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TheFerrett

The Man What Writes De Comique





Joined: 09 Nov 2005

Posts: 296

The Man What Writes De ComiqueJoined: 09 Nov 2005Posts: 296

Posted: Sun May 14, 2006 11:44 pm Post subject: Wish For Immortality 1.1



The Open-Source Wish Project was inspired by



This wish’s intent is to allow someone to live for as long as they want to. (Living through the heat death of the universe could get a little, you know, boring.)



And this is how what we would tell the genie to get it:



”I wish to live in the locations of my choice, in a physically healthy, uninjured, and apparently normal version of my current body containing my current mental state, a body which will heal from all injuries at a rate three sigmas faster than the average given the medical technology available to me, and which will be protected from any diseases, injuries or illnesses causing disability, pain, or degraded functionality or any sense, organ, or bodily function for more than ten days consecutively or fifteen days in any year; at any time I may rejuvenate my body to a younger age, by saying a phrase matching this pattern five times without interruption, and with conscious intent: 'I wish to be age,’ followed by a number between one and two hundred, followed by ‘years old,’ at which point the pattern ends - after saying a phrase matching that pattern, my body will revert to an age matching the number of years I started and I will commence to age normally from that stage, with all of my memories intact; at any time I may die, by saying five times without interruption, and with conscious intent, 'I wish to be dead’; the terms 'year' and 'day' in this wish shall be interpreted as the ISO standard definitions of the Earth year and day as of 2006.



1) If you think you have found a loophole (or "bug") in the current Wish wording that could backfire significantly, cut-and-copy the precise phrase you have issues with and post your suggested fix thusly:



BUGGED PHRASE:

…the erroneous part of the phrase.



POTENTIAL MISINTERPRETATION:

An explanation of how the phrase could be twisted to serve that genie's evil ends.



SUGGESTED FIX:

…the reworded phrase. Note that if you do not provide an alternative wording, you are merely wasting our time with nitpicking. Be a part of the solution!



2) If you think the current Wish wording is lacking something that could be disastrous, then post it thusly:



WORDING OMISSION:

…the suggested phrase you think should be in the wish.



POTENTIAL MISINTERPRETATION:

An explanation of how, without this added clause, our wish could come to ruin.



3) If you think the entire Wish wording is so hopelessly botched that you would need to wish for something else entirely to get what you'd actually want, post it this way:



BUGGED WISH WORDING:

Your new wording, rewritten from the ground up



REASON FOR NEW VERSION:

An explanation of why the foundations of the current Wish wording are so frotzed that it'd be better to start over, with a list of why your changes are better.



Periodically, all of the changes will be looked over by the moderators, and the most reasonable of the suggested changes will be incorporated into the official Wish text, at which point this thread will be closed and the new Wish version will be put open for discussion.



There are other Wish wordings for different goals,



That said, let's wishulate! The goal of the Open-Source Wish Project is to create perfectly-worded wishes, so that when the genie comes and grants us our wish we can get precisely what we want. The genie, of course, will attempt to interpret the wish in the most malicious way possible, using any loophole to turn our wish into a living hell. The Open-Source Wish Project hopes to use the collective wisdom of all humanity to create wishes with no loopholes whatsoever.The Open-Source Wish Project was inspired by this comic on Home on the Strange And this is how what we would tell the genie to get it:1) If you think you have found a loophole (or "bug") in the current Wish wording that could backfire significantly, cut-and-copy the precise phrase you have issues with and post your suggested fix thusly:…the erroneous part of the phrase.An explanation of how the phrase could be twisted to serve that genie's evil ends.…the reworded phrase. Note that if you do not provide an alternative wording, you are merely wasting our time with nitpicking. Be a part of the solution!2) If you think the current Wish wording is lacking something that could be disastrous, then post it thusly:…the suggested phrase you think should be in the wish.An explanation of how, without this added clause, our wish could come to ruin.3) If you think the entire Wish wording is so hopelessly botched that you would need to wish for something else entirely to get what you'd actually want, post it this way:Your new wording, rewritten from the ground upAn explanation of why the foundations of the current Wish wording are so frotzed that it'd be better to start over, with a list of why your changes are better.Periodically, all of the changes will be looked over by the moderators, and the most reasonable of the suggested changes will be incorporated into the official Wish text, at which point this thread will be closed and the new Wish version will be put open for discussion.There are other Wish wordings for different goals, which you can see here . If you want to suggest a new Wish goal, go here . You may cut-and-copy the wish with attribution to its original source on Home on the Strange.That said, let's wishulate!

Aliza







Joined: 13 May 2006

Posts: 28



Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 12:35 am Post subject: an age matching the number of years I started



typo.

laochbran







Joined: 02 Mar 2006

Posts: 3



Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 4:41 pm Post subject: 'current mental state' is asking for trouble. What if you wished when you were in a bad mood?



