What if you had omniscience for five minutes?

[Kozmik]

Say you were given divine power to be able to see though time, though minds, and the world, and everything that may be, was, or will be. You could know who will win every World Series to the end of time, you could know the secret thoughts of you're most intimate friend - but you only have five minutes. What would you do?

I would write down the business news for two minutes, companies to invest in, disasters, wars, ect. I would take 15 seconds to go though Obama's mind, and 15 seconds to go through McCain's mind. One minutes to go though my family's mind. Then, I would search all there is to know about environmental technology.

What would it mean to be omniscient for five minutes? Would even a moment of omniscience provoke divine madness? What would it be like?

[An Gadaí]

It would be like finally scratching that itch.

[Jragon]

Ever wonder if that guy next to you on the bus thinks you smell? Ever wonder if your so called "friends" really think you're a prick? Well, ignorance is bliss in some cases. It's one of the many reasons telepathy would suck. I'd personally use my momentary insight to piece together information (in a non-omniscient way) for a great idea for a game system I like, a creative setting I like, and what company would accept, publish, and fund my insane idea and market it well. Then I'd probably access the answers to some of the more academic questions I have, no point in throwing away a chance to learn complex number theory without actually taking a class, and to do it nearly instantly at that. After that I'd sit down and shut up and twiddle my thumbs waiting for it to go away. Besides I don't trust omniscience to tell me accurate information past a couple years in the future because of the numbers of variables, and I figure the wording would need to be precise, otherwise I'd ask how someone felt about me and it may give me information I'd wrongly interpret (i.e. "They think you're a jerk" may mean "they're a little tiffed at you right now, don't worry about it.") In fact I think most information that's not academic, or at least set in stone would have a good chance of being misinterpreted (nothing like getting a really elaborate version of "kill everyone" as the answer to "how do I achieve world peace?")

I may be tempted to look into a way to come into full, eternal omniscience but that seems like cheating.

[Leaper]

One minutes to go though my family's mind.

Yeek. I actually love my family. I wouldn't even consider such a huge invasion of their privacy. Of course, as I already implied, YMMV depending on what your relationship with them is like.

Anyway, what I'd do is pretty dependent on how long it "really" takes to do some of the stuff I want to do. If it were true, universal omniscience, couldn't I find out EVERYTHING I want in a millisecond?

[Shalmanese]

I would write down how I could get into that state again.

[Hilarity N. Suze]

I hope I could focus on things I've wondered about. Could the truth about the beginning of the world come through all that omniscience? How about next weeks' Powerball numbers? (Okay, I'm shallow.)

I would hope things would be clear enough that I could write some of the stuff down. Being omniscient, I would be able to find a pen that worked and it wouldn't take the whole five minutes.

[Malacandra]

I'd spend one second working out what was the best thing to do with my omniscience, and four minutes fifty-nine seconds doing it, of course. (Or less... it might turn out that the best thing to do with omniscience was to exercise it for less than the possible time, and I naturally won't know that until I'm omniscient.)

[Happy Scrappy Hero Pup]

They've already written this year's bar exam.

I'd write down all 200 MBE answers, all the essay subjects for the CA exam, and the relevant points for the questions they'd ask.


If there was any time left, I'd do the same thing for the NY bar and I would retire on the earnings.

[BrainGlutton]

Afterwards, I would be really hungry and grab the nearest piece of fairy cake. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_Perspective_Vortex)

[drachillix]

Say you were given divine power to be able to see though time, though minds, and the world, and everything that may be, was, or will be. You could know who will win every World Series to the end of time, you could know the secret thoughts of you're most intimate friend - but you only have five minutes. What would you do?

I would write down the business news for two minutes, companies to invest in, disasters, wars, ect. I would take 15 seconds to go though Obama's mind, and 15 seconds to go through McCain's mind. One minutes to go though my family's mind. Then, I would search all there is to know about environmental technology.


Five jackpot winning lottery picks on random dates over the next 5 years

Final scores of the next 5 superbowls.

