The Magic Button

[drscott]

One of the conventional types of science fiction story has the hero discover some "magic" device -- a time-traveling watch, invisibility, teleportation. Usually this leads to trouble -- rarely does the hero act cautiously in exploring the parameters of this new power.

So here's my question: suppose you came into possession of a magic button that allowed you to painlessly remove from existence any person or persons of your choice at the moment you pushed it. Would you use it? And on who?

Comments

[billeyler.livejournal.com]

That absolutely depends on if we have an "oops...I didn't really mean it" fallback button!

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

Probably not. So be careful!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

How many times did I push it before I figured out what it did? :-)

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

We can posit an instruction manual, though there could be considerable merriment in a story where people who cut you off in traffic or have one too many items in the express checkout have a way of blinking out....

[fuzzygruf.livejournal.com]

I'd use it so much that I'd have Carpal Tunnel.

Is there another button available to painfully remove somebody?

Why no, of course not.

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

I've heard you use your powers only for Good. Just like me!

[airporter.livejournal.com]

Can't imagine using it; can certainly imagine wanting to. ;-)

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

[little devil on your shoulder] Ah, come on! Nobody will know!

[excessor.livejournal.com]

How many times could I use it? And is there a Group Delete button? Just asking.

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

Oh, so you're a Lazy god. OK< for you there's a "group delete" function. Who are you rubbing out?

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

My commute to work would be a lot easier. :-^

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

How venal. So you'll make your life trivially easier? Isn't there something more grandiose you could do? Oh, I forget -- you're Canadian. Limited imagination. :)

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

I'd wear that mofugger out.

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

Remind me not to cross you. [soothe soothe]!

[tdjohnsn.livejournal.com]

Our vet is currently looking for homes for a mother cat and her kittens (actually, last time I was there both kitten's were spoken for.) They were found in a drainage ditch far, far from any habitation. The mother cat was painfully thin because she had been giving all the food she caught to the kittens. They were all friendly and well socialized meaning someone had once owned them, then thrown them away.

I would use it on people who abandon animals. Though, could we use it to send people to an especially cold spot in hell rather than just removing them from existence?

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

Aww, that's awful. It's interesting how many people want to be sure there's some suffering for the target.

[ricksf.livejournal.com]

While there are a few folks that I'd consider buttonizing (OK, 'few' may end up being defined as a number approximating the population of Rhode Island), I'd end up not pushing. I'd not be able to get past the sinking feeling that a buttonized individual would somehow in the future have offspring who would discover a cure to the common cold or, unlike most Miss America contestants, actually be successful at bringing about world peace.

Or, even more likely, I'd end up buttonizing myself in true Twilight Zone fashion...

[double-ohsteven.livejournal.com]

Although the thought is tempting, I believe we are all here for a purpose, to annoy the hell out of each other so that we can evolve into more uncaring beings. So removal of any one would be a burden of karma and also we wouldn't learn the valuable hard lessons of life. Thus condemning ourselves to many more lifetimes in this sinkhole.

[allanh.livejournal.com]

I'd probably buttonize specific leaders and high-profile individuals within the Religious Right, because they've spent the past couple of years making life so miserable for the LGBT community. Lou Sheldon comes to mind very quickly, as do Phyllis Schlafly and most of the right-wing think tanks.

I'm debating whether or not I'd just buttonize W, Condi, Cheney, et al. It's reeeeeally tempting.

[squalidbear.livejournal.com]

I'm totally holding your hand and pushing it on the button for W, Condi, Cheney, et al.

*blip*

[cowboygreg.livejournal.com]

Hell, no, I'm not pushing that button. Despite the existence of many, many annoying (and worse than annoying) people on this planet, some of whom I'm forced to interact with and others who just enrage or nauseate me from a distance, the responsible use of god-like powers requires god-like omniscience; and the last time I looked, I was anything but omniscient.

If I've learned anything in life, it's that the Law Of Unintended Consequences has a nasty habit of biting you in the ass when you're least expecting it. So, despite the existence of nouveu riche assholes in luxury cars who think they're exempt from the rules of the road, Gateway Computer Company and their customer disservice 'droids, and my brother... the button will remain firmly un-pushed while in my posession.

[apparentparadox]

I basically agree. I wouldn't use the button. It's like the whole "if you could go back in time, would you kill Hitler as a baby?" thing. You don't know what the world would be like if Hitler hadn't been born or died at an early age. Things might be better, or they might be worse.

I certainly didn't like some aspects of my growing up, and sometimes wish that certain things had been different, but those things all helped to make me the person that I am today -- and I'm getting to the point where I really like that person. Who knows what kind of person I would be if even those minor events in my own life hadn't happened. Trying to change something major that affects lots of people? No way would I risk that.

[mrdreamjeans.livejournal.com]

Yes, in a heartbeat; but it would be a carefully considered act. I've worked with actors who I would use it on if I have prolonged exsposure to them, but I don't. There are politicians I think deserve it; but unless they were harming me very directly, I don't think I would use it on them.

There isn't anyone specifically at this time, but I would certainly like to have it for future use. It would be much more likely that I would push the button to get rid of someone who was hurting a person I love, rather than for myself. I figure I can stand up for myself.

What a great question! Hugs from Memphis!

[excessor.livejournal.com]

I probably should have mentioned that such a button existed in an alternate universe in an episode of the original Star Trek series; it was called the “Tantalus Field” and was used against political rivals.

[beastbriskett.livejournal.com]

Ding!

It's really a good tool for the ruthless, not the do-gooder.

[dakoopst.livejournal.com]

Heh.,,I wouldn't use it. There's just too much chance that taking someone bad out of the picture clears the way for someone worse.

[double-ohsteven.livejournal.com]

Old Jewish saying, "No matter how bad it gets, it can always get worse".

[rootbeer1.livejournal.com]

Surprised no one mentioned this: remove a bunch of dangerous religious nuts, and their followers will think they've been raptured.