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nostupidquestions·No Stupid QuestionsbyWizardGed

You Have found a genie that grants 3 wishes! What are your wishes, how do you avoid loopholes or "the monkeys paw"?

Lets assume that genies grant wishes literally, but will twist your words. How do you wish without unintended consequences? Typical rules of no more wishes, no resurrection, no forced love, no altering the past, can't defy logic, can't break physical laws, can't create paradoxes, and can't affect higher powers (this is one tough genie!).

View original on lemmy.ca
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97 replies

WizardGedreply
lemmy.ca

The reality is the genie gave you your 3 beer wishes and appreciated the simplicity of the ask so told the bartender to bill genie for the rest of your beers tonight and a cab home. No monkeys paw for those wishes.

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piefed.social

oh sure like I would tell you. im hoarding all my genie wish knowledge.

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WizardGedreply
lemmy.ca

I'm using my first damn wish to make you spill the beans on your genie wish strategies!!!

10
piefed.social

ok first wish is for two wishes that I will be happy with the outcome of them both long and short term from my current perspective just before any wish activity goes on and uneffected by retro effects from the wishes and given the knowledge of how exactly those wishes will play out when I make them both short and long term.

3

Technically you can't wish for more wishes but even so attempting to give you near omnipotent knowledge that would be required to understand how all wish activity would most likely drive you insane or kill you in a mortal body. as to whether that would make you happy may be a perspective thing when the chance is a lot of pain from going crazy or dropping dead vs the torture of having to sift through that knowledge to use it taking more time then you have to live.

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sopuli.xyz

When Fox Mulder encountered a genie like that, his wish was delivered in written form. It was a binder with probably more than 1000 pages. Basically, he wished for world peace, but he had to lawyer his way out of all the usual genie BS. If the genie is playing dirty, you have to design the wish like you would design a law.

Bonus Showerthought: The law is a book series specifically written for assholes.

11
lemmy.world

I was just discussing that episode when my son asked me if I pushed a button that killed all assholes on the planet would I push it. I didn't even hesitate in saying yes. He then asked even if it killed me too, and I still said yes.

This led to whole discussion around this whole concept and the monkey paw theory and I also brought up the episode as well. The ending was the only correct choice to make.

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sopuli.xyz

I wouldn’t press that button. Getting rid of assholes is a temporary fix. The human nature will always produce more in the next generation. Besides, thanos snapping away such a big part of the population will probably result in some sort of societal collapse, famine and disasters.

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lemmy.ca

yea, seems likely that it would kill 100% of humanity.

Babies are fucking assholes. they might not know better, but they are assholes.

My toddler? often an asshole, does things just to see what happens.

Teens? totaly assholes Adults: have you met them?

4

Yeah, if you use the broadest possible definition, then pretty much everyone would be gone. Even if you restrict it to only adults who are aware of what they are doing and still choose to be an asshole fairly often, you would be removing a huge part of the population. Sounds like a pretty bad move to me.

That sort of thing might come close to nuking the entire species back to the stone age. Then again, that would be good for the environment in the long run. It could take like 20 000 years for the human species to fully recover from that one button press. I think I'm beginning to see some benefits... nah. Still a bad idea.

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WizardGedreply
lemmy.ca

The genie is wondering how you managed to get all that done before spontaneously finding him. He claims you must also be a genie and per genie law owes you no wishes!

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sopuli.xyz

Nah, I would just put the genie on hold for 7 months while I’m cooking the wish with a team of lawyers.

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WizardGedreply
lemmy.ca

If you can leave genie on hold for 7 months genie's leaving you on hold till your dead before granting your wish (genie was pretty damn offended here, this is worse than the war crime stuff for him!)

2

Fair enough. World peace achieved even though I didn’t get to enjoy it. Totally worth it though.

2
lemmy.world
  • I win $50M USD after tax in the lotto, in a way that lets me claim it anonymously and live inconspicuously. I’ll keep my job & benefits package, though.
  • I have notably better physical & mental health now through the natural end of my life.
  • I have notably better emotional intelligence now through the natural end of my life.
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WizardGedreply
lemmy.ca

Genie grants all three wishes but makes you very small and invisible to fullfill the second part of wish 1. good thing you asked for better emotional and mental health, you'll need it :)

3

Ties in nicely with phonics’ result… an invisible person is hard to avoid colliding with.

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fedia.io

I would use my first wish to secure the outcome of the other two. Something like "Dear Genie, I wish for my next two wishes to be granted in a way that respects the intent I have for those wishes". Then I would wish for everyone to have empathy and humility so that we can start all pulling together as a species instead of apart. For my last one I would wish that any limb that is used to hurt a child rots away and falls off. That's just a personal one for me because I've never understood adults hurting children deliberately.

