# A genie gives you one wish, but you have to make it for someone else **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 15, 2024, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-genie-gives-you-one-wish-but-you-have-to-make-it-for-someone-else/1008813 "2024-10-15T03:01:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SurrenderDorothy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/surrenderdorothy/32/1221_2.png) [@SurrenderDorothy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SurrenderDorothy)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2024, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-genie-gives-you-one-wish-but-you-have-to-make-it-for-someone-else/1008813/1 "2024-10-15T03:01:13Z")
Wow! You just found a genie lamp. Cool! You rub it and the genie pops out and tells you the deal: He’s a pretty straightforward genie. No evil genie shenanigans on his part, but he’s also not going to allow any shenanigans on your part. That is, he’s not going to grant you world peace by killing off all the humans or anything like that, but any “I wish for infinite wishes” kind of cheat-the-genie tomfoolery won’t fly. There is a catch, though. Your wish can be basically anything, but it can’t be made for yourself. It has to be made for the benefit of someone else. It has to be a specific individual, not a group. And it can’t remove or majorly influence anyone’s free will. Apart from that, the sky’s pretty much the limit! What’s your wish going to be? ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2024, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-genie-gives-you-one-wish-but-you-have-to-make-it-for-someone-else/1008813/2 "2024-10-15T03:05:51Z")
My ex, 38, who has MS, for him to be healed. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2024, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-genie-gives-you-one-wish-but-you-have-to-make-it-for-someone-else/1008813/3 "2024-10-15T03:13:57Z")
I wish for Harris to win the election in a 70% landslide. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2024, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-genie-gives-you-one-wish-but-you-have-to-make-it-for-someone-else/1008813/4 "2024-10-15T03:17:22Z")
Is this Sydney Sweeney The Body Wash Genie? ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2024, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-genie-gives-you-one-wish-but-you-have-to-make-it-for-someone-else/1008813/5 "2024-10-15T03:19:15Z")
I suppose wishing for my wife to learn her husband is now cancer-free is sort of cheating. ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2024, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-genie-gives-you-one-wish-but-you-have-to-make-it-for-someone-else/1008813/6 "2024-10-15T03:24:24Z")
Whatever it took for peace in the mid-east. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2024, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-genie-gives-you-one-wish-but-you-have-to-make-it-for-someone-else/1008813/7 "2024-10-15T05:38:14Z")
I would have no hesitation wishing for healthy, happy, prosperous longevity for my family, with no benefit to myself, but the rule is that the wish has to be for an individual, so that’s out. My initial reaction, then, was that I might tell the genie I decline, because I can’t favor one family member over the others. But then I spent a couple minutes trying to closely read the terms: > [@SurrenderDorothy](#): > > It has to be made for the benefit of someone else. It has to be a specific individual, not a group. And it can’t remove or majorly influence anyone’s free will. Apart from that, the sky’s pretty much the limit! Does this mean the benefit that accrues to the other person can’t have any positive impact on me? Like, if I wish for my wife to win the lottery, is it required that I die or get divorced or something so I can’t also enjoy her wealth? Or more abstractly, if I wish that the next time a hated political candidate, in a live TV appearance, invokes the support of God, they get repeatedly struck by massive and emphatic bolts of lightning, this is obviously to the primary benefit of that candidate’s rival, but I will certainly be happy to live in a world where the hated candidate’s message has been forcefully rebuked and that individual is not in office; is that level of benefit kosher for the purpose of the wish? ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2024, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-genie-gives-you-one-wish-but-you-have-to-make-it-for-someone-else/1008813/8 "2024-10-15T05:39:59Z")
I’d make this wish for my wife: May she live forever, and the last thing she ever hears be my voice. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2024, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-genie-gives-you-one-wish-but-you-have-to-make-it-for-someone-else/1008813/9 "2024-10-15T05:40:10Z")
My girlfriend or father or sibling wins billions of dollars in the lottery. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2024, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-genie-gives-you-one-wish-but-you-have-to-make-it-for-someone-else/1008813/10 "2024-10-15T05:44:49Z")
