The Black Button: Would You Kill a Stranger for $10 Million if You Couldn’t Get Caught?

• Parker
  March 24th, 2008 at 4:29 am

  A confused man given a dubious task with monumental monetary rewards by an evil genius overlord. Anyone else immediately think of daily meetings in the White House?

• Aeris
  March 24th, 2008 at 4:31 am

  How about 10 million good old british pounds?

• astrogirl
  March 24th, 2008 at 5:16 am

  isn’t that the plot of an old twilight zone episode? a woman is offered cash if she presses a button and kills a human being - someone “she doesn’t know”, and in the end she presses it and as the guy leaves she asks him what will happen now and he says he will give the button to someone else… someone “she doesnt know” dah dah dummmm. lol

• Aeris
  March 24th, 2008 at 5:26 am

  Uh yeah, if you read the comments underneath the linked video you will see that confirmed.

• MrPumpernickel
  March 24th, 2008 at 5:41 am

  Point of useless trivia: what looks to be a case of money is actually a case designed to keep tools in, probably picked up at your local hardware store. I own three exactly like it myself

  But yes, if the situation was a serious one and not set up like the one in the video I would sure push it. Roughly three people die every second around the world, what’s the difference if it turns into four people for one second?

• Aeris
  March 24th, 2008 at 5:44 am

  Now i know that i should ask if i am dead before making a decision.

• Miss Cellania
  March 24th, 2008 at 6:26 am

  That was my favorite Twilight Zone episode.

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Button%2C_Button_(The_Twilight_Zone)

• lux
  March 24th, 2008 at 7:43 am

  Hmmm… I’ll take 5mil if I can pick who.

  KIDDING!

• Namowal
  March 24th, 2008 at 8:23 am

  Ha, lux beat me to it!

• ted
  March 24th, 2008 at 8:23 am

  Yeah, seen before. It was predictable at the time it was first done.

  Are there no original ideas left in the world?

• Ant
  March 24th, 2008 at 9:52 am

  Twilight Zone’s Button, Button Episode:

  Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlEZ7N37KNw
  Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q6Q49VdFRE

• Scooter
  March 24th, 2008 at 11:56 am

  one question, can i press the button more than once?

• Klink-O
  March 24th, 2008 at 12:22 pm

  What if you bump into the button on the way out the door after saying “no thanks”?

• leela
  March 24th, 2008 at 2:40 pm

  It is indeed a tempting idea to get easy money at first.
  But would you really enjoy your money and feel so great knowing that you have actually killed someone for it? Maybe a child? Or someone really nice?
  How happy do you think you would become through money alone?

  The killing part makes the money too bitter to really enjoy it, I think.
  But I am sure that there are many people out there who would not care to push the button several times. Well, actually there people have been killed face to face for much less.

• Jacki
  March 24th, 2008 at 3:01 pm

  Haha…At first I was hesitant because I couldn’t really kill somebody the dirty way. When I realized all there was to do was press a button, yes, go for it!

• Aramax
  March 24th, 2008 at 11:16 pm

  Halfway through the video I found a loophole.

  If the guy dont take the key he’s stuck inside the room forever so the money would be useless to him since he can’t even spend it.

  Meh!

• LisaL
  March 25th, 2008 at 2:35 am

  I definitely wouldn’t be able to press the button. Hell, I have trouble killing bugs.. and if I do by accident.. I feel bad about it lol.
  I couldn’t even imagine what it would be like to know that I killed another human being. Even if that person was vile and evil and deserved to die, I would still feel weird knowing that they died by my hands… ya know?

• Subotai
  March 25th, 2008 at 8:42 am

  So now they hand out awards for blatant plegiarism??? Thought I was the only one old enough to remember that Twilight Zone episode. Everyone else must be watching the reruns. As for hitting the button … can I relearn my Morse Code first, then try for a new speed record?

• alison
  March 25th, 2008 at 12:05 pm

  I would probably do it. Also, the acting in that Twilight Zone episode is really awful.

• Chris
  March 25th, 2008 at 7:44 pm

  Actually, it’s going to be a feature film too (The Box) featuring many hollywood craptastic actors.

• sam
  March 26th, 2008 at 12:16 pm

  id kill the guy offering the money and just take it so i could get the key and then push the button on my way out anyway

• you
  March 26th, 2008 at 2:34 pm

  Aramex got an interesting point.

  But you also can ask yourself “Do I know myself, or am I a Stranger to myself, too?”
  So you probably kill yourself by pressing the button. And even if it’s an even chance for everyone (round about 1:6 billion) the probability of gaining the 10 million - or even more - by a lotto jackpot (without killing anyone) is far more at your side.

  greez, me

  (sorry for bad english)

• Mark
  March 30th, 2008 at 2:45 pm

  It’s hardly plagiarism; similar premise but it’s totally different (and considerably better, IMHO) than the lame Twilight Zone ep. The writing’s more solid, the guy behind the desk is amazing, the religious undertones are a nice touch, the white room, it all works a lot better. It’s an old idea anyway, this is just the best incarnation I’ve seen of it. Great vid from some talented guys!

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