# Red or Blue? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 29, 2026, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-or-blue/1029653 "2026-04-29T19:57:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2026, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-or-blue/1029653/21 "2026-04-29T23:30:12Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > For starters, half of all babies and half of all colorblind people will choose blue. Which shows that the OP’s plan is evil. Not mine. Half of all babies and half of all colorblind people will choose red. So everybody must choose red, or the evil OP wins. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2026, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-or-blue/1029653/22 "2026-04-29T23:31:41Z")
Planning to fail is planning to fail. Your plan is planning to fail. Period. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2026, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-or-blue/1029653/23 "2026-04-29T23:32:39Z")
In my experience, people who end their arguments with “. Period” are wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2026, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-or-blue/1029653/24 "2026-04-29T23:43:44Z")
If “everybody chooses red”, then half of babies and colorblind people die, and the puzzle-setter gets lots of deaths, which is what they want. If instead we go with “everybody chooses blue”, then half of colorblind people and babies still choose “wrong”, but it doesn’t matter, because there are still enough people choosing blue that nobody still dies, and the Evil One doesn’t get what they want. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2026, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-or-blue/1029653/25 "2026-04-29T23:57:06Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > For starters, half of all babies and half of all colorblind people will choose blue. nevermind - different statement of the game than I am used to. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2026, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-or-blue/1029653/26 "2026-04-29T23:59:43Z")
If everyone presses the red button, everyone lives. If not everyone presses the red button, then pressing the red button is the only way to assure one’s survival. Pressing the red button is the logical answer. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2026, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-or-blue/1029653/27 "2026-04-30T00:03:58Z")
If not everyone presses the red button, then pressing the blue button is the only way to assure anyone else’s survival. Red is only logical if your own life is the only life you care about. Which is evil. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2026, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-or-blue/1029653/28 "2026-04-30T00:22:06Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > Pressing the red button is the logical answer. If your highest priority is your own life, no matter the cost. @Pardel-Lux remember the set up includes that > [@WalterBishop](#): > > Nobody has a chance to confer with anyone before making their choice. Every choice is individual. Your sales pitch to force everyone’s choice to red has no opportunity to get out there. There is no question that if you pick red _you_ will live, and that a large number of children who don’t even know their colors yet let alone understand the game, and many others who can’t even grok the concept _will_ die. The only chance for everyone to live is if 5% plus one choose blue. You are you are making your choice knowing that there will be a sizable number choosing blue and that your decision increases the odds of their deaths. Rationally you know that is that. I value my life but I doubt I’d enjoy living knowing that I chose life at the cost of contributing to the death of so many others. Blue for me. As an informed selfish choice. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2026, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-or-blue/1029653/29 "2026-04-30T00:31:38Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > If your highest priority is your own life, no matter the cost. Nonsense. The red button is the logical answer; for everyone’s best interest. If the game master seriously hasn’t made any stipulations for the colorblind or the young, then that’s on him, not on me. ---
**Author:** ![J-P\_L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/j-p_l/32/3156_2.png) [@J-P\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/J-P_L)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2026, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-or-blue/1029653/30 "2026-04-30T01:41:42Z")
One thing i’m not clear about, do the button pushers know the consequences of which buttons they push. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2026, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-or-blue/1029653/31 "2026-04-30T02:09:08Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > There is no question that if you pick red _you_ will live, I’d say that there’s considerable question of that, actually. If red wins, then you’ve now got a society consisting entirely of the sort of people who pick red. Nobody has a high life expectancy in that sort of society. And that’s also ignoring all of the indirect effects of so many people dying all at once (we’ve discussed this several times in relation to the Snap, in the Marvel movies). All in all, I’d say that if red wins, everyone is screwed, regardless of what color they picked. > [@TruCelt](#): > > Nonsense. The red button is the logical answer; for everyone’s best interest. Again: How is red more in everyone’s best interest than blue? If blue wins, nobody dies. How can red possibly be better than that? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2026, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-or-blue/1029653/32 "2026-04-30T02:13:06Z")