'with a mental state that is not altered in any way by this wish, with the exception of those alterations required in order to control the influence of aging' seems preferable to me.

Nazdakka







Joined: 10 May 2006

Posts: 3

Joined: 10 May 2006Posts: 3

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 10:14 pm Post subject: Bugged Phrase:

"...between one and two hundred..."



Potential Misinterpretation:

This could be interpreted as meaning "between 100 and 200" as opposed to "between 1 and 200".



Suggested fix:

Simply change to "...between one and one hundred and ninety-nine" (or whatever, just not X-hundred).

_________________

Nazdakka

SorceressKnight







Joined: 10 May 2006

Posts: 6



Posted: Wed May 17, 2006 8:14 am Post subject: I can't believe it's up to version 1.1 of this wish and no one has caught this loophole...



WORDING OMISSION:



"I wish to live in the locations of my choice, in a physically healthy, uninjured, and apparently normal version of my current body containing my current mental state in a situation in which my life has a baseline minimum of comfort equal to that in which my quality of life is at this point in time , a body which will heal from all injuries at a rate three sigmas faster than the average given the medical technology available to me, and which will be protected from any diseases, injuries or illnesses causing disability, pain, or degraded functionality or any sense, organ, or bodily function for more than ten days consecutively or fifteen days in any year; at any time I may rejuvenate my body to a younger age, by saying a phrase matching this pattern five times without interruption, and with conscious intent: 'I wish to be age,’ followed by a number between one and two hundred, followed by ‘years old,’ at which point the pattern ends - after saying a phrase matching that pattern, my body will revert to an age matching the number of years I started and I will commence to age normally from that stage, with all of my memories intact; at any time I may die, by saying five times without interruption, and with conscious intent, 'I wish to be dead’; the terms 'year' and 'day' in this wish shall be interpreted as the ISO standard definitions of the Earth year and day as of 2006.





POTENTIAL MISINTERPRETATION:



Your wish is granted. Oops...during the making of this wish, the genie just so happened to frame you for a crime you didn't commit, and managed to get the jury and judge to arrest you and sentence you to life imprisonment without parole...[/b]

Aliza







Joined: 13 May 2006

Posts: 28



Posted: Thu May 18, 2006 4:30 am Post subject: "In the location of my choice" would tend to rule out imprisonment. However, I agree that it doesn't protect against all malicious changes in life circumstances.

SorceressKnight







Joined: 10 May 2006

Posts: 6



Posted: Fri May 19, 2006 12:11 am Post subject: "In the location of my choice" would tend to rule out imprisonment. However, I agree that it doesn't protect against all malicious changes in life circumstances.>>



Actually, when you get really technical (and for this project, we are pretty much going under the assumption the genie will get as technical as possible), the phrase "in the location of my choice" doesn't technically rule out imprisonment: The genie could easily, say, have you arrested and sentenced to life without parole...but then have you assigned to a prison in the place in which you choose to live.

samldanach







Joined: 25 May 2006

Posts: 57



Posted: Fri May 26, 2006 2:50 pm Post subject: I think this is starting to drift from an actual discussion of immortality. This isn't a happiness wish. It's simply a wish to not die. the rest of it has to be worked out by you.



Personally, I've always preferred:



"I wish to be instantly and completely healed of all mental, emotional, or physical damage done to me by any source, until such time as I explicitly and knowingly choose to die."



Note that 'any source' includes toxins, disease, and age. It also includes the genie, in case he decides to get froggy with you.

Tamfang







Joined: 27 May 2006

Posts: 14

Location: California

Posted: Sat May 27, 2006 6:47 am Post subject: Is a voluntary piercing "damage"? How about a tattoo?

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"How'd ya like to climb this high without no mountain?" --Porky Pine

Ronfar







Joined: 22 Mar 2006

Posts: 294

Joined: 22 Mar 2006Posts: 294

Posted: Sat May 27, 2006 4:43 pm Post subject: Remember the standard D&D "solution" to a wish for invulnerability: the character is placed in a kind of temporal stasis, completely unchanging for all eternity. We don't want to let the genie do this to us.

_________________

- Doug

samldanach







Joined: 25 May 2006

Posts: 57



Posted: Tue May 30, 2006 3:44 pm Post subject: I'd certainly qualify piercing as "damage." So, no piercings. I think that's a reasonable trade-off.



Tats are a little trickier. Because, AFAIK, you can't "heal" the ink out of your system. It just kind of floats between your dermis and epidermis, and gradually leaches away. Given the speed of a tattoo needle, it is entirely possible that a tattoo could be applied, even with the needle mark itself being instantly healed.



And, Ronfar, that's an excellent point. However, I don't think had proposed that particular error yet.

