You both like philosophy, and literature.
You: Hello. I'm Adam from Wisconsin. I'd like to argue/discuss. Where are you from?
You: Oh, do you have another game?
Stranger: Yes, the questions game.
Stranger: Don't know what you had in mind.
You: Anyway, how do you play?
Stranger: You take turns in asking each other questions, preferable funny or interesting ones.
Stranger: If you found out right now, that you only have 5 minutes left to live, what would you do?
Stranger: Meditation, huh, or at least meditative, not bad.
You: Perhaps find some paper
You: write to my best friend
You: If you had three months to live, what would you do? (You have a terminal brain tumor that will roughly end your life in three months. You do not have loss of mobility or anything.)
Stranger: I would read a whole bunch of books that I want to read, and some books that I'd like to reread, I'd read Meditations by Marcus Aurelius and Dao De Ching every day. Moreover, I'd have a bunch of sex, and smoke DMT.
Stranger: When the time gets close, I'd give everything I own to my little brother.
Stranger: Maybe travel to another country for the last time, and then kill myself maybe.
Stranger: I would also meditate a lot, and go to church.
Stranger: Alright, my turn.
Stranger: If you could ask God anything, and he would answer, just one question, what would you ask?
Stranger: Also, I'm not saying the God of the Bible or anything, just God whoever they may be, if at all.
You: I'd look up something related to synthetic food agriculture, and ask how to create that innovation. Similarly, if my research finds that some other innovation, such as scaling up the production of vitro meat, then I'd ask how to do that. Or, hell, maybe I'd even super generalize it and ask what the discovery that would do the most Good in terms of an innovation that reduces the most suffering of sentient beings in the world.
Stranger: Ah, very admirable of you.
You: At first I thought about asking for my
You: perfect women's full name...but eh
You: more important things than that =)
Stranger: The idea was to ask a question, and not for a favor.
Stranger: Well, God is unpredictable, so you really don't want to waste your only question.
You: Yes, I would ask it in a way to formulate it.
You: I didn't mean that she just create it from thin air or something.
Stranger: I would ask what kind of question I should ask.
Stranger: Anyway, your turn.
You: There was no time or other factor related to the question.
You: ...I think that'd be a waste
Stranger: I think that's the only question that would not be a waste.
You: It would need to be context dependent
You: So the correct question would be super general
Stranger: Well, you can't know that.
Stranger: We can't know what God would answer.
Stranger: And the probability that he'll know the most reasonable question to ask is higher than you knowing it.
Stranger: That's why I think all other questions would be a waste.
You: What're five movies in your top 20?
Stranger: Ah, that's a hard question, I have some, but I won't be able to think of them.
Stranger: But one of them is Casablanca.
Stranger: I know I have other favourites, but I can't think of any other, unfortunately.
Stranger: Do you want me to skip the question to my turn or do you want to ask another one?
You: Top three stories you find memorable?
Stranger: What do you mean by stories?
You: Greek, short stories, novels, something you heard from someone on the bus--anything
Stranger: Ok, I'll choose 3 novels
Stranger: Really hard, though.
Stranger: The Metamorphosis by Kafka, The Trial by Kafka, and Dance Dance Dance by Haruki Murakami.
Stranger: Really hard, though.
Stranger: If you could have a dinner with 3 historical people from all of human history, which ones would you choose?
Stranger: No one of them can be alive today.
You: Tesla, Lincoln, Buddha. I wrote those down fast. But I'd like to ask Walther Bothe (a scientist that worked on finding how to create fission on the Nazi side) if he deliberately reported wrong results on how carbon absorbs too many neutrons
You: Do you have a passion in life? What is it? Or what should it be, regardless of motivation?
Stranger: I think my passion is to learn and explore intellectual and aesthetic domains. What should my passion be? I would like my passion to be art, which it already is, along with philosophy and science.
Stranger: Alright, my turn.
You: I mean, not what you're good at
You: I mean what should it be in regards to worldly ends?
Stranger: You mean that would be of benefit to the world rather than to myself?
Stranger: Good question, never thought it, guess i'm egoistic.
Stranger: But I think what's of best benefit to the world is that which is of best benefit to you, if you're passionate and talented as a writer or artist, then your creation will be of benefit to the world, etc.
Stranger: So I would be inclined to answer the same, even though I'm sure that I'm not particularly talented; I still think that you're most likely to contribute in a domain you're good at, and I think you're most likely to be good at something you're passionate about.
