# Can you defeat the evil genie? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 21, 2022, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-defeat-the-evil-genie/976903 "2022-12-21T14:02:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2022, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-defeat-the-evil-genie/976903/81 "2022-12-21T20:03:04Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > > [@Folly](#): > > > > “I wish for a turkey sandwich on rye bread with lettuce and mustard. And I don’t want any zombie turkeys and I don’t want any other weird surprises. Got it!?” > > You turn into a turkey yourself. - And you’ve just been sold to a radio station. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2022, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-defeat-the-evil-genie/976903/82 "2022-12-21T20:18:10Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > You turn into a turkey yourself. Dang it, I edited the wrong thing out! ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2022, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-defeat-the-evil-genie/976903/83 "2022-12-21T20:18:50Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > The turkey being a little dry, though… The turkey’s a little dry! Oh, this cursed thing. What demon from the depths of hell created thee. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2022, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-defeat-the-evil-genie/976903/84 "2022-12-21T20:20:38Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > That’s what I meant when I asked if something “not inherent to your wish” could be tacked on. Personally, I think the volume and weight of a trillion dollars would be inherent to the wish. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2022, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-defeat-the-evil-genie/976903/85 "2022-12-21T20:22:07Z")
This. @Velocity clearly has never played D&D ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2022, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-defeat-the-evil-genie/976903/86 "2022-12-21T20:28:24Z")
> [@Folly](#): > > Personally, I think the volume and weight of a trillion dollars would be inherent to the wish. There’s also the issue of where the cash came from. If police across the country are investigating the sudden disappearance of a trillion dollars from every bank vault in the US, and you’re sitting there with a trillion dollars in cash on your front lawn, even the dimmest cop in the world would be looking to have a few words with you. Even if they buy the “A genie did it!” defense, at a minimum they’ll confiscate the cash, and there’s a decent chance they’ll toss in a “receiving stolen goods” charge as well, if for no reason than to discourage the next person making an ill-advised wish. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2022, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-defeat-the-evil-genie/976903/87 "2022-12-21T20:32:37Z")
There would be some pissed off countries too as the majority of physical US currency (looking it up about 60% of 1.5 trillion total) is outside the U.S. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2022, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-defeat-the-evil-genie/976903/88 "2022-12-21T20:36:32Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > AIDS is already literally not having an immune system. OK. So the evil Genie vaccine grants you a super immune system. So effective that it extends beyond your body and antibodies attack other people that are even in the same room with you. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2022, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-defeat-the-evil-genie/976903/89 "2022-12-21T20:39:45Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > “I wish that the next Lottomax lottery ticket I buy for myself is the sole legally valid winning ticket for the largest prize pool for which that ticket is valid.” I guess if you won a fish (“sole”) that would count as misunderstanding by the Genie and not be permitted…Well, I guess you’re just in for a lifetime of misfortune and hijinks with power outages, flooded quik-e-marts, and 7-11s burning to the ground right in front of you… ---
**Author:** ![colinfred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colinfred/32/21338_2.png) [@colinfred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colinfred)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2022, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-defeat-the-evil-genie/976903/90 "2022-12-21T20:45:00Z")
> [@Folly](#): > > I guess if you won a fish (“sole”) that would count as misunderstanding by the Genie and not be permitted That is exactly the kind of thing that IS permitted. Just no “12 inch pianist” nonsense and no interpreting a sentence in a way that has absolutely no sense. Any vaguely arguable interpretation of someone’s words is acceptable. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2022, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-defeat-the-evil-genie/976903/91 "2022-12-21T20:47:51Z")
Oh, in that case he wins a fish. Or an actual swimming pool. (_manifested 10 feet above his head, just kidding._) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2022, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-defeat-the-evil-genie/976903/92 "2022-12-21T21:12:07Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > How’s that a problem? We already have an organ donor program, and it’s not like we were doing anything with the brains anyway. Some people feel there’s a moral issue. [Analysis: Killing prisoners for transplants: Forced organ harvesting in China – Brighter World](https://brighterworld.mcmaster.ca/articles/analysis-killing-prisoners-for-transplants-forced-organ-harvesting-in-china/#:~:text=China%20is%20the%20only%20country,known%20as%20forced%20organ%20harvesting). ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2022, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-defeat-the-evil-genie/976903/93 "2022-12-21T21:17:09Z")