Without reading other answers: for me this seems simple: red button. I live either way. And if everyone just acts in their logical self-interest, everybody lives. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2026, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-or-blue/1029653/33 "2026-04-30T02:28:21Z")
There are going to be a lot of people who pick blue thinking it’s the right thing to do. Let’s say at least 20% of people. So in a red wins scenario, you are guaranteed to kill at least 20% of people - and the people who were trying to do the right thing, too. To get a “no one dies” scenario from pushing red, you need to get EVERY SINGLE PERSON IN THE WORLD to all make the independent decision that red is the right choice. Would never happen. Billions are gonna die if red wins. However, blue’s route to zero deaths is far easier. You just need to get 50%+1 of the world’s population to get on board, then no one dies. Getting 50%+1 on the same page is a gazillion times more likely than getting 100%. Red is basically guaranteed hundreds of millions or billions of deaths. Blue is a pretty good chance at 0 deaths. If you want an exhaustive, more thorough set of arguments than that, the [earlier thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-button-or-blue-button-dilemma/1024041) has it in detail. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2026, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-or-blue/1029653/34 "2026-04-30T03:10:33Z")
I guess torture isnt so bad- that is my choice. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2026, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-or-blue/1029653/35 "2026-04-30T03:40:26Z")
The scenario itself is a mildly interesting mind game but what I wonder more about is if the answer spread varies by culture? My WAG is that the individualist and frankly self focused nature of American society would lean to over 50% red and the sizable minority of us that chose blue (and others as noted) are dead. But that in more collectivist societies (past discussions have correlated that with a past history of rice farming) blue would be solidly greater than 50%. I further wonder if political identification tracks? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2026, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-or-blue/1029653/36 "2026-04-30T11:13:25Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > I further wonder if political identification tracks? Quoting myself from upthread: > [@LSLGuy](#): > > It’s a manufactured dilemma designed to prove that morally-vacant selfishness is the best course of action for any complicated problem. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2026, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-or-blue/1029653/37 "2026-04-30T11:59:13Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Without reading other answers: for me this seems simple: red button. I live either way. And if everyone just acts in their logical self-interest, everybody lives. Maybe I’m missing something here, but the OP states this: > [@WalterBishop](#): > > If 50% or more people press the blue button, everyone lives. > > If 50% or more people press the red button, only those who pressed the red button will live. Pushing the red button only lets me live if 50% or more others also push the red button. Otherwise, presumably, I still die. So the outcome for me is the same no matter which button I push-- I only live if the button I choose is the choice of the simple majority. The only difference is in whether the people who choose the minority button live or not. So, I would choose the blue button and hope over 50% others came to this same conclusion. But, I suppose the presumption is that everybody who chooses the red button lives no matter what, though I don’t see that specified in the OP. If that were the case, then pushing the red button would clearly be the majority choice, and the only real option. Pushing the blue button would not save anyone, and just be suicide. ---
**Author:** ![colinfred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colinfred/32/21338_2.png) [@colinfred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colinfred)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2026, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-or-blue/1029653/38 "2026-04-30T12:00:31Z")
> [@solost](#): > > only live if the button I choose is the choice of the simple majority. No, everybody who presses red survives whichever group gets the majority. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2026, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-or-blue/1029653/39 "2026-04-30T12:03:13Z")
> [@colinfred](#): > > No, everybody who presses red survives whichever group gets the majority. I did amend my answer to allow for that, but it’s not specified in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![colinfred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colinfred/32/21338_2.png) [@colinfred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colinfred)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2026, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-or-blue/1029653/40 "2026-04-30T12:05:00Z")
None my response was before solost’s edit. > [@solost](#): > > I did amend my answer to allow for that, but it’s not specified in the OP. > [@WalterBishop](#): > > If 50% or more people press the blue button, everyone lives. I’m not sure how much clearer that could be. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-or-blue/1029653.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-or-blue/1029653.md?page=3)