What would happen in such a world?
Classical game theorists establish a scientific consensus that the only rational course of action is not to push the buttons. Anyone who does is regarded with contempt or pity and gets lowered in the social stratum, before finally managing to rationalize the idea out of conscious attention, with the help of the instinct to conformity. A few free-riders smugly teach the remaining naive pushers a bitter lesson, only to stop receiving the benefit. Everyone gets back to business as usual, crazy people spinning the wheels of a mad world.
This comment was very entertaining... but...
I actually do think people in such a world ought not to press buttons. But not very strongly... only about the same "oughtnotness" as people ought not to waste time looking at porn.
The argument is the same: Aren't there better things we could be doing?
Ideally, in button-world, people will devise a way to remove their buttons.
But if that couldn't be done, and we're seriously asking "what would happen?" I suppose it might end up being treated like sex. Having one's button publicly visible is "indecent" - buttons are only pushed in private. Etc. etc.
To whom it may concern:
This thread is for the discussion of Less Wrong topics that have not appeared in recent posts. If a discussion gets unwieldy, celebrate by turning it into a top-level post.
(After the critical success of part II, and the strong box office sales of part III in spite of mixed reviews, will part IV finally see the June Open Thread jump the shark?)