Lone Kid on Rail Track

What will be your decision if you are in this situation?

A group of children were playing near two railways, one still in use while the other disused. Only one child played on the disused track, the rest on the operational track. The train came, and you were just beside the track interchange. You can make the train change its course to the disused track and save most of the kids. However, that would mean the lone kid playing by the disused track would be sacrificed. Or would you rather let the train go its way?

Lets take a pause to think about what kind of decision we could make......

How do you decide?


Most people might choose to divert the course of the train, and sacrifice only one child. You might think the same I suppose. Saving most of the children at the expense of one child was rational, morally and emotionally.

BUT, have you ever thought that the child that chose to play on the disused track had in fact made the right decision to play at a safer place?

Nevertheless, he had to be sacrificed because of his ignorant friends who chose to play where the danger was. This kind of dilemma happens around us everyday.

In the office, community, politics and especially in a democratic society, the minority is often sacrificed for the interest of the majority, no matter how foolish or ignorant the majority are, and how farsighted and knowledgeable the minority are.

The child who chose not to play with the rest on the operational track was sidelined. And in the case if he was sacrificed, no one would shed a tear for him

Personally, I would not try to change the course of the train because I believed that the kids playing on the operational track should have know very well that the track was still in use and that they should have ran away if they heard the train's sirens. If the train was diverted, that lone child would definitely die because he never thought that the train would come over to that track! Moreover, that track was not in use probably because it was not safe. If the train was diverted to that track, we could have put the lives of all passengers onboard at stake!

And in your attempt to save a few kids by sacrificing one kid, you might end up sacrificing hundreds of people to save a few ignorant kids.

While we are all aware that life is full of tough decisions that need to be made, we may not realise that hasty decisions may not always be the right one. "Remember that what's right may not be popular, and what's popular may not be right"

Everybody makes mistakes, that's why they put erasers on pencils.

Hope this article can offer you another paradigm.