I would personally do nothing. I'm not gonna start playing God; ie, choosing who should live or die.

So you're going to turn a blind eye, and instead of one or five, let six people die?

I figured that friends aren't worth your time, because they will never jump out to save you, in case you thought to save them.

But, in the case of one, just one, I'd leap out screaming, arms and legs akimbo, to see if I can use some insane scare tactic on them.

Who knows, maybe the people eating soldiers are terrified of mad acrobatics..

np um... The problem is you can't save all of them. which is why it becomes more of a dilemma than a "trick question"

DDX, it wasn't my intention to turn this 'ethical' dilemma into a trick question.  Thank you for letting me expand on my first decision:

If the one person is close enough to me so I can clearly recognize him as a serial killer and I'm alone then my choice is easy.  I wouldn't hesitate to go for the five. I wouldn't feel haunted in the least.

If, on the other hand, these are all adults and total strangers then I will pull the lever and switch the tracks to kill the one.

  Then, I run like the wind to get help or pull out my cell phone and call for help. 
I was not the one to tie these people to the tracks, therefore I'm not condemning them to die.  I am doing the best I can and going for the numbers.

So you're going to turn a blind eye, and instead of one or five, let six people die?

If you do nothing, only five die. The sixth person is on a track that isn't in danger. Unless I am greatly mistaken, that is.

If you do nothing, only five die. The sixth person is on a track that isn't in danger. Unless I am greatly mistaken, that is.

Sorry, my mistake wasn't really paying attention when I typed that :S

but see, most of you who try to save both groups of the people on the tracks know that the problem doesnt let you physically do that, because it defeats the purpose of posing a question of ethics. DO you want to play god? because you could just be apathetic to the cause, There was an article about how 45 witnesses saw a man stab a woman a couple of times, she screamed and the man ran away, the woman then crawled around to the back to get help. and the man came and finished the job 20 minutes later. That kind of apathy exists in the society today because many of cant be bothered. in all reality. the question posed is the question, there are no tricks and turns. but thanks for the responses....

new question later today, after I do some thinking on one. (so you guys cant turn it into some kind of brain teaser)

Assuming everyone is completely normal in this scenario, it would logically be better to save the five, rather than the one. The five would always do more good to society, assuming they are not traumatized, and get over the experience.

New question:
You are an emergency worker that has just been called to the scene of an accident. When you arrive you see that the car belongs to your wife. Fearing the worst you rush over to see she is trapped in her car with another man.

She sees you and although barely conscious, she manages to mouth the words “I’m sorry”…

You don’t understand, but her look answers you question. The man next to her is her lover with whom she’s been having an affair.

You reel back in shock, devastated by what her eyes have just told you. As you step back, the wreck in front of you comes into focus. You see your wife is seriously hurt and she needs attention straight away. Even if she gets attention there’s a very high chance she’ll die.

You look at the seat next to her and see her lover. He’s bleeding heavily from a wound to the neck and you need to stem the flow of blood immediately. It will only take about 5 minutes to stop, but it will mean your wife will definitely die.

If you tend to your wife however, the man will bleed to death despite the fact it could have been avoided.

Who would you choose to work on?

IT'S NOT A TRICK QUESTION/BRAIN TEASER, YOU CANT SAVE BOTH, YOU NOOBS.
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a friend forwarded this question to me, it was quite interesting, so here is what im going to do.

No, you can't save both, and this time you also cannot be apathetic due to the fact you have an obligation as a social service worker.

poast and toast my friends.

This is not a realistic question, as why would there be only you? In a true scenario there would be several medics as well as several police officers. Ill just ad "Non realistic" to my list... Plus, you would be able to save both if your cleaver enough or if the situation allows it...

The probable ethical thing to do would be to grantee the safety of the man. Considering you have to be bleeding rather heavily to die, especially from one wound, then he must be gushing blood several feet. By the way, how did he get a neck wound in a car crash? Anyway, since you seem to be alone it would be pointless to try and save your wife, since you don't have backup and you don't seem to have tools. Call it an early divorce.

But of course logically in a true scenario not only would you always to to save both people, but you would have more people who would be trained in the field of medicine, plus the ambulance full of medical tools. You would be able to save the man and have a chance of saving your wife. This should go into the game forum, as it has no bearing I can see on the WEPR....