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Universal Ethics > Research > Emergence of a Rule > Simulation #3

Simulated drivers, where crashes kill!

This is a variation of the previous simulation, but this the drivers will die if their cars collide. It is only when both approaching drivers choose their right, or both approaching drivers choose their left, that they will survive.

Have you made your guess of what will happen? Click to see what happens.

Cars driving...

When you click the button, simulation results will appear here.

What Happened?

After you press the button, the chart shows the results at the end of each day. The counts in the "like left" and "like right" columns show how many cars prefer to pass on the left or right. The last column shows how many are still alive after the collisions occur.

Note that if a car has as many safe passes on the left as on the right, the driver will have no preference. Thus, in some rows you may notice that the number of cars alive exceeds the total of those who have a preference.

As you will see, a rule will emerge for those who survive.

Unlike the drivers in this simulation, in the real world we have one important advantage: the ability to communicate and to learn from the experience of those who went before us! If the drivers could have adopted a rule at the outset, none of them would have died!

This matter is also relevant to parenting. A very small child knows nothing and discovers via exploring. Sometimes the consequences of exploring can be severe. Imagine a toddler exploring roads and parking lots where cars are driving around, and what the consequence might be! Sometimes little toddlers don't understand language very well, so a parental explanation might not prevent their child from taking a risk. In that case, the parent can substitute a less severe consequence so that the child can learn without harm. The child might not like the "less severe consequence" either, but it's kinder than letting the child suffer the severe one!

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