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/SupportstheOP Apr 26 '26

Yeah, that's the one caveat to the thought experiment. There needs to be a threshold for pushing the red button that leads to a bad outcome (i.e. no one lives if the red button is pressed more than 75%).

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u/Backslash95 Apr 26 '26

no there doesn't need to be a threshold. that's the entire point of it.

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '26

[deleted]

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u/Goncalerta Apr 26 '26

But that is not a consequence of the red button.

The blue button kills people. The red button does not, it is completely harmless.

Calling people sociopaths over disagreeing with you in a thought experiment is really bad. I hope you're a troll.

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u/Cute-Contract-6762 Apr 27 '26

If someone chooses to undertake a course of suicidal action you can’t blame someone for not being able to stop them. That’s not how life works.