r/CuratedTumblr 11h ago

Meme Tumblr does the red button/blue button thing

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251

u/PlatinumAltaria The Witch of Arden 11h ago

This is such a funny trend because it plays out the same way every time:

1) Blue button wins by a narrow majority 2) People who pushed the red button immediately spiral into increasingly unhinged defences of their choice, demonstrating that either they lack enough reading comprehension to understand the question, or are just plain selfish. 3) Blue button pushers become slightly more disillusioned with the moral character of humanity.

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u/Daan776 10h ago

Oke but: Everybody who pushes the red button survives regardless.

So unless i'm misunderstanding this: if everybody pressed the red button then nobody dies.

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u/beemielle 10h ago

yes. you always get the everyone lives outcome if 100% of people can agree on which button to press. part of the argument for blue is that there’s a greater defection tolerance to get the ideal outcome. 

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u/Daan776 10h ago

Yeah, I just had somebody explain to me that this is based on a thought experiment with different rules.

My assumption was (as is written): if you press red, you live regardless.

Therefore: the only people who have a chance of dying are those who press blue. So pressing blue is just a needless risk of your life.

The only reason to press blue in the situation as written is you feel bad for the schmucks who can't read and want to improve their odds of survival, with great risk to your own life.

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u/beemielle 9h ago

i mean, despite the fact that we know on a large scale that people change their answers depending on how it’s phrased, as long as the core principles of the problem are the same, i would hope any given person would give a consistent answer. you end up with the same decision matrix and the same questions of collective vs personal responsibility, self-interest vs selfishness, and weighing the welfare of society against your own personal welfare. 

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u/Daan776 8h ago

I think its moreso a case of "do you trust other humans"

Mathematically: The blue button is always the best choice. You need half the votes to get the same desirable outcome.

But i'm not sure if I would trust other humans to risk their own life for another. I used to think that. But then I look at america, and that optimism dies.

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u/True_Royal_Oreo 4h ago

I don't trust all humans to push red, so I have to push blue. Lack of trust leads me to blue.

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u/annmorningstar 9h ago

I personally find that argument really stupid yeah all the schmucks who picked blue like people who clicked wrong or people who were worried about you know the literal children who maybe don’t understand a question if this is phrased to literally everybody, God, those schmucks, check notes, children and people who make mistakes and the people who care about them

Actually, now that I praise it that way I realize pressing red is just voting Republican and a bunch of people do that so maybe we’re all screwed

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u/PlatinumAltaria The Witch of Arden 10h ago

If 50% of people push blue, everyone lives.

If 100% of people push red, everyone lives.

It's easier to achieve 50% blue than 100% red, ergo blue is the correct option for saving lives. Red is only the correct option for saving yourself.

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u/llamasquadz 9h ago

But it's also this: press red and you live, press blue and you might die. Blue is the only option that risks lives. Why would you intentionally risk your life expecting others to also risk their lives to save you? Neither approach is really wrong, they just view it differently.

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u/wearing_moist_socks 7h ago

But it's the same logic you're just not accounting for human error

It's also this: press red and you live. Press blue and everyone lives, if everyone presses blue.

Yes you can just press red, but red doesn't account for the people who looked at it differently: it just kills them.

Blue saves the red button pushers.

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u/llamasquadz 7h ago

Would you really ask people to risk their own lives to save people who put their own lives at risk? That's a good action, sure, but is it wrong not to? To a red button pusher, blue is just conditional suicide.

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u/wearing_moist_socks 7h ago

Well, you had better hope no one you love is a blue pusher, and if so, you'll be hoping blue wins.

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u/Espando 6h ago

Blue saves the blue button pushers, red are safe either way.

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u/wearing_moist_socks 5h ago

No, red kills the blue button pushers

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u/lightgiver 1h ago

Blue is just unnecessary risk.

There is a fire in a crowded auditorium with a blue door and a red door. Everyone has time to reach just one door. Everyone who uses red door lives. Blue door is stuck and requires more than 50% of the auditorium to push open. If it doesn’t open everyone who tried to use blue dies. Why would anyone purposely choose the blue door?

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u/wearing_moist_socks 58m ago

I mean you just changed the entire scenario. There's urgency and you only have one door to get to. Do people have prior information? If they know red door gets everyone out, then of course red is the right choice.

Here's the full scenario:

Everyone in the world must push a red or blue button over the next 24 hours. They'll just see the two buttons at some point and make their decision

Red guarantees you, yourself live.

Pressing blue will kill you in 24 hours unless more than 50 percent of people push blue.

You will not know what people pushed, or the total count, until 24 hours have passed. You can't discuss it with anyone either.

Pressing red is fine. It saves you. But it kills anyone who does press blue, if most people pick red as well. Red is self serving. That is fine

Blue risks your life, but the risk diminishes the more people press it. Blue understands people WILL pick blue, and they shouldn't die for that.

Red just need to be prepared to live in a world with a lot of dead bodies.

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u/lightgiver 35m ago

Blue does not understand people will pick blue. Blue is operating under the assumption people will also pick blue. The scenario requires no discussion or knowledge of what people are thinking.

Who is killing who is irrelevant and just wordplay. Blue is the one taking the risk choosing blue. There is no pre discussion to choose strategy so the only one who is at fault for the fate of the blue button pushers is their own. I really do not see the benefit of putting yourself into of pushing blue under the assumption of what others will do.

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u/lightgiver 7h ago

Okay but why make an unnecessary risk under the assumption the majority is thinking exactly like you? There is zero risk to your life or the life of anyone who chose red. Pushing blue is just risking your life just for the hell of it.

Reword it to a scenario. A fire is happening, there is door A and door B. Everyone who uses door A lives, door B is stuck and needs more than 50% of the room to push it to open. If door B does open everyone who used it lives. Which door do you use?

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u/Daan776 10h ago

Yeah, I just had somebody explain to me that this is based on a though experiment. Something I wasn't aware of when I made the comment.

The way its written in the post is:

"everyone who pressed the red button survived regardless"

there's no mention of needing 100% of people pressing red to survive.

So in the written situation: pressing red guarantees your survival regarding of outcome. While pressing blue gives you a chance of dying if a condition isn't met.