Suicidal people have all kinds of motives. Some, sure -maybe most - aren’t malicious. But some others definitely are. Look at Elliot Rodger’s manifesto, for instance. He talked about hating others for having good things he didn’t (“if I can’t have it then nobody else can have it”), about how he would carry out revenge that “would shake the very foundations of the world.” He’d probably slap that red button in a heartbeat.
Eh, depends on my mood.
Knowingly and on purpose? Probably not many. About the same amount that would shoot up a public place and then commit suicide probably. Enough that it would definitely happen in probably less than a day.
Why does the person have to be suicidal? If the removal of humanity did not harm anything else on the planet, I’d be very tempted to push the button. We’ve done more than our share of damage to the planet and it would be better off without us. I might consider sacrificing every human on Earth for the better of every other living thing.
For the record, I am quite happy and not the least bit suicidal.
I don’t think I can ascertain a % of the population that would throw the switch, but assuming that every town square globally has one of these switches, the time after it’s announced that the switches exist till someone actually flips it, is approximately 2-3 hours.
This planet will continue on well after we’re all extinct. We haven’t really damaged the planet, we’ve just made it less inhabitable for ourselves.
and the Whales.
The method of extinction matters. “Kill just the humans” likely has more takers than “slag the planet.”
Some people believe they will go to Heaven if they die, and many of those believe that all their co-religionists will too, and that all the others (who follow false gods, or no god at all) won’t. In that world view, throwing the switch actually gives one’s group infinite privileges and punishes everybody else.
Certainly enough that even if there’s only 1 switch in the world, regardless of its location, if it’s in an urban area with good transport links I would put the over/under on it being pressed at about 20 minutes. In a population dense area like Times Square in New York it wouldn’t last 5 minutes.
If it was only Humanity, I imagine quite a few Eco-nuts would pull it.
Otherwise, you’d have to be a sociopath and suicidal.
With one project I worked on, there was a big red button on the wall (fire suppressor trigger). As part of the acceptance test, that button was pushed - during acceptance testing, it didn’t actually release the fire retardant, but was wired into the system to do … something (notify someone? turn off the computer? I don’t remember anymore)
People were fighting to get to be the person to push the button.
First redneck to see it will press the button before reading anything.
I give us 30 minutes. Hope it doesn’t slag the earth.
Then why would you choose to kill yourself? Depression isnt an actual necessity for suicide. Only killing yourself is.
But alas, the almighty hath fixed his canon against self-slaughter.
I’m going to thumb-suck and say 5%.
Though, who yet is unintrigued by the undiscovered country from who’s borne no traveler returns?
Is it Monday?
The shiny, CANDY-LIKE button!
I’d wager it wouldn’t last a day. Just too many “Heh. The fuckicare? LOLZ.” out there.
A pilot did just that:
On October 31, 1999, the Boeing 767 operating the route crashed into the Atlantic Ocean about 60 miles (100 km) south of Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, killing all 217 passengers and crew on board.
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › EgyptAir_Flight_990