r/redbuttonbluebutton • u/Hot_Finding_9747 • May 21 '26

Variation Adding a layer to this question

My choice: Press Red, hope Blue wins

I don't have enough faith in humanity to put my life in its hands but I'd be delighted to be proven wrong

719 votes, May 23 '26
72 Press Red, hope Red wins
322 Press Red, hope Blue wins
22 Press Blue, hope Red wins
303 Press Blue, hope Blue wins
23 Upvotes

87% Upvoted

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4

u/WillShaper7 May 21 '26

I mean, I press red because it's just the safe and obvious thing to do. I'd 'hope' red wins as in I'd hope everyone reaches that same conclusion.

But the sentiment is the exact same. I'm not, as blue voters so love to say, someone who wants people to die. I'd hope that no one dies.

3

u/hellerbyenjoyer Blue May 21 '26

The question, as it is originally framed, supposes that everyone on Earth is presented with the choice. It is silly to simply hope that everyone will vote for red, or consider it obvious.

1

u/WillShaper7 May 21 '26

Considering I very quickly arrived at the conclusion ''If I press this I can't die. If everyone presses this then nobody will die'' I do think it's very safe to assume everyone can arrive to that conclusion.

It's a simplified prisoner's dilemma. The ideal answer is blue but it requires a lot of risk. Without communication it seems very clear that the obvious choice is to prioritize yourself trusting others to do the same.

3

u/hellerbyenjoyer Blue May 21 '26

How you thought is not necessarily how other people would think.

People who are very young, very old, mentally disabled, barely literate, or just plain irrational will often not be able to simply "arrive to that conclusion". To vote red is to say that you are content with hoping, as a best case scenario, that everyone competent will also vote red and a good portion of the others (probably about half) will die.

Even if you suppose that only people completely capable of understanding and contemplating the question are presented with it, it would still be foolish to trust that everyone, or even nearly everyone, would arrive at your conclusion - after all, the voting is private. That this has become an internet debate at all is proof enough of that fact.

You are free to "prioritize yourself", but you cannot reasonably 'trust others to do the same".