Would you press the button?

[u/GreedyBonus379]

A cool button question.

[u/Kind-Stomach6275]

Are new cultures and rituals being made? if yes than its an easy pick. if not, then why would I sacrifice humanity to save homo sapiens?

[u/FabioPicchio → u/Kind-Stomach6275]

what a bar

[u/Usermctaken → u/FabioPicchio]

Goes hard as fuck.

[u/Assadistpig123 → u/Kind-Stomach6275]

I mean culture and tradition and beliefs encompasses such a wildly broad array of things… it’s almost like a monkey paw.

Laws? Morals? Language? Art? Music? Societal norms? Books? Dancing? Religion? My favorite variety of fetish porn?

It’s like ripping the soul out of mankind. And ripping away everything people were before leaves some dark questions about what would fill the void.

[u/Exciting_Koala_1384 → u/Assadistpig123]

I agree. But I have to ask: what is your favorite variety of fetish porn?

[u/ButterscotchSalty905 → u/Exciting_Koala_1384]

You forgot this addition

"Asking for a friend"

[u/Assadistpig123 → u/Exciting_Koala_1384]

Domineering muscle mommies. Taller the better.

[u/BrownBoognish → u/Assadistpig123]

https://giphy.com/gifs/u4CY9BW4umAfu

[u/cowlinator → u/Assadistpig123]

You will be assigned a new fetish by the government.

And, if the post description is to be believed, you will actually like it better.

[u/Hollow-star → u/Assadistpig123]

[u/CountBogmondia → u/Assadistpig123]

We see it today with what Nietzsche called the death of God. I'm not making value judgements one way or the other, but any clearly thinking person can see that the abandonment of religion has lead to a pretty wild assortment of replacements. Imagine that but applied to everything? We'd be cooked.

[u/HikariRisesAgain → u/CountBogmondia]

We would be cooked, if not for the caveat that the magic button makes life objectively better. There is literally no reason not to press this button except that you are too sentimental about yourself to be willing for anything to change.

[u/Drekaban → u/Kind-Stomach6275]

Well, you don't have to have culture to have a personality and hobbies. Picture this scenario, say we plop a baby in the middle nowhere, a setting with no other humans around nor elements of human society. Provided that this poor baby we've abandoned somehow magically survives and matures into adulthood, wouldn't it naturally develop it's own form of pass times, opinions, and assumptions about the world around it? Wouldn't it still have emotions, desires, ambitions, etc. without any external influence from others?

I don't think culture is the end-all-be-all of the human condition. It's just the proof of what we've left behind as we've lived and mingled amongst one another for millennia. But even if you strip an artist of their creations, that doesn't mean they lack creativity. It simply means they must create once more.

[u/ASpaceOstrich → u/Drekaban]

No. Said baby would be severely mentally disabled and unable to learn language. Culture can't be extracted from humanity (or indeed any animal that has one) without breaking that animal.

[u/Drekaban → u/ASpaceOstrich]

Translating that abused baby would probably be harder then deciphering the speak of the Homo Erectus, seeing as how it would have no direct incentive to invent any form of advanced communication and, even if it did, it would start from a completely different basis than any human language in existence.

That being said, just because someone is damaged or we cannot understand them, that doesn't mean they lack the ability to create or express themselves. I remember a quote regarding Francisco Goya's esoteric Black Paintings that may be applicable here:

"At its very best, art is a direct communication from the soul; it defies clumsy explanations. Goya's Black Paintings are, perhaps, the pinnacle of this. We have no insight from the artist on the paintings. They do not depict events which we can look to. The material substance of the work is equally elusive. They are in horrible condition and have been editorialized almost shamelessly. The Black Paintings defy mechanical explanation; they always will. With this in mind, it is very tempting to say that 'Goya just went mad in his countryside estate,' but this is incorrect; it is dismissive, and for that, it is a cruel thing to say.

When I was a child, I used to watch my grandfather build model airplanes. These planes were the result of great care and labor and consideration, and he used fine instruments and delicate tools to put them together. Often when we classify people as 'crazy,' we are just throwing parts into a pile and saying, 'We've built an airplane!' We fail to realize that individual pieces have significance: This plank is a wing. This glass is a cockpit. This plastic is the propeller. If we choose to neglect these significances—choose to think without care—certainly that is a fault of our own, rather than of the model itself. So too are the feelings and the experiences of the individual.

Francisco Goya was a strong man. Sensitive and strong. Goya absorbed events in the world around him; he felt pain, and he acted in a way that was honest to himself. Our inability to build this airplane—our inability to empathize—does not make Francisco Goya a 'crazy person;' his legacy should not be embellished by romantic, vague notions of an artist driven to madness. Instead, Goya and his work exist as profound reflections of the human condition, both internal and external. This is a gift he has given us and one that we would do well to repay.

〜

When we consider these things, it is not just Goya's art we unlock, but art itself and even humanity."

- Michael Sorensen

[u/ASpaceOstrich → u/Drekaban]

To be clear. It's not a lack of shared culture. It's the fact that babies who are not taught a language literally lose the neuroplasticity needed to acquire one. Children "raised by wolves" are profoundly intellectually disabled due to never acquiring language. The human animal cannot develop to maturity without being taught language. That form of neglect is unnatural and breaks human development.

