I Offer You This Choice

by simon17 27 Replies latest jw friends

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  simon17

  Suppose the following choice were offered you, and you had to choose one or the other. Which would you pick (and perhaps why):

  1) You can continue living your life as it is, die when you might, and that's that.

  2) You can instead agree to die in 1 year in exchange for this: You will be granted access to the entire past and future history of intelligent life in the universe. You can peruse it during the next year at your leisure, sort of like a 100% accurate wikipedia of civilized history. The entire future fate of our Earth, of our Solar System, of our species, how things will ultimately end. The entire past present and future of all other intelligent socities that are extinct, extant, or yet to come. This is a macro set of information: you won't know the future of your family or menial details of your random corner of the globe. You cannot share ANY information with anyone else in any way. Your last year will be yours to use as you please: travel, read this treasure trove of knowledge, say goodbyes, etc.

  Would you take that deal?

  ALSO: For the devout believers, this question is trivial and meaningless so no need to really chime in if this question is irrelevant to you because you believe you will be resurrected anyway and have a sort of full history anyway in the Holy Bible. That is not interesting.
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  prologos

  pick 2 because It would allow me to be a contributor to a truly inerrant bible, or history of what went goe and will go on.

  I was a 'publisher' for 53 years, then in 1 year I could live up to the name.

  If you well into your 9th decade waht is another year less between friends Hey, making such an offer. but

  Science in time will be able to do the same as above, without cutting my life short.

  shortling.
• 

  redvip2000

  pick 2 because It would allow me to be a contributor to a truly inerrant bible

  How? you think that if you stand in Times Square yelling that you know exactly everything about the past and the future, people would take you seriously?

  I would take option 1. As much as I want to know these things, life is too great to give up in exchange of very short-lived knowledge. A long life in a quasi-blissful ignorance is not all that horrible.
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  FlyingHighNow

  The year limit, there's where you went wrong.
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  prologos

  redvip2000. The problem with the bible is that it is written by people that had limited knowledge, but great imagination.

  with the offer of unlimited knowledge of REALITY, and the benefit of todays technology, a bible could be written based on facts.

  It would not be published by a sandwich-boarded cook in Times Square or Hide Park.

  Of course many people would be mad to have been wrong, and many will prefer fiction anytime, but it would be out there,-- a human language descriptian, a true parallel to the reality we live in.I would allow my life to be shortened by 1% for that.

  Imagine Jesus' (the Word) near-eternal existence was shortened by 3.5 days to accomplish what? he did not even got the microbes right.

  Obviously the creator does not think this is a good idea, it would take the fun out of the 'soverenty' issue.
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  Godsendconspirator

  I would take the latter choice. Finding out those answers were all I ever wanted in life even if I can't do anything with it.
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  NAVYTOWN

  I would choose option #2. Living for only one year longer is a small price to pay given that I would know all the secrets of the Universe. Compared to living a few extra years and then dying in ignorance, it's an easy choice for me.
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  Paris

  You will be granted access to the entire past and future history of intelligent life in the universe.

  Isn't that basically, Wikipedia ?

  Take a university course in History, Go to the NASA Hubble site, knowledge knowledge knowledge, its all over the place. There are No "secrets" just unexplained things we don't know yet , like 97% of whats in the universe. In one year you couldn't absorb in your tiny brain absolutely everything and even if you were able to understand, through a IQ unheard of, then what ? You would know stuff you think nobody eles does ? Isn't that exactly like being a JW ? They already think they know everything and no one else does. Is that your ultimate goal ? To be a world champ know-it-all ?

  What about love ? As the song goes. What about friends and music and dance and money to eat in good restaurants and travel first class and see the world and enjoy yourself ? #2 sounds boring as hell and completely futile.
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  BluesBrother

  I'll take the second option. I never wanted to live in a painful decrepid old age. it sounds good to me. Pity I cannot share what I know, though
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  Apognophos

  I would take #2 if I could share information with others, but if my knowledge wasn't able to contribute anything to society after I gained it, I'd say there's no point. Satisfying my own curiosity alone wouldn't be worth it.