tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023204082711630211.post3211064832400641684..comments2024-03-27T21:49:28.793+00:00Comments on A Yorkshire Memoir: The Signalman’s DilemmaTasker Dunhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17634612033217902946noreply@blogger.comBlogger30125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023204082711630211.post-60859477596819548442020-04-11T16:30:02.218+01:002020-04-11T16:30:02.218+01:00I hope we can all last out until there is a vaccin...I hope we can all last out until there is a vaccine. I've never bothered with the winter flu jab, but I will from now on if it's does covid as well. Tasker Dunhamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17634612033217902946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023204082711630211.post-74413086697345929522020-04-11T11:14:56.002+01:002020-04-11T11:14:56.002+01:00I have to say save the old people - because it cou...I have to say save the old people - because it could be me. Horrible decisions having to be made. I just pray that made in the name of compassion rather than economy.Liz Hindshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04646532093872561703noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023204082711630211.post-81514936504386803792020-04-08T09:57:14.323+01:002020-04-08T09:57:14.323+01:00The veil has been lifted. We are seeing what life ...The veil has been lifted. We are seeing what life is really like, and always has been. Tasker Dunhamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17634612033217902946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023204082711630211.post-46745177600913261182020-04-08T08:38:32.704+01:002020-04-08T08:38:32.704+01:00If only life were as clean cut as this. If only life were as clean cut as this. SmitoniusAndSonatahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11210817141287881808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023204082711630211.post-23020761900154387842020-04-07T14:15:59.177+01:002020-04-07T14:15:59.177+01:00Thanks.Thanks.JayCeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01373622852406554111noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023204082711630211.post-8484142536612869732020-04-07T12:16:09.876+01:002020-04-07T12:16:09.876+01:00Otherwise, the elderly couple would die of shock, ...Otherwise, the elderly couple would die of shock, anyway. What a quick thinking signalman you would make. Tasker Dunhamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17634612033217902946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023204082711630211.post-79963182478322872462020-04-07T12:14:50.056+01:002020-04-07T12:14:50.056+01:00And to be controversial, who isn't in intensiv...And to be controversial, who isn't in intensive care because someone else is? Tasker Dunhamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17634612033217902946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023204082711630211.post-50080738374620700592020-04-07T12:12:21.236+01:002020-04-07T12:12:21.236+01:00On YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/embed/HwLzAdri...On YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/embed/HwLzAdriec0<br />Article in The Daily Mail: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8192533/NHS-doctor-shares-breathing-technique-coronavirus-patients.html <br /><br />Tasker Dunhamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17634612033217902946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023204082711630211.post-18310084629676968112020-04-07T11:10:21.254+01:002020-04-07T11:10:21.254+01:00I never envy politicians for their duty to make di...I never envy politicians for their duty to make difficult and often unpopular decisions, but now I envy them even less than before. Or doctors; I would not want to have decide between patients to put on breathing equipment and let nature take its course with another one.Librarianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05704656564078750607noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023204082711630211.post-70311069126717813542020-04-07T11:03:57.793+01:002020-04-07T11:03:57.793+01:00I would rather answer the first question than the ...I would rather answer the first question than the second one Tasker. It would be "Sayonara" to the elderly couple and then the railway crew could quickly clean up the mess. Yes, the second question is definitely of the "Catch 22" variety and I am not about to go there.Yorkshire Puddinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06019673884543913089noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023204082711630211.post-62773656638161395492020-04-07T10:45:58.430+01:002020-04-07T10:45:58.430+01:00Please share.....Please share.....JayCeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01373622852406554111noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023204082711630211.post-12118569818198844552020-04-07T10:18:51.886+01:002020-04-07T10:18:51.886+01:00One and the same. One and the same. Tasker Dunhamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17634612033217902946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023204082711630211.post-71252544024552588252020-04-07T10:17:02.056+01:002020-04-07T10:17:02.056+01:00It has even been said that might be allocated by l...It has even been said that might be allocated by lottery. I've been reading about a deep breathing procedure you can use to keep your lungs well aerated (J K Rowling has said it helped her recover). I'm going to start straight away just in case. Tasker Dunhamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17634612033217902946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023204082711630211.post-30934472336426400782020-04-07T10:13:51.994+01:002020-04-07T10:13:51.994+01:00What a thought. You're 60-70 years too late to...What a thought. You're 60-70 years too late to write that film script.Tasker Dunhamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17634612033217902946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023204082711630211.post-7889597723822639012020-04-07T09:52:25.203+01:002020-04-07T09:52:25.203+01:00So that was the dictator that Trump says he entert...So that was the dictator that Trump says he entertains in the Oval Office.Tom Stephensonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05979590950587415840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023204082711630211.post-65973093607171707652020-04-07T09:50:07.652+01:002020-04-07T09:50:07.652+01:00Or Norman Wisdom running the country.Or Norman Wisdom running the country.Tom Stephensonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05979590950587415840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023204082711630211.post-16553307796655753942020-04-07T00:23:53.021+01:002020-04-07T00:23:53.021+01:00I have no answers to such difficult questions. I ...I have no answers to such difficult questions. I know doctors here are being trained in how to decide what patient gets the ventilator if they have one ventilator and two patients that need it. They are to choose the patient with the fewest health problems. It is coming to this here now due to shortage of equipment. Bonniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17738727252267659979noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023204082711630211.post-3129527518959422582020-04-06T20:30:12.167+01:002020-04-06T20:30:12.167+01:00I hadn't really thought about it for 40 years ...I hadn't really thought about it for 40 years so thank you for reminding me. We looked at Utilitarianism and also at B F Skinner's Walden 2 - possibly to contrast them as one is about free will and the other about predetermined behaviour. Tasker Dunhamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17634612033217902946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023204082711630211.post-50214731483533004652020-04-06T18:10:06.787+01:002020-04-06T18:10:06.787+01:00The trolley bus is the classic philosophy text boo...The trolley bus is the classic philosophy text book case study as you will know. I am happy to obediently do what the government asks of me, and carry it out to the letter, but I am not saying that is the scenario I would have chosen. I won't say more than that. The water has of course been muddied by health services the world over and where would Mills have fitted them in? I didn't know how to deal with the NHS when I left my comment so left it out. Rachel Phillipshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16053924416805878169noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023204082711630211.post-18346828644970607532020-04-06T17:54:32.944+01:002020-04-06T17:54:32.944+01:00Interesting analysis, but does it imply we let the...Interesting analysis, but does it imply we let the (predominantly) old people die (me, you, all the others who comment on our blogs)? I read JSM's Utilitarianism for a course at university and thought it brilliant. Good job he wasn't a signalman. It might take him too long to decide. Tasker Dunhamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17634612033217902946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023204082711630211.post-7721317157361898722020-04-06T17:47:49.323+01:002020-04-06T17:47:49.323+01:00Yes, it's so easy for me or anyone else to cri...Yes, it's so easy for me or anyone else to criticise. Trump has been vilified for his "difficult decisions" statement whereas perhaps on this rare occasion he is correct. Tasker Dunhamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17634612033217902946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023204082711630211.post-90234984472794034572020-04-06T17:45:48.051+01:002020-04-06T17:45:48.051+01:00The privatisation and maintenance asides were perh...The privatisation and maintenance asides were perhaps a nod to the economic precursors. In a disaster there are usually multiple causative factors. <br />I think they're trying to steer a middle course, an option the signalman did not have. But if he had, would it have killed all of them? Tasker Dunhamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17634612033217902946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023204082711630211.post-56682058614806600732020-04-06T17:42:29.165+01:002020-04-06T17:42:29.165+01:00Damn! Damn! Tasker Dunhamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17634612033217902946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023204082711630211.post-90548458964519380212020-04-06T17:41:37.245+01:002020-04-06T17:41:37.245+01:00Or perhaps Wisden. We need Brian Close, a cricketi...Or perhaps Wisden. We need Brian Close, a cricketing gambler, prepared to take risks. He was often right. Tasker Dunhamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17634612033217902946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4023204082711630211.post-89457573158154849762020-04-06T17:09:49.603+01:002020-04-06T17:09:49.603+01:00The runaway trolley. Utilitarianism, the morally ...The runaway trolley. Utilitarianism, the morally correct decision that maximises the wellbeing for the greatest number of people. Or as John Stuart Mill said, the ethical act is the one that produces the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people. Mill would switch track to save the five men because more happiness is at stake. Kant on the other hand would not switch track on the basis that we should never deliberately harm anyone even if it means five dying as opposed to one. I would go for Mill's utilitarianism. But Mill would have to weigh up how long the happiness would last, i.e. will the happiness of all saved and their families outweigh the long term misery of poverty and collapse of economy? We could do with JS Mill to help. Rachel Phillipshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16053924416805878169noreply@blogger.com