I’m going to the dogs. There’s a lady at the animal shelter who tirelessly works for the animals. She has about 20 dogs in her own pack. Usually the really unadoptable ones go home with her. I would wish she had the huge ranch she wants and plenty of help with animals and of course endless feed and treats. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2024, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-genie-gives-you-one-wish-but-you-have-to-make-it-for-someone-else/1008813/11 "2024-10-15T11:42:48Z")
I wish both of my ex-wives long, happy, and healthy lives. They deserve it for having to put up with for all those years. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2024, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-genie-gives-you-one-wish-but-you-have-to-make-it-for-someone-else/1008813/12 "2024-10-15T13:01:26Z")
> [@SurrenderDorothy](#): > > What’s your wish going to be? I wish for my sister, who is on the heart transplant list, to suddenly have the genetic defect in her heart retroactively fixed so she no longer needs a transplant, did not pass it on to her children, and can live a healthy old age. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2024, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-genie-gives-you-one-wish-but-you-have-to-make-it-for-someone-else/1008813/13 "2024-10-15T13:41:31Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > I would have no hesitation wishing for healthy, happy, prosperous longevity for my family, with no benefit to myself, but the rule is that the wish has to be for an individual, so that’s out. How about “I wish that my brother have the ability to heal the body, mind and bank account of any living relative, related by blood, law, or love.” ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2024, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-genie-gives-you-one-wish-but-you-have-to-make-it-for-someone-else/1008813/14 "2024-10-15T16:49:29Z")
I’m very distressed with the genie, because the following: > [@SurrenderDorothy](#): > > And it can’t remove or majorly influence anyone’s free will. Is a pretty big check on almost anything I would wish for individuals. The best I could come up with is a wish that my niece gets to enjoy a lifetime of safer environment conditions by reverting our atmospheric and climatic conditions to, say, that of the 1920s, giving her a chance at a full life before the planet becomes possibly unlivable due to ours and prior generations screw ups. Sure, the rest of the world would benefit as well, and likely such a magical change would stall our existing efforts to get ahead of the game, but one can hope. And maybe the horse will learn to sing! ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2024, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-genie-gives-you-one-wish-but-you-have-to-make-it-for-someone-else/1008813/15 "2024-10-15T17:02:15Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > I wish both of my ex-wives long, happy, and healthy lives. They deserve it for having to put up with for all those years. Wishing for a long and happy life for a loved one seems like the way to go. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2024, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-genie-gives-you-one-wish-but-you-have-to-make-it-for-someone-else/1008813/16 "2024-10-15T17:13:40Z")
If you have a deficient body, mind or bank account, close ties to the recipient and an unspoken desire that he fix your situation (wink wink, nudge nudge), then that makes it personal gain on your part, doesn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2024, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-genie-gives-you-one-wish-but-you-have-to-make-it-for-someone-else/1008813/17 "2024-10-15T18:05:10Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > that makes it personal gain on your part, doesn’t it? Tangentially, sure. But I could argue that any positive wish for the benefit of others is also in some way beneficial for myself. True altruism doesn’t exist - so where do you draw the line? ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2024, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-genie-gives-you-one-wish-but-you-have-to-make-it-for-someone-else/1008813/18 "2024-10-15T18:12:57Z")
That was my question above — if by my wish my wife wins the lottery, do I have to die or be dumped? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2024, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-genie-gives-you-one-wish-but-you-have-to-make-it-for-someone-else/1008813/19 "2024-10-15T18:13:20Z")
Probably at expecting to directly benefit from a wish helping someone really close to you. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2024, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-genie-gives-you-one-wish-but-you-have-to-make-it-for-someone-else/1008813/20 "2024-10-15T18:29:08Z")
Maybe. What if I do it with no expectation of that happening? What if I clear with the genie first? From my perspective, the wish is “healing powers”. I’m not getting them. The person who is has free will and agency. If the OP wants to say that’s over the line, cool. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-genie-gives-you-one-wish-but-you-have-to-make-it-for-someone-else/1008813.md?page=2)