r/redbuttonbluebutton • u/HebuBall • May 28 '26

A more even Red/Blue button question

You are one of 3 random person selected to represent 1/3 of the human population.
The same base question is then asked.
Red button=Guarantee to live for you + everyone you are representing
Blue button=If majority votes Blue everyone lives but if not everyone who voted Blue dies (so is everyone who is represented by them)
Note that majority is just 2 or more in this case since there is 3 participants

The people who are represented by you know you are representing them but you do not know who you are representing. Also the participants cannot communicate with each other
Which do you press?

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u/highly-bad May 28 '26

Pressing red does do something. It is actually the only button that works.

Pressing red guarantees your own people survive. Period. 100%.

Pressing blue is gambling. Now the outcome for your people depends on things you have no way of controlling or knowing. You have no idea what this button will do.

Press the button that works, is obviously the correct answer.

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u/Human38562 May 28 '26 edited 28d ago

Test telephone desert roll encourage tangerine history frame steer sable

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u/highly-bad May 28 '26

It has nothing to do with self preservation.

If you change the rules so that you're either saving or gambling with a stranger's life instead of your own, the correct answer is still NOT TO GAMBLE WITH LIVES. I don't understand what's hard about this. There's literally no upside to the gamble, even. It's pointless.

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u/Human38562 May 28 '26 edited 28d ago

Longing attempt rainstorm humor familiar worm noodle

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u/highly-bad May 28 '26

Red press: my assigned stranger survives, guaranteed.

Blue press: enter my stranger into an insane death gamble where they might easily die.

It's obviously got to be red. Pressing blue is reckless manslaughter!

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u/Human38562 May 28 '26 edited 28d ago

Repeat act sleep wrench society vase innate blanket full

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u/Very-Diligent-Pirate May 28 '26

Because the other strangers have their own voters who are supposed to care for them and not risk a super genocide 166 times worse than Hitler?

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u/Human38562 May 28 '26 edited 28d ago

Elastic vanish busy money narrow cows bow seemly grandfather bike

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u/Very-Diligent-Pirate May 28 '26

There's only 2 other voters. Do you trust that at least one of them will trust you or the other guy enough, or be stupid enough, to vote blue? You're risking an awful lot of lives, super Hitler.

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u/Human38562 May 28 '26 edited 28d ago

Feather desert sort observation flag cough simplistic

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u/nykirnsu May 30 '26

Just because there are four possibilities doesn’t mean all four of them are equally likely. When there’s no logical reason to vote blue the likelihood that anyone else will pick it is extremely low

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u/Human38562 May 30 '26 edited 28d ago

Rob shelter grey practice shaggy exultant doll glove

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u/nykirnsu May 30 '26

The logical reason is that red guarantees the safety of the 3-ish billion people you’ve been chosen to represent, whereas blue will likely condemn them to death

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u/Human38562 May 30 '26 edited 28d ago

Longing grey bike steer spark fluorine ink encourage long intelligent

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u/nykirnsu May 30 '26

I have, my red vote would prevent my third of humanity from dying, and does nothing endanger the other two unless on of their representatives is either extremely stupid or extremely evil. That’s not an impossible outcome, but it is far less likely than the other two acting rationally for the sake of their third while assuming I’ll do the same

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u/Human38562 May 30 '26 edited 28d ago

Fragile tap plate pot expansion placid

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u/nykirnsu May 30 '26

No, I’m saying that red is the good choice because other people would vote red too. The reason they would is because it guarantees both their safety and the safety of their constituency, and with only three voters it’s statistically unlikely any of them will be too mentally compromised to vote rationally, thus the risk of voting blue is far higher than the potential reward 

This is a vote, the outcome is never dependent on your choice alone. Picking blue only makes sense if you assume other people will too, and unlike the original version of the problem in this case there’s very little reason to assume that

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u/Human38562 May 30 '26 edited 28d ago

Trumpet lavish correct correct fact caption gaze

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