This is topic Three Wishes in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.


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Posted by Anthro (Member # 6087) on :
 
I was asked today if I had three wishes, what would I wish for. I answered: a platter of sushi, a cup of tea, and a good book.

Most people seemed puzzled by this. But I think that most of the grandiose thigns I would wish for (wealth, success, brilliance) either would only make me unhappy or are worth working for. I would not want to get to the top by snapping my fingers; I want to climb there.

Really, I think wishing is only worth it for the simple things. Things that are gone soon enough. Wishing is an idle sport, so perhaps it should be reserved for idle pastimes. And if you wish for that which is easy to get, you go through life generally happy and optimistic.

What are your three wishes? Why?
 

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Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
 
There's a Calvin and Hobbes where Calvin spends 5 panels deciding between wealth, power, and fame. Hobbes then wishes for a sandwich. Calvin tells him he's crazy.

Last panel shows Hobbes eating a sandwich and saying, "I got my wish."

Dagonee
 

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Posted by Foust (Member # 3043) on :
 
All of that is, of course, silly.

If you don't want fantastic wealth, then wish for money, and give it to me.

I'll buy you tea, a book, and a plate of whatever world food is trendy that week.
 

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Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
 
First wish: have an unlimited number of wishes.

Somehow, nobody wants to grant me at least that little wish...
 

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Posted by Anthro (Member # 6087) on :
 
Yeah, now my friends say they know exactly what they're going to do for my birthday gifts for the rest of my life . . .

Oops.
 

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Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
 


Explaining: There's a Johnny Bravo cartoon I just remembered, in which he keeps trying to get a job in order to get enough money to buy his mother a Mother's Day present. And in the end, all beaten and with no money, he's sitting on the porch of the house, talking to himself:
"Yeah, like that'll work. I'll just tell her how much I love her, how much she means to me, etc."
Somewhere in the middle of his monologue, his mother opens the door behind him and hears all the rest. Then she hugs him and says: "Aw, that's the only thing a mother ever wants from her child!"

To which Johnny says:
"Oh, mamma! That's gonna make shopping for you this Christmas REALLY cheap!"

[paraphrased at will]

[ September 26, 2004, 10:24 PM: Message edited by: Corwin ]
 

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Posted by Book (Member # 5500) on :
 
I sure wish I could stop vomiting.
 

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Posted by Toretha (Member # 2233) on :
 
a bookcase that would always have new books all of the kind you would enjoy.
 

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Posted by Little_Doctor (Member # 6635) on :
 
1.No Homework!
2.Controlled Invisibility
3.Flight
 

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Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
 
Anybody ever read Frumpy the Clown? It only ran for two years, but it was my favorite comic.

One Sunday strip Frumpy and and Brad are walking through the park and a wizard appears, brags a little, and offers Frumpy his heart's desires. Frumpy asks for the first ABBA album on vinyl and a watermelon. There's no way to "tell" a comic, so you'll just have to trust me that it was hilarious.
 

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Posted by Tammy (Member # 4119) on :
 
Oh Book. *hugs*

I wish I could relax and go to sleep. I was up at 5:30 this morning and I'm still tickin.
 

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Posted by Bob the Lawyer (Member # 3278) on :
 

quote:

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But I think that most of the grandiose thigns I would wish for (wealth, success, brilliance) either would only make me unhappy or are worth working for

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Pick the two that you want the most and use your last wish to be happy. Duh.
 

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Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :
 
"First wish: have an unlimited number of wishes."

Okay, one is granted that wish. Doesn't mean any of them will come true. Quite the opposite since the brain has finite capacity.
::head explodes::
 

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Posted by Vadon (Member # 4561) on :
 
Erm, A modest home, a small family, a good job. I find happiness in things like that. Not silly things like fame, power, wealth, etc.
 

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Posted by T_Smith (Member # 3734) on :
 
1. Financially stable for the length of my life.
2. Physical/Mental stability for the length of my life.
3. To be a good husband and father.

I don't need a genie in a bottle for those. Just dedication and work.
 

