# Would you push the red button? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 19, 2018, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-push-the-red-button/812726 "2018-04-19T18:43:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [April 19, 2018, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-push-the-red-button/812726/1 "2018-04-19T18:43:20Z")
A small box pops up in front of you. It is 6 inches x 6 inches x 6 inches in size, black in color with a small red button on top. A synthesized female voice from within the box starts counting down from 10. Do you press the red button before the countdown runs out? ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2018, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-push-the-red-button/812726/2 "2018-04-19T18:47:21Z")
Only if there’s a sign telling me not to. ---
**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:** [April 19, 2018, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-push-the-red-button/812726/3 "2018-04-19T18:48:54Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > Only if there’s a sign telling me not to. That would be a “no” vote, then. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2018, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-push-the-red-button/812726/4 "2018-04-19T18:49:55Z")
I’ve made wrong choices in life before. What’s one more? ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2018, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-push-the-red-button/812726/5 "2018-04-19T18:51:36Z")
Posting without reading any replies: I’m pressing the button. Hell, I don’t have many regrets, and what’s the worst that could happen? ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2018, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-push-the-red-button/812726/6 "2018-04-19T18:52:01Z")
I’ve seen Lost. I’d keep pressing it until I can get some other sucker to take over the job. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2018, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-push-the-red-button/812726/7 "2018-04-19T19:03:12Z")
That button is so pressed. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2018, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-push-the-red-button/812726/8 "2018-04-19T19:04:53Z")
Hell no. I’m running as far away as I can before the countdown finishes. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2018, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-push-the-red-button/812726/9 "2018-04-19T19:07:50Z")
I’m with **manson1972**. Leaving the area with all due haste seems prudent. ---
**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:** [April 19, 2018, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-push-the-red-button/812726/10 "2018-04-19T19:09:16Z")
By the way: Would any of you change your vote if it was a white box with a green button? ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2018, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-push-the-red-button/812726/11 "2018-04-19T19:13:19Z")
I voted yes, but I meant to vote no. I got tricked by the order of the responses. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2018, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-push-the-red-button/812726/12 "2018-04-19T19:16:13Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > By the way: Would any of you change your vote if it was a white box with a green button? Who the hell wants to push a _green_ button? ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2018, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-push-the-red-button/812726/13 "2018-04-19T19:18:24Z")
I voted yes, I figure if someone wanted to do something bad, they could just do it without the button, since ‘hurting someone’ and ‘hurting someone, but only if they press an unlabeled button when it appears near them’ are equally bad from a moral/ethical perspective. Since the only way the button does something bad is if the person is both hostile and has a really specific bit of insanity going on, I think that odds are in my favor what whatever the button does is beneficial or interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2018, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-push-the-red-button/812726/14 "2018-04-19T19:41:49Z")
Can he withstand the temptation to push the button that even now beckons him ever closer? Will he succumb to the maddening urge to eradicate history at the mere push of a single button? The beautiful, shiny button! The jolly, candy-like button! Will he hold out, folks? Can he hold out? [Sure I can](https://youtu.be/Yx_fKg2Cn48). ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2018, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-push-the-red-button/812726/15 "2018-04-19T19:47:40Z")
No–unless the button says, “That was easy.” BTW, for a small price, I can install this little blue button to get you down. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2018, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-push-the-red-button/812726/16 "2018-04-19T19:49:05Z")
No, and I’m running as fast as I can. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2018, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-push-the-red-button/812726/17 "2018-04-19T19:56:16Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > No–unless the button says, “That was easy.” > > BTW, for a small price, I can install this little blue button to get you down. I thought if I push the blue button—the story ends, I wake up in my bed and believe whatever I want to believe. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2018, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-push-the-red-button/812726/18 "2018-04-19T20:06:24Z")
^ Are you deliberately being a pill? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2018, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-push-the-red-button/812726/19 "2018-04-19T20:07:51Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > By the way: Would any of you change your vote if it was a white box with a green button? No. My sense of “fuck it, let’s see what happens” is colorblind. ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2018, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-push-the-red-button/812726/20 "2018-04-19T20:10:38Z")
Reminds me of the bell and little hammer that is discovered in Charn in C.S. Lewis’ “The Magician’s Nephew.” There was no time element, just the poem on the stand holding the bell: _Make your choice, adventurous Stranger, Strike the bell and bide the danger, Or wonder, till it drives you mad, What would have followed if you had._ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-push-the-red-button/812726.md?page=2)