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 beginning to want to join you in there 🤦🏻‍♀️😂

Brilliant article by an actual philosopher of all things on this and similar scenarios (fans of game theory, consider this your trigger warning 🤣)

https://www.goodthoughts.blog/p/buttons-blenders-and-coordination

It’s actually scary how many people would choose red and give themselves a pat on the back for doing so. You only need more than half the people to choose blue so it’s a pretty small gamble with huge rewards.

I always work on logic, so yes I would press red.

Red I will definitely live, blue I might not.

What rewards? Everyone lives? Is that a reward? Frankly, as somewhat of a misanthrope, it's win/win for me, pressing the red.

I know every close to me would press red, so whatever happens, I'm golden.

But it really isnt. If everyone who wants to live picks red then they are guaranteed to live either way.

Anyone who picks blue is a pillock!

I feel like saying one would press blue just outs one as either a dangerously naive optimist, or an insincere virtue signaller.

And I have to think that it's very easy to say that one would press blue...but if it were real, and one was standing in front of the buttons...I wonder how many people would actually press blue. Very few, I think. Self-preservation is a strong instinct.

I suppose part of the issue is a definition of everyone.

Are we talking about toddlers? Blind people having assistance to recognise which one is which or having to pick randomly?

IIf I imagine only people with capacity pushing the buttons, I'd see red as the best choice- everyone can press their own survival.

If absolutely everyone including young children who can't coached, I might have more faith in world-wide coordination leading to more than half blues.

I am going for virtue signalling personally. In the moment when its a guarantee for being selfish or a risk for being altruistic, it would be reds all the way.

Morons, selfish, stupid, pillocks etc.
I am pressing blue to get rid of you lot who just want to use a hypothetical situation to finally get to call people names.

The reds playing eugenics

You havent understood the riddle have you?

No, I do not get these types of things at all. They are never going to happen, so I do not understand why peopel call eachother names over them.

I will mash both buttons together. But I will be more worried and asking why I was in that situation to start with.

dont be ridiculous! haha!

Its a logic puzzle and the only correct answer is for everyone to press red, because thats the only way to make sure everyone survives because you cannot guarantee that everyone who says they will press blue will actually do that.

Because its a logic puzzle and its fun to see.

Its the same as the "one person tells the truth, one always lies" puzzle.

That's not how eugenics works.

I will be pressing Red to help save the people who were too stupid to realise they should press Red.

Yes, I don't understand getting angry, or calling names – but I do think it can make for really interesting discussion.

i’d Press red, if you had anything about you so would you. If everyone presses red, then that’s 0% of blue which is under 50% blue, so everyone survives.

I am struggling to get my head around anyone being offended by me saying "anyone who chooses blue is a pillock" in a fantasy scenario that is so unlikely to happen as to be laughable!

Yes, it's hardly cutting language, anyway 😅 I think calling people eugenicists is much harsher!

Well look, I know nothing about game theory and I have never pretended to nor thought the question recreated in the OP was anything to do with it.

I do not think this is a simple choice of everyone lives or everyone dies, because people are not perfectly logical, and it is unlikely that 100% of people would choose the same way. People have different reasons for making a choice.

When I initially saw the question posed, what I processed was red = people die, blue = nobody dies. So I picked the nobody dies button which seemed completely obvious and logical to me.

But I do think this is probably why I am not very good at games, because I tend to pick whatever feels right or nice at the time rather than actually thinking through the scenarios of what if I chose A/B and what if the other player chooses A/B and vice versa. If it's laid out like this, in a table, then it's much clearer that choosing blue is a risk. But I didn't especially think of the risk to myself when I initially read the question. I just thought, obviously I'll pick the option where nobody dies. Call it stupid or a lack of thinking it through if you want. I am not being virtuous though. I just would generally prefer a scenario where nobody dies. It seems like the best outcome and so that's the outcome I would vote for.

In fact even looking at the table I still want to vote blue despite red having no chance of death in it. I think I look at the box which contains my death and I think "Well I REALLY don't want red to win... I can't do anything but vote blue!"

I think whoever formulated this has totally misunderstood the "prisoner's dilemma" setup, so framed the question wrong.

In the OP scenario, it's obvious that everyone should and will press red. Only the terminally stupid would press blue because no one needs to press blue and everyone who presses red will survive in any circumstance so if anyone presses blue it will increase the average intelligence of the human race. There is no incentive to press blue because there's nothing at stake that you might lose if you press red.

In a the classic "prisoner's dilemma" there are just two people with the buttons. If both people press blue then they are both safe, if one person presses blue and the other presses red then the person who presses blue is punished/dies/is imprisoned and the person who presses red is safe, but if both press red then they both are punished/die/are imprisoned.

This makes it a genuine dilemma in a way that the scenario in the OP totally fails to do

I think you have fundamentally misunderstood.

Not surprising for a blue button pusher... (That is a joke by the way, the premise of this is so laughable it really isn't worth getting angry over or defensive of your choice at all).

I and my loved ones will be just fine. You pushing blue only endangers yourself. If anything, pushing blue is quite selfish really, expecting everyone else to risk their lives just to save your arse.

What colour is the best for someone with suicidal ideation? Asking for a friend.