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Comment by zahlman | Hacker News Reader

Yes, that's (overly reductively stated) the point of TFA. Except for the part where it was highlighting a survey result to the contrary, and explaining why this is irrational and doesn't likely reflect what people would actually do.

The idea behind claiming you'd choose the blue button is to appear noble and altruistic, I suppose; but I struggle to even understand that instinct. Risking one's own life to possibly save the lives of others who are demonstrably completely capable of saving themselves doesn't strike me as particularly noble.

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> this is irrational and doesn’t likely reflect what people would actually do

People are irrational. I guarantee it’s likely that a lot of people would actually do it.

> The idea behind claiming you’d choose the blue button is to appear noble and altruistic.

Not at all. If the majority of people can’t be bothered to press the button that says “nobody dies as long as half of the other people say nobody dies” rather than “you don’t die,” I’m happier not being around. It’s purely selfish and blue is a win-win.

> If the majority of people can’t be bothered to press the button

It is not a matter of "can't be bothered". This is blatantly dishonest framing.

> It’s purely selfish

It costs nobody else anything. Literally all they have to do is also push red.

I said the idea is to appear noble and altruistic. Writing off alternative options as "selfish" is, inherently, doing exactly that.

You didn’t even bother reading what I wrote.

For me, blue is the purely selfish choice. Because I have no interest in living in a world where red wins a majority on this one. It’s not even a tough call.

You aren't interested in living in a world where people are generally unwilling to risk their lives for no benefit beyond the possibility of contributing to saving the lives of people who don't need saving (as they can trivially save themselves)?

Of course not.

What would you do if you found out that this world were such a world?

Because I sincerely think it is such a world, no matter what a Twitter poll says.

The only way to find out would be for this thought experiment to actually occur, in which case I would do nothing, because I would be dead.

Either I live with a restored faith in humanity, or I die and it's none of my concern.

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