Magic button

46 Comments

A mad scientist gave you a magic button. Every time you press it, two things happen. The first effect is that you get one million dollars on your bank account. The other effect is that someone dies. You don't know who dies, but you have 100% certainty that it's nobody you know. Whether he's young, old, good or evil,... you don't know. Would you press the button?

So, in short: Would you indirectly kill a person for a million dollars?

I'd never push it	43
I'd push it once or twice	23
I never liked people. I'd push it like a jackhammer	25

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Comments ( 46 )

JustDave

11 years ago | pl

After reading the headline, I thought the post was going to be about a clitoris.

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shuggy-chan

11 years ago

what if i push it with my penis?

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- Corleone
  
  11 years ago
  
  You won't kill people, you'll only make them impotent. The reward is also slightly lower. Instead of a million you'll get 17 bucks and a slightly impractical keychain.
  
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  - shuggy-chan
    
    11 years ago
    
    im all for impractical keychains, sign me up
    
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- [Old Memory]
  
  11 years ago
  
  You only get half a million.
  
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LameAssCracka

11 years ago

Don't think I could live with that on my conscience.

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- anti-hero
  
  11 years ago
  
  You lame ass cracker.
  
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Avant-Garde

11 years ago

No, it wouldn't be worth it.

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anti-hero

11 years ago

Isn't this the plot of the box?

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- wigsplitz
  
  11 years ago
  
  It was a Twilight Zone episode in the 80's before it was the Box the movie, the TZ was pretty good, of course it's only like 15-20 min long. They changed a lot of crap and added a lot of bs to make it into a movie.
  
  At the end of the TZ episode, the man comes and takes the box back and he passes it on to someone new, and the suspense of it is that....when this NEW person pushes the button, will YOU die....because the new person doesn't know you. Yeah, you have a million dollars now, but you fear every day of your life that the next time someone pushes the button that it's going to be you that dies next.
  
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  - anti-hero
    
    11 years ago
    
    I read about the TZ stuff on wiki when I googeled it. Sounds a lot better than the movie.
    
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- lc1988
  
  11 years ago
  
  That's it! I couldn't think of the title. Horrible movie.
  
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  - anti-hero
    
    11 years ago
    
    I had to google it.
    
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- Corleone
  
  11 years ago
  
  Could be. A friend asked me ;this question, but he didn't tell me where he got it from
  
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  - anti-hero
    
    11 years ago
    
    It is indeed the plot, I looked it up. Except from what I gather it is a one time push for a million.
    
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nightmare28

11 years ago

I would push it even if i didn't get a million dollars, then go read the obituaries.

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Shackleford96

11 years ago

I needed a laugh today, thanks O.P.

I might push it, I don't know. I'd probably end up killing myself later because of the guilt though (even though I'm not suicidal).

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Darkoil

11 years ago

I'd probably push it regardless of the money. But for a million quid a pop I would push it till my finger falls off.

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[Old Memory]

11 years ago

if i hung around cancer hospitals and heard moaning and people begging for death to stop the pain, i would push the button, maybe for free , or in the courtroom with a convicted child killer, theres an easy million for me

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- Corleone
  
  11 years ago
  
  Yeah, but the point of the button is that you don't know who you kill. It could be a terminal patient begging for euthanasia, or it could be an eight year old who's experiencing love for the very first time.
  
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dappled

11 years ago

This is a variation on that "Would you commit murder if you could get away with it" question. It certainly has the same kind of response.

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- Corleone
  
  11 years ago
  
  It's kinda similar, but you don't know who you kill. And you get a million bucks
  
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  - dappled
    
    11 years ago
    
    True, but my focus was immediately led not to money or anonymity, but that people are deliberately ending the lives of others. That seems to be the most important bit. Even more so if you're one of the lives ended by their button-pressing.
    
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    - Corleone
      
      11 years ago
      
      Yeah, it is very similar to randomly killing people. But I'm surprised how many people responded to this poll. I guess it's something different from questions like "I'm 16 and I haven't kissed a girl yet! IIN?!"
      
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800imawesome

11 years ago

This is "the box"

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KeddersPrincess

11 years ago

Like "The Box"?

