Intelligent chat: revival

Ok, so it's been a while since we had a good intelligent chat, they've usually been of the political and religious kind and I want to get away from that.

So I'll ask a question and before you answer I want you sit and think seriously about the answer for a good five or ten minutes.

My question is: If you had the power to make one wish, anything at all what would it be?

I know you're thinking.. be beautiful, have a million quid, no debt, or maybe you wish for George W. Bush to have a heart attack and have it snow ball into world peace.

But consider that there is a criteria and catch to the question. The wish will have an equal and opposite effect within your personal life to balance the books so to speak.

So, you might be beautiful, but you'd also be blind and never be able to admire your beauty. Have a million quid but lose your daughter to gain the money from life insurance. Lose all your debt but put your family and friends into debt. Bush has a heart attack and dies creating world peace, but you have a coronary and die too, never seeing the peace you wanted.

So, what would you be willing to give up to gain your wish?

Think about it seriously.

I just want to say this now....and think about it tomorrow throughout the day..But seriously, Lots of people ask this question on PnQ and I've stopped responding because what you said is right. People always wish for beauty, or all the money in the world, or no debt, and end to war, but your 100% correct everything has a side affect. Thats why to me, this is an unanswerable question. I'm only 15 and my generation has gotten way to out of control that whatever you wished for wouldn't be enough to change anything...thats all I got to say for now, but I am going to think about this through out the day tomorrow....good discussion

I think I`d choose not to choose, so to speak...I would be to afraid of what the "bad side" of my wish would be...

I would wish that everyone, at the end and start of the day, would be made aware of the effects, both good and bad, of their actions on the rest of the world and everyone in it.

So for example, you are rude to someone absently in a shop, and at night when you lie down you come to learn that that little word you said to them was the final straw in them commiting suicide. An extreme example, but you understand my meaning.

The downside is obvious, because I would see all the effects of my actions, and this would be retroactive for all the time I've been alive so far.

Heavy. But my hope would be that once people understood the interconnectedness of everything on this plent, they would live in a more harmonious respectful and loving manner.

Imagine someone like George Bush having to endue every morning and night, the screams of everyone he has had a hand in killing?...the pain and tears of all the families?

Hmmm... If the consequence of GENUINE world peace (i.e. No one killing each other based on religion, politics, and territory) was my own death I would gladly take it. All my family know this is something I would like to see, so I'm sure they'd be pretty cool with my unselfish selfishness. ;-)

But seriously, if I could have a wish, I wish for all the world leaders to be given their own planet that they can transport their people to. So there could really be a Planet America. There could be an Israel in the stars, and a Planet Islam too, and so on and so on. And each planet would be bountiful in resources, and unspoilt by progress.

We could leave the Earth behind. And of course, the consequence would essentially be that we'd cock it all up again, anyway. Eventually.

My wish would to have been born between 1915 and 1920. Many of my friends say I was born too late and should have fought in the Battles of France, Britain and Europe.

But I wouldn't wish to be a fighter pilot like I would really want, I'd settle for a chance at that goal.

The price? I'd lose everything, my family, friends and my many varied experiences. A hefty price tag for the chance of success, but if I had to wish for something of my very own I would have to take the chance.

Without wanting to wander us off topic, I've often wondered whether I did fight in WW2... All my life I have loved the roar of the Merlin, and the sight of the BBF in the sky, and the observation of the silence on Armistice Day still hold a chill in my heart that I've never been able to explain.

I'm with you there.

I attribute my fascination to a childhood dominated by planes, wargames, toys, stories and films.

I seem to identify with the pensioners in my old town and could sit for hours listening about the raids on Arnhem, Defending the skies of Malta and Africa, the terror of Monte Casino and everything else I could get into my system.

Now I'm in the States I'm hoping to glean what WW2 was like from the American perspective.

Wow Bret. That`s a very good question ;; very appropriate for people in search of an intelligent conversation. That would definitely be me.
I think that if I could have world peace, but would die, I`d definitely chose that. Then at least you`d have good karma. =D.

^Oh, the irony!
I'd lose my legs for the ability to fly

On reflection I think that world peace would only come about as a result of another world war.

I can't see any other action that would make everyone, good and bad sit back and think 'woah, we better start reining in the crap we've been getting up to.'

I guess that would mean England would be wiped off of the face of the Earth in my case.

Yeah Bret, sad though it is for me to think about such things, I agree with you about the world needing something as drastic as a massive war to bring enough change that peace may come about.

In my younger days, ha! I used to think that if enough people became aware, class conscious and politically savvy through education etc, then things would change, but the system is a leviathan alright, and we the wise have not the weapons to cut it down without becoming beasties ourselves.

I wonder who will start it? And who will end it?

According to Nostrdamus The two great powers will wipe out each other and the third shall inherit.

so, at this time USA and China wipe off about 3 billion people leaving France, the next in line concerning nuke numbers in charge.

Sacrebleu!

you mean it didn't end in 2000?^ ; )

heh, the moment i read the question i sort of transposed it to christianity. on one side, jesus sacrificed himself and God sacrificed his son, but on the other hand, there's now the chance for eternal freedom from sin for all humankind. quite the tradeoff, id say.

