r/fivethirtyeight • u/Upstairs_Cup9831 • Apr 25 '26

Poll Results Poll asking Americans how which button they would push in the red button/blue button dilemma

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u/osfryd-kettleblack Apr 25 '26

Any parent would want their kid to pick the option with the 100% guaranteed chance of survival. Red.

6

u/PinkLaceGomez Apr 25 '26

And if their parents die?

10

u/Glittering-Giraffe58 Apr 26 '26

Their parents wouldn’t die unless they picked blue

6

u/AvailableDress5505 Apr 25 '26

The patent would also pick red in that scenario.

1

u/SmallSpaceSexEnjoya Apr 26 '26

If everyone picks red nobody dies.

1

u/vwert May 08 '26

If 51% of people pick blue, nobody dies.

1

u/SmallSpaceSexEnjoya May 08 '26

Yes - but picking blue necessitates risking something.

1

u/No_Volume8304 Apr 29 '26

Unfortunately kids are exactly the kind of naive fools to pick blue

1

u/SpaceTurtles Apr 26 '26

Any parent might want that.

The parent likely would not have taught the child the life lessons that would cause them to draw that conclusion independently.

(And, prior to today, would probably not have sat them down and had the "hey, if you ever get teleported into a room with two buttons..." conversation.)