this post was submitted on 16 Aug 2026
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No Stupid Questions

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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!).

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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.

[–] CanadianCorhen@lemmy.ca 2 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

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.

[–] WizardGed@lemmy.ca 2 points 4 hours ago (1 children)
  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!
[–] laranis@lemmy.zip 1 points 3 hours ago

I love a good monkey's paw thread.

[–] Gumus@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 17 hours ago
[–] sprack@lemmy.world 2 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

I wish karma was real and had immediate repercussions.

[–] WizardGed@lemmy.ca 2 points 12 hours ago

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

[–] VoteNixon2016@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 23 hours ago (1 children)
  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.
[–] WizardGed@lemmy.ca 3 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

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

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 1 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

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.

[–] WizardGed@lemmy.ca 1 points 12 hours ago

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 :)

[–] HootinNHollerin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 23 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] WizardGed@lemmy.ca 11 points 1 day ago (2 children)

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.

[–] Spacehooks@reddthat.com 1 points 18 hours ago

Prismo vibes

[–] HootinNHollerin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

[Update] The genie just gave me my 38th beer. He’s on his 12th now and just tried crack for the first time

[–] Novamdomum@fedia.io 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

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.

[–] WizardGed@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 day ago (2 children)

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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[–] Hamartiogonic@sopuli.xyz 11 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (5 children)

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.

[–] Fredselfish@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

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.

[–] Hamartiogonic@sopuli.xyz 3 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

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.

[–] CanadianCorhen@lemmy.ca 3 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

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?

[–] Hamartiogonic@sopuli.xyz 2 points 9 hours ago

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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[–] HubertManne@piefed.social 16 points 2 days ago (1 children)

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

[–] WizardGed@lemmy.ca 10 points 2 days ago (2 children)

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

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[–] Smaile@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (6 children)
  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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[–] superduperpirate@lemmy.world 9 points 2 days ago (3 children)
  • 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.
[–] phonics@lemmy.world 8 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Too bad you'll die tomorrow

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[–] stepintomydojo@sh.itjust.works 8 points 2 days ago (9 children)

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!)

[–] theedqueen@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

That’s what Timmy turner did

[–] Rhaedas@fedia.io 10 points 2 days ago (1 children)

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.

[–] Feathercrown@lemmy.world 1 points 21 hours ago

"Your eyes fall out"

"Really? Seriously?"

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[–] TheLeadenSea@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

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

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