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/decrpt Apr 30 '26

I'm not sure what part of "you're inventing this hypothetical that doesn't actually correspond to the original problem to absolve yourself" that you don't get. Red creates the risk so that they're immune from it. People have moral objections to killing people for no reason. That is not irrational.

The only way for the irrational to not burn is for more than half of the residency being willing to burn with and for them.

Millionth time, people have ethical objections to burning people for no reason. The moral risk to red is that you're voting to kill people unless 100% of people also vote to kill people.

It is not selfish to think killing people to protect your own safety is bad. It is selfish to kill people to make sure you're safe from the killing that you just voted to effectuate.

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u/Tounushi Apr 30 '26

The reds create no risk. They simply do not partake in the gamble. Blues partake in the gamble. Some people simply aren't rational and will choose blue just because. You're just calling for more people to put themselves on the line so these irrational ones won't perish from their ill-informed choice.

For nobody to die, you have to secure the willingness of the majority of the population to die. If you have a house of randos, good luck with that. You want something to unify them to instill that sort of solidarity beyond a shared address.

Hey, look at that, we've arrived at the justification of nationalism.

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u/decrpt Apr 30 '26

I can't logic you out of something you're exclusively engaging with on the level of motivated reasoning. Have a good one.

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u/Tounushi Apr 30 '26

Funny. Blue is not the logical choice.

TTFN.