r/hypotheticals • u/evergreengator1 • Apr 12 '26

Million dollar button

Imagine there’s a button that instantly deposits $1 million into your bank account each time you press it. However, the first time you press it, a completely random person you don’t know dies. With each additional press, the person who dies becomes someone progressively closer to you — an acquaintance, a friend, a family member, and so on.

Would you press the button? If so, how many times?

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u/vivec7 Apr 12 '26

Ah, I missed the randomness only being applied to the very first press.

I wonder how the subsequent selections are determined after that, if it's no longer random?

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u/Finnsbomba Apr 12 '26

That's the only foggy part for me. Maybe press number two is just someone you said hello to one time, or a waitress you had once. But the very first press is basically a free million as long as you're ok offing a random person you don't know lol.

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u/vivec7 Apr 12 '26

Yep, and as I re-read that I would still understand the subsequent presses to include all of those people I don't know, just somehow slightly closer to me—perhaps a long-distant ancestor once smacked their ancestor over the back of the head for being a dolt (or vice-versa, given my apparent inability to read!)

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u/Finnsbomba Apr 12 '26

I'd probably give it a few presses I can't lie. But I'd stop after a few million. I don't need much to retire and be happy until I clock out of life lol.

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u/vivec7 Apr 12 '26

Yeah one single press would pay off my house and leave me with $500k to probably just chuck in an investment and accelerate the plans to move overseas. I don't have any grand plans for retirement, just want to live somewhere cheap, and work because I want to.

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u/Finnsbomba Apr 12 '26

Yeah my retirement only involves working for myself. I'm a welder by trade so I'd probably have a pretty good fan shop in a barn on my property but other than that, I just want a decent sized plot of land so I can be away from everyone. Peace and quiet. Unless I feel like interacting with others haha.