What your answer to the viral red button dilemma says about you

"“Everyone on earth takes a private vote by pressing a red or blue button,” the post explains. “If more than 50% of people press the blue button, everyone survives. If less than 50% of people press the blue button, only people who pressed the red button survive. Which button would you press?”"

"“Most people think the choice is extremely obvious,” said Steven Conway, an expert in game theory from Swinburne University of Technology. “However, not everyone agrees whether the obvious answer is blue or red.” In an article for The Conversation, Mr Conway explains what's going on in the question, which he compares to the classic trolley problem and prisoner's dilemma."

"“The case for red seems simple,” he explained. “If more than 50% of people press the blue button, red pressers survive. If not, red pressers survive anyway. So basic self-interest leads to red.” In game theory, this choice leads to the Nash equilibrium - a concept that describes a stable outcome in a game where no player can benefit by changing their strategy while the other players keep theirs unchanged."

"“From the point of view of philosophy and game theory, the question shows two different intuitions and views of decision-making with starkly contrasting results,” he said. “And the very popularity of the question highlights the fraught existential stakes many of us feel in modern life.”"

Everyone votes privately by pressing a red or blue button. If more than half press blue, everyone survives. If fewer than half press blue, only people who pressed red survive. The dilemma has attracted widespread debate online. A game theory perspective compares the setup to classic problems like the trolley problem and the prisoner’s dilemma, emphasizing conflicting intuitions about decision-making. Choosing red aligns with individual self-interest because red pressers survive whether blue exceeds half or not. Choosing blue aligns with collective survival because it depends on enough people coordinating to surpass the 50% threshold. The question’s popularity reflects perceived existential stakes in modern life.

Read at Mail Online