# Black Box...with a bit of a twist **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 9, 2026, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-box-with-a-bit-of-a-twist/1027527 "2026-02-09T22:14:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2026, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-box-with-a-bit-of-a-twist/1027527/101 "2026-02-14T02:03:57Z")
Don’t forget the original question: How will _you_ fare when the shit hits the button? ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2026, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-box-with-a-bit-of-a-twist/1027527/102 "2026-02-14T14:15:56Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > How will _you_ fare when the shit hits the button? I think the answer to that depends on what people do after they fail on their first few attempts. No one is picking me at the top of their list, over Trump, Miller, Obama, AOC, etc. I think. So if everyone just stops after a couple of failed attempts, I’m fine 99.99% sure I’m surviving. OTOH if button pushers tend to get a red mist and keep pushing until their light goes out. Then that drops a little. Still well over 90% I think. I don’t think I’m on that many people’s death lists, even at the bottom 😉 ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2026, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-box-with-a-bit-of-a-twist/1027527/103 "2026-02-14T15:07:05Z")
> [@Ponderoid](#): > > I suspect the vast majority of people will not settle any personal vendettas Though there is a game theory aspect of this. Lots of people will not be remotely interested in killing anyone and have no inclination to press the button, except they know someone is likely about to press the button on them. The judge who just sentenced someone to prison for life, he better press on that guy sharpish before he presses on him (probably someone else he sentenced is going to press on him, but that guy who just led away screaming he was going to kill him, he definitely is) It doesn’t stop there. What about the crazy curmodgenly old guy up the street who’s always yelling at you about your dogs, kids, lawn, etc. What are the chances he’s going to press on you once he falls on Clinton, Obama, etc? Better press on him before he does you. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2026, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-box-with-a-bit-of-a-twist/1027527/104 "2026-02-14T15:44:20Z")
Also someone might push the button of someone driving quickly down the highway which causes a multi vehicle accident and take out more people. Another aspect would be using it as legitimate euthanasia. I would have definitely used it on my grandmother in her later years. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2026, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-box-with-a-bit-of-a-twist/1027527/105 "2026-02-14T15:52:44Z")
Most of the people I know would press it for Cheeto. That doesn’t leave too many other button-pressers, most of whom probably like me to some extent, or at least don’t hate me. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2026, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-box-with-a-bit-of-a-twist/1027527/106 "2026-02-14T16:00:33Z")
> [@ratatoskK](#): > > Most of the people I know would press it for Cheeto Yup but only one of the billion or so people who do that are going to get him. What do the other 999 million people do then, probably Steven Miller, RFK, etc. That still leaves close to a billion, how many stop, how many keep going ? ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2026, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-box-with-a-bit-of-a-twist/1027527/107 "2026-02-14T23:25:02Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > I teach middle school. And not a fun elective class. > > All joking aside, I’m just that important to have random enemies and I don’t think my own kids hate me that much. Just reread the OP, and only people 18 and older get the box, so maybe I’m safe. There is a missing “not” in the second paragraph, but they should be obvious. Of course, as a very white foreigner in Japan, I have a higher chance of a random stranger knocking me off than if I lived in the West. > [@griffin1977](#): > > That still leaves close to a billion, how many stop, how many keep going ? The thing about these type of hypotheses is that no one really knows. It’s so far out of any real human experience that we can only make wild guesses. Will mass hysteria arise? Once top leaders start falling en mass, will people generalize the hate to individuals of the opposing party who they personally know? I have no faith that in the current American climate, LGBTQ individuals, minorities, immigrants, liberals and anyone not MAGA could quickly become a target from one side, and it seems inconceivable to me that there wouldn’t be retribution, and it’s possible that things could just keep spiraling out of control. But who knows? ---
**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2026, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-box-with-a-bit-of-a-twist/1027527/108 "2026-02-15T04:04:11Z")
There are a couple people who know me in real life who… maybe, in a moment of temptation, after they’d exhausted their personal lists of potential homicides in the public interest, one or the other just _might_ target me. Having thought this through in advance, I have no desire to try to preemptively kill one of them with my box. Once I use up that shot, the other one might suspect it was _me_ who killed the other person, and even if they hadn’t been inclined to use their box on me before, now their attitude might be different. Or perhaps one of them dies from some other person deciding to target them. And I’m still left high on the suspect list. So, I’m going to go to them in person, and use mundane means, less than lethal, to try to prevent them from using their boxes on me. Maybe when I get to them, I’ll find they’ve already used up their boxes and I won’t have to do anything. But if they haven’t… I think _anything_ I do to them to keep them from using a box on me is justifiable self-defense. ---
**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2026, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-box-with-a-bit-of-a-twist/1027527/109 "2026-02-15T04:11:26Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > The judge who just sentenced someone to prison for life, he better press on that guy sharpish before he presses on him Perhaps that judge should order an attempt be made to take away that sentenced person’s box. Every last currently incarcerated person, the guards better be going through every cell, confiscating the boxes. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2026, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-box-with-a-bit-of-a-twist/1027527/110 "2026-02-15T04:13:34Z")
Can you think of any guard that would be dumb enough to approach a prisoner that has a black box in his hands? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2026, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-box-with-a-bit-of-a-twist/1027527/111 "2026-02-15T04:21:08Z")
You’re just hoping that by the time everyone is finished pondering and repondering and counterpondering, by the time they finally figure out what can and cannot work, by the time all the thinking is done…the 48 hours will be up. 😁 ---
**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2026, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-box-with-a-bit-of-a-twist/1027527/112 "2026-02-15T04:33:26Z")
Possible strategy for the guards: Go in pairs, weapons out, and demand the box. A smart prisoner will realize if one of those guards drops dead at the same time the prisoner is witnessed pressing the button, things will not go well for them. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2026, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-box-with-a-bit-of-a-twist/1027527/113 "2026-02-15T04:39:36Z")
> [@Ponderoid](#): > > Perhaps that judge should order an attempt be made to take away that sentenced person’s box. That’s not going to happen in the time it takes for him to press the button and say the judge’s name > [@Ponderoid](#): > > Every last currently incarcerated person, the guards better be going through every cell, confiscating the boxes. Is that a good idea? By the time that’s been organized more than enough time will have elapsed for the inmates to say as many names as they want. So it seems like all it would do would convince some of the ones still with an active box to say the name of the guard who just started rooting through his cell ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2026, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-box-with-a-bit-of-a-twist/1027527/114 "2026-02-15T04:40:43Z")
I think the other prisoners in the cell block will not hesitate for a second…or is every single prisoner in solitary when this happens? ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2026, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-box-with-a-bit-of-a-twist/1027527/115 "2026-02-15T13:23:55Z")
> [@Ponderoid](#): > > Every last currently incarcerated person, the guards better be going through every cell, confiscating the boxes. Though thinking about it all prison staff are screwed. I’m pretty sure prisoner to warden ratios are high enough that it’s going to be pretty straightforward for the prisoners to use their buttons to kill all the staff in the prison, and try and escape. It won’t take much in the way of organizing, the boxes are doing the work of ensuring each prisoner gets to kill exactly one staff member. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-box-with-a-bit-of-a-twist/1027527.md?page=5)