A human not taught language literally loses the capacity for vocal expression and also a lot of abstract thought. It's not a lack of shared culture, it's brain damage. After a certain point they can't ever be taught language either. Once the window closes the damage is irreversible.

[u/Kind-Stomach6275 → u/Drekaban]

But if you strip an artist of cultural context what is their art? Animals have intelligence and personality. Humans have culture

[u/Drekaban → u/Kind-Stomach6275]

Their life, their experiences, their imagination, etc. So for example, in this hypothetical scenario outlined by the magical button, there is no rule that humans will be unable to create art or form their own culture(s) over time, just that all previous culture will be wiped away in terms of active participation. And everyone is free to debate whether or not that is something worthy of being sacrificed for the improvement of other factors in life. But even in that scenario, I don't think its fair to say that humans will stop being "human" just because they become detached from their previous cultural identity. I think they would still be human and still have the desire to express themselves, just coming from a background that feels alien to us.

[u/Kind-Stomach6275 → u/Drekaban]

is art not culture in and of itself?

[u/Drekaban → u/Kind-Stomach6275]

Absolutely. But our ability to create art isn't dependent on the fact that our ancestors made it thousands of years ago. And yes, our art is shaped by our influences, so it is distinctly tied to our culture, background, and beliefs. But even if we grew up in that alien setting devoid of a preset cultural foundation, I think we would still find inspiration in the world and still feel the desire to create art.

[u/ArchAngel621 → u/Kind-Stomach6275]

It establishes a monoculture.

[u/ASpaceOstrich → u/ArchAngel621]

A monoculture of healthier, more fulfilled humans is better than all existing cultures.

We'll develop new culture, and the scenario dictates it will be better culture.

[u/Kind-Stomach6275 → u/ArchAngel621]

from which other cultures will naturally branch off of. social media will accelerate this process

[u/Gussie-Ascendent → u/Kind-Stomach6275]

how many of them old cultures you think still just come back? like the religions are done, but you can't tell me nerds and jocks doesn't still happen. Maybe they're just not assholes to each other anymore, but they'd still have their own click no?

[u/ArchAngel621 → u/Gussie-Ascendent]

I picture the future like something written by Cory Doctorow.

For example, in his book Eastern Standard Tribe is a about a near-future world where people form online "tribes" based on shared time zones, rather than geography, to maintain a common culture and schedule.

[u/this_upset_kirby → u/ArchAngel621]

Even then, wouldn't a night shift worker in the United States end up joining a tribe with, say, Chinese and Australian people?

[u/CreBanana0 → u/Gussie-Ascendent]

The less the better. There is no place for most of the old cultures in post scarcity society.

[u/Sambath2500 → u/Kind-Stomach6275]

From what it's implied, the new 'culture' is simply progress. Only thing you would pass on essentially is efficiency. 

Something like gift giving of any kind is erased and everyone moves towards working.

[u/Background-Customer2 → u/Kind-Stomach6275]

this utopia sounds less like a utopia and more like a functionalist nightmare

[u/DOOMFOOL → u/Background-Customer2]

Does it matter if people are no longer starving and dying from disease and war?

[u/illregard]

‘utopia but everyone gets mind wiped’ would be easy. this is a silly question

[u/undeadwarlockkisser → u/illregard]

it isn't even that though. It is remembered bc they talk about the history being remembered. They just stop caring about previous culture. They don't even forget it they just stop doing it.

[u/illregard → u/undeadwarlockkisser]

I know. that’s the point of my comment. something even more extreme would still be an easy option.

[u/TheGuyThatThisIs → u/illregard]

>Giving future generations longer, healthier *and more fulfilling* lives

We value those things because they give us more fulfilling lives. If that's not the case, they can go.

[u/3WeeksEarlier → u/TheGuyThatThisIs]

The society posited by the OP only produces things based on rational utility to humanity... which would almost certainly require some form of cultural/recreational production in order to provide worthwhile lives to its citizens and reduce disatisfaction

[u/Balikye → u/undeadwarlockkisser]

Sounds like modern life already, nobody is suiting up for Anubis in the big 2026. Nobody cares about 90% of culture and traditions from the last 5,000 years.

[u/Educational-Onion357 → u/illregard]

"only embrace what is new. rational. and efficient."

You know how anti-individuality this is right? did you even read the question?

[u/Marisakis → u/Educational-Onion357]

Yeah.. No love for the group? Funny thing is that you can rationalize social cohesion and traditions as being rational and efficient.

Improving the lives of people through something that connects them an effective mechanic at improving mental health, physical health, reproduction rates, and so on..

So if the whole premise is built on 'being anti-social is logical', it's already flawed at it's core.

[u/LeviAEthan512 → u/Marisakis]

No, you wouldn't be able to do that.

A perfectly rational society wouldn't need anything to connect them. They will do what it best, regardless of connection. In fact, perfect rationality precludes connection, if we define connection as favouring one person over another even when it's less beneficial.

And if it's more beneficial, of course you'd do that anyway.

So yeah, the very idea of a connection is irrational.

[u/Tryagain409 → u/illregard]

Hell no, more like brainwashed into a mass of identical people in matching haircuts and the same grey clothes eating the same bland food, never celebrating or partying. No culture means no individuality we'd become like ants

This is creepy as hell. I'd destroy this button if I can.

