A lifeboat holds 8. There are 9 of you. Nobody volunteers. Someone proposes the eldest goes — they look at you and nod.
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Results based on anonymous votes from users worldwide.
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Read the expert analysisDecision Science
This is the classic 'trade-off in extremis' — the math (8 vs 9 dead) seems clear, but the choice asks who picks. Every selection criterion is its own moral position. Pushing someone off requires acting; refusing leads to all dying. One view treats the larger number saved as the goal; the other refuses to act as the executioner of any specific person.
Why people split
People split on whether action carries moral weight beyond outcomes. Voting to push someone off makes you the agent of their death even if the rationale is good; refusing leaves the deaths as a shared fate no one chose. Both routes have moral residue — the disagreement is about which residue you accept.
Educational perspective, not professional advice.
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What the split says
With 60% choosing “Refuse. Once we choose by usefulness, we've already lost something we won't get back” (5 total votes), this result leans toward a softer but riskier outcome among SplitVote voters. That does not make that option correct; it shows which cost they are currently more willing to accept.
Worth asking yourself
- Is the risk small enough to gamble on?
- What cost are you more willing to accept?