AIBU to wonder which button people would press to survive?

[Boxingshibes]

Everyone on earth takes a private vote by pressing a red or blue button.

If more than 50% of people press the blue button, everyone survives.

If less than 50% of people press the blue button, only people who pressed the red button survive. Which button would you press?

Red or blue
Red- aibu
Blue-ainbu

I’m not sure I understand your point. Are you saying that we live in a world where people are inherently selfish? I agree.

I used to think when things got really bad most people would do the right thing. Think the spirit of wwii and everyone pitching in and doing their part. Then 2020 hit and I saw that I was wrong. Most people will only protect themselves. People are inherently selfish and awful.

that doesn’t mean I can’t wish the world was different. It could be. People could choose a different path.

I think that is basically the point of this question. Do you think humanity can change or will we always be stuck in the muck? Right now it’s the muck. I can’t deny that.

I said blue

Have I misunderstood the question?

Thats a Darwin award right there I assume

I thought blue would guarantee everyones survival including me?

But others are saying the red guarantees survival? Im confused.

Im feeling a bit foolish for voting blue. I guess the clever ones and the selfish ones will be the ones to survive

Why is it selfish to want everyone to live?

If everyone presses red in the OPs scenario then everyone lives which seems the opposite of selfish?

Red is the only option.

are you sure you presented your scenario to us correctly?

Be an ass and try and press both at the same time.

But you're supposing that everyone only cares about their own survival. So if I press red, I'm risking my child's my family's my friends survival. Nah, blue for me. Imagine if you pressed red and your child pressed blue. It sooner not go there.

I believe this is called “suicidal empathy”.

It is illogical rather than ethical to press blue. Everyone who presses red survives. Everyone has access to that choice. If people want to press blue and take a gamble on their survival thats up to them.

But everyone who cared about both their own survival or that of their families would survive if they pressed red. Why would your family press blue?

Not the first time I've seen this dilemma, but my first instinct was immediately blue, it seems completely obvious and I assume most people would pick blue as well. Why would I pick the option where people die?!

It's fascinating because everyone is so convinced that their solution is the obvious one but clearly not. And everywhere it's been run as a poll, you get roughly similar numbers - about 42% red, 58% blue. MN's numbers aren't far off that in this thread either, despite the early comment popularity of red.

This is actually very interesting! At first I thought blue to save everyone, then red, then realised it was a question about personal safety versus collective action. So, for every person who votes red, they are actively making the blue 'save everyone' scenario less likely. It's people acting out of self-preservation that put everyone at risk. I'm voting blue, because I'm not going to allow the actions of the red voters diminish the chance to save lives. If I die, so be it. Sometimes we have to put ourselves at risk for something bigger. Let the reds inherit the earth!

Well blue is winning 😆 🙈

But then there's the wider impact that, yes you are right, everyone has that choice, but because of the language that was used it forced people to choise a different option. Great example of the power of words! If you phrased it as 'want to live? Press red. Not sure if you want to live? Press blue' you'd get different results!

Surely it makes more sense for everyone to press red?

I saw this explained in another way, see if this makes you feel any different about the choice.

Imagine a giant blender, you have the choice to get in it or not. If enough people get in, it doesn’t get switched on and everyone survives. If not enough people get in, those in the blender will die. Would you climb in the blender? (disclaimer you cannot see who is in the blender.)

Why can't we all agree to pick blue instead?

Those who deserve to survive will press the red button. It is the only logical and sensible choice.

You would have to be a complete fool to put your life in other people's hands.

At it's base level. Press the red button and you will definitely live. Those who also want to live will press the red button. Press the blue button and you will almost certainly die, for being stupid, not noble.

I have too much faith in humanity. I would have said blue because I couldn't be part of the reason others died, I wouldn't want to be here without my loved ones and I thought most people were good people who would think the same. The comments though 😯

This sounds like something from a Saw film.

But why would they press blue? The only option with a good outcome is red. There is absolutely no down side to everyone choosing red. So everyone would choose it because it guarantees survival with no downsides. So no one would choose blue. Unless they are deeply stupid, because there is no down side and it guarantees that you live - everyone would push it.

Thats why this is a stupid question . It isn’t game theory. There needs to be a personal downside to choose red to make it into a dilemma, but with enough temptation that some people might do it. And that risks everyone.

Like… you can press red or blue.

A) If everyone pressed blue, then everyone survives with a healthy life guaranteed to 100.

B) If anyone pressed red (under say… 60%), they are given a healthy life span of 250 years. But all blue pressers will die.

C) If more than 60% red, then everyone gets a healthy life for 60 more years. No one dies.

Thats the prisoner dilemma. The whole
world is better off if everyone chooses blue. But the problem is that some might be tempted by the red reward, and not care about hurting the blues. They still come out with something if everyone presses red, but just not as good as it could have been if everyone had made the moral choice to press blue.

The only way to guarantee you survive is to press red, but you might end up with less. If you trust the world, and everyone trusted each other to choose blue, then everyone would come out with a long healthy life. The issue is… you die if anyone betrays the group. That’s the problem. It makes a lot of people betray the group and choose red, because even though you could end up with less, you will still at least live 60 years. if you press blue for the best group outcome, you could end up dead.

There is the moral dilemma that the OP doesn’t have.

I asked dc and thankfully I didn't raise morons.

All three immediately said red.

For anyone feeling stupid about pressing blue - don't. It's just different approaches to an ethical question. There is no right or wrong answer, the point is to encourage ethical debate. Love how sure of themselves the red buttons are though!

Red Button. Its the only scenario in which you are guaranteed to survive.

Because it comes with risk, whereas red comes with no risk for anyone whatsoever. The only people at risk are those who don’t agree to choose red. And that would be their choice and they only hurt themselves.

That’s why this doesn’t work. It isn’t a game theory question. Because there are no bad outcomes for people choose red, and it guarantees survival so everyone would choose it. There isn’t a question here.
There needs to be some kind of risk to choose red. As I’ve outlined above. To make this a real dilemma.