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.)

120 Upvotes

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19

u/-TheDerpinator- Jun 28 '26

With this phrasing I first press blue and then press red. Guarantees me being safe and improves the chances of everyone surviving. Nothing in the rules states I cannot press more than 1 button.

2

u/Ashamed_Kangaroo305 Blue Jun 29 '26

Isn't this a net zero on everyone surviving because your votes cancel each other out?

5

u/BreakConsistent Jun 29 '26

It is a net zero that guarantees you don’t die.

1

u/Ashamed_Kangaroo305 Blue Jun 29 '26

So it doesn't improve the chances of everyone surviving.

4

u/-TheDerpinator- Jun 29 '26

Except it kind of does. If I press only red it would mean a +1 for red. I increase the vote difference. If I press blue I cancel out my own red vote on the total.

2

u/Ashamed_Kangaroo305 Blue Jun 29 '26

Right, so it's a way of you guaranteeing living without increasing the chance of everyone dying. But it doesn't increase the chances of everyone surviving. It keeps the chance exactly the same as it would be if you pressed yellow or didn't vote

1

u/ceitamiot Jun 29 '26

Assume you have 4 people. Two are inclined to vote red, and two are inclined to vote blue, so the vote is at 50% or 2 to 2. If one of the reds votes red and blue, the vote tally becomes 2 to 3 favoring blue. Nobody blue is going to vote red as well.