You Should Press the Red Button, Never the Blue Button |
Politics
You Should Press the Red Button, Never the Blue Button
A MrBeast post is going viral on X, and the correct answer is obvious.
Robby Soave | 4.30.2026 4:10 PM
Share on FacebookShare on XShare on RedditShare by emailPrint friendly versionCopy page URL Add Reason to Google
Media Contact & Reprint Requests
(Illustration: Midjourney/Sthanlee Mirador/Sipa USA/Newscom)
Let's talk about something silly, but quite revealing: Would you press the red button or the blue button? A version of this puzzle goes viral on social media from time to time; this week, writer Tim Urban kicked things off, and YouTube giant MrBeast, who often sets up competitions in which participants have to play prisoner's dilemma–style mind games for money, soon followed suit.
You are reading Free Media from Robby Soave and Reason. Get more of Robby's on-the-media, disinformation, and free speech coverage.
Name
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Email(Required)
SUBSCRIBE
The setup, per MrBeast, is this:
Everyone on earth takes a private vote by pressing a red or blue button. If more than 50% of people press the blue button, everyone survives. If less than 50% of people press the blue button, only people who pressed the red button survive. Which button would you press? BE HONEST.
— MrBeast (@MrBeast) April 28, 2026
You can see from the above poll results that the blue button won, and everybody........