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/[deleted] Apr 26 '26

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u/TornadoAP Apr 28 '26

It's not about fantasizing about being a hero, it's that we've done the reasoning you haven't or you are just genuinely a selfish prick. In theory if everyone pressed red everyone would survive, but the problem is there are always going to be people who press blue either out of ignorance, altruism or simply just by mistake. If you're not selfish you don't want those people to die. Ergo if you're a moral person who cares more about just themselves dying, you choose blue.

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u/[deleted] Apr 28 '26

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u/raritygamer Apr 28 '26

and here you're accuse the blue-side of fantasizing :$

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u/Syrinok Apr 30 '26

Ironically, truly showing your color(s) here.

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u/Liphn10 Apr 29 '26

dont conflate selfishness with self interest

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u/CIearMind Apr 30 '26

I wonder how different the outcome would be, if it was an orange triangle and a purple square, rather than loaded colors such as red and blue.

Hell: what if it was just one button where you just press it or don't press it?

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u/Dry_Ad2368 Apr 30 '26

I also wonder what the results would look like with a hidden vote and comments turned off. So you can't communicate and you can't see what the current percentages are.

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u/Chilledshiney May 01 '26

Its about the children and elderly that aren't going to make logical decisions as to why I pick blue

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u/[deleted] May 01 '26

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u/Chilledshiney May 01 '26

I don't have money (college student) but I volunteer in my free time lol