Hardly the genie’s fault if you leave the delivery location of the trillion dollars unspecified. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2022, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-defeat-the-evil-genie/976903/94 "2022-12-21T21:22:52Z")
> [@colinfred](#): > > That is exactly the kind of thing that IS permitted. Just no “12 inch pianist” nonsense and no interpreting a sentence in a way that has absolutely no sense. Any vaguely arguable interpretation of someone’s words is acceptable. “Sole vs sole” is the kind of misunderstanding that can happen if you ignore the whole wish, but I specified, “for the largest prize pool for which that ticket is valid”. If you can show me a lottery that has a fish as the largest prize, I’ll be sure to avoid that one. Now, if I just said, “The sole winning ticket”, you could parse that as “the sole-winning ticket”, and I’d end up with a fish. But by specifying the prize pool, I think I should be safe. You’d have to work a lot harder to purposefully misunderstand “for the largest prize pool for which that ticket is valid”. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2022, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-defeat-the-evil-genie/976903/95 "2022-12-21T21:29:20Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > “I wish that the next Lottomax lottery ticket I buy for myself is the sole legally valid winning ticket for the largest prize pool for which that ticket is valid.” The ticket is the sole legally valid winning ticket because it turns out to be the only valid ticket anyone bought at all, for that draw. Sure there was still a rollover prize and you technically won it, but this event is so very unusual and suspicious that you are investigated for fraud, endlessly. The prize payout is suspended until the investigations conclude, but the investigations cannot conclude because nobody knows why only one ticket - your ticket - was sold for that draw. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2022, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-defeat-the-evil-genie/976903/96 "2022-12-21T21:32:58Z")
See? Now that’s a legitimate twist I didn’t anticipate! Now, I just wait until I see media stories about how “millions of people” are buying tickets for this draw. That’s why I specified it must be a ticket that _ **I** _ buy _ **for myself** _. No twist of someone else buying a ticket for a $10 raffle and then giving it to me as a gift. I control the timing. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2022, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-defeat-the-evil-genie/976903/97 "2022-12-21T21:33:59Z")
Does the media report on that sort of thing? ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2022, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-defeat-the-evil-genie/976903/98 "2022-12-21T21:35:52Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > So, my idea from upthread, but more than 30 words? > > 😉 Didn’t see it but yours doesn’t specify a starting date and does specify “clause”. Before the genie grants the wish, he is still free to interpret it against you. After granting the wish - whenever he does that - he will need to start interpreting in your favor. But, before that, he can delay the granting and he can decide that “clause” should be literally defined as - for example - a particular subsection complete sentence. Each sub-part of the sentence must be favorable to you but the totality of the whole does not need to. But yes, mine is too long and - plausibly - also has some holes still. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2022, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-defeat-the-evil-genie/976903/99 "2022-12-21T21:36:14Z")
“I wish for you, Genie, to, at the end of this statement to have never existed, without harm to any other thing in the Universe.” Every society has a story that lays out quite clearly that “Wish” = “Boobytrap.” ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2022, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-defeat-the-evil-genie/976903/100 "2022-12-21T21:36:23Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Sure there was still a rollover prize and you technically won it, but this event is so very unusual and suspicious that you are investigated for fraud, endlessly. Thinking about it, is there a clause in the lottery rules that prohibits using a genie to win? I could just cop to it, and then insist that the ticket is still valid. I’m sure they’d amend the rules right after that, but I’d get the money. And in Canada, there’s even a legal precedent I could cite. > **[Montreal Casino | Keno scandal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal_Casino#Keno_scandal)** > > In April 1994, Daniel Corriveau won $600,000 CAD playing keno. He picked 19 of the 20 winning numbers three times in a row. Corriveau claims he used a computer to discern a pattern in the sequence of numbers, based on chaos theory. However, it was later found that the sequence was easy to predict because the casino was using an inadequate electronic pseudorandom number generator. In fact, the keno machine was reset every morning with the same seed number, resulting in the same sequence of numbers... [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-defeat-the-evil-genie/976903.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-defeat-the-evil-genie/976903.md?page=6)