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Posted by Da_Goat (Member # 5529) on :
 
Ahem.

1. I wish I graduated high school yesterday with a 4.0 average and have already been accepted to every college whatsoever, but have decided not to go for (good) reasons beyond my control.

2. I wish I got married today to a beautiful, 5' 8 or 9", brunette woman with a great, harmonious personality to mine and a loving heart.

3. I wish Mountain Dew would release their Baja Blast pop in more places than Taco Bell.
 

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Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
 
1. My selfish wish: Powers of flight, ala Superman.
2. My unselfish wish: Good health for everyone, within the limits of plausability. (ie, if you get stuck with a knife, you don't automagically heal up, your body will just be able to fight off infection.)
3. My silly wish: Hmmm. . . to be a really, really, really good cook.

[ September 27, 2004, 07:40 AM: Message edited by: Scott R ]
 

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Posted by screechowl (Member # 2651) on :
 
I am reminded of the Far Side cartoon every time I hear about "three wishes" in any form.

You know the one?

The chef is getting ready to put the lobster in the boiling pot and the lobster is saying to him, "Three wishes? Did I say Three? Four wishes."

I particularly like the deadpan expression on the chef's face.

So, I can't help you, except I would wish for a lobster.
 

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Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
 
1) I wish I could speed up or slow down the passage of time, as in Treason
2) I if I spend a lot of time sped-up, it won't decrease my life span
3) I get to bestow fines or boons upon companies acccording to how pleased or displeased I am with their commercials (hint -- Enzyte, natural male enhancment would have alreay been fined millions upon millions of dollars)
 

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Posted by Xaposert (Member # 1612) on :
 
Well, first I'd wish to know which wishes would be best...
 

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Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
 
aspectre, I thought we were talking about a situation in which your wishes would be fulfilled... If not, I don't really see a reason to play this *game*...
 

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Posted by MEC (Member # 2968) on :
 
If it was possible for me to have any wish granted, I would wish for the same powers as the one granting my wish, with none of the restrictions.
 

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Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
 
1) Wish that the Genie was free to do whatever he wanted. This, of course, would make him my life long pal and he'd follow me around all the time granting me wishes and such and we'd get a cartoon deal out of disney and I'd marry the cute princess with the tiger as a pet and....

2) Don't wish to be happy, healthy, and financially secure for the rest of your life. That is easilly granted, by shooting you in the back, right now.

3) I'd wish for enough money to quit my job so I could spend my time writing. The fame I could earn from that.
 

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Posted by Altáriël of Dorthonion (Member # 6473) on :
 
I wish I could fly,
I wish that we would explode if we went to space,
I wish I had met Jesus Christ.

P.S. I wish I had a boyfriend...
 

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Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
 

quote:

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Wish that the Genie was free to do whatever he wanted. This, of course, would make him my life long pal and he'd follow me around all the time granting me wishes and such and we'd get a cartoon deal out of disney and I'd marry the cute princess with the tiger as a pet and....

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If he's a nice genie. Or maybe he'd just leave and spend all his time feeding trolls on hatrack.
 

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Posted by Altáriël of Dorthonion (Member # 6473) on :
 
Or eating them for that matter...
 

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Posted by UofUlawguy (Member # 5492) on :
 
1. blessed +3 silver dragon scale mail
2. 3 blessed scrolls of charging
3. blessed fireproof bag of holding
 

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Posted by Telperion the Silver (Member # 6074) on :
 
1. Robe of Twilight
2. Maple staff
3. Silver bracers
 

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Posted by Tammy (Member # 4119) on :
 

quote:

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I wish that we would explode if we went to space

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quote:

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1. The ability to shapeshift, at will, into the form of any living being, while still retaining the knowledge of who and what I truly am, as well as the ability to shift back to my natural form at will.

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That's scary!



How would we know who was who and what was what?
 

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Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
 
I'd know. Besides, it would help me to be able to assume an inconspicuous form when I was travelling to various points in time. There are too many time periods in which a white male who was only able to speak early 21st century English would be more than a little bit...conspicuous.

