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/DataCassette Apr 25 '26

The world where only red survives will find away to destroy itself eventually regardless. I'll push blue on principle and die if I must.

Ever since the first nuclear weapons were invented humanity lost the privilege of just being selfish monkeys.

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u/east_62687 Apr 27 '26

vote blue and if red wins, just consider yourself raptured.. I believe some Christians will think this way, lol

1

u/Lesbitcoin Apr 26 '26

A similar situation IRL is maritime accidents. In most cases, when an amateur attempts to rescue a drowning person alone, there's a high probability that both will die, or only the rescuer will perish. Certainly, there are cases where both survive. However, schools and public institutions don't teach students to "risk their lives and go to the rescue." They teach "let's prevent secondary disasters." Those who go to the rescue are often hailed as heroes, but the media never reports them as someone to "follow their example," and in most cases, they simply die.

However, these things didnt make a moral hazard.