What is the Perfect Question to Ask for a Life-Changing Answer?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the concept of asking a life-changing question, exploring various personal, philosophical, and scientific inquiries that participants would pose if given the opportunity. The scope includes speculative questions about the universe, personal dilemmas, and theoretical scientific problems.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants suggest personal questions, such as "How can I make the biggest impact in life?" and "What should I ask for?"
  • Others propose scientific inquiries, including "How to solve the mass-gap problem?" and "How to build a full quantum theory of gravity?"
  • Several participants mention hypothetical questions related to luck, like "What will be the winning numbers for this week's lottery?"
  • A few contributions reflect on existential questions, such as "What is the ultimate question?" and "How did the universe come into being?"
  • Some participants humorously engage with the idea of fate and its implications on their questions.
  • There are mentions of historical philosophical perspectives, particularly referencing St. Augustine's thoughts on time and existence.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a variety of personal and scientific questions without reaching a consensus on what constitutes the "perfect question." Multiple competing views remain, with no clear resolution on the most significant inquiries.

Contextual Notes

Some questions raised depend on individual perspectives and interpretations of significance, while others touch on unresolved scientific theories and philosophical dilemmas.

Who May Find This Useful

This discussion may interest individuals exploring philosophical inquiries, those curious about scientific challenges, or anyone contemplating the nature of questions and their impact on life.

Howers
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Suppose you had a moment with fate and could have any question answered. No matter how complicated. What question would you ask?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Can I borrow 5 bucks?
 
Very personal answer : How to solve the mass-gap problem ?

Alternative possibilities (by decreasing order of preferences) of scientific questions :
  • How to prove the Riemann hypothesis ?
  • How to build a full quantum theory of gravity ?
  • How to build a full quantum (twistor) non-commutative geometrical model of Nature ?
  • How to build a full quantum string model of Nature ?
  • How to build a full quantum loop gravity model of space-time ?

Many other scientific questions would be possible of course.

"Cheating" questions which would be nice to have answered could be
  • How to solve all the Clay Mathematical Millenium problems ?
  • What will be the content of all the Nobel prize lectures for the next 100 years ?
  • How will the next not born yet richest person in world become the richest person in the world ?
 
jimmysnyder said:
Can I borrow 5 bucks?

What a waste, $5 for the whole universe. And you probably would get a no too lol

humanino said:
Very personal answer : How to solve the mass-gap problem ?

Alternative possibilities (by decreasing order of preferences) of scientific questions :
  • How to prove the Riemann hypothesis ?
  • How to build a full quantum theory of gravity ?
  • How to build a full quantum (twistor) non-commutative geometrical model of Nature ?
  • How to build a full quantum string model of Nature ?
  • How to build a full quantum loop gravity model of space-time ?

Many other scientific questions would be possible of course.

"Cheating" questions which would be nice to have answered could be
  • How to solve all the Clay Mathematical Millenium problems ?
  • What will be the content of all the Nobel prize lectures for the next 100 years ?
  • How will the next not born yet richest person in world become the richest person in the world ?

Gravity was certain to come up. You're last 3 non-cheat questions are unfortunately out of my scope =)
 
Last edited:
In reverse order of importance:

3. How to perfect cold fusion.
2. Assuming cold fusion is impossible, how to perfect an alternative source of clean, affordable, abundant energy.
1. How to fix Windows.
 
sysreset said:
In reverse order of importance:

3. How to perfect cold fusion.
2. Assuming cold fusion is impossible, how to perfect an alternative source of clean, affordable, abundant energy.
1. How to fix Windows.

#1 Easy - Step A, format disk. Step B - Install Linux
 
Howers said:
Suppose you had a moment with fate and could have any question answered. No matter how complicated. What question would you ask?

What the universe made of.
 
Simple...


"What is the ultimate question?"
 
"What will be the winning numbers for this week's lottery?"

