r/whowouldwin • u/ThePriestofVaranasi • Jul 09 '25

Challenge Every human on Earth vanishes, except for one random person in the US. A button is placed on the summit of Mount Everest that can be pressed to undo this change. Can humanity be restored?

Every human on Earth vanishes without a trace, except for one random survivor: Ethan from the United States. Moments after the disappearance, a mysterious device materializes before him, displaying a message:
"Humanity can be restored. To activate revival, you must press the button housed at the highest point on Earth—the summit of Mount Everest."

Ethan essentially has as much of a prep time as he wants to gather all the essentials like food, water, weapons, vehicles and everything else that has been suddenly abandoned. He can raid supermarkets, libraries, military depots, and pharmacies for supplies. Ethan can still die of old age so this prep time isn't unlimited.

Now, Ethan faces an impossible gauntlet:
He must travel to Nepal and ascend to the summit of Mount Everest without dying.

Can Ethan survive long enough to reach the button and restore humanity?

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u/AlexMourne Jul 09 '25

I personally believe that the question of motivation is important here. Do we really believe that a random Ethan will dedicate his whole life to saving humanity? I bet, there will be a lot of rationalization why the humanity gone for good

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u/shpongolian Jul 09 '25

I think the average person would absolutely try to bring humanity back if they don’t go insane and off themselves first. Even if he’s an extreme narcissist he could set himself up to be the most powerful person in the world, hell he could be worshipped as a god.

And barring that I’d imagine the situation would be enough of a brainfuck to convince someone that there’s some kind of higher power watching who has given him this purpose. It would convince even the most staunch physicalist that all bets are off in regards to the nature of existence and reality

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u/1711onlymovinmot Jul 09 '25

“Lone Survivor Vlog: Day 1 of saving all of humanity. Everyone is gone except me, Ethan from Butte Montana.

I could just do nothing, relax, hunt, live it out, but I’m here for you 🫵🏼 humans. So to Mt Everest I’ll go. Like and subscribe when you blip back!”

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u/Takseen Jul 09 '25

I think most people would want to bring their friends and family back.

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u/Kalsir Jul 09 '25

What else are you gonna do? Wander around an empty world? Most people would not enjoy that.

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u/DAJones109 Jul 09 '25

It does give him something epic to do and a purpose which most people want. He is basically an action movie star with an audience only if he wins. No one will know or see if he fails.