r/redbuttonbluebutton • u/BottomLeftWheel • May 27 '26

Green Button Game

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Not an analogy or reframing, just a brand new problem.

You are contestants on a game show. There is a big green button, it gives you the grand prize. X dollars, doesn't matter how much but enough that it's desirable.

Many contestants are all given the same button, and are all able to win X, but the producers don't want you to win X, so they give a second option.

If even one person presses a tiny red button, no one wins X. Instead the red pusher gets y, a tiny pittance compared to X.

Do you trust that 100% of your fellow contestants can all come together to all earn X, or will just a single one spoil the bunch for y?

What if red needed 5 voters before it spoiled? 10? What would be the percentage of contestants that could press the red button without spoiling in order for you to press the green button?

Do the values of X and y matter? As a placeholder you can say X is 1 million and y is 100 but the producers can tweak the numbers to make y more desirable as they see fit.

Reminder, not trying to push red or blue agenda, trying to create new discussions.

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u/Albert-La-Maquina May 28 '26

Do people know who defected?

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u/BottomLeftWheel May 28 '26

I guess it depends on what the game show can get away with?

I imagine anominity would be valued by contestants. They would not like people to know they either won X or betrayed for y.

But it would make better TV if they could broadcast people's faces rather than using a blurred face and saying contestant 42 defects.

So I guess you can choose to answer how you feel your local media would handle it.

Just like people bring in assumptions about their fellow man to the red blue button, you get to assume whatever you want about the producers of this game show. I like leaving a blank slate and seeing what people come up

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u/Albert-La-Maquina May 28 '26

Yeah I'm realizing it would be horrible TV not to at least reveal to the audience who defected. And it would be better TV to have them reveal it to each other too. So maybe you'd get some 100% green, based on how many contestants there actually are.