The name of a good lawyer.

[Gozu]

This might be better suited for IMHO.

I would find out what the most delicious food ever is then I would eat it.

[Little Nemo]

What happens if I don't know I'm omniscient?

Okay, seriously (or at least semi-seriously) I'm going with Malacandra's answer. Once I'm omniscient I'll know what the best use of my omniscience is.

[fusoya]

I'd take the first minute to find out what the winning lottery #'s for the next couple powerballs would be, and then spend the next 4 finding out for sure what all of my crushes look like naked.

[Moriarty]

I'd take the first minute to find out what the winning lottery #'s for the next couple powerballs would be, and then spend the next 4 finding out for sure what all of my crushes look like naked.

Oooh! Those are good ideas!

I'd also answer the whole Jesus resurrection thing (did he or didn't he?) and the whole Lee Harvey Oswald thing (did he or didn't he?). I already strongly suspect I know the answer to both, but it'd be nice to confirm my suspicions.

[Critical1]

screw writing, grab a recording device and start talking fast...but make sure you are still you know speaking clearly

going deep (I think) find away to convince humanity to pull its collective head out of its collective ass and start thinking truly long term (next 50, 100, 500 years instead of next week)

other than that, the usual, a means to secure personal wealth, preferably in a way that leaves me some cash to put to a good use outside of feeding my face

[Merkwurdigliebe]

Well as far as getting rich goes I'd spend about two minutes doing the stocks. I'd write down five stocks that performed the best each year for the next 50 years.

I wouldn't want to see my family's mind. I'd be afraid of what I'd find. In fact, I'd be afraid to do it for anyone I knew.

So I would then be rich. What's left? Love of course. I'd spend the rest of time trying to find a potential soul-mate. If I'm omniscient, I would know exactly what I am like and who I am (not so easy in real life) and I would have no problem comparing that with every person's ideal man. Find the best matches, then screen out for what I want the most (since I'd know it too) and try to make it happen.

[Revenant Threshold]

Probably very little. Call me cynical, but the chances of me being fucked around by some being that wants me to do something wrong is significantly higher than me getting omniscience for five minutes. Besides, you can't use the tool to evaluate the validity of the tool.

[Chessic Sense]

God- exists or doesn't?
Wealth- lotto and stocks, as mentioned
Sex- What magic set of phrases and actions will work the most often?
Food- best recipe for my tastes?

With any time remaining, I'd spend it on how I can become president or very charismatic. The only thing left for me to gain, I figure, is power. Lastly, I'd check for any way this could backfire, like assassinations or something.

[Kozmik]

I thought about this for sometime (I don't have omniscience so that was one wrench in the answering of my OP).


If I had omniscience for five minutes.. I would use those five minutes to experience childhood, to have the mind of a child. I would then have the mind of my eight year old self again for five minutes. I would know what I knew, what I remembered at eight years old, all my thoughts at eight years old. Wow.

[begbert2]

Wait a minute folks - omniscience is knowing everything at once, isn't it? You don't sort through a mental box and pick to spend one minute researching this, one minute that - you just know it all. Family secrets and nudie pictures included, whether you want it or not.

Me, I'd just spend that five minutes doing whatever I, in my omnitience, knew was the best thing for me to do during those five minutes. Though I personally suspect it would at the least include securing myself and those I care about financially for the indefinite future. (Most likely by taking notes to use after the five minutes were over.)

[meenie7]

I would quickly note down what exactly would be needed to cure some of our most troubling diseases (say, AIDS, heart disease, breast cancer and strokes.) Then, I would quickly as possible note down what it would take to give my ghost friend Marcus a body again so he could live a normal life. :)

And I would want more time, because I'd also like to find the perfect girl for me and where she lives, but Marcus and the diseases are more important. :)

[chacoguy]

What is the nature of God?
What is the nature of the Universe? How will it end?
What is the future of my life?
Good lottery numbers?
What, in the blue fuck, do women want?
What (thank you Ron White) do they all look nekkid? :D

[mswas]

I would ascend.