I like the nobility of the crucifixion, and also that we're still left in control of our own destiny.

It does leave us open to being led around like so much sheep in a field by those that would deceive us, but then that's the beauty of it. You only have yourself to blame when it comes to meeting your maker.

Jim Jones, "Bob" and all the other dubious sects (I'll refrain from cult, because well, you never know, right?) that ultimately make money for saving your soul are very interesting for a few reasons.

They almost follow the concept of my question. What are you willing to give up for eternal salvation? ie: if you want your wish you have to give up something for it.

In Bob's case he only wanted 10% of your earnings, which most will see as a pretty sweet deal not that dissimilar from the church and their tithing

Secondly they actually seem to work. I mean if they didn't why would people commit suicide in the first place?!

And thirdly because they prey on the people who believe they NEED salvation there will always be a market for a crank/kook sect of eternal illumination.

oi. "make money for saving your soul.." i wonder what's wrong with that picture? yes, i think there will always be people to cheat and people being cheated.

if the ones who committed mass suicide are the only ones receiving salvation, well.... the rest of us are pretty screwed, eh? and heaven would be a lot smaller than i've pictured..

Well, I WOULD like a new pair of shoes, but that means that I'd lose my feet, right?

Oh, woe is me! What a horrible world!

Yeah... Kind of defeats the object of the conversation, Jordan. Rather than being sarcastic like many of us are in other posts this conversation is where we contemplate what we consider to be a worthy cause within our selves and share it with others to find out how we work.

But you know, that was kind of implied by the topic title.

Sorry, I just couldn't think of what to wish for...it would seem almost pointless to wish for anything if something else was immediately lost in just as great of a proportion. I didn't mean to sound too sarcastic or anything...I was just trying to make a point, while being lighthearted.

Plus isn't the world already governed by cause and effect?

Sorry again.

The whole point is sacrifice for personal gain not cause and effect.

Basic example is that I, like many others would get hit by a bus in place of a family member, possibly even for a stranger.

But when it comes to getting something for yourself it becomes a very different matter. You have to decide if it would be something you'd give everything for or something you'd be comfortable having at the price of giving something up that has an equal worth.

It really opens the mind, so sit and think on it for a while.

bump

My idea was the bestest....so nuh nuh ni nuh nuh.

"Basic example is that I, like many others would get hit by a bus in place of a family member, possibly even for a stranger."

Say you were walking down the street one day, and you see a man running across the street with a bus coming straight at him. The man has no idea how close to death he is until you push him out of the way and get trampled by the beast yourself. But back up a minute, you don't know this man. Are you willing to give up your life for him? If you didn't, you would feel guilty for standing by and doing nothing while this man lost his life because he didn't see the bus. So by pushing him out of the way, you die, and now the man feels guilty because you are dead because you tried to save him. That man should have looked both ways before he crossed the street anyways, so this whole thing could have been avoided. Would you rather that he live in guilt because you saved his life or would you rather live with the guilt of seeing this man die?

Anyone got an answer?

If I could wish for one thing, what would I wish for?

To love with all my heart. Of course, in hopes that that person will not die. But, I already love with all my heart... So, who is to say wishes don't come true?

xTheEcstasyOfSuicidex

Well let's see, if I were to have one wish...

Well it would be that man (dead or alive) and every living thing that inhabits this universe would have a taste of perfect contentment or happiness.

Now no person can say to me that they are truly happy and when I mean truly happy, I mean happiness without a slither of doubt ailing their consciousness.

So I want the world as is, a withered earth filled with parasitic evil marking the time of an end of society and humanity at every turn. But at least if my wish was granted, everyone would have one pure happy moment in their lives.

As to the question LovelyBones put out:

I may speak out of turn for this, but isn't it ethical and noble for someone to risk their lives for someone. I mean to do good, when it is not by society terms "not needed" is something to be admired for. Don't you think?

"The stories were shot through with an unfamiliar mood. Everyone achieved their heart's desire: the king had his daughter restored to life by a stranger's kiss, the beast was divested of his fur and left naked as a man; the mermaid walked; but only when it was too late did they realize the price they must pay for escaping their destiny. Every Happy Ever After was tainted. Fate, at first so amenable, so reasonable, so open to negotiation, ended up by exacting a cruel revenge for happiness."
-- Diane Setterfield, The Thirteenth Tale

In response to Noir, I agree. It is noble to stand up for the right thing.

And in response to Bob: at one point in time every man and woman was a child. Age may take away the value of money but no price could bring a person's life back. And besides, if you were to watch that person die, without acting when you had the chance to save them, their life would be on your shoulders because you were responsible. It's like the saying "If you want world peace, fight for justice".

I wouldn't wish anything, except for maybe equality, true equality, on every level. Like starting from scatch. Allow humanity to start over from the beginning without the societal structures that are right now in place, held up by technological advancements that only some are privy to.

Yeah, nice answers, but what is the personal price you would have to pay to even the scale?

That's what the question is really about, not the wish itself.

Well for my answer to your question, it would be that I would suffer an eternity of sadness, apathy and regret, for people to get the chance to see the light of happiness.

Ok well, that's the explanation behind your reasoning and I'll respect that. I was just making a point :)