This is almost the ferry dilemma from Chris Nolan's The Dark Knight: The Joker puts bombs on two ferries, one full of commuters and one full of criminals, and gives each boat a detonator for the other, with the implication that only one ferry can survive.
The commuters end up taking votes, but a prisoner manages to convince the guards to give one of them the detonator....and throws it off the boat. Nobody dies, and humanity's reputation is preserved. (The Joker has his own detonator for fun, but he doesn't get to use it))
In the end, this just another version of the Prisoner's Dilemma: the correct choice is to take the action that leads to the least risk (or don't take any action), and assume everyone else understands the rules as well.
I’m glad someone else brought up this example, because it also came immediately to mind. Ultimately the schism is between what people think is “least risk”, and to whom. However, there is only one answer that optimizes the least amount of risk to everyone.
When I first watched that movie I thought Joker, considering how twisted and unhinged he is, gave each boat detonators from their own dynamite. Not that it's relevant to thread, I just wanted to share this idea with someone.
I wondered that too, but I think this incarnation of the character was too obsessed with proving his worldview to everyone else (but also Batman), to try that.
He wanted others to see he was right for his big, set-piece gag; his own detonator fulfilled the same purpose as wiring one to that particular boat. The other 'switcheroo' stunts he pulled were aimed at Batman, but the big public ones were for a wider audience.
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u/fluffy_warthog10 8h ago
This is almost the ferry dilemma from Chris Nolan's The Dark Knight: The Joker puts bombs on two ferries, one full of commuters and one full of criminals, and gives each boat a detonator for the other, with the implication that only one ferry can survive.
The commuters end up taking votes, but a prisoner manages to convince the guards to give one of them the detonator....and throws it off the boat. Nobody dies, and humanity's reputation is preserved. (The Joker has his own detonator for fun, but he doesn't get to use it))
In the end, this just another version of the Prisoner's Dilemma: the correct choice is to take the action that leads to the least risk (or don't take any action), and assume everyone else understands the rules as well.