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PaperclipPerfector  1mo ago (text post)   2778 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for May 1, 2026

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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This has resurfaced and been trending for a while

Everyone in the world has to take 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?

Currently at 42.1% red and 57.9% blue.

What would you choose? (See also r/slatestarcodex discussion)

I was motivated to post because I have a convincing argument for blue:

  1. Stupid people will choose blue. You may not care about the disabled, elderly, generally moronic, etc. but this includes children and people who are "too generous": nice, but emotional, and devote their lives to charity

  2. Thanos snapping a decent amount of the population (including random children, and biased towards selflessness) will probably overall negatively affect society

  3. I probably won't die because most people choose blue, as evidenced by the poll. Even if I do, it may be preferable to living with the survivors (point #2)

Every poll on this I've seen has shown significant split between the two choices, at most maybe 70-30 one way. This has convinced me that, if this were done IRL, there's basically no way that Blue would get 50%, and I'm skeptical it'd get over 20%. If the voting is split when there are no consequences and you can choose whatever makes you feel virtuous knowing that you won't ever have to walk the talk, then in a situation of fatal consequences, there's simply no plausible way that the "don't die" button wouldn't have overwhelming victory. Given that, I don't see how I could justify adding one more body to the pile, instead of gritting my teeth and accepting the responsibility of keeping society running after it's been approximately decimated.

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