[Der Trihs]

I obliterate the universe as my omniscience violates the Uncertainty Principle in all of spacetime, collapses all the quantum waveforms in the universe and destroys all matter in the past, present and future simultaneously. :D

Assuming that my control is good enough to avoid that little problem, I think the first thing I'd like to know is if there are aliens or not, and where. Are there other universes ? Winning lottery numbers. And, is there any avoidable danger to my life and health that I can do something about ?

Most stuff close to me I don't want to know too much about, as it would spoil the surprise.

[drewbert]

Afterwards, I would be really hungry and grab the nearest piece of fairy cake. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_Perspective_Vortex)
Are you sure you just wouldn't end up laughing at frogs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minor_characters_from_The_Hitchhiker's_Guide_to_the_Galaxy#Prak) for the rest of your life?

[JayRx1981]

I would use the knowledge to ascend to omnipotent godhood. I think I'll take the trickster god role. That sounds like fun. Fart noises from all politicians for eternity. ;)

[Illuminatiprimus]

I'd be dull and pick each of the lotto numbers that score over £20m for the next five years, that should sort me out nicely.

Some have been mentioned but I think they're worth restating: cures for the biggest diseases (cancer, AIDS), where the aliens are and what they're like (I don't need omniscience to know that it's certain there is other life SOMEWHERE out there in the cosmos), and others would be how to achieve cold fusion or better yet some other way of producing energy without any waste products, and what Yankee Rose meant at the end of the Satanic Bible (LaVey took the secret to his grave).

[Tristan]

I would determine if FTL travel is possible, and how best to go about doing it.
I would figure out where the closest human friendly planets are at.
I would envision a handful of winning powerball lotto numbers (and Mega Millions).
I would envision the stock market trends for the next 15 years or so.
I would figure out where the necessary resources are located for that FTL method.
I would determine the location of resources on the Moon/Mars valuable enough to make it worthwhile for folks to go.
I would spend the rest of the time sending y omniscience to girls locker rooms. HEhehe

[E. Thorp]

What has Dick Cheney been up to for the past 8 years?

[Yllaria]

I would write one really bitchin' limerick. Maybe two. With horrible puns in them.

Hey, it's only five minutes.

[Annie-Xmas]

I'd pick the winning lottery numbers for the next ten years for every state lottery in the country, and use them all every week.

I'd peek into OJ Simpson's memories of June 12, 1994 to confirm what I pretty much know.

I'd see when certain people are scheduled to die. And I'd make sure to find out the 13 youngest of them to use in the next Celebrity Death Pool.

[vetbridge]

I'd pick the winning lottery numbers for the next ten years for every state lottery in the country, and use them all every week.

I would do that as well. The coolest part would be sitting back and laughing as the authorities attempted to figure out how I pulled it off.

[Spiff]

I'd see when certain people are scheduled to die. And I'd make sure to find out the 13 youngest of them to use in the next Celebrity Death Pool.Hey, I came into this thread to say that!

(Actually, I was going to say that I'd visit deadoralive.com and take notes...)

[THespos]

I'd NEVER tell anyone what I specifically focused on. It would keep everybody else guessing.

"That guy was omniscient for five minutes. Think he knows whether there's a God or not? Who killed JFK? Where Google's stock will be in five years?"

[middleman]

I'd figure out a way to safely enhance the size of the male genitalia. No need to look at stock prices if you got that info!

I'd spend the rest of the time watching my own personal historical porn channel.

[vetbridge]

I'd figure out a way to safely enhance the size of the male genitalia.
Did you send me an email this morning?

[Zeriel]

Besides the lottery and stock picks, a lot, I'd also take a variant on the crushes thing--I'd know the exact things to say at the right times, if it were possible, to get all of my crushes on permanent friends-with-benefits status. Totally sweet.

As for cancer, if it's not something I can jot down I figure my lottery winnings and subsequent investments will pay for a lot of research. =P