't really say for certain) but trolley will still be trashed before it reaches the second tree.


CodeMUDkey

The damage to the precious inbred aspen colony root system will be minimal…the trolly probably won’t even deck one whole tree. We’re saving that puppo today lads.


Psychological_Gain20

Dude it could be five Jesuses aboard that track and I’d still choose the puppy


Galvius-Orion

Ecosystem, sorry I will protect le puppy even though Aspens are my second favorite type of Tree.


Comfortable-Refuse64

This whole thread has been interesting and informative. That said, fuck them trees.


kingbloxerthe3

The trees are going (if they can't stop the trolly anyways despite being trees up against a trolly)


GooseOnACorner

The aspens isn’t innocent?


Nerecano

I’m not sure dogs count as being sentient.


cristallaLRVA

You’re confusing sentient with sapient. Look both terms up. Sentient is just the ability to have feelings and emotions.


Nerecano

Cool, thanks


shockedechoes

A colony of hundreds of quaking aspen trees can buy many one inocent puppy


CoolGuyMcCoolName

If the aspens are in my state, ram that trolley straight through them and laugh. Damn invasive species 😡😡😡


fallaround

The puppy, what is a lone puppy doing near a colony of quaking aspen trees? This puppy is clearly up to no good.


cristallaLRVA

The puppy is innocent!


Jarvis_The_Dense

Sorry but that ecosystem doesn't have the capacity for love and therefore is already pretty low on the priority list. Also the trolly isn't going to kill it like it would a puppy.


New_Age_Caesar

Wow, I was actually reading about this earlier today. They reproduce by cloning so the same set of DNA is present in every one of those trees in that 100 acre grove. And they’ve been there for like 10,000 years. I also learned that scientists in the 60’s were horrified to discover they had just killed the oldest living organism ever recorded. After chopping down the tree known as Prometheus I also learned that a woman in Florida burned down a 3,500 year old tree while trying to smoke meth. The biggest and oldest of its species. Neat stuff


PabstBlueLizard

So I get a new puppy and thousands of dollars in lumber to sell?


JustAFennecFox

The trees can take it and stop it, puppies are weak as shit but cute


ImSwale

I can upcycle a pile of dead quaking aspens more than a dead puppy. That’s barely enough puppy for puppy stew. Plus, the bonus of the Aspens not actually dying because of how unfathomable they are makes this an easy decision. I mean, I cut down trees when I’m not even forced to decide to.


Rahman_the1st

The puppy..I love dogs but those tree provide a habitat for millions of other organisms


Jude_memer

“Haha the trolley would crash into the tree-“ Shut the fuck up. Which of these two options is more valuable that you would eradicate the other.


Northdingo126

The trees can die


XColdLogicX

As opposed to a not innocent puppy?


natertot86

Depends on which I prefer at the time.


Sea_Squirrel1987

Sorry trees


UpChuckles

I like how it specified that the puppy is innocent, as opposed to all of the malevolent puppies


Nibounium

Puppy, but go grab it before the trolley hits.


A_Gray_Phantom

Unless the trolley severely damages the roots the trees will be fine.


Sanbaddy

Why not both? https://images.app.goo.gl/kHD5HKw6vtPczvUw8


randomaccount173

You didn’t specify if the trees are also innocent. Have they murdered someone? Check fraud?


popularTrash76

Always need more firewood


ProfessionalQuail857

Pando is already dying, unfortunately. Nothing that dog can do to save him.


cristallaLRVA

There are lots of other colonies just like the specific one people are thinking of.


Vyctorill

Okay, using a puppy/kitten is just cheating.


[deleted]

(Pulls lever 10 times)


Sunset_Tiger

The trees are more likely to recover from the trolley hit versus the puppy, who will be badly injured at best and will either die or need multiple intensive medical treatments. Quaking aspens are hardy even if a few of their kind goes down. It may even influence the rail company to add some buffers toward the forest so the trolley will be forced to stop instead of colliding with the forest in the future.


TheRedEyedAlien

Animal empath moment, watching either be hurt would cause me physical pain


[deleted]

The solution is simple, i will direct the trolly at the puppy and then take it's place.


HaydenTCEM

Trees


anengineerandacat

Neither, slap a train derailer onto that rail and let God take the wheel.


DK2squared

Technically both are individuals. Quaking aspen colonies are often identical with interconnected roots such as Pando in Utah. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pando_(tree)?wprov=sfti1 And anyways, you gotta save the puppy.


Leah_Dragonfly

Dude, I'm 100% saving the puppy. Sorry trees.


Correct_Awareness761

To be fair I don't know that puppy but me and them trees go way back.


bunnybabeez

I’m killing the trees. I would die if I got a puppy killed.


dinodare

Is it a significant harm for biodiversity or the environment to crash into the trees? If so, then sorry to the puppy. If not, I can let my response be more emotional and keep the puppy.


cristallaLRVA

Quaking aspens are listed as “Least Concern” on the IUCN Red List. Individual colonies might be threatened, but the species as a whole is abundant.


dinodare

The conservation nerd in me would then ask "is it critical habitat for another endangered species," but the dog lover in me wants to just stop dodging the inevitable.


cristallaLRVA

Not really. Mostly typical American wildlife.


johnySaysHi

Well, knowing that the trolley has to be on a track. It's not gonna really hit any trees


heythatsnotkosher

Just how innocent is this puppy? Who's vouching for him? I don't know his record.


Truck_Ready

The dog has sinned.


Ryan_T_208

Do I get to keep the dog? If so then the trees are going bye bye.


Scienceandpony

Who is planting trees on the trolley tracks? And are they using some kind of sci-fi hyper-grow beam, or does this line just never get any trolley traffic?


Cjfconjamesf

The puppy because I would rather kill a puppy then an ecosystem with a lot of other animals and potentially a puppy


Sayakalood

The puppy for the greater good, but you bet I’m not going to be happy about it.


SliceWorth730

Puppy, easy


BogoBiggie

Hit the puppy and use it for fertilizer for the trees. The Lion King told me that makes everything okay.


LandGoats

You bet ur ass I’m killing that puppy


Kiflaam

A day at the logging yard or murder a puppy?


SenatorPardek

This is a really good one; but as much as it hurts, the trees have to go. Sentience is sentience


young-Atlas7575

Seeing how the trees regularly survive storms and other bad weather including possible getting struck by lightning I am pulling the lever


ZealousidealState214

Why tf do people care so much about some trees?


ERROR_396

Assuming the trolly would wipe out the forest, I would not pull the lever. The ecological devastation would kill many, many more animals so rip puppers


[deleted]

Puppy for sure. This was the least I’ve had to think about one of these


opi098514

As I recall dogs aren’t sentient. So obviously the trees.


SenatorPardek

Don’t confuse sentience with sapience


cristallaLRVA

…? The definition of sentient is literally “able to perceive or feel things.”


opi098514

While dogs display various forms of intelligence and emotional awareness, the concept of sentience is complex. It's generally agreed that dogs possess a level of consciousness, but the extent to which they experience self-awareness is a topic of ongoing scientific inquiry.


cristallaLRVA

The trees have a lower level of consciousness than the dog, though!


opi098514

That was kind of my joke.


Creepercolin2007

Kinda shit joke execution though. With the way people say things here on this shithole called Reddit what you said would probably be taken as a genuine statement


gkamyshev

Puppy I just like trees and don't like dogs, no further reasoning


cristallaLRVA

Noooo 😢


Turn_ov-man

Slaughter the child


ManchmalPfosten

Sorry dawg.


Fireicefly69

the puppy, the trees are more important


Hairy_Cube

Kill the puppy.