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WizardGedreply
lemmy.ca

The genie does indeed respect the intent but is pretty heavily incentivized to screw it up, the genie, drives us all insane by making us all live each others shared experiences so we can all be truly empathetic. he also coincidentally got all the bad guys/gals.

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Smailereply
lemmy.ca

I thought he couldn't brake the laws of physics.

2

shared experiences is just neurons in our brain. basically add more and link them together.

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sh.itjust.works

I wish for a contract lawyer with genie experience who can write my other two wishes in a way that can't be twisted. (But with more words needed to get that first wish right!)

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Rhaedasreply
fedia.io

Chris and Jack did a skit like this. The first wish was to have the genie audit "what if I wish" speculations to tell how they might interpret the wish. A great video.

10

Genie experience. Sure he works for the genie. Who 'can' do want you want. But doesn't have to. 'Can' gives your lawyer an out.

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WizardGedreply
lemmy.ca

What if the genie lawyer isn't licensed(not to many licensed lawyers with genie experience I imagine!) or is in league with the genie! Honestly the genie may be less tricky than that lawyer!

2

The genie itself likely has legal experience. He’s just allowed the genie to select the next two wishes.

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sh.itjust.works

Hm, maybe I have to stipulate that whatever effect the final two wishes have on me, they have the same exact effect on the lawyer.

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WizardGedreply
lemmy.ca

hmm, gonna have to be careful they are a genie repercussions might be able to be shrugged off/ignored

1

ahh so your going for the whole your in this together with me thing, genie may give the lawyer an out by letting the lawyer word a wish to not include themselves or in a way that avoids them. lawyers are tricky!!!

1

Now that the genie is free he is no longer constrained by all genie laws and enslaves us all for eternity! Great job now my weekend plans are completely ruined! /s

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lemmy.ca

First wish: the genie will be my eternal friend.

Second wish: free the genie from the geas — make the genie its own master.

There is no third wish.

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WizardGedreply
lemmy.ca

First wish genie is an eternal friend but more like distant friend that would talk to you as a friend or give you a hand with moving but no more. then same as https://lemmy.ca/post/69470791/24857447 but maybe you get slightly nicer conditions?

3

The first is because of the Arabian Nights story where the guy frees the genie and the first thing it does is kill the wisher. There’s another where the first thing it does is puts the wisher in the bottle it was trapped in.

So “distant friend” is enough.

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sh.itjust.works

I wish the genie can read my mind

I wish that the genie completely understand my thoughts and intentions

I wish that the genie is forced to only be able to grant me exactly what I'm thinking of, with no room for misinterpretation

Easy

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WizardGedreply
lemmy.ca

Genie graciously grants all 3 wishes but now you're out of wishes. The genie does appreciate being able to snoop on your thoughts though!

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mediOchrereply
sh.itjust.works

Im sure he appreciates being able to see what im thinking about doing to his lamp hole ;)

6

Maybe the genie will spend less time snooping in your thoughts....shivers a bit

4

I wish for the genie to, as far as their power allows, to minimize all suffering across all beings that can suffer across all time, and keeping that at a minimum, to maximize pleasure across all beings that can feel pleasure across all time

5

The magnitude of this wish is beyond what the genie can pull off, best genie can do is free health/spa coupons. The genie sees what you were trying to do though and won't monkey's paw this one

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lemmy.ca

i've given (too much) thought into the wishes:

  1. I wish all public officials, both elected, appointed, or otherwise, work to maximize the well-being of the people they represent, and the world as a whole.

  2. I wish to invent practical, sustainable, achievable FTL propulsion, and live to share the knowledge to parties who can and will implement it.

  3. If there is no positive life after death, I wish there was, retroactively, and it was roughly inline with the form of the Good Place at the series end.

WIshes arn't perfectly bulletproof, but are robust enough i think it would be hard to twist.

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WizardGedreply
lemmy.ca
  1. a state of pure anarchy comes about due to the inability to the inability to maximize the well being of the people they represent to any extent as no method of measurement is defined and as one manages to maximize one metric it minimizes others making public officials disappear!
  2. you discover FTL propulsion as you fall into a black hole and share it with others on the same ship. unfortunately even if you find a way to escape it eons have passed and either everyone already is aware of FTL travel, or they have disappeared with the heat death of the universe.
  3. unfortunately this affects higher powers!
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Thinking about it some more:

  1. this is why i used 'works to maximize', which is an imperfect state, and allows everyone to take steps without being crippled.
  2. i dont get how i can discover FTL in a blackhole, when im currently on earth... are you saying that the genie makes a ship without FTL, moves that ship to a black hole, and then teleports me there, allowing me to solve the day?
  3. comment stands, im ok if gods end up in the after life too. its not a bad place to wind down your life.
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I wish that I would feel content with my life regardless of the circumstances I may find myself in.

