How many times would you push the button?

[dbax0999]

There is a button that will give you $20,000 dollars every time you push it. However, 1% of the time, pushing the button will kill you instantly.

How many times would you push the button?

 

[calekewbs]

5 times. Buuuuuut if it was something along the lines of you just lose all the money plus some with the 1% chance I would do a few less than when the odds are against me. so I would probbably do it 45 times.

 

[vvtopkar]

0.

I wouldn't take any chances....

 

[StachuK1992]

5 times. Pay for the college years of my life, and continue to work.

Either that, or infinitely until I die, and give the money to charity.
Probably this.
The survival of multiple others is more important than my personal survival.

 

[cmhardw]

I would look at the expected value. I rate winning $20,000 dollars as (+20000). I rate dying as (-infinity) or negative infinity.

So, using my utility function or my ratings of the outcomes, there is an expected value of pushing the button at:

[limit a->negative infintiy] 0.99*(20000) + 0.01(a) which approaches negative infinity.

I would not push the button even once.

Chris

 

[calekewbs]

good rule to live by. I like your philosophy!

and come on! live a little chris! lol

 

[Logan]

good rule to live by. I like your philosophy!

and come on! live a little chris! lol

But if he lives a little, he could die a lot (that didn't make sense but you know what I mean).




hmm. tough question. once maybe. I'm really afraid of death (even though I'm christian) so I might not.

 

[ben1996123]

I would carry on hitting it... with a hammer, so when I hit it, I get money, or, I break the button so I cant die.

I would give it to people I dont like and tell them to press it 2 hundred times, then as soon as they die, take their money, lol.

 

[qqwref]

I'd wait and do a mathematical calculation first before pressing the button at all

We want to maximize the expected value of your situation. Assuming your money is worthless once you are dead, and that being dead is just as good as having no money, we want to maximize (money gained) * (probability of being alive), and as it turns out this is greatest when you have pressed the button 99 or 100 times. Thus it is worth it to press the button (up to) 99 times, but after that you won't gain anything on average from pressing it.

We could alternatively assume that your money is still worth the same once you're dead (so your family or whatever will be getting it), but that your life has a given personal value. Then the value affects how many times you should press it. If your life is worth nothing, keep pressing it until you die, but if your life is worth (say) $10 million then you shouldn't even press it once.

Personally? I probably wouldn't press the button at all. My life is worth way too much to me to gamble it on something like this

 

[dannyz0r]

Once and then i'd use the money to pay other people to press it for me after signing a contract.

 

[ben1996123]

Once and then i'd use the money to pay other people to press it for me after signing a contract.

How about if you die the first time you push it?

 

[Robert-Y]

Hmm would anyone push the button if there was a 10% chance of getting killed? If so, what about 20% and so on and so on...

(Someone turn this into a good question, I can't seem to find the right words...)

 

[calekewbs]

Hmm would anyone push the button if there was a 10% chance of getting killed? If so, what about 20% and so on and so on...

(Someone turn this into a good question, I can't seem to find the right words...)

basically you're saying if the chance of death increases, would you then press the button? If so, at what value would you then not press the button.

 

[Robert-Y]

Hmm would anyone push the button if there was a 10% chance of getting killed? If so, what about 20% and so on and so on...

(Someone turn this into a good question, I can't seem to find the right words...)

basically you're saying if the chance of death increases, would you then press the button? If so, at what value would you then not press the button.

Ah thank you. And btw I would not push that button for money. But what if... pushing that button would prevent an inncoent person from dying and there was still a 1% chance of getting killed?

 

[Stefan]

There is a button that will give you $20,000 dollars every time you push it. However, 1% of the time, pushing the button will kill you instantly.

How many times would you push the button?

Until I die.

I'd push it whenever I run out of money:
Once after spending the money I have right now.
Once more after spending the first $20,000.
Once more after spending the second $20,000.
Etc.

This is a disguised way to ask how much we value our lives, isn't it?

 

[Erik]

risk = chance x effect
= 0.1 x infinite
= infinite

sadly no pushes for the button. I'll stroke it maybe

 

[StachuK1992]

Hm...if I get a robot to push the button, do I still have a chance of death?

 

[fanwuq]

Once and then i'd use the money to pay other people to press it for me after signing a contract.

At first I thought of something like this, but then I couldn't figure out how I can get profit from this. So I think it would be easiest to just buy the button and charge a fee for pressing it. I would not push it at all... unless I'm old, greedy, crazy, and feel like screwing up the economy with inflation. That might happen someday, but I would not press that once right now.
Oh, it actually really depends on how painful is the dying process and how long that process lasts. If it is painless and takes 60+ years, I might as well as press it like crazy immediately. If it is very painful, then I would never press it. I assume it was painless and instant for this question to test how much we value our lives. Even more interesting if there is also a variable time and pain for the death.
And is there also a variable chance that Hell exists after you die? Especially a cubing hell?

 

[Logan]

Hm...if I get a robot to push the button, do I still have a chance of death?

no. but the robot cannot give the money to you.

 

[Stefan]

Why do some of you assume you know anything about what would happen if someone other than you pressed the button? You weren't told anything about that. Maybe if you let another person or a robot push the button, you die instantly? Or the planet explodes?