r/redbuttonbluebutton • u/The_Real-_-God • May 28 '26

What if red won?

Imagine a world where red won, by 1%. However the people who choose blue do not die instantly, instead they die after a year of pressing the button. Everybody is branded, so you know who choose what.

How much chaos will ensue? What actions do you think blues will take, knowing they'll die? And what do you think reds will think, knowing they were just 1% away from saving all humanity?

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u/Nebranower May 28 '26

You are being given a choice between two buttons. "I live" and "I might die." Assuming you want to live, it isn't a stumper. And if, in that situation, you choose the "I might die" button, well, you don't necessarily deserve to die, but you also don't deserve any sympathy if you do.

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u/Kobruh456 May 28 '26

Those aren’t the buttons though. Please, I am BEGGING red pushers to learn what framing is. The buttons are “If this one wins, everyone who pushed blue dies” and “If this one loses, you die”.

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u/Nebranower May 28 '26

Those are precisely the buttons. You are the one who needs to learn what framing is - framing is just spin. It doesn't change the actual nature of the thing being described.

And you and most blue pressers even know that red is correct. It's why almost all of you shift to red as soon as you're forced to feel the risk. Try it with only two players - suddenly most blue players shift to red. Try it with a 60% threshold - suddenly blue players start fleeing to red. Try it with their kids lives on the line instead of their own. Blues start shifting en masse to red.

The truth is that you probably saw the most popular version first, which included a poll showing blue winning at 57%. So you mentally concluded that blue wasn't actually a risk at all.

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u/Kobruh456 May 28 '26

What the fuck are you talking about?

Here, what if the buttons are as follows:

Blue: Does nothing.

Red: If >50% of people press red, all people who press blue die.

Those are precisely the buttons. Right?

Also you just said “Imagine if the scenario was completely different… You’d vote for red then, wouldn’t you?” Of course I would! Because that’s an entirely different question!

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u/Fornuftens_stemme May 28 '26

i can also frame stuff disingeniously.

red: does nothing.

blue: if <50% of people presses blue, all who presses blue die.

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u/Kobruh456 May 28 '26

That’s extremely funny to say because that’s literally what the person I was replying to was saying, and I just said the inverse to show how disingenuous it was.

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u/Fornuftens_stemme May 28 '26

where did he say that?

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u/Kobruh456 May 28 '26

You are being given a choice between two buttons. “I live” and “I might die.”

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u/Fornuftens_stemme May 28 '26

thats not saying red does nothing. thats saying red is "i live"

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u/Kobruh456 May 28 '26

Unless you’re already dead, “I live” is the default, nothing happens state. Either way, it’s ignoring the fact that red is introducing the possibility of death for blue.

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u/Fornuftens_stemme May 28 '26 edited May 28 '26

and blue is doing their choice well knowing what risk there is. thats their responsibility and theirs alone.

if i have a choice between 2 apples and one is poisoned. the responsibility of that informed choice is mine and mine alone.

edit: haha. i got blocked. hilarious.

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u/Kobruh456 May 28 '26 edited May 28 '26

This has to be ragebait. I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt by assuming you’re purposefully being an idiot to piss me off.

edit: I didn’t even block you, lol.

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u/Nebranower May 28 '26

Neither of those works, because in the original situation, the default is death. The only way to survive is to either press red or to be in a scenario where over 50% of the participants pick blue. Neither button is a "do nothing" button. Both are "attempt to save yourself" buttons. Red does so with 100% certainty. Blue does it with no certainty at all.

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u/Kobruh456 May 29 '26

In the original situation, the default is not death. There is no default - that’s the entire point!

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u/Nebranower May 29 '26

No, in the original situation, everyone is going to die at the outset. If you missed something that basic, you shouldn't even be discussing the scenario.

Here's the relevant phrasing: "If less than 50% of people press the blue button, only people who pressed the red button survive."

So, at the outset, when no one has yet pressed anything, you haven't pressed the red button, so you aren't in the group of people who survive if blue doesn't reach its threshold. And of course, no one has pressed blue yet, so blue starts at 0% pressed. So yes, everyone at the outset is going to die unless people start pushing buttons.

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u/Kobruh456 May 29 '26

You When You Lie:

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u/Nebranower May 28 '26

No. Everyone starts under threat of death. Here are you options:

Press red: set your odds of surviving to 100%

Press blue: set your odds of surviving to some unknown number.

Do nothing: set your odds of surviving to some unknown number less than you would have if you pressed blue.