this post was submitted on 16 Jul 2024
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Would You Rather

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Welcome to c/WouldYouRather, where we present you with the toughest, most ridiculous choices you never knew you had to make! Would you rather have a third arm that's only useful for picking your nose, or be able to talk to animals but only if they're wearing hats? Yeah, it's that kind of vibe. Come for the absurdity, stay because you've clearly got nothing better to do with your life.

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Since I posted some weirder ones, here's one that's a treat. I like both so much I can't choose.

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[–] edgemaster72@lemmy.world 12 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Spacetime travel, why learn from a book when I can show up on the spot and learn first person. Look into my eyes. I am the primary source now.

Plus you could get future knowledge that isn't in any book yet.

[–] agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works 7 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Knowledge density. I can walk into my local library and run my hand along the spines of every book on the shelves faster than I can properly observe most individual significant historic events. You could consume all the written knowledge of Isaac Newton faster than you could even introduce yourself to him.

Sure, there are benefits to primary sources, but there are benefits to curated compendiums.

[–] ramble81@lemm.ee 2 points 4 months ago

Downside. You’d still be stuck in this crappy world, it’d be interesting to see how much you could change it before becoming a target by the plutocracy.

[–] remotelove@lemmy.ca 11 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Is the van painted yellow and driven by a bouncy redhead who seems to give her passengers massive doses of LSD? If so, I'll take the van.

[–] SnokenKeekaGuard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (2 children)

I'll throw in two Beatles of your choice too

[–] swab148@lemm.ee 4 points 4 months ago (1 children)

George and Ringo for sure, they seem like the most chill

[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 4 months ago

Two Lennon clones, just to see them fight.

[–] Eylrid@lemmy.world 1 points 4 months ago

We all live in a magic sub bus, a magic sub bus, a magic sub bus

[–] workerONE@lemmy.world 6 points 4 months ago

I'd rather absorb knowledge, I'd be wicked smart

[–] corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca 5 points 4 months ago

Van? I dunno. Can we make it a phone booth? And can I pick up Carlin and Kaufman and River on the way by? The world needs one of them at a time and we're kinda out.

[–] VelvetStorm@lemmy.world 4 points 4 months ago

The van is far far more valuable to me. Time travel to the future and get cured of various issues plaguing my body and also get to just travel the world when I want? He'll yes.

[–] Lacanoodle@literature.cafe 4 points 4 months ago

I feel like even if I absorbed the knowledge ... I'd just forget it. Thats what happens with us all. Unless I get brain upgrades here it ain't worth it.

Also part of the fun of reading books is the experience of reading and learning, not the end product.

[–] friend_of_satan@lemmy.world 3 points 4 months ago (2 children)

With the van you could bring other people with you, but the ring only benefits yourself. Van for sure. You could go back in time and grab Einstein, Carl Sagan, Feynman, Alan Turing, etc. and bring them to the current era, or the future.

You could go back to 2016 (or much earlier) and change the modern political landscape.

You could change global warming.

[–] edgemaster72@lemmy.world 3 points 4 months ago (1 children)

grab Einstein, Carl Sagan, Feynman, Alan Turing, etc. and bring them to the current era, or the future.

And then get them all to play poker with an android

[–] swab148@lemm.ee 2 points 4 months ago

Or bring them to your history report

[–] SnokenKeekaGuard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Well as a friend of Satan, by change global warming do you mean make it worse

[–] friend_of_satan@lemmy.world 2 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

Satan, who is the god of this world - https://biblehub.com/2_corinthians/4-4.htm

The bloody death cult of Christianity are the ones who don't care about this planet. Its demise means their rapture is coming, so why would they care about its longevity?

[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Satan, who is the god of this world - https://biblehub.com/2_corinthians/4-4.htm

[Albigensian crusade noises]

Yes, this is a deep cut joke few people will get.

[–] southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 2 points 4 months ago

Knowledge please.

While it would be more entertaining to travel like that, and you could eventually gain most of the knowledge that way, the absorption is more efficient, and you can then apply what you've learned in a wider range of ways.

Mind you, I hate traffic, so I can't say I wouldn't pick the van for just that reason if it was offered at the wrong time :)

[–] leaky_shower_thought@feddit.nl 2 points 4 months ago

the magic ring. I'd also wear that ring as a wrist ring or some place that won't easily slip.

i hope it can do pdfs.

[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

Van. I can read a book, killing baby Hitler (or equivalent) is another thing.

A reasonable proportion of the paper books I meet are full of fluffy crap, anyway.

[–] Zahtu 5 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

That's the reason why I am choosing the ring. I can't honestly justify the implications of having the ability to time travel, and what changing the future would mean for humanity as a whole. Even if I am staying within my timeline, can I justify having the ability to change awfully things and not doing it?

Knowledge please. Better yet, also intent of books so that all motivational and social skill books knowledge would be mine. Otherwise, having knowledge about all things is great, but being able to apply them is another matter

[–] LowleeKun 2 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I mean the van can still teleport places without time. That in itself is pretty powerful. No need to travel time. You could also first travel to a remote place and then travel in time for minimized impact.

But the ring of course is also extremely nice. Question i have is, would you start to forget the informations gained thorugh the ring or would it work like a magical brain library, preserving the stored information and being endless?

I was torn between both but i would take the van. While knowledge could make me smart, rich and powerful, there are just so many places i would like to see. The van probably also fits more than one person, so i can take friends along.

[–] Zahtu 1 points 4 months ago

Good point. But it still are the moral implications of having the ability to travel through time, that would concern me personally. If I have the ability to do (supposedly) good, and deliberately not choosing so, i couldn't have peace of mind anymore

[–] wargreymon@sh.itjust.works 2 points 4 months ago

Magic van can time-travel, it is an easy answer.