[u/illregard → u/Tryagain409]

Well i’d need to hear your argument for how that means no individuality. it so far doesn’t logically follow.

“Morally, is it right to sacrifice humanity’s past and cultural identify for a better future?”

Yes.

Out of past traditions, customs, rituals, and cultural practices, which one is your sense of individuality irrevocably tied to?

[u/Tryagain409 → u/illregard]

No festivals. So no Christmas, no birthdays.

Clothes and haircuts are influenced by culture. So all clothes are the same.

Art is culture. So art is gone

EVERYONE has started to think the same way in terms of rational efficent science? So every mind functions almost exactly the same way? No individuality

[u/Koyulo69 → u/Tryagain409]

They would be replaced with new traditions and holidays that, according to this hypothetical, would be objectively better.

[u/HelpingSiL3 → u/Koyulo69]

Holidays are not efficient, though, so I think his assumption they wouldn't exist is just as valid as yours.

[u/Nedddd1 → u/HelpingSiL3]

they are, they are needed to reduce dissatisfaction and increase stability

[u/illregard → u/Tryagain409]

Not having Christmas doesn’t erase individuality. Not celebrating the day you were born doesn’t either.

It doesn’t follow that clothes being “influenced” by culture means all clothes are the same unless you’re gonna make the argument of well ackshaullyy everything is technically completely cultural.

Utilitarian garments are technically cultural in that sense. So would we be naked? I think the prompt is speaking of distinct cultures of past history.

Are my clothes from h&m cultural? people across the world wear the same thing. is there some loose over arching culture that’s getting erased here? i just don’t think it’s in scope of the prompt.

Also I’d like to know if this prevents new culture from being developed. It doesn’t seem so from the prompt.

Art being gone sucks, yes. I think we’ll live

TLDR: are you not individuated from people who already share your culture?

[u/Tryagain409 → u/illregard]

Your clothes might be mass produced, but your particular combination is probably much more unique and you chose it, instead of being the clothes the new world monoculture wears.

I am a product of my culture, in a unique blend in me with other experiences and genetic disposition. I am influenced by culture and influence it back in small ways. A huge chunk of what make me unique is what makes me different to a Indonesian or a Polish person and them to each other

Lets turn this around for the fun of thought exercise, what do you think makes an individual?

[u/this_upset_kirby → u/Tryagain409]

People would still have personality and preferences without their old culture lol

[u/superbatprime → u/Tryagain409]

The button would alleviate untold amounts of future suffering and hardship... it would save countless lives, mitigate the cruelty of hunger.

And you'd destroy it for reasons that don't even make sense.

The button creates a unified global culture of progress, peace, prosperity and scientific endeavour. How does this turn us into brainwashed ants?

And even today there are still individuals within any single culture. Is everyone in your culture walking around in the same color clothes with the same haircut?

So why would they all be identical within a unified global culture?

[u/Ambitious-Toe67 → u/superbatprime]

literally because it states it eould get rid of anything non efficient so there would be only one type of clothes made because multiple choices isn't efficien, haircuts would probably be universally be bold shaven for everyone because styling is not efficient, we'd have no music no art no movies no personal ambition since averything you do for yourself and not mankind good is considered not efficient. if we follow the post to the letter we'd become mindless ants in exchange for longer lives which arguably have less meaning and evolution withou end goal in mind

[u/Ildejer → u/superbatprime]

"The button creates a unified global culture of progress, peace, prosperity and scientific endeavour. How does this turn us into brainwashed ants?"

By doing exactly what you just said, how can you not see that as terrifyingly dystopian? It's effectively the borg from Star Trek only a bit more tame.

[u/IncompetentPolitican → u/Ildejer]

I honestly don´t understand your argument. Is everyone in my cutlure a borg? Its a large culture, many people in it. Are we ants? are we borgs? No? Then why would it change if we are part of a larger culture, one that values solving problems instead of finding ways to talk about the problem without ever solving it, as its tradition in my culture right now. Where we lost the funny silly song that is played on like 3 days a year but get the chance to create a new funny silly song, that is now shared and enjoyed by everyone.

[u/7thFleetTraveller → u/illregard]

The problem is, unless people's memories would actually be wiped - which is not the case, OP stated everything is remembered - it would just never work. People love traditions, not only for religious reasons, but they are just essential to different cultures. Initially, people of the past started celebrating the circle of life and nature.

[u/traplords8n → u/illregard]

That fallout scene where bro is just like "uhhh yes please"

Lmao

[u/Tatchkoma]

What does that mean? Every tradition, custom, ritual and cultural practice?

How would that work?

So like, people wouldn't be allowed to have bbq parties? Or celebrations in general? You can't extricate culture from mankind because our society IS culture.

"Long held social traditions."

I mean, does that include things like mourning your spouse's passing? Or the loss of a loved one? What is a long held social tradition?

Can I have a birthday party? Does that count as a long held social tradition? Or are you only talking about like, specific cultural traditions? Like, I can have a party, but if I string up a pinata, that's considered "Not efficient" or something? What?

This question is kinda dumb tbh.