I wish that the world is fair and just.

I wish that I had all the knowledge humans have ever known and could access that information easily and quickly without external assistance.

3

Genie explains that due to the laws of physics the rules covering not changing the past and general human psychology everything being fair and just is impossible due to scarcity and previous injustices, tones down your overall intelligence level enough to make you generally lack the sense of loss or wanting to make you generally content, then puts you in a room with access to a terminal that could give you info but you're generally too content to do anything/interact with it. The genie appreciates what you were trying to do though so it makes sure you still live an otherwise normal life.

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lemmy.ca

I'd wish for the ability to teleport anywhere I have already been. (I figure with quantum entanglement, the genie could grant this, our scientific knowledge isn't there yet.) I'd wish that at the end of each day my checking account fill back up to a balance of $5000. I'd wish for a refrigerator that appeared whatever food I wanted to eat.

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WizardGedreply
lemmy.ca

The Genie grants part 1 but puts the cost of doing so on you as if you had to walk all the way there yourself(and doesn't tell you this). On wish 2 it grants this for you and every other person but also adds a $5000 fee for doing so(be thankful the genie didn't make it a greater fee!!), and for the last wish it will appear but if you try to eat it it disappears. :)

2

I wish that all my wishes are granted in the manner in which I intended, with no unforeseen complications or consequences.

I wish for the ability grant any and all wishes at my discretion for myself or others in a manner and method of my decision.

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WizardGedreply
lemmy.ca
  1. The Genie explains the only way to make all your wishes exactly the way you want would take an all knowing, all powerful being to deal with any possible side affect at any arbitrary time period. If genie granted that in your human form you'd go crazy and die, you might argue that this isn't what you meant but you'd also be dead so the genie would think this must have been foreseen and a known consequence of becoming all knowing as a limited being.. never mind the whole messing with higher powers argument rule.
  2. even if you gave up wish 1 you only get 3 wishes! no new wishes, but the genie says he will allow you to use your last wish on others if you wish...
1
  1. Excluding myself, everyone's knowledge of the sun rising in the east and setting in the west is inverted, as are any references, depictions, or allusions to the direction in which the sun rises, while the cardinal directions and the orientation and rotation of the Earth relative to the Sun remain unchanged, such that everyone other than myself expects the Sun to rise in the west and set in the east, while it will continue to rise in the east and set in the west as it does now.
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WizardGedreply
lemmy.ca

In the chaos that this causes you get final destinationed by a logging truck that has a crazy driver losing his mind because of proclamations of the end times. Genie didn't even monkeys paw that one. it just happened

3

My first wish is that my wishes are not corrupted, and they are fulfilled to the intent in my heart and mind without any trickery of bullshit.

My second wish is to have the ability to draw extremely well.

My third wish is that I can bring my drawings to life.

The last two powers will enable me to have infinite wishes by simply drawing things like immortality pills, scifi technology, and just straight up money if I wanted.

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WizardGedreply
lemmy.ca

Genie grants your wishes but wipes your memory of having made these wishes and makes you dislike drawing :)

2

Doesn’t even have to be that… “bring to life…” so you draw an immortality pill, will it to life, and it then eats you before you have the chance to swallow it.

When it comes to life, it’s of course going to be alive, and scale wasn’t mentioned.

2
lemmy.world

I wish karma was real and had immediate repercussions.

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WizardGedreply
lemmy.ca

the shear amount of bad karma this caused through this wish comes back to you as Bad Karma. maybe stay home for a bit.

2

Ive generally been of the view that instead of wishing for three specific things, one should instead wish for some kind of power that would then enable you to then grant yourself the things that you want (the most obvious thing might be wishing for omnipotence but this probably breaks, well, all of the rules since being able to do anything definitionally is incompatible with limits, but I suspect the limits of what is possible in this direction without breaking the laws of physics are still far beyond what humans are capable of), so as not to need the genie later when the wishes run out.

However, if you know the genie will twist your words, Im not sure that its safe to wish at all, its unlikely that you can come up with something that cant be twisted into something you dont want, language is just too ambiguous for that and the implication is that you're dealing with something that is both incredibly more capable than you and actively malicious, doing your best to avoid its attention is probably the safest bet.

That being said, if you must wish, I figure the way Id try to do it, if boring, is to say the outcome you want, without an "I wish" but with some clear marker on when your description starts and stops, like some gesture or nonsense word, and then something like "I wish that the statement that I previously made in between the two [whatever your marker was] is now true in the way that I, the person making this wish, presently desire and in no alternate way." It probably wont work because again, language is nearly infinitely ambiguous and the genie is much more powerful than you, but at least youre trying to avoid unintended interpretations.

