![Batman vs The Trolley Problem [Existential Comics]](https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/66f90459-3a6d-4107-a9be-4acc3ca36bc9.png){kind=link}
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Alt Text
“At the heart of Batman’s being, like all theater kids, is a boundless narcissism that eats away at his core.”
Explanation
Many versions of Batman have a strict “no killing” rule, which is exactly the kind of intuition the Trolley Problem is attacking. Why is it different to actively kill someone vs passively letting five people die? In particular, Batman’s version seems to be a sort of “honor code”, which something close to a moral system, but it is entirely inward looking. In other words, fulfilling the honor system doesn’t do good for the world, it elevates the status of the honorable man. In a sense it’s the worst possible way to answer a moral question, “I want to kill the five people because I personally would lose something (my honor)”. Also its pretty showy to dress up as a bat. One might even call him a weirdo.
Transcript
8 Panel Comic
Panel 1: The Riddler stands at the lever explaining his setup of the classic Trolley Problem. Tied to one track are 5 people, and tied to the diverted track is 1 person. A trolley is prepared to mow down the 5 people unless the lever is pulled, diverting it to the path with one person.
Riddler: Alright Batman riddle me this. A trolley is moving down this track and is going to kill five people, but if you switch tracks it will only kill one, do you pull the lever?
Panel 2: Batman shakes his fist at the Riddler
Batman: Curse your implausible games, Riddler!
Panel 3: Batman hesitates in front of the lever, his hand shaking.
Batman: The right thing to do is save five people, but I have sworn to my code of ethics to never kill!
Panel 4: The Riddler exults in the devious dilemma delaying Batman’s decision.
Batman: I cannot do it! I cannot be the one to kill directly!
Riddler: Looks like the Batman has failed Philosophy 101! HAHAHAHAHA!
Panel 5: Batman watches as the trolley splatters 5 people across the track as the Riddler continues in his exultations.
Panel 6: Batman now sits in his Batcave as his Alfred arrives with his dinner on a covered tray.
Alfred: But what I don’t understand Sir, is how upholding your moral code can have more value than their lives?
Panel 7: Batman smoking a cigarette puts on his best grizzled and hard boiled face.
Batman: Because I’m a narcissist, Alfred. I value my own ego above everything, and I didn’t want to lose the “no killing” thing, because I like bragging about it. That’s all.
Panel 8: Alfred is shocked at Batman’s response.
Alfred: Really, I never thought so…
Batman: I dress up as a bat to fight crime. Of course I’m a narcissist. Your kind of a moron, Alfred, honestly.
Sure, he doesn’t act as judge, jury, and executioner (except in some dark spins), but he also hands out serious life long debilitating injuries like candy to henchmen, because they’re just henchmen.
I wonder how many of them die ‘off camera’, too. Head injuries are no joke, and he has no qualms about administering blows to the head. I bet he’s killed plenty even if he doesn’t acknowledge it.
People can easily die from a single punch to the face, so the henchmen kill count would be significant.
That real world logic just doesn’t apply in most fiction settings. In movies blows to the head are not dangerous at all, and they are administered lightly even to friends and family when there’s a need to take them out momentarily, with consequences not worse than a couple-pint hangover.
And in many films, particularly older ones, the favourite place for a nighty-night smack is where the brainstem is.
Hah, yeah. Good life lesson. Your buddy being a little too loud during the stealth mission? Just crack him on the head hard enough to render him instantly unconscious. This won’t have any lasting effects and you’ll all have a good laugh about it later.
Wayne Enterprises has a very efficient private ambulance fleet to deal with the surprisingly-frequent head traumas that occur around Gotham City. It’s a free service paid for by the Martha Wayne Foundation.
There’s no way anyone actually survived those takedowns in the Arkham games. You can always see they still have a heart rate, but surely they’re at least in a coma or fully paralysed.