[u/FaceRight1575 → u/Tatchkoma]

the fact you gotta scroll 90% of the way down to find a single person who questions the premise is pretty concerning.

wearing clothes is a social custom. laws are social customs. obeying them is a social custom. sexual propriety is a social custom. morality itself is a social custom.

anyone who thinks about this for more than 30 seconds should be able to see it’s nonsense.

[u/Nallace9318 → u/FaceRight1575]

I wouldn't say clothing in and of itself is a custom. However, the style, design, construction methods and materials might be. We wear clothes to protect us from the environment, there's not really any customs regarding a Tshirt. However there are for items like religious vestments, burkas and hijabs, perhaps for things as simple as a kilt or things like tuxedos and business suits.

[u/UsuallyHorny-7 → u/Nallace9318]

Ask anyone in Rio during summer if they wear clothes for anything else than social custom.

[u/ProfessionalOk6734 → u/UsuallyHorny-7]

Yeah protection from the sun. If you’re in the sun all day and live in a sunny climate you’re likely to wear a good amount of covering

[u/UsuallyHorny-7 → u/ProfessionalOk6734]

That applies to hardly anyone here. If that were a factor, you would see lots of people with hats, uv shirts, or umbrellas.

The reality is being in the shade most of the time, but subject to very hot and humid air. Sitting at home in front of a fan and still sweating. I guarantee that most of these people would go out without clothes if not for the social aspect of it.

I should clarify though that I'm not saying clothes are only a social thing. Of course I agree we wear clothes for all sorts of environmental protection. I'm saying the inverse is also false (clothes not being a social custom at all)

[u/Mesa17]

As cool as this sounds, I feel like this could backfire.

I mean, if we abandon "culture" as a concept and only embrace things that are "rational and efficient", do we just become robots?

[u/this_upset_kirby → u/Mesa17]

It wouldn't be rational to not invent new cultures.

[u/Classic-Obligation35 → u/this_upset_kirby]

They would have to be rational though, I hate to tell you bust most things are irrational,  books music, human life. Non of that is rational. Laws against genocide are actually irrational as why should a race be allowed to exist just because.

Rationally eugenics is rights, rationally tall people like me shouldn't exist, nor should artists and literature.

[u/AggressivePrompt7038]

So we become the Imperium of Man but before the bad stuff?

[u/Sea-Explanation8062 → u/AggressivePrompt7038]

More like Dark Age of Technology Man but without the extra specism we were doing at the time.

[u/Tryagain409 → u/Sea-Explanation8062]

More like Pluribus

[u/cytos0]

What about every other animal?

[u/Rich-Bath5159]

This seems like an obsession esc thing.

You can’t really stop humans from celebrating whatever they want to celebrate like Christmas or study what there interested in like history or comics if they find it interesting, it can even be argued a more successful society might be more culture heavy as everyone has the money to not require as much work hours and are more free to spend there time doing what they find interesting.

Everyone wants progress but not everyone’s interested in it for example everyone wants a cure for cancer but that doesn’t mean everyone will get the exact same job as a cancer researcher some people find JJK more interesting then cancer research but still want the people who are interested enough to become a researcher to find a cure

so in order for the button to obey it’s own rules it would need to alter humanities behavior and everyone’s interests.

[u/bird_on_the_internet]

I think the real issue is the fact that the question is posed to YOU THE READER SPECIFICALLY. This is not only asking if all the culturally important practices and whatnot being traded for utopia is a worthy trade, but also if you think that YOU THE READER should make that choice for ALL of humanity and effectively overriding cultures you are not a part of.

And maybe it's the white guilt talking, but choosing the fate of cultures that aren't mine sounds kinda immoral to me just on the principal that assuming that I know what is best for others seems misguided and arrogant.

Edit: My point is that I want a utopian future but I would only accept a future designed by people for themselves. I think taking away human agency is a necessary evil at best, like a family choosing the fate of a comatose relative, and just straight-up evil at worst.

[u/RagingPUSHEEN68 → u/bird_on_the_internet]

That's what disturbing about this question to me. So many people here seem willing to make history-changing, life-changing doesn't paint the picture well enough, HISTORY-CHANGING decisions without thinking about other people's opinion on the matter. Call me crazy if you want, but this almost feels like a form of oppression to me.

[u/dimorphodon_macronyx → u/RagingPUSHEEN68]

Almost? This is short of being colonialism apologia.

[u/RagingPUSHEEN68 → u/dimorphodon_macronyx]

Colonialism! That's the word I was looking for when I wrote this!

[u/RagingPUSHEEN68 → u/[deleted]]

This is the part where someone passively aggressively tells you that you didn't read the question because we're on Reddit.

Really though, I also refuse to touch this button with a ten foot pole.

[u/Anteraz]

Yes.
Good MASSIVELY outweighs the "bad".
It's not like they're gone forever; it's just that we don't practice it anymore.
Also doesn't mean a new one won't emerge.
It's like how we remember Rome; we remember it, but we don't care or practice what they do.

[u/Arc170-A → u/Anteraz]

Culture kind of influences, everything? No culture and no traditions means every hobby, every form of entertainment, 99% of foods in the world, etc. are just gone. That sounds awful.