You: So no thought of helping people in poverty? or somehow helping lessen animal suffering?
Stranger: Well, no, because you asked for a passion, and those things wouldn't passionate me.
You: Sentient beings at the extreme end...
Stranger: And art and literature and science is also of benefit to the world.
You: That's why I said regardless of motivation...
Stranger: Well, my answer would still be the same.
Stranger: Or maybe something in regards to mental health.
Stranger: Ways to improve mental health.
You: Ok. Sounds like more of a first world problem--but that'd be a good question for got to answer in terms of some mass benefit ~ greatest good for the most.
Stranger: Well, it will be a mass-problem soon, especially when the third-world improves considerably.
Stranger: Once people don't have to fight for hunger and basic needs, then mental health will be the next big problem, and I believe, a mass problem.
Stranger: Also, I'm not too worried about the third world with all the progress we're making, obesity is a bigger global problem than starvation, every single person on the planet has a smartphone, and those who don't will soon, we've connected more people than ever to the electric grid, and we've reached the UN goals to half global absolute poverty in half the time.
Stranger: Ok, if you could meet anyone on the planet for a dinner who would you choose?
You: Warren Buffet or do I have to know them?
Stranger: No, you don't have to know them.
Stranger: Anyone on the planet includes a lot of people you don't know, presumably.
You: Ok, then the woman that would be my perfect match in terms of us both mutually lessening the most absolute poverty. It wouldn't matter if she was just a friend, but I'd prefer that it was someone I could share more with.
Stranger: I meant someone you know, an actual person on the planet.
Stranger: I thought you meant someone you knew personally when you asked.
Stranger: Alright, your turn.
You: If you could have one vaguely possible superpower (e.g., not control of time), what would it be?
Stranger: Hmm, I'm not sure what would constitute vaguely possible.
You: And not a bunch of superpowers (so not Superman)
Stranger: Especially considering how yesterdays magic is today's technology.
Stranger: I would choose the Sharingan from Naruto, but I'm sure it's not ''vaguely possible'' and it includes many powers, nested inside one power.
You: As an example, mine would be flight. Ya know, jetpacks.
Stranger: How is that a superpower?
You: Um, so not mysticism.
Stranger: Your example is technological.
Stranger: But you asked for a superpower.
Stranger: And for it to be vaguely possible.
You: It's theoretically possible
Stranger: I have no idea how to answer that, haha.
You: Invisibility is also theoretically possible
You: Many things possible
Stranger: Well, to be fair, we can't know the full extent of what's theoretically possible.
Stranger: Maybe I'd choose the ability to teleport anywhere I wanted.
Stranger: Or to turn myself into anyone else, like that blue chick in X-men.
Stranger: But my no-1 choice is the Sharingan.
You: Um...that's kinda...unrealistic, but I'll take the teleportation as good enough
Stranger: Well, to be fair, the question was weird.
Stranger: In any event, my turn.
Stranger: If you could live in any historical subculture, which one would you choose?
Stranger: It can be to be a pirate in the 17th century Carribean, a knights templar during the crusades, Samurai in Feudal Japan. or anything like that.
Stranger: Right, weird was the wrong way to put it, it was a bit unreasonable and not very clear, in my estimation.
Stranger: Oh, and you can also be whoever you want or have whatever role you want in this historical subculture.
You: Well, I wouldn't want to be someone of too much influence because I'd be worried of screwing it up
Stranger: It's up to you.
You: I really do not know history that well.
You: I keep thinking I'd want to be in the here and now.
Stranger: You can't choose that.
Stranger: It has to be ''historically significant'' so let's say that you can't choose anything after the 60s.
Stranger: But it should be ancient history or something, funnier that way.
Stranger: Victorian England, Italian Rennaisance, Medieval Europe, etc.
You: I think I have an alternate option. I'd choose to be someone extremely wealthy between 1925ish onward...probably in America
Stranger: You're really obsessed with lessening absolute poverty, haha.
Stranger: Every answer connects to that.
Stranger: But alright, it's a cop-out, but I accept it.
You: Flight has nothing to do with it tho
Stranger: That's the exception that confirms the rule.
Stranger: And you'd probably use it to fly to Africa and help people or something.
Stranger: Alrighty, gimme a good one.
You: I'm trying to think of one.
You: But I really need to eat something.
Stranger: That's alright.
