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    October 15

    The twenty-three questions

    I am not into reading books, but when I see a thin and nice book, I do give it my two minutes. While doing that I came across following twenty three questions. They are from a book titled "Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto" by Chuck Kolestram. I have no idea how good or bad this book is or the author is. However, the list of twenty three questions that he had in the book are awesome. They are so good that I spend my time in finding them without wasting my money, and compiling them here for all of you to read and try to answer them in your leisure time. You are most welcome to reply on this blog with your answer. I believe that answer to these question do tell a lot of about the person's behavior.

    Wikipedia Link to "Sex, Drugs... Puff"

    1. Let us assume you met a simple magician. He can do five simple tricks—he can pull a rabbit out of his hat, he can make a coin disappear, he can  turn the ace of spades to a Joker card, and two others similar tricks. These are his only tricks, and he cannot learn any more. HOWEVER he is doing these tricks with real magic. It is not an illusion; he can actually conjure the bunny out of the ether and he can move the coin through space. He is legitimately magical, but extremely limited in scope and influence. Would this person be more impressive than Albert Einstein?


    2. Let us assume a fully grown and completely healthy horse with his hooves shackled to the ground with head held in place with thick rope. He is conscious and upright, but totally immobile. And let us assume that every political prisoner on earth will be released from captivity if you can kick this horse to death in less than twenty minutes. You are allowed to wear steel-toed boots. Would you attempt to do this?

    3. Let us assume there are two open boxes on a table. In one box there is a turtle, in the other box there is Adolf Hitler’s skull. You have to select one of these two items for your home. If you select the turtle you must keep it and ensure it is alive for two years, else you will be fined $999 by the state. If you select the skull you must display it in your living room for same amount of time, although you will be paid $120/month. Display should not be politically biased. Which option do you select?


    4. Genetic Engineers at John Hopkins announce that they have developed a so-called super gorilla. It cannot speak, but has a sign language lexicon of over thousand words, an IQ of 85, and a sense of self awareness. The creature, who weighs almost seven hundred pounds, becomes fascinated with football and aspires to play at its highest level and quickly develops the basic skills of a defensive player. ESPN analyst Tom Jackson speculates that this super gorilla would be “borderline unblockable” and would likely average six sacks a game. Meanwhile, the gorilla has made it clear he would never intentionally injure any opponent. You are the commissioner of the NFL: Would you allow the gorilla to sign with the Oakland Raiders?


    5. You meet your soul mate. However there is a catch: Every three years someone will break both of your soul mate’s collarbones with a crescent wrench, and there is only one way to stop this from happening: you must swallow a pill the will make all the music, whether it is radio, or TV or movie, you hear for rest of your life sound as if it is being sung by me (and people say my singing voice is unbearable). Would you swallow the pill?


    6. At long last, someone invents a dream VCR. This machine can tape an entire evening of your dreams, which you can watch at your leisure. However, the inventor of the VCR will only allow you to watch the recording in the same room as your family and your closest friends. And if you don’t agree to this, you cannot use this VCR. Would you still do this?


    7. Defying all expectations, a group of Scottish marine biologist captures a live Loch Ness Monster. In equally rarity, the same day a hunter in the Pacific Northwest shoots a Sasquatch on the thigh and takes it into captivity. These events happen on the same afternoon. That evening the president announces he has thyroid cancer and will undergo a biopsy next week. You are the front-page editor of the New York Times: What do you play as the biggest story?


    8. You meet the perfect person: Romantically, this is your ideal partner. You find them physically attractive, intellectually appealing, consistently funny, and deeply compassionate. But they have one quirk: your perfect person is obsessed with Jim Henson's gothic puppet fantasy The Dark Crystal. They watch it once a month and all any conversation involves references to it, occasionally talking about a deeper philosophy. Would this be enough for you to stop you from marrying this individual?


    9. A novel "Interior Mirror" is released to mammoth commercial success. Though no one can prove a direct scientific link a trend emerges: almost thirty percent of the people who read this novel become immediately homosexual. Many people thank the book for helping them reach this conclusion about their sexuality. The novel Interior Mirror is a crime novel with no homoerotic content and was written by a straight man. Would this phenomenon increase the likelihood of you reading this book?

    10. Consider the opening riff to the Barracuda on Heart's Little Queen album, as well as the quote from a novel "You are not the kind of guy who would be in a place like this at this time of the morning...." Which of these two introductions is a higher form of art?


    11. You are watching a gripping movie in a crowded theatre with your partner. With twenty minutes left in the film you have an undeniable feeling that your mother has just died. There is no logical reason for this, but you are certain. There is no evidence of this, and your mother has not been ill. Would you finish watching the movie, or immediately exit the crowded theatre?