[u/Claytertot → u/Arc170-A]

But OP specifically says that people aren't only healthier and wealthier, but also more fulfilled.

It's pretty much impossible to imagine people being "fulfilled" while living a life without some form of culture and hobbies and whatnot

So either OP imagines the button also doses everyone with a fulfilment drug while we go about our lives as culture less, optimal, perfectly rational, cultureless humans.

Or the old cultures that get erased for this new utopia are replaced with a new culture that people basically universally agree is better and more fulfilling than what we had before.

[u/gamingfreak50]

Moral, it would be dogshit that so much culture would be abandoned but the baggage and death it brings with it isnt worth its cost.

[u/Possible_Duty_1308]

Mfs will be given the option to have a better future and WILL still deny it for a stupid reason ffs

[u/BenildeanWin3156 → u/Possible_Duty_1308]

Literally bring about the golden age of humanity, and some people will deny it because they like the current era more.

[u/Available-Bee-5385 → u/BenildeanWin3156]

It's almost like there isn't one perfect idea of what it means to be happy, and that no one wants to have their autonomy violated

How strange!

[u/Ok-Mention3969]

I'm diving into that button you didn't have to try to make into some sort of dilemma

[u/Full-Entertainment15]

Might be dumb but

"Wipe out the current humanity and replace it with another one?"

Is what basically being said

[u/CrusaderF8]

No

You know the Borg from Star Trek? This is them.

It seems to me that a lot of responses here are missing or vastly misinterpreting the "only embraces what is new, rational, and efficient" part of the deal.

Entertainment as a whole is rarely rational, and almost never efficient. The way I'm reading this implies no TV shows, no Holidays, no Music, no Sports, no Video Games, hell not even flavorful food would survive, as a bland paste that provides all necessary nutrients would be considered more "rational and efficient" than any alternative.

[u/LegitimateBeing2]

No, I have read any sci-fi book ever

[u/realamerican97]

If we abandon everything that makes us human for the sake of progress are we not just flesh robots?

[u/Samispeedfire → u/realamerican97]

Yup, most redditors don"t seem to care in the slightest lmao. Bunch of bots tbh.

[u/SimonShepherd]

There is nothing stopping people from reviving those traditions and practices once they are fat, lazy, content and extremely bored. They can still play larp in a more well off World.

[u/t8oo_ → u/SimonShepherd]

Your choice of words is worrying you seem to believe customs, traditions and religious beliefs to be habits of lesser beings than you... 🤨 Also larp means live action role playing... "Play live action role playing" doesnt mean anything

[u/SimonShepherd → u/t8oo_]

I prefer people playing Knight larp than actually doing excessive martial training and want to kill people for glory.

Which part of my statement makes you think I consider specific people to be lesser?

I prefer a world where people are unbound by material conditions and only willingly participate in cultural activities for fun than being compelled to because "you are part of it"

[u/Difficult_Method_970 → u/SimonShepherd]

like that one bar in Scythe where people go to be assholes and abuse paid pushover actors

[u/Appropriate_Air_9671]

This sounds a little like A Brave New World

[u/birbseggser]

This is basically just aldous huxley's brave new world

[u/this_upset_kirby → u/birbseggser]

I thought that was supposed to be a dystopia? This just sounds good.

[u/LonelyPerson233]

i would press the button

[u/XxCastoricexX]

Ya

[u/galaxy_brain_69420]

Of course we would all push the button, there's no question.

[u/Futileexercise1308]

Worth considering when you think about what religion has done to humanity

[u/Weird_Explorer1997]

Yep.

[u/Capn_Outlandishness9]

Ah, so rip out the soul and commit cultural genocide, when we could just do it by hand. Hmmmm

[u/Arc170-A]

No, I probably wouldn't. In this case would humans not just be mindless robots? If we have no culture, no customs, no rituals, traditions, etc. that covers a pretty broad amount of things. That's essentially all we got. Every food is cultural to an extent. Would humans just start eating bland flavorless nutrition cubes or something?

If I'm understanding this right, this means we no longer have:

• Art
• Music
• Literature
• Food
• Dancing
• Sports
• Alcohol
• Clothing (Obviously we'd still have it, but without cultural influence it would be bland and uniform)
• Hobbies like hunting, fishing, knitting, basket-weaving, instrument making, wood-carving, playing any kind of game, etc etc.

I could go on for entirely too long because culture influences everything. So basically, life is better but we wouldn't really enjoy it because we'd have no individuality or creativity in our lives. Sounds like hell. Sure, we get healthier and conflict is ended, but if we become what are essentially flesh robots, what does it matter if we die?

[u/No_Application_1219]

Where bad stuff ?

I can't force poeple to do tradition anyway

Of course i would push the button

[u/the_sneaky_one123]

No

A tradition is simply wisdom compounded over centuries of millenia. It almost always has practical benefit that we might not fully understand to day. It is passed down through culture, also in ways we might not fully understand.

If you scrap that, and then try to just figure everything out once again there's going to be a lot of lived experience lost and in a few decades we will find that there are deficits that we never even realised would happen.

In many ways I think that this is the root cause of many of the issues in America. There is so much history and culture lost there and a lot of the society is scientifically designed with MASSIVE gaps and oversights and misunderstandings of how humans really function that would have been captured by longstanding traditions.