Alternately, back when I still used reddit, I did once try the "monkey's paw" subreddit with "I wish to be satisfied with whatever the result of this wish is." and dont remember any of the answers I got actually twisting it much. Maybe something like that at least robs the genie of some of their fun.

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See This is the kind of wish the genie respects! someone who realizes they've really run into effectively a lovecraftian God and actually suggests they wouldn't take the genie up on the wishes! I feel like the genie might do something minor for you like making sure you never stub your toe again or ensures you never rip your pants.

I think the proper answer to the whole make the genie do what I mean/understand me from the genie's perspective is to drive you insane by trying to give you genie like intelligence with our limited minds.

As to "I wish to be satisfied with whatever the result of this wish is", id imagine making you a very short lived being with abundance of every kind and only enough mental capacity to enjoy that would work.

Well done, I can tell you thought about this one!

2

isnt the 3 wishes an disney invention. since wishes are a reality warping thing, you have to be specific and deliberate. wishs are basically things that warp reality, so it will break all kinds of natural law.

2

The genie clammed up when discussing the true source or nature of his power. needless to say genie can work within the constraints given. natural law be damned :)

1
lemmy.ca
  1. I wish for a proximity 10milions american dollars worth of unirradiated gold sourced from outerspace, placed here safely next to me, neetly. After that I ask what higher powers are we talk in here, can I mess with my local mayor or no because he was democraticly elected. Can I mess with individual rich person but not a group of them?
  2. Annnd... Uhhhh, I'll ask you again in a bit, just monkey paw me for the first one.
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WizardGedreply
lemmy.ca

1 the genie drops an asteroid down next to you making sure the asteroid is safe. You.... maybe not so much. the genie likes specificity and conciseness and only had to give 1 wish. :)

0
lemmy.world

It would be very difficult to place the asteroid next to them in a manner that is both safe and neat in relation to anything involved, while harming the wisher. Like, how would you kill them neatly with an asteroid?

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WizardGedreply
lemmy.ca

It said Genie had to place it next to them neatly. Genie just had to make the asteroid indestructable or very hard to not take damage and the speed by which it got there was enough to destroy everything around it. see the multiple meteorites whose simple sound shattered windows for miles

1

placed here safely next to me, neetly

impact from orbit is hardly safe or nea- oh. -.- this asteroid is hardly nerdy enough to be considered neetly

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slrpnk.net

Replace the blood of every person that's SA'd someone with molten sodium chloride.

Drop a 6 foot by 2 inch tungsten rod from orbit onto anyone that's committed a warcrime, nailing them to the floor where they will be left as an example for everyone else.

Publically release complete documentation showing every country's actions that have been directly antagonistic to their own people (I'm talking EVERYTHING. Not just 'the files' but every action where a country has demonstrably done something that serves only the interests of the few at the cost of the people.)

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WizardGedreply
lemmy.ca

The Genie thinks you haven't really thought this through, replacing blood with molten salt isn't physically possible and asking for mini rods from god to be launched from orbit at earth leaves it open to the genie how many and how much force to use. the Genie thinks you either don't respect the monkeys paw his powers or maybe that you want us all dead anyway :(

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slrpnk.net

I mean, replacing blood with molten salt is entirely possible, it'll merely boil off most things it comes into contact with, which was the intent.

The genie is more than welcome to pick how many and at what velocity they hit their targets

I fully respect the genie's powers, and that they'd monkey's paw it, I was leaving that part up to them, and being VERY literal with my wishes to make sure the end result was at least in the same ballpark of the wish.

Wasn't that the point of the post? Get the best result out of a genie that's got hard limits on their wish giving powers?

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WizardGedreply
lemmy.ca

The genie has a hard time calling it "replacing" blood with molten salt with blood making up so much of the human body and what is left destroying itself almost instantly when exposed to molten salt that all you'd really get is a molten salt shaped human and some bones in a pile after. genies also pretty sure the moment he poofs away the blood there already dead so this is just an over complicated way of throwing someone into a molten pit of salt. Your going to have to trust the genie on this one.

The quantity and speed govern energy, remember the genie was just confronted with the worst of humanity what if the genie decides all of humanity needs a reset with lots from everywhere destroying us all?

This is why the genie was worried, asking a genie for revenge or destruction almost always goes terribly wrong if only on principle of the genie not bring a hitman and is looking for equal ways to turn it against the wisher.

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(And it was either that or replacing the water they drink with milk and making them lactose intolerant, but that would use two wishes)

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lemmy.world

The second one would include the creator of Stardew Valley for having a red cross on the hospital in game. Probably similar things like childrens drawings too…

1
lemmy.world

Using the sign of the red cross when you’re not The Red Cross constitutes a violation of the Geneva convention. I.e. a war crime.

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