Understanding Context

Appendix A. Coda

So here we are, finishing with a coda. In musical terms, it’s a final passage that brings a movement to an end. It gives the audience a chance to take a breath and reflect.

In musical scores, it has a signifier that looks like this:

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In ethics and psychology, a well-worn thought experiment concerns something called The Trolley Problem. There are various versions, but it goes something like this:

There is a runaway trolley heading down the tracks. Ahead of it, you see five people tied up and unable to escape. You’re standing far from the train yard, but you’re next to a lever. You know if you pull the lever, the trolley will switch to a different track—but that track has one person tied to it, also unable to escape. You have only two options—leave well enough alone, while five people die, or pull the lever, so five may live while one will die. Which option is the right choice?

Depending on how the problem is phrased, people’s answers can vary. But in many cases, around 90 percent of respondents say they would pull the lever—kill the one to save the five.

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In a variant of the trolley problem, the survey results tend to change. This version says there is only the one track, with the five potential victims. And you are on a footbridge over the track. Although you are not near a lever, you are next to a very large person who, unlike you, would surely stop the trolley ...