Philosphers really just go "imagine how fucked up it would be if..." and then take it incredibly seriously

There is no such thing as an "amount of people". It's "number of people". And the question given is basic game theory, just worded to be nasty.

Tit. For. Tat.

looking at the junction points on that diagram only one side of the axle would change track if the switch was pulled resulting in a derailment so you could ignore the possibility of hitting the people in the middle thereby reducing this example to two parallel but unconnected trolley problems

i choose to kill whoever calls them trolleys and not trams

Please learn how to draw basic sketches of railway switches. It's not that hard.

easy pull both levers

pull my gun, kill the other person and move the lever, as far i can know that person is the one this whole thing upfamily up

you find some third way thats not the bad outcomes that are suggested. Theres always possibilities in life and people who say there are not are generally trying to coerce you.

"Killing almost everyone"... okay, but even in that "worst" case, both lever operators loved ones are fine, so it's not the worst case for them

All they have to deal with is a little existential PTSD bubbling up occasionally. Whatever, add it to the pile. They can lean on their still alive loved ones in those tough times.

Also, stay off the fucking tracks, fucks sake.

The last line of these is always what the poster wants to happen

everything else is skewed rationale to make you think it is a funny

it is, in reality, anti-intellectual propaganda