The Bad Button

There is a really bad button that exists. If anyone presses it, something really really bad happens.

If only 10 people have access to that button, you can reasonably explain to them and convince them not to press the bad button. You might know these 10 people well enough that you could reasonably assume that the button won’t get pressed.

If 100 people have access to that button, you might want to add a label to that button, and put some protection around it. If those 100 people are reasonably like the 10 people you know, probably with proper roping off and labeling you can assume that the button won’t get pressed.

If 100,000 people have access to that button, given enough time, no matter how hard you try to protect and label that button, no matter how much you try to educate those 100,000 people, eventually that button is going to get pressed. Whether by accident or intentionally, that button is going to get pressed.

Once a certain scale is hit, you have to assume bad decisions will happen, unless the opportunity to make those bad decisions are removed altogether. The only truly safe option is to get rid of the bad button.

Discussion

This is an attempted illustration that People will make bad choices at scale.

This is a metaphor for consumer protections and government taking the necessary steps to prevent catastrophic or severely negative harm, even if we would expect individuals to behave in their own and their community’s best interests.