The Red Button: A Matter of Morality

[Tequila Sunrise]

Inspired by GoC's thread, I remembered a hypothetical situation posed by my college philosophy prof:

Walking through a forest, you find an ancient tree. Embedded in the tree's trunk is a big red button. It's not glued or nailed to the trunk; it appears to actually be a part of the tree, somehow. The button is round, smooth, shiny and...well, irresistibly pushable. Above the button is a glass peephole. Looking into the peephole, you see a planet that looks much like Earth, though its continents are different. Below the button is a sign that reads PRESSING THIS BUTTON WILL DESTROY THIS PLANET, AND THE CIVILIZATION WHICH INHABITS IT.

Do you push the button?

[InaVegt]

Yes, I would.

[Assassin89]

I would not press the button. Why? See the evil overlord list

[Ghastly Epigram]

It is a big red button, man. There is something wrong with you if you do NOT press it.

Presumably there is absolutely no reason to believe what the message says, as such seems impossible, so I would definitely press it.

[Tamburlaine]

I'd want to push it, but being wary of the repercussions, I'd instead let some other fool push it for me - there seems to be no shortage...

[DamnedIrishman]

I wouldn't say it's so much a question of morality as a question of calculated risk. For a start, it's a button attached to a tree of all things, so a gambling mind might presume that it is unlikely to be rigged to a doomsday device.

I still wouldn't push it, though. Either the sign is true, and the world is destroyed (which is not of net benefit to me) or the sign is false and something else happens (either nothing - still no net benefit - or something which could include something else horrible). All in all there's no good reason to push the button other than one's own self-absorbed curiosity and since I am not a self-absorbed antisocial nihilist (and thus would risk the destruction of the world against my own curiosity) or a idiot monkey (and thus press buttons just because they are there) that button is staying unpushed.

Now, if it were a slot machine (one-armed bandit type) were three cherries gave you immortality and three bananas caused the heat death of the universe... THAT would be a question of morality. And calculated risk too. Pull the lever?

[Thanatos 51-50]

Set fire to the tree, watch it burn down, permenantly disconnect all wires, destroy wires, break button, melt button, scatter idividual molecules to the four Winds.
Pat self on back.

[mercurymaline]

Now, if it were a slot machine (one-armed bandit type) were three cherries gave you immortality and three bananas caused the heat death of the universe... THAT would be a question of morality. And calculated risk too. Pull the lever?

Is this a nickel or quarter slot, and what do the other combinations do?

[DamnedIrishman]

Is this a nickel or quarter slot, and what do the other combinations do?

For the sake of being entirely arbitrary and hijacking a thread...

There are four fruits - cherries, bananas, apples and watermelons.

Three cherries causes the heat death of the universe.
Three bananas gives you immortality (not neccesarily a good thing).
Three apples causes gives you eternal youth.
Three watermelons gives you six million dollars, cash.

Two matching symbols gives you a five dollar bill and a piece of relevant fruit.
No matching symbols makes an obese man stamp on your foot.

You can only pull it twice: if you try a third time, you develop advanced stage leprosy. Both pulls are free. No nudges.

A quandary. I'd make this more sensible, but I can hear an ice-cream van outside.

[wadledo]

......How is that three fruits?

[GoC]

This is not a matter of morality. It's a matter of seeing an interesting red button that's extremely unlikely to cause any harm and pressing it.

[DamnedIrishman]

......How is that three fruits?

It's three fruits by virtue of a combined failure of various parts of the brain.

[mercurymaline]

The neat thing about late stage leprosy: it's not painful. I think I could live with that and just keep pulling the lever til I arrived at eternal youth.

[V'icternus]

Inspired by GoC's thread, I remembered a hypothetical situation posed by my college philosophy prof:

Walking through a forest, you find an ancient tree. Embedded in the tree's trunk is a big red button. It's not glued or nailed to the trunk; it appears to actually be a part of the tree, somehow. The button is round, smooth, shiny and...well, irresistibly pushable. Above the button is a glass peephole. Looking into the peephole, you see a planet that looks much like Earth, though its continents are different. Below the button is a sign that reads PRESSING THIS BUTTON WILL DESTROY THIS PLANET, AND THE CIVILIZATION WHICH INHABITS IT.