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- Corleone
  
  11 years ago
  
  You know, I never saw that movie. But judging by the comments, it's not a very good one.
  
  A friend asked me this question and I was curious what your answer would be.
  
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sassafrassi

11 years ago

No and where's the option for horrible movie idea?

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- anti-hero
  
  11 years ago
  
  Ah, The Box. How does it suck so hard?
  
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  - sassafrassi
    
    11 years ago
    
    Sucks harder than you do. =)
    
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    - anti-hero
      
      11 years ago
      
      Nobody likes me, everyone hates me, I'm gonna go eat worms.
      
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      - sassafrassi
        
        11 years ago
        
        How is it that I've never heard of this song? I use to play with worms all the time.
        
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        anti-hero
        
        11 years ago
        
        I have no idea I thought most people knew of that song.
        
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callb4ucome

11 years ago

I wouldn't personally...but if you were going to do it once might as well keep on pushing. So saddd.

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Subfinmatic

11 years ago

If I got to choose who died I'd be more inclined to push it, I'd push it with the rules you've laid out though, but only if the currency could be changed to my own.

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- Corleone
  
  11 years ago
  
  Yeah, I wrote dollars, but you can make that one million euros, one million pounds Or one million rubles. One million rubles is like, enough to buy a second hand mercedes benz and a milkshake.
  
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GuessWho

11 years ago

Population control: Attach it to an actual jackhammer and let it fire off a couple million times.

- OR -

Take it apart and 'hack' it to let me choose who to kill.

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- Corleone
  
  11 years ago
  
  "Breaking news! Nearly all women dropped dead this afternoon. Only the cast of MTV's '16 and pregnant' survived."
  
  Thanks a lot, doofus
  
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  - GuessWho
    
    11 years ago
    
    I need to fire it off a couple more times then...
    
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ebulliance

11 years ago

I'd never push it.

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misca

11 years ago

I would push it.

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Justsomejerk

11 years ago

I would push the shit out of it.

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TerryVie

11 years ago

I would push it PLENTY of times.

Of course, i would make sure to use lots of my newfound money to RESCUE lifes. Food and medical supplies to third-world countries and stuff like that.
Using my own organization so i KNOW it works out and the money doesn't go to wrong places...
Funding medical research, paying for operations people can't afford.
Yes, i could morally totally justify that.

I kill one person and save two or more as a result, it's a good deal in my book and i could sleep easy despite the "blood" on my hands, heck, give me a magic gun instead of a button and i will go and do the deed myself looking them in the eyes(of course also including that i can never be found out when using that gun...e.g. it makes him/her die of natural causes and only s/he sees it).

People starve, people get shot in meaningless wars, fall victim to illness. Thousands of people die every day that COULD be saved without me caring at all about them. I would not start caring if instead of being indirectly responsible because of world structuring, i would start being directly responsible. Especially not if i can do so much good AND enjoy a good live at the same time.(Yep, i WOULD be hedonistic as well...but i would mostly see this as a gift to use "for the greater good" and keep doing that).

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- Corleone
  
  11 years ago
  
  Interesting points, and I agree with you for most part, but... would you die yourself for someone else who pushed the button?
  
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  - TerryVie
    
    11 years ago
    
    Not consciously.
    My self-preservation instincts are working fine, thank you. :)
    
    On a purely statistical view, and assuming the person pressing the button acts as outlined above, it would be "logical" to do so. Sacrifice of few to save the many.
    
    But as said, self-preservation, of course, makes me want to dodge the bullet. I would also be more conservative about the button if it instead killed only a random person i KNOW, instead of random people i don't know.
    
    As mentioned, there's so many people dying for so many reasons every day and i don't care...however, if it's my friends and family, obviously that point needs reevaluation. Know what i mean?
    
    So to sum up and answer your question: From a logical viewpoint, yes.
    From a emotional and biological viewpoint: no.
    
    I don't believe in an afterlife, and i definitely would not volunteer, but i would not "hold a grudge" against the person that killed me that way IF they spend the money in a agreeable way.
    
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    - Corleone
      
      11 years ago
      
      Alright, great answer :D
      
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