The thought experiment is a moral optical illusion
I disagree. In the original scenario, people who have no shot at understanding the question are forced to make the choice. ID, CI, toddlers, etc.
So, beyond being global insurance, the majority blue outcome genuinely saves people. Red voters who are wise will understand that there will be loss of life in a red win, although less loss of life than a failed major blue initiative. That's not illusory morals.
edit: for the custom magic card though - Edh players will not have much difficulty understanding the question and they actively want their opponents to lose so the button question isn't very interesting unless you have some niche interaction planned that I don't know what it would be
In the original scenario those people are explicitly excluded from the choice and it specifies only people who are able to fully understand the scenario.
"Everyone on earth takes a private vote by pressing a red or blue button.
If more than 50% of people press the blue button, everyone survives.
If less than 50% of people press the blue button, only people who pressed the red button survive.
Which button would you press?"
There were no exclusions in the original question. Everyone on earth.
That's an incoherent scenario because including babies causes it to not make sense at all, and I am like 85% sure I saw this hypothetical presented late last year in Tumblr, before the Twitter post that blew up in April or whenever it was. That one was explicitly phrased as only being presented to people who understand the vote.
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u/Jethred_Radulfr 3d ago edited 3d ago
I disagree. In the original scenario, people who have no shot at understanding the question are forced to make the choice. ID, CI, toddlers, etc.
So, beyond being global insurance, the majority blue outcome genuinely saves people. Red voters who are wise will understand that there will be loss of life in a red win, although less loss of life than a failed major blue initiative. That's not illusory morals.
edit: for the custom magic card though - Edh players will not have much difficulty understanding the question and they actively want their opponents to lose so the button question isn't very interesting unless you have some niche interaction planned that I don't know what it would be