I considered some other questions, like "How can I make the biggest impact in life?" but I already know my fates well enough that they'd tell me to jump in front of a truck.
 
  • #10
Moonbear said:
"What will be the winning numbers for this week's lottery?"

I considered some other questions, like "How can I make the biggest impact in life?" but I already know my fates well enough that they'd tell me to jump in front of a truck.

do you mean the three number one that pays $50?
 
  • #11
rewebster said:
do you mean the three number one that pays $50?

Oh, DRAT! I see you've met my fate. :rolleyes:
 
  • #12
rewebster said:
do you mean the three number one that pays $50?
The lottery I play is 10 cents a ticket, 2 for a quarter. First prize is a million dollars, one dollar a year for a million years.
 
  • #13
jimmysnyder said:
The lottery I play is 10 cents a ticket, 2 for a quarter. First prize is a million dollars, one dollar a year for a million years.

and, three for fifty cents?
 
  • #14
Moonbear said:
Oh, DRAT! I see you've met my fate. :rolleyes:

well, double drat, I met her and realized too late she was YOUR'S already!
 
  • #15
What would we need to do in order to continue our species on into infinity?
 
  • #16
I want to know how the universe came into being and what was there before it. That has bugged me since I was a small child.
 
  • #17
Evo said:
I want to know how the universe came into being and what was there before it. That has bugged me since I was a small child.
I'm sure you know the answer by now. God was preparing Hell for people which would ask themselves this question :rolleyes:
 
  • #18
humanino said:
I'm sure you know the answer by now. God was preparing Hell for people which would ask themselves this question :rolleyes:

and for those people who told those other people the answer:eek:
 
  • #19
humanino said:
I'm sure you know the answer by now. God was preparing Hell for people which would ask themselves this question :rolleyes:

Actually it was this related question!
"What was God doing before he made heaven and earth?
In fact St. Augustine of Hippo in AD 426 goes on to say;
"My answer is not, "He was preparing Hell for people who pry into mysteries.” but "There was no time before heaven and Earth were created,so how can anyone ask what you were doing then? If there were no time, there was no 'then'.
Confessions 11:12

Garth
 
  • #20
rewebster said:
and for those people who told those other people the answer:eek:
I'll spent enternity discussing with Augustine of Hippo then :-p
 
  • #21
I would ask:

should I?
 
  • #22
Garth said:
In fact St. Augustine of Hippo in AD 426 goes on to say
Agreed. But according to the above criterion, even though he did not claim it was his answer, he still "told [..] other people the answer" :smile:
 
  • #23
humanino said:
I'll spent enternity discussing with Augustine of Hippo then :-p

hmmm...why not Garth?
 
  • #24
Garth said:
Augustine of Hippo in AD 426 goes on to say
It is still interesing to note that, with the machinery of GR, Augustine's answer is still considered to be the only scientifically validated answer.
 
  • #25
rewebster said:
hmmm...why not Garth?
Or with Evo, Garth and Augustine :smile:
 
  • #26
humanino said:
Or with Evo, Garth and Augustine :smile:

well, two out of three RIGHT now isn't TOO bad
 
  • #27
How about:

"If I were to ask the best question for this particular situation, what would its answer be?"

Answer: "Yes."
 
  • #28
rewebster said:
well, double drat, I met her and realized too late she was YOUR'S already!

Have your fate secretary call my fate secretary. Maybe they can work something out. :biggrin:
 
  • #29
Moonbear said:
Have your fate secretary call my fate secretary. Maybe they can work something out. :biggrin:

yeah---I can almost hear that conversation between the two fate secs:

Hello?

Hi, I knew you were going to call

yes, I knew that you knew, and that's why I called


so, I'm thinking...

yes, I know what you're thinking, and...

etc.
 
  • #30
If you had one question

two---

The mechanisms for traveling to distant stars in days (many multiples of FTL),

and when will we make 'first contact' (publicly known, if it is a secret right now)
 

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