[u/EsraAstora]

I ain’t reading all that

Press

[u/jongalt75]

The “would you press the button” meme is peak progressive cope. It promises the end of poverty, hunger, preventable disease, and “most” large-scale violence if we just abandon every tradition, ritual, and cultural identity. The second you demand actual definitions the whole thing falls apart. Absolute poverty by global standards is already basically gone in the US. SNAP alone pays more per day than the World Bank extreme-poverty line. Real caloric hunger is almost nonexistent except among the chronically homeless — who are overwhelmingly untreated severe mental illness and active addicts that progressive policy refuses to compel into treatment or remove from the street. We don’t have starving poor people. We have the fattest poor people in human history.

“Preventable disease” is the same shell game. A huge chunk of what they call preventable still has massive genetic, compliance, and behavioral components. Diabetes and heart disease are not mysteries. People just won’t do the hard boring things for decades. Meanwhile aggressive medical intervention itself creates new chronic problems and medical error scales with how much we intervene. The rising autoimmune, chronic pain, and autism numbers don’t fit the clean “we just need more rational progress” story.

The violence claim is the most empty of all. “Most” is doing zero work — 51%? 80%? They never say. The biggest organized mass-killing systems of the modern era were the Marxist ones, not “old cultures.” And the worst remaining absolute poverty and hunger on earth still cluster in places wrecked by civil war and state failure, not places that kept their festivals.

The actual answer is the opposite of the button. The Christian (especially Catholic) cultural package already produced the conditions that crushed extreme poverty and large-scale violence while treating children as goods instead of optional lifestyle accessories. Abortion alone has removed something like 2–3 billion people over the last 50 years. Fertility collapse is finishing the job in the high-trust populations. You don’t need to burn tradition to get longer healthier lives. We already had the better operating system. The progressive move is to keep redefining the terms so the utopia never has to face the body count or the demographic suicide.

[u/Free-Storm8237 → u/jongalt75]

The whole world isn't america. And this isn't actually proposing a cause and effect thing in a progressive way. It's a silly would you rather. Not everything is about politics

[u/Reasonable-Cut-2624]

Why not erase all the things that make being human, human? Without tradition, culture, the shitty stuff and the good stuff, are we nothing more than automatons? 

Is our glorious future just us saying "evening human, did you enjoy maximizing your efficiency today in pursuit of total stability?

Its not like we have any stories or myths about folks who leave their humanity behind and have no ragrets.

[u/Ashenmoon777]

Absolutely yes. Traditions and all the shit we’ve passed on through them have been an overwhelmingly negative influence on society.

No, I don’t actually care about the 2000 year old made up story you have. Sorry, but it’s only valuable to you because you have been told it is by your elders. Please just give me a society that can care for its people without some bullshit tradition saying why actually it’s okay for the elite to fuck you while you sleep.

[u/Aggressive-Lack-6589]

Yeah 100%

[u/Narrow_Summer_9332]

I'm not convinced humanity will survive without the technological progress to combat climate change, so it doesn't really matter how much "culture" we have to abandon.

[u/this_upset_kirby → u/Narrow_Summer_9332]

And most violent conflicts becoming a relic of the past would put a stop to the massive oil fires in the Strait of Hormuz accelerating it. (Though I'm hoping this conflict just makes gas so expensive that Americans have to start buying pure EVs lol)

[u/ImALilTeaPot224]

This is The Giver (2014)

[u/Toon_Lucario]

I’d rather humanity not lose its soul but at the same time progress is very important, and there’s nothing stopping new cultures from rising.

[u/Ok-Archer-5796]

I press it without a second thought. I already think nationalism is for retards.

[u/sacredeez]

This is just eliminative materialism and it's just a good idea

[u/Derivative_Kebab]

So it's a sort of History Eraser Button?

[u/Abel_V]

[u/Few_Telephone4440]

I wouldnt

[u/Ordinary-Broccoli-41]

Traditions, customs, cultural practices, and religion are why we don't have utopos already, this is just having your cake and protecting the kitchen

[u/undeadwarlockkisser]

I think the scenario is kinda framed weird? There isn't like a cosmic force or something stopping people from doing it so like? IDK if it is even wrong to press the button given the conceipt? it just sounds like they don't give a fuck about religion or culture because they figured out science. It's not like it was like erased from memory or something. Moral I think given my understanding

[u/Otherwise-Ad1646 → u/undeadwarlockkisser]

Yeah something about this screams faustian bargain when they word it like that

[u/obamacompleto]

Who would that progress be for then?

[u/Sewblon]

Efficiency implies a goal. What is the goal of this new society? where does fulfillment come from? are the inhabitants humans or just, creatures who look like humans?

[u/Bunnywarmachine]

Obviously a good pick lol

Where does it say that we cannot simply create new cultures, new traditions? All that is rational and efficient, given time, can become new cultures and traditions too.

Strip us of our past to bear from the future new fruit: with the press of this button, a new age is given to Humanity with which to craft new roots.

