# If you could ask one question and get the absolute truth.. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 27, 2008, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-ask-one-question-and-get-the-absolute-truth/439425 "2008-02-27T22:05:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-ask-one-question-and-get-the-absolute-truth/439425/41 "2008-02-28T16:29:07Z")
what question should i ask? ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-ask-one-question-and-get-the-absolute-truth/439425/42 "2008-02-28T16:32:40Z")
[QUOTE=olivesmarch4th] ‘‘Am I a good person?’’ [/QUOTE] Yes of course you are. :: pats condescendingly on head :: ---
**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:** [February 28, 2008, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-ask-one-question-and-get-the-absolute-truth/439425/43 "2008-02-28T16:50:07Z")
“How should I be acting in this life that will most directly benefit me in the afterlife?” If the answer is “It makes no difference” I’ve got the answer to another question. ---
**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:** [February 28, 2008, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-ask-one-question-and-get-the-absolute-truth/439425/44 "2008-02-28T16:51:53Z")
> [@](#): > > Who is my biological father? Darth Xmas? ---
**Author:** ![Ronald\_C.Semone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cc9497/32.png) [@Ronald\_C.Semone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ronald_C.Semone)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-ask-one-question-and-get-the-absolute-truth/439425/45 "2008-02-28T17:12:45Z")
Who killed Lizzie Borden’s father and step-mother? Personally, I think it was the maid, Bridget. ---
**Author:** ![Whiteknight](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whiteknight/32/4962_2.png) [@Whiteknight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whiteknight)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-ask-one-question-and-get-the-absolute-truth/439425/46 "2008-02-28T17:13:39Z")
[QUOTE=Sri Theo] Where does the phrase “the whole nine yards” come from? