The mighty wings of the butterfly.

If my friend wants to drive after having a few too many drinks, and I hide her keys because that's a stupid idea, should I feel guilty if she decides to walk alone, gets mugged, stabbed, and dies?

this seems to be another version of the trolley problem, only in this version, I've already made the choice. Well, not exactly the trolly problem then.

Not intervening would mean I don't switch the tracks, allowing the train to kill whoever it was going to kill. if the train is on track to kill one person, me not switching the track is the same thing as me choosing to let that person die. It's exactly the same as if I chose to switch the track to have the train hit the group of people. Inaction is action.

Does knowing who the train will kill mean I'm partially to blame in their death? If I don't know which track the train is on, and I don't switch the track, can I rest easier at night knowing I didn't get involved? Even more interesting, if I don't know who the train will hit and I switch the track, am I more to blame for the deaths of whoever dies?

Does knowing my friend died because of a choice I made mean I take part of the blame for her death? Does knowing my friend could have caused the death of an innocent bystander (and herself ironically), and I hypothetically prevented it mean I shouldn't be feeling this guilt?

Maybe the question should be: does my choice to intervene, ultimately leading to her ending up in a scenario she never would have been in if I just let her drive, place some of the blame for her death with me? Ignoring the fact that there's a murderer walking around stabbing people.

How far back in the chain of events leading up to her getting stabbed should my action have been to not be considered the reason for her death?

So many questions in life, so little interest in life.

Nonetheless, no matter what I do, I'll never be able to stop thinking about how scared she must have been as she bled out on the pavement, in pain, alone, knowing she's going to die, all because some dude wanted her iPhone.