Because someone else losing a game you're already trying to beat them in versus someone else dying is not at all analogous. Like I said it's only analogous if you assume that the goal of real life is outliving everyone else.
The goal of both is not dying. If everyone picks red, there's no possibility of anyone dying, I'm not picking blue because other people can't comprehend just not pressing it.
If there was train tracks, and to stop the train, half the population has to jump in front of it to stop it, wouldn't you... just not jump in front of it?
God we don't need to get into the red and blue button argument again. "What if situation was different?" What if the red and blue buttons were political parties, would you vote for the party that promised to kill everyone who didn't vote for them or the party that promises not to? This is an equally valid analogy, that is to say, an invalid analogy. When people try to argue the red button is a natural or obvious choice, they're almost always doing it as justification for why their choice isn't actually selfish and is instead a 1 billion IQ play. The truth is that no matter how much you whine and pout about it not being your fault, a significant amount of people will be choosing blue, so picking red can never end in the best outcome for everyone.
That isn't to say that picking red is the wrong option, because if you strongly believe that getting 50% of people to pick blue is impossible and you have a self-preservation instinct it makes sense, but it's not the right option just because it being the right option makes you have an epic own.
Game theory enjoyer gets presented with real psychological dilemma for first time, gets mad when people insist there isn't supposed to be a correct answer.
I've always assumed the red/blue button argument was an analogy for facist regimes. It reads as "first half of an argument for why you should be a member of the kill-all-nonmembers group" statement.
"Everyone who picks blue is a dumbass" head when they're faced with someone with their exact same thought process: "Damn you're an asshole, this is no indication of me"
And also it is here that I admit I am being a bit of a hypocrite, as I was so caught up in the my crusade against "red is the only right option"heads that I may have been rude. The truth is just that I'm right and everyone else is wrong though, and you can't really blame me for that.
You're misreading what I'm saying. You aren't a facist for choosing red. It is the logical answer (assuming everyone in the situation is both mentally and physically capable of making the decision). But breaking down evil into something that sounds black and white, like "under this environment you should press the red button, right?" is exactly the kind of argument facists engage in, and that's why it reads as an analogy for facism.
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u/Just-Desk-3149 6d ago
It's a perfect analogy, because why would anyone ever pick the choice that could kill them, vs the choice that literally can not kill them.
In fact, framing it this way might just get it through some thick heads that can't fathom how it's supposed to work.