No, it’s the acme manufacturing company, of course.
As with all their products, they don’t always work quite as expected. Sometimes the wrong person drops dead… occasionally the button pusher themselves….
There are approximately 6 billion people over the age of 18 alive today. If each one gets to kill someone, and let’s assume that most won’t use their choice to kill children (maybe a bad assumption) then you’re odds aren’t pretty good.
If someone is chosen and they die before they push their own button, does that box become null and void? Is that the point of the thought experiment, can you kill off the people who want to kill you before they can act?
I’ve sometimes speculated that, in place of annual reviews of employees, there should be a day where employees get to fire other employees. You start with the lowest paid employee. They get to fire anyone else in the company, including management personnel. Then you work your way up based on pay or salary. This would go a long way in motivating co-workers and managers to be both pleasant and supportive of those they supervise. Employees do not HAVE to fire anyone, but they also cannot convey their ability to fire someone to another employee. It’s one each.
It may seem like the whole company would ultimately get fired, but I believe that most employees would realize that not all managers or co-workers should be fired. It would be naturally self-limiting, I think. Kind of like The Purge.
Now there’s a prisoner’s dilemma! I don’t want to waste my button duplicating someone else, but I also don’t want to risk him getting away unscathed.
Remember-a button cannot be “wasted”. If someone else gets there first, your button still works.
Years ago, a violent stalker went to prison for almost killing me, so I’m thinking my chances aren’t very good.
You just have to get to them first.
Which is also an encouragement for them to get to you first, of course.
I could have done that already but there’s a good chance I’d spend the rest of my life in a 6’ x 8’ cage if I did. I’m assuming these are magic boxes that are either not illegal to use or can’t be tied back to me; eg. the person has a heart attack or drives off a cliff or something.
Humanity will be extinct in 27 days.
Totally different, because you don’t have to be anywhere near the victim, and there is no way to trace the death back to you. Even if you confessed it all in a court of law, there is no possible way to prove that it was your button that did the deed.
Except for those folk nobody gives a shit about, maybe?
Someone will kill them for being such mediocrities.
If 7 billion humans can kill 7 billion humans, it sounds like the human race is reduced to just the one human that pushes the button last.
You can always refuse to use the button.
Would you believe that this is not the first SDMB thread about a magic box with a button to kill people?
It’s not even the first such thread by @Czarcasm
This is a truly special place…
Some topics are classics.
There’s a former co-worker who hated me. He hated a lot of people though but I might make the top of his list. He was finally fired. I have rarely met someone who universally despised as him so someone would probably nail him in short order if he hasn’t already stroked out. He’s completely estranged from his family so I doubt he’d be missed.
Same box, different question.
My odds of survival are 99.99 percent, at least. No one hates me. My ex wife wouldn’t even consider it, and anyway, like so many people, there’s a certain head of state she’s be in a rush to hit that button for.
Ah, you pushed the button first. Clever move!
Are you going to patent it? After a couple of years it will be in the public domain, and then there will not only be one for each, but many for those who pay more.
I can only think of one person who might, perhaps, push the button thinking of me, so I have to get him first and I’ll be dandy.
Reading the small print again:
If they have 48 hours to think of me,
make it 48.01 hours.