h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

That was completely empty apart from a red button labelled "Under no circumstances press this button", would you? And how long would it take you to give in to the temptation?

Just wondering like.....

I'd press it

regardless of the consequences? How long would it take before you pressed it?

Don't press this button at:
http://www.h2g2.com/A268814

Is that a bit like the alarm button in a lift syndrome?

I'd sit and stare at it for about 10 minutes.

then I'd probably just touch it and make sure no alarms went off....then, yeh - I'd push it!

It's the classic thing which appears in the Narnia Chronicles:

If you don't press it you will be forever tortured by wondering what would have happened if...

true! And if anything terrible did happen you probably wouldn't be around to see it.

I probably would but it would take a good ten minutes or so

There's no time for faffing around - you have to just go there and press it

Now why aren't I surprised?

Both of you keep away from my server room

Oh let me play

please DJ, please. Oh go on - we will be good! I promise!

Its Friday evening and the sun is splitting rocks outside - you play away to your hearts content...me, I'm off to the pub.

See you after the weekend...assuming my servers are still OK, that is

Well, if there was no clock in the room, you wouldn't know how long it was until you pressed the button. So basically either you're going to press the button, or you're just going to wait to press the button. So you might as well do it as quickly as possible, unless you're waiting for your sister to come back from shopping or something and you ended up in this weird room...

would it make a difference to your timing if you were waiting for your brother?

Just go on a press it Abi! We all know you're dying to.

So you want me to hypothetically press an imaginary button?

Behind every hypothetical question there is a real life scenario. Push the button, whatever you button may be.

well that will be the off switch on teh computer then

No I was thinking more some other leap of blind faith you have to take. That's the only time I hear anybody ask that sort of hypothetical question.