Plus, I'd enjoy seeing what it felt like to have a dolphin's body, or a cheeta's, or a hawk's.

Also, it would be very handy for consciously healing myself of wounds and such.
 

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Posted by Tammy (Member # 4119) on :
 
Wouldn't you be tempted to use that power in ways you shouldn’t? Maybe just once?
 

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Posted by Turgan (Member # 6697) on :
 
1) I wish for a lifetime supply of fried Mozzerrella sticks

2) Fame. And like Blink 182 Fame. Infact... just make them all my next door neighbors and best friends.

3) The power go anywhere and do anything i want at all times. Or you can just give me all of Super Man's powers. Or the bat cave.
 

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Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
 
I doubt it Tammy. Are you thinking of misusing it the way, say, Uther Pendragon did, or something else?
 

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Posted by dread pirate romany (Member # 6869) on :
 
1) Eating good chocolate would make me lose weight.

2) Plants would obey me, so I could garden by voice alone.

3) Health for my family, until natural death of well over 100.
 

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Posted by Tammy (Member # 4119) on :
 
I was specifically thinking of Frank Herbert's Face Dancers

Shape Shifters of any kind always come across as evil and soulless to me.
 

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Posted by Psycho Triad (Member # 3331) on :
 
1) The ability to read anyone's mind. Think about it.. why wish for wealth, when you can just go to Vegas and win it.

2) Ability to teleport. That way its not an issue trying to get across the state to see Becky, or to go around the country to visit other Hatrackers.

3) To be an "above average" fencer. Fencing is one of the only sports I've ever known where a majority of its participants aim to be "average." I'd hate the responsibility of near-godlike fencing talent.. I'd have to, you know, practice a lot and compete nationally and such. I guess i could just teleport that extra 2 feet and suddenly stab someone who i was a safe distant away from moments before. Or maybe read their minds and predict every move and think of its counter before the other person even moves.

 

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Posted by AmkaProblemka (Member # 6495) on :
 
My three wishes would be for things that are more or less out of my control but that I deeply want.

1. No one in this world goes without basic necessities: Water, food, clothing, shelter, safety, medicine.

2. Everyone gets an education that includes literacy and is appropriate to the learning abiltities and talents they exhibits.

3. Universal language translators: no matter what language anyone spoke, they would be able to clearly understand what anyone was trying to communicate.
 

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Posted by Tammy (Member # 4119) on :
 
Those are commendable wishes Amka.

And that Ladies & Gentlemen is why I feel like this.
 

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Posted by Bob the Lawyer (Member # 3278) on :
 
You know, sticking in "ands" "as well" "except for" etc. into your wish to string more and more things together doesn't mean it still counts as one wish.
 

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Posted by Tammy (Member # 4119) on :
 
Yes it does.
 

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Posted by kwsni (Member # 1831) on :
 
1. Teleportation.
2. Lots of land i can have horses on, and the ability to build everything like i want it.
3. Hatrack as a state. Or a country. Whatever.

Ni!

[ September 27, 2004, 06:21 PM: Message edited by: kwsni ]
 

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Posted by kaioshin00 (Member # 3740) on :
 
All I wish for is Global Domination

Soon, Pinky. Very soon...
 

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Posted by J T Stryker (Member # 6300) on :
 
1. To be able to wrestle again

2. To pass AP American Lit

3. To meet the perfect girl (and have her like me)

But then again, I could make due with just the first one.

