AIBU to wonder which button people would press to survive?

All the blues falling over themselves to show how kind and humanitarian they are.

But if everyone presses the red everyone survives.

But only really stupid people would press blue. Pressing red guarantees your survival. So everyone would press it. No one would press blue, so there’s no need to worry. It’s a stupid question because as soon as you read it, you know that you’ll survive no matter what if you press red so logically, everyone will press red. So there isn’t anyone to worry about! Are people honestly stupid enough to press blue?

Am I missing something? The only reason to select the blue button is to try and save the people who were stupid enough to press the blue button. There’s no other reason to select blue.

You'd be the one killing any other blue button pushers, not the reds.

Oh bugger, I'd press blue

But then, I'd never be disappointed i suppose?
We'd all win, or I'd just be gently dispatched if the reds won anyway.
I'd love to be head over heart. Unfortunately..........

And if don’t press any then no one survives?

This was my thinking

You think everybody is in this world only thinks of themselves then.

I disagree. My aim in life is to leave it in a better state than I joined it. I not only think that aim is ethical, I also think it may well be biological.

why would nature, for won't of a better word, require a species whose aim was to simply destroy everything around it?

in my 75 years on earth, I have come across nothing that has persuaded me that being cruel in order to further a selfish aim is advisable.

My instinctive reaction on reading the OP was that I would press blue. It seemed the obvious thing to do. Why would I want to kill everyone who didn't press the same button as me?

Then I read the thread and all the replies were saying that obviously they would press red which genuinely surprised me.

I think it's because I'm autistic. Being naive/trusting/gullible and assuming everyone thinks the same way as you, goes with the territory. It didn't cross my mind that many people would press the red button so therefore the safest thing to do would be to also press the red button.

Is there a condition missing? Eg there's a threshold for red button voters - everyone who pressed red dies if collectively they didn't exceed x% of button pushers. But in a way that doesn't conflict with the blue button outcome of everyone surviving.

Or is it testing people's comprehension of the question? I would have failed and pressed blue.

This is an insane question.
Obviously under all circumstances you press red. Saying you’ll kill yourself etc is just hysterical nonsense. Think sensibly and pragmatically. Press red and we all live. If you can’t figure it out then I suppose that’s Darwinism.

You know this is how the real world works every single day don't you?

You put your own oxygen mask on first.

You don't faff around trying to find Julie from accounts before leaving a burning building.

It depends. If it’s only adults pressing the buttons I’d probably press red. If it’s literally everyone including children pressing them I’d press blue. I wouldn’t be able to control which button my children pressed and I’d want to give them the best possible chance even if it meant that I wouldn’t survive.

It's an IF THEN statement.

If everybody hits red, there's nobody who pressed blue to die.

If you decide to hit blue, you condemn yourself and similar people to death.

However, as people don't understand logic or programming, there will always be people who hit blue. So the only logical thing to do is hit red and let natural selection take its course.

And a third reason I'd press blue is I'm sure I would not want to live in a world populated by people who has pressed red. People who had the potential to kill others. Not a world of be prepared to live in.

Like others why would anyone press blue? Everyone lives if you all press red so what is the incentive to press blue???

As you can see, I edited my comment- before you posted actually!

The first statement is 'Everyone on earth takes a private vote by pressing a red or blue button.' You don't need to worry about the 'indigenous people' living on an island.

Why are we being asked? What is the context behind the question?

No brainer. If you press red you're guaranteed to survive, if you press blue it's a gamble. You have to be utterly stupid to press blue and gamble with your existence. I think everyone would and should press red, unless they're actively commiting suicide. Anyone too stupid to work this out won't be a great loss to society.

I think it's quite an interesting question (unlike the poster earlier who thought the question ridiculous).

I think I'd press blue for two reasons. Firstly because I'd want everyone to survive and as I'm just an ordinary person who thinks people, by and large, want to do the right thing, like i do, blue seems the better choice.

And secondly, if I pressed red and a percentage of the population died I'd feel so bad I'd probably kill myself anyway.

I voted blue as I’m not afraid of dying but couldn’t cope with surviving whilst so many others died.

However, reading other replies, everyone should just press Red so I’d change my mind and tell everyone that I’m pressing Red and everyone should do the same.

It's a stupid question, if everyone presses red, everyone survives, there's no downside. The only people who die are the blue pointless virtue signallers. But the question is designed to confuse because of the structure of the question which reminds you of questions where there's a choice between everyone getting something or one person getting everything.