Strategic Seeing

Strategic Seeing

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Strategic Seeing
Strategic Seeing
Whatever Scientists Do, It Begins To Look Like Science

Whatever Scientists Do, It Begins To Look Like Science

Have you heard about a "trolley problem"?

Svyatoslav Biryulin's avatar
Svyatoslav Biryulin
Jul 04, 2023
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Strategic Seeing
Strategic Seeing
Whatever Scientists Do, It Begins To Look Like Science
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The trolley is rushing along the rails. Up ahead, there is a switch. If the trolley goes to the right, it will run over five people. If it goes to the left, it will hit a woman with two children. You can switch the track. What is your choice?

This ethical dilemma is often mentioned in the press in regard to self-driving cars, where the algorithm is supposed to make such decisions. 

I remembered it recently when I saw a funny picture on the internet. There were a trolley, rails, a switch, and a person by it. But both ways were empty – no people in danger. The caption on the picture read: "Who will you put on the rails to prove your scientific hypothesis and write a monograph?" 

This is what some (but not all, of course) business studies look like. 

Picture by bowie15 on iStock

Does a proof prove anything?

I am a blogger. I am free to write about what I believe in. You may or may not like my stories, but I don't have to prove that my ideas work. I share my opinion. 

But scientists are not blog…

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