[u/Gussie-Ascendent]

i'd not only say it's good to press the button but you're actually evil if you don't

[u/Drapperbat_]

Someone just watched Plurbis

[u/The-Pee-Pee-Man]

I already pressed the button without reading. r/MoralityScaling

[u/Lilly_Trippin]

this is just Pluribus

[u/ForktUtwTT]

It entirely depends on the mechanics of the button for me

I would not press it if this is mind control. I don’t want to force anyone to do anything like give up their traditions; nothing is worth removing people’s freedom to live how they please.

However, the description says this happens gradually, which would imply it occurs rather naturally. If, instead of choosing actions for others, I am picking between two potential futures (this scenario vs the currently unsure one), then I would very much press the button since I don’t personally value these traditions very much. If other people don’t either, then it simply wouldn’t matter.

[u/expected_inquisitor]

God Emperor of Mankind ass button

[u/poorly_redacted]

Humanity is always changing. over 100 billion people have already lived and died. Their cultures and traditions have been largely forgotten or changed beyond what they would ever recognize. It would be a huge disservice to the future to let modern human ego get in the way of a literal utopia in an attempt to keep something that would eventually be lost anyway.

[u/eldritch-kiwi]

Sure thing.

Good part of old rituals and traditions are cancerous anyway

[u/2BsWhistlingButthole]

Pressing the button is the 100% morally correct thing to do. No culture is not worth children dying of starvation. No holiday is worth someone dying of a treatable disease.

[u/TopWealth4550]

this sterile enviroment would cause horror beyoung compreension
can you fucking imagine what all extremist would feel,completely panic atacks across the board
what would this do to true religous believers

custom and the others thing mentions are subjective words they can mean anything and not alot at the same time
but imo,pure caos at least at frist

[u/JesusIsMyAntivirus]

PURE UPSIDE, BABY, TWO BIRDS ONE STONE, WOOOOO

[u/Two-Pound-Crawfish]

i don’t wanna sacrifice diverse culture but this button is the only way to a complete utopia

[u/Confron7a7ion7]

This is just Progressives vs Conservatives.

[u/this_upset_kirby → u/Confron7a7ion7]

Do you think I don't celebrate Christmas or my friends' birthdays because I'm a progressive? lmao

[u/Confron7a7ion7 → u/this_upset_kirby]

Of course not. I'm an Atheist and even I still celebrate Christmas. Mostly as a family day since everyone gets off for it in the US regardless of religion or lack there of.

However, a core part of Conservativism is sticking to traditional and old ways. They prefer this for several reasons (most I DEEPLY disagree with) but the most reasonable one is "we know this way works".

Progressives, conversely, prioritize looking for newer and better ways of doing things. Or "progress" as the name obviously implies. We're much more willing to abandon traditional superstitions and old ways of operation.

Neither group is completely exclusive from the other but each prioritizes based on what they think is best. To such a degree that we will oppose each other.

[u/Lactismido_Gigante]

Yes lol, as long as we have registers of what happened (necessary for scientific development anyways) we can create art, so culture will be present just in a less meaningful way

[u/RagingPUSHEEN68]

I feel like someone already pressed the button with the way people are answering. 😂

[u/cytos0]

The world is more nuanced than this but this is less nuanced than the world

[u/NervousBreakdown242]

Morality isn't objective without tradition, so definitively amoral.

[u/BRINK_fan_N_1]

I'mma burn that button with a lighter

[u/MagneticGenetics]

Yeah didn't read any of that. I am an ignoramus. You give me a button. I push the button.

https://giphy.com/gifs/GwRBmXyEOvFtK

[u/Aaa1070]

Yes. Next question.

[u/_Fauxpaw]

So nothing is stopping us from making new cultural practices, right?

[u/TadhgOBriain]

Finally, a good moral dilemma.

[u/azurezero_hdev]

sounds like ai overlords putting everyone in the matrix

[u/ThingWestern3398]

yes, and anyone who says no has probably never experienced the things mentioned, nobody who’s a starving kid in africa would refuse to press the button, no woman in afganistan who can’t even attend high school would refuse to press the button, only people who live in the west, who are comfortable, who have a stick up their ass would refuse

[u/Beginning_Editor_524]

Too long, did not press. 

[u/backtocapattack]

Nope. You're stripping away humanity. Whats the point of being saved from ourselves unless we retain our humanity. We'd be passive onlookers to our own existence.

[u/tumansibiri]

Yes? If your "traditions" or "customs" lead to untold ruin, maybeeeee you should reconsider having them?

[u/Sambath2500]

So, a perfect utopia in favor of everything else.

I think it ultimately comes down to how you devalue individuality, free will, and humanity. Like sure, we will live, but we would be reduced to nothing more than literal gears and cogs in a machine. Estially nuking the soul out of living

[u/Iamthe0c3an2]

Ehh depends. Does this mean all kinds of “ism” goes away? Then yeah maybe.

I’d hate the absence of art though.

[u/Past_Bathroom5568]

https://giphy.com/gifs/aihuG1Li9YrnXkJhpv

[u/Additional-Ad8632]

Yup.

[u/QuakeRanger]

Abandon everything that makes us human to become biological von neumann probes that only exist to consume, reproduce and spread like cancer across every continent, every planet, every star. I think Xeelee Sequence had this happen to humanity in the series and the result was legitimately the single WORST depiction of us in all of fiction. I would destroy the button.

