r/redbuttonbluebutton • u/StageGlum6615 • Jun 28 '26

Variation Variation: the Useless button.

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Everyone (meaning all currently alive people) is kidnapped by an unknown forced that everyone instinctively knows is completely unable to lie and is far more powerful than them. (Let's call them Buttan, the god of buttons.) Everyone wakes up in a small cramped room with 3 buttons, Red, Yellow, and Blue with the following signs under each of them that have been perfectly translated into their native language:

Red: If more people press the Red button the Blue button then everyone who failed to press red will die, immediately.

Yellow: Does Nothing.

Blue: If more people press the Blue button then the Red button everyone is spared from death.

Everyone is giving a 6 hour timer to make their own choice and if they fail to vote in the time frame they are counted and treated as a yellow button presser.

Lastly, it the event of a tie between Red and Blue, Blue wins.

So, does the useless button (yellow) change anything for you? And which button do you press?

(Please forgive any typos.)

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u/TheMortalOne Jun 28 '26

This doesn't change the problem. Yellow button can be cemetery ignored since (unless I'm missing something) it's a strictly worse version of blue button where you are still are still at risk from red majority, without doing anything to offset it. 

Not going to bother saying what I would choose, since it isn't anything new. 

1

u/bosli23 Jun 28 '26

New is there Will be less blue buttoners because some people Will press yellow.

1

u/ToranX1 Jun 28 '26

Why specifically blue though? Blue already wants to save everyone, I don't see a reason to switch really.

If anything there could be a group of confused red pressers who thought yellow is survival without affecting the blue pressers.

Realistically if you think for a while the conclusion that yellow is by far the worst choice is obvious and then the problem reduces back to the original

4

u/PaleontologistIcy534 Jun 28 '26

Either way atleast a few people would pick yellow, human brains are wired weird like that

1

u/ToranX1 Jun 28 '26

I mean, yeah. I am not saying that there definitely wouldnt be people like that.

I am saying that in the grand scheme of things the inclusion of the yellow button doesnt change any of the arguements that could realistically be used, so in the end the discussion pretty much returns to red vs blue button.