[ September 27, 2004, 06:44 PM: Message edited by: J T Stryker ]
 

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Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :
 
"I thought we were talking about a situation in which your wishes would be fulfilled... If not, I don't really see a reason to play this *game*"

In this game, there are three wishes which are guaranteed to be fulfilled. I was merely pointing out that exactly how one phrases a guaranteed-to-be-fulfilled-wish can have extreme consequences.
In this case, a first guaranteed-to-be-fulfilled-wish for an unlimited number of wishes/desires without further provisos on its fulfillment causes an attempt to fill a finite brain with infinite information/wishes, hence:
::head explodes::

Let's suppose that for your first guaranteed-to-be-fulfilled-wish, you wish for only a hundred wishes.
Next thing you know, you have wishes/desires in your head that weren't there before. And your second guaranteed-to-be-fulfilled-wish is made for eg brussel sprouts, with the third guaranteed-to-be-fulfilled-wish made for eg anchovies. And you didn't even like brussel sprouts or anchovies before making that first guaranteed-to-be-fulfilled-wish for more wishes/desires. And you still don't like them cuz you didn't wish to like them.
You've just wasted three guaranteed-to-be-fulfilled-wishes on stuff you don't even want. And still have 97 unfulfilled wishes/desires nagging at your sense of success/failure.

Would you want every wish to come true?
Never been so annoyed by someone that you wished them harm? but only for that moment? and only because you know that your wish wouldn't actually harm them?
Need a "magic"word/ritual to prevent wishes from being fulfilled unless you truly desire them to be fulfilled. A changing password/ritual lest saying that word, doing that ritual becomes reflexive.

Okay, suppose you phrase the guaranteed-to-be-fulfilled-wishes correctly.
Then you wish to be the world's fastest runner. How would riding a wish be different from riding a motorcycle? Would you feel any more successful outrunning other competitors than you would if you beat them using a motorcycle?
Suppose you wished that a heart throb loved you. Would you feel any more loved knowing that they didn't have a choice in the matter?

Even "Pick the two that you want the most and use your last wish to be happy." has undesirable consequences.
Would you really want to be happy when eg your puppy got run over by a car? etc...

Be careful what you wish for, especially if you know that your wish will come true.

[ September 27, 2004, 07:40 PM: Message edited by: aspectre ]
 

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Posted by Anthro (Member # 6087) on :
 
I repeat:
1. Platter of sushi
2. Cup o' tea
3. Good book

I can get the rest myself. And for the large worldwide wishes, in the (paraphrased) words of a Weatherwax, it doesn't really help that much. Better to work to change the people.
 

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Posted by Lost Ashes (Member # 6745) on :
 
I'm not sure what my first two wishes would be exactly but for the third:

I wish that the genie granting these wishes will have the same happiness or misfortune that I experience from the granting of my first two wishes.

That one kinda keeps the genie from mucking about with what you wish for...
 

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Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
 
I wish to start a new page in this thread.
 

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Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
 
Yippee!!
 

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Posted by Dragon (Member # 3670) on :
 
Huh.

The funny thing about this is that I just made a post on my livejournal saying how a teleportation device really needed to be invented pronto... and it seems like there are a lot of people here who agree with me. Based on the fact that there's a bunch of geniuses here; how hard would it be? and if I gave you a few hundred dollars would you make me one?

(except I'm not really kidding...)

I'd also like to say that this:

quote:

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Eating good chocolate would make me lose weight.

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is the best wish ever. That one deserves to be granted. Think of how many people would be instantly happy!
 

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Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
 
No!!! Don't do it! That's one of those weird "monkey's paw" wishes that has some hidden danger in it. Like you'd be eating Belgian Ex Lax or something!!

Beware!!!
 

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Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
 
Teleportation - at least 3-400 years, probably never to the point that we could teleport a person...

Anyway, I don't really see how you can verify my assumption

And for a real wish: to go back in time to a certain date (won't write it here), with the knowledge I have now and with the world exactly like it was then. I don't care for winning the lotery - though it would be interesting to see if I'd be capable of NOT betting on stuff I KNOW. What I do care about is hurting other people, I wish I could relive those moments and change them. Anyway, I'm starting not to need this wish anymore, since most of the things I've done are forgiven, but still...
 

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Posted by Anthro (Member # 6087) on :
 
Cool. I no longer have the thread kiss-of-death. One of my threads has reached two pages. Wheeee!
 

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Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
 
Actually, I had that too, even with threads that were not my own... So who knows, maybe after this post... ?!
 

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