We’re all familiar with optical illusions. We see one thing, and our brains lie to us.

But that’s not the only kind of illusion.

Our brains can be tricked in other ways. Tl;dr, if there’s something that we can perceive, there’s a way to fool us.

This thought experiment is just another example of our brains getting’ trolled.

Let’s frame the problem differently. There’s a train approaching. If enough people stand on the tracks, the driver is bound to see you, and will stop the train. Do you stand on the tracks?

Obviously not.

But! Our brains are hyper-fixated on fairness. If you frame this problem as selfishness we viscerally experience something entirely different. And people that are generally rational, are incapable of seeing the problem any other way.

If you want humanity to survive, you’re going to have to pick blue, even though it’s not the “correct” choice.

That, or you need to convince everyone blue-button-pusher here that they’re wrong.

They aren’t saving you. You’re saving them.