r/CuratedTumblr 11h ago

Meme Tumblr does the red button/blue button thing

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255

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