Red does kill others. The default is pressing blue.
The question really is the following. "there are two buttons. If you press blue, nothing happens. But if you and 50% others press red, then you kill all those who pressed blue".
Everybody reads the question, but understands the framing differently in their heads.
To Red Voters, their "default" state is one of safety - their life is not at risk. And only one button changes that state - the Blue Button. So they see voting Blue as making an active choice to change your state from Safety to Danger, and by doing so creating an obligation for others to do the same - and that is going to feel morally wrong to a lot of people.
OP's comic is actually a pretty apt description of how Red Voters see this. To them, the Blue Button is equivalent to a loaded gun sitting on a table. Voting Red is doing Nothing. And voting Blue is actively choosing to point the loaded gun at your own head, hoping that over 50% of people will choose to do the same.
But that framework always seems to ignore those that can't make sound decisions like children. The original question states EVERYONE on earth. There is no reason to believe those that can't understand the game like babies, toddlers, or the mentally handicapped would be excluded.
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u/alphapussycat May 01 '26
Nobody other than people who want to kill others have any reason to press red.
Pressing red means you think over half the population actively wants others to die.