Thank you for replying. The downvotes without reply are confusing - I'm not sure exactly what people take issues with, whether they disagree on a particular grounds or just dislike the point viscerally.

A trolley problem focuses the conversation in a way that real world problems can't, and when talking about philosophical issues that're confusing to begin with, that focus is something you can't do without.

Trolley problem do that, but at some expense that I believe can lead to poor quality thought - constraining a situation to two possible decisions with predetermined outcomes. While a little messier, I think forcing people to actually think through a variety of scenarios and be creative is healthier, and you can still get at ethical systems. If you wanted to make it much simpler, there's still ways to do so without being forced into a constrained situation with predetermined outcomes. That's the issue I have - the idea that someone can tell you, "Here's your two options, and here's the outcomes from them" - I think this potentially primes people to listen to false dichotomies later, like in politics.

Maybe I'm mistaken, but I don't think so. At least, this is worth considering. Any time you get a false dichotomy with 20/20 foresight presented to you, I think, "That's a false dichotomy and you're claiming 20/20 foresight" would be a good answer. Considering how often even highly educated and smart people fall for the false dichotomy and believing someone who claims they know what the outcomes will be with certainty in advance, I believe this is a legitimate concern.