Do you push the button?

Yes.

1. It's likely to do nothing.

2. If it does destroy the planet, what do I care? Doesn't affect me at all.

3. I'm in a forest. Who would know?

4. If something else happened, I'd be willing to accept that.

[strawberryman]

The button, I'd likely push it, because if I were walking through a forest I'd likely be bored, and this would pique my curiosity long enough.

With the slot machine, would the rewards for relevant matches be on a sign? <_<

[mercurymaline]

Yes.

1. It's likely to do nothing.

2. If it does destroy the planet, what do I care? Doesn't affect me at all.

3. I'm in a forest. Who would know?

4. If something else happened, I'd be willing to accept that.

But what if...the planet was

Spoiler

Show

Earth, in the past?!? Dun dun dun

[DamnedIrishman]

The neat thing about late stage leprosy: it's not painful. I think I could live with that and just keep pulling the lever til I arrived at eternal youth.

How about if it was incurable, extra voracious ebola then?

With the slot machine, would the rewards for relevant matches be on a sign? <_<

No, but the obese foot-stamping man knows and would happily tell you if you asked.

2. If it does destroy the planet, what do I care? Doesn't affect me at all.

It does if you're standing on it.

[InaVegt]

It does if you're standing on it.

It's quite clearly just an earth-like planet, not earth.

Even so, humanity is better off being destroyed.

[KnightDisciple]

I see no reason to push the button. Not pushing it clearly does nothing bad to me, the planet in the viewer, earth, etc.

Pushing it could have any number of consequences.

So yeah, no pushy.

[snoopy13a]

Inspired by GoC's thread, I remembered a hypothetical situation posed by my college philosophy prof:

Walking through a forest, you find an ancient tree. Embedded in the tree's trunk is a big red button. It's not glued or nailed to the trunk; it appears to actually be a part of the tree, somehow. The button is round, smooth, shiny and...well, irresistibly pushable. Above the button is a glass peephole. Looking into the peephole, you see a planet that looks much like Earth, though its continents are different. Below the button is a sign that reads PRESSING THIS BUTTON WILL DESTROY THIS PLANET, AND THE CIVILIZATION WHICH INHABITS IT.

Do you push the button?

I have a simple answer:

No

[strawberryman]

No, but the obese foot-stamping man knows and would happily tell you if you asked.

Well, then I'd probably pull the slots, too.

[Rutskarn]

Even so, humanity is better off being destroyed.

No, it's not.

Anyway--nah. That button could do anything, and I can live with not knowing a lot more than I could live with the consequences.

[DamnedIrishman]

Well, then I'd probably pull the slots, too.

So, not only would you risk the energy death of the universe, not only destroying all life but also preventing the possibility of life ever again existing, but you'd also risk becoming IMMORTAL and then causing the heat death of the universe, theoretically imprisoning you in conscious stasis forever, with nothing to do except your eventual descent into insanity?

[averagejoe]

Even so, humanity is better off being destroyed.

No it isn't.

Gosh, how does one resist pushing a big red button they find in the middle of the woods? Especially since the sign is basically a fancy way of saying, "Do not push." I think I'd have to push it. It's, like, a narrative rule or something. As I write this I have a strong desire to push a big red button.

[Rutskarn]

Gosh, how does one resist pushing a big red button they find in the middle of the woods? Especially since the sign is basically a fancy way of saying, "Do not push." I think I'd have to push it. It's, like, a narrative rule or something. As I write this I have a strong desire to push a big red button.

I think we should all carry around portable shiny red buttons. Like inhalers.

[Spiryt]

Well, obviously I would think it some kind of provocation/joke/TV show, and would press it just to see what planet destruction special effects they prepared.

[averagejoe]

I think we should all carry around portable shiny red buttons. Like inhalers.

That say, "Do not push."

[Blue Ghost]

Um, no. I don't see any reason to push it. As much as I am intellectually curious, there are safer outlets for my curiosity in the world.

[Recaiden]

I would not push the button. I might try to take it apart or cut down the tree. I wouldn't pull the slot machine either.

[SinisterPenguin]

No, I would not push the button, because I have no reason to push it. I can't think of anything that I would gain from pushing it.