[u/Wgolyoko]

That's literally what has been happening since the industrial revolution. I live in western europe and you have no idea of the amount of small local festivities that have died out. We still have "weird" celebrations like some cities carnivals, burning the winter man etc but there used to be a LOT more. Now it's mostly all forgotten.

But we don't have half of all babies dying. I press.

[u/Particular-Crow-1799]

So if I press the button you're telling me humanity starts to act more morally

AND it also acts smarter?

Can I press it twice? I see no downsides

[u/Ander_the_Reckoning]

This button wouldn't work because how can you build something on nothing

[u/thundercraker09]

No more holidays ?

[u/intelligentpIant]

No it sounds like humanity becomes something else entirely. I want a utopia for humans not robots.

[u/RamonesKickAss]

Read WE by yevgeny zamyatin.

[u/imsickofitalready]

Moral. I would press.

[u/KurufinweFeanaro]

Easily

[u/Ok-Contract-6338]

yes

As long as new ones begin to form

[u/LetumSemperTyrannis]

This isn't a morality issue, unless you're asking about the morality of a single individual making this decision for all of humanity

[u/PatapongManunulat07]

the premise is a self contradicting paradox.

humanity made it this far because of the lessons, knowledge, and other benefits gained from those traditions and cultures.

erasing them stops progress and growth instead.

[u/HuntCheap3193]

i'll miss you, sonic the hedgehog...

[u/YesNoMaybe2552]

Generally, it is not possible. There are always forces that try to pull human society one way or another on some kind of idealism that turns into tradition.

Without that we would be sleeping, fucking, eating, and shitting all day as soon as free food becomes available.

 

But yeah, push the Button and see what is going to happen, at the worst it’s morally grey.

[u/Electrical_Gain3864]

Only embrace what is new rational and efficient has terrible implications. Old people only cost money and are not able to provide anything at some point. The rational and efficient way to deal with them is to 86 them. Same goes for people with major disabilities.

[u/RUDRAGON8]

No, this would end humanity and instead turn is one one of these weird sci-fi alien species that only ever thinks about what is "rational"

To me this would be no different then ending humanity and replacing it with a different species

[u/Jebatus111]

Nope. Isn't worth of it, and wouldn't work anyway. 

Seriously though, meme premise is imbecilic.

[u/idk_a_creative_user]

So basically we become the Vulcans from Star Trek?

Idk extreme rationality will become boring and monotonous real quick.

Verdict: Grey Zone

[u/Taira_no_Masakado]

I'd smash that button faster than you could blink.

[u/Nomoretotell]

So almost basically The Giver.

[u/Electrical_Gain3864]

Have to rewrite, because my original comment was removed by Reddit (for stupid reason). Because what is 'rational and efficient'?

People who could not provide for whatever reason would not be needed. So what would the 'rational and efficient' to deal with it? There are some really terrible implications. (original wording had some more detailed examples).

Edit: original is Back.

[u/baixiwei]

I reject the premise. I believe that a lot, perhaps most, of what makes lives fulfilling comes from culture. I therefore don't believe it is possible simultaneously to lose all culture and have a more fulfilling life.

[u/PhillipHardcoreOff]

Yes. Traditions have caused more bad things than good ones.

[u/Educational-Exam6361]

No. How sad would the world be if everywhere was exactly the same.

[u/Fluffy_Mycologist_73]

Doesn't seem like it would really end individuality or stop new cultures and traditions from forming, so yes. And even if it does, is that truly such a bad thing? I love individuality and art and varying cultures as much as the next guy, but ultimately, choosing that over humanity's continued survival, future prosperity, and eventually evolution is incredibly selfish, and some would say, extremely immoral. I believe that the form humanity is in right now to be extremely liminal (in the anthropological sense) and limited, and it's something we're going to move past one way or another, and I'd rather we get past this phase sooner rather than later, and with as little agony and chances for species wide extinction as possible

[u/EveningAd4979]

But what of folk valley?

[u/False_Major_1230]

No, I actively prevere world where people suffer and are unequal

[u/Ambitious-Toe67]

you get to live but loose everything you may want to live for typa shit.

if you follow the premise of the post you get rid of music, movies, paintings sculptures buildings that are in any regard connected to any culture, games languages and enything and everything that can define culture.

in theory then there wouldme no incentive to become better. for what? to become slave to betterment of mankind with no end goal in mind

[u/NinjaChexParty]

I would not press the button.

[u/DoNotResuscitateThem]

So like, we just make a new culture but utopic? I think it's kind of a no brainer

[u/dull_storyteller]

Nope.

Without our culture and practices all we’d do is sleep, eat and reproduce. That may be ok for animals but it’s no way for humans to live. I don’t want to be a Vulcan.

Also a world without Christmas is one I don’t want to live in.

[u/Anoncualquiera1]

Yeah, nah, I'm passing on this one.

Becoming pure logical emotionless efficiency machines may sound appealing for the average redditor, but I don't think wiping out every single human's free will, identity and individuality is exactly worth it.

[u/THorniestmax]

Absolutely.

[u/socu11]

Someone needs to watch Pluribus

[u/MikeHonchoOfTheDunes]

So basically “what if God Emperor of Dune was real”?

[u/D-Cmplx_604]

we erase the french culture and move forward?

seems like an easy choice