    12. You meet a wizard downtown. The wizard tells you that he can make you more attractive. When you question the process, the wizard points you to a random person on the street and says "I will now make them a dollar more attractive." He waves a magic wand. Ostensibly, this person does not change at all, but somehow this person is slightly more appealing. There is no tangible change to reflect his but they are undeniably sexier. The wizard has one rule though: you can only pay him once, one lump sum up front. How much cash do you give the wizard?


    13. Every person you have ever slept with is at a banquet and you are the guest of honor. No one is in attendance except you, your former lovers and the catering service. After the meal you are asked to make a fifteen-minute speech to the assembly. What would you talk about?


    14. Cats suddenly can read at the twelfth grade level. They cannot talk or write but can read and understand the text. Many cats love this new skill as it gives them something to do all day, while they are also frustrated as they cannot express themselves and get depressed. Do you think the average cat would enjoy Garfield or would cats find this to be an insulting caricature?


    15. You have a brain tumor. You have no discomfort, but with this tumor will unquestionably kill you in six months. Your life can be saved by an operation. The operation will require an incision to your frontal lobe. Thus after the surgery you will have a perfectly functioning body but you will be significantly less intelligent, less logical and you will have a terrible memory. The surgery is in two weeks. How you spend the next 14 days?


    16. Someone builds an optical portal which allows you to see your own life in the future. You can only look into it for 30 seconds. When you finally peer into the ball you see yourself sitting alone on the sofa decades older then you are today. You are watching Canadian Football, and you are extremely happy. You are wearing a CFL jersey, your sofa is surrounded by books and magazines on the CFL, and there are CFL pennants covering your walls. You have become obsessed with Canadian Football. The future is static and absolute; no matter what you do, this will happen. The next day you are flipping through the channels and randomly come across a CFL game between the Toronto Argonauts and the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Knowing your inevitable future, would you watch it?


    17. You are sitting in an empty bar, in a lonely town you have never been to before, drinking whisky with a soft-spoken acquaintance you barely know. After thirty minutes a man walks in the bar and sits alone, you ask your friend about him. He tells you that this man is a man with a past. Five minutes later another man walks in and sits alone. You ask your friend about him. He tells you that this man is a man with no past. Of the two men, which one do you trust less?


    18. You won a prize with two options: The first option is one year in Europe trip with monthly stipend of $2000 per month and the option two is ten minutes on the moon. Which of the two options do you choose?


    19. Your best friend is visiting your place and is sleeping on your living room floor. Somehow you come to know that this friend is going to die unless you kick them as hard as you can in their ribcage. If you do not kick them, then they will never wake up. However, once they get up after you kick them, you cannot explain them with the true reason, and if you do that they will die. So you must kick them in the ribcage and cannot tell them why. What excuse do you fabricate to explain this attack?


    20. Let us assume that there are two unauthorized movies being made about your life.  The first is an independently released documentary comprised of interviews with your friends and family and bootlegs footage from your actual life. Critics are describing it as "brutally honest and relentlessly fair". Meanwhile, Columbia Tri-Star has produced a big budget biopic with huge Hollywood stars as you and all your acquaintances; though the movie is based on actual events, the screenwriters have taken some liberties to dramatize the story. Critics are split on the artistic merit, but audiences love it. Which film would you be most interested in seeing?


    21. Imagine you could go back to the age of five and relive rest of your life, without loss of your memory till date. You will re-experience your entire adolescence with both the cognitive ability of an adult and the memories of everything you've learned by living your life previously. Would you lose you virginity earlier or later then the first time around (and by how many years e.g. earlier by 10 years is a good answer)?


    22. You work in an office. Generally, you are popular among your coworkers. You discover that there are two rumors about you. The first is that you got drunk at the office holiday party and had sex with your married coworker. This rumor is true, but most people don’t believe it. The second rumor is that you have been stealing hundred of dollars of office supplies and then selling them to cover a gambling debt. This rumor is false, but everyone assumes it is factual. Which of these rumors is most troubling to you?

    23. Consider this possibility: a) Think about a deceased TV star John Ritter. b) Pretend that Ritter never become famous. Pretend he was never affected by the trappings of fame, and try to imagine what his personality would have been like. c) Now imagine that this not-famous person is a character in a situation comedy. d) You are also a character in this sitcom, and not-famous Ritter is your father. E) However, the sitcom is your actual life. In other word you are living inside a sitcom. Everything about your life is a construction featuring the not-famous John Ritter as himself (playing your TV father). This is not a sitcom; this is your real life. How would you feel about this?