Ronfar







Joined: 22 Mar 2006

Posts: 294

Joined: 22 Mar 2006Posts: 294

Posted: Thu Aug 17, 2006 2:29 am Post subject: BUGGED PHRASE:

"to live ... in a ... version of my current body containing my current mental state"



POTENTIAL MISINTERPRETATION:

As the previous poster suggested, this is a potential minefield. This could be interpreted as requiring the genie to prevent any changes to said current mental state. For example, if your brain isn't allowed to change at all, you literally can't think any thoughts other than the thought that you are currently thinking. It would be like pausing a computer program in the middle of execution. The genie could also prevent you from forming new memories, as that would be a change to your current mental state.



SUGGESTED FIX:

"version of my current body containing my current mental state (which shall include its normal ability to change)"

_________________

- Doug

Aliza







Joined: 13 May 2006

Posts: 28



Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2006 3:00 pm Post subject: I wish to be instantly and completely healed of all mental, emotional, or physical damage done to me by any source,



I dunno, someone walking down the street with absolutely no scars or calluses would look pretty odd. I suspect having a conversation with someone who'd never taken any emotional or mental damage would be even odder.



The line between "experience" and "damage" is pretty thin.

stoicfaux







Joined: 13 Jun 2007

Posts: 1



Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2007 1:38 am Post subject: Re: Wish For Immortality 1.1 Quote: ”I wish to live in the locations of my choice



Living in the beach is very different than living on the beach. Same for living on/in Earth. I might be worried about living in a house (in the walls,) depending on how picky the genie is.



Also, "living" in a location doesn't prevent you from being taken to places you don't want to go. If I go visit Fiji, I will still tell people that I live in Atlanta.



Quote: I wish to live in the locations of my choice, in a physically healthy, uninjured, and apparently normal version of my current body containing my current mental state



It sounds like you want to live in a giant version (replica) of your body.



Quote: , a body which will heal from all injuries at a rate three sigmas faster than the average given the medical technology available to me, and which will be protected from any diseases, injuries or illnesses causing disability, pain, or degraded functionality or any sense, organ, or bodily function for more than ten days consecutively or fifteen days in any year;



I don't get this. If you are hurt, you heal quickly, however you aren't supposed to get hurt.



"Average medical technology" is a relative turn. For all you know, medical technology could decline. Or the genie could use the average medical technology available on the entire planet (since 50% of the world doesn't modern have health care) or average for the entire universe.



Quote: at any time I may rejuvenate my body to a younger age, by saying a phrase matching this pattern five times without interruption,



If you somehow wind up in a vacuum or smothered in sand or even water, you may not be able to say your escape phrase, leaving you trapped for all eternity.



Another problem is that human memory is probably finite. You may live long enough to fill up your brain, or newer memories may overwrite older memories, which leaves you at the risk of forgetting the escape phrase.

Wallsy

aka. Tiggum





Joined: 18 Aug 2007

Posts: 3

Location: Melbourne aka. TiggumJoined: 18 Aug 2007Posts: 3Location: Melbourne

Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2007 1:28 am Post subject:



I'd have your mind removed from but still connected to your (undying, perpetually healthy) body, and make it capable of infinite expansion.



You'd probably want to give yourself a perfect memory too, because in millions of years, if humans still exist, they probably won't still be speaking the same English we now do, if they speak English at all, so the activation phrases may be difficult to remember unless you can remember everything perfectly.



Also, I think the ability to teleport would be essential. What if you were on a planet that was consumed by a star? There'd be no escape. You have to be able to teleport, and survive without discomfort in space, to give you a way to travel to other planets.



Also, an ability to sense the locations of planets with acceptable climates and intelligent life would be beyond useful. If humanity is destroyed, there may be other, similar races out there, but that does you no good if you can't find them.



Also, the ability to grant the same abilities to others (and the ability to revoke them) would be fantastic, but not essential.





Wallsy.

_________________

http://wallsy.hopto.org I think an ideal version of this wish would have to remove your mind from physical limitations. The brain can't possibly hold an infinite amount of information. It's likely that you'd start overwriting things within a relatively short amount of time.I'd have your mind removed from but still connected to your (undying, perpetually healthy) body, and make it capable of infinite expansion.You'd probably want to give yourself a perfect memory too, because in millions of years, if humans still exist, they probably won't still be speaking the same English we now do, if they speak English at all, so the activation phrases may be difficult to remember unless you can remember everything perfectly.Also, I think the ability to teleport would be essential. What if you were on a planet that was consumed by a star? There'd be no escape. You have to be able to teleport, and survive without discomfort in space, to give you a way to travel to other planets.Also, an ability to sense the locations of planets with acceptable climates and intelligent life would be beyond useful. If humanity is destroyed, there may be other, similar races out there, but that does you no good if you can't find them.Also, the ability to grant the same abilities to others (and the ability to revoke them) would be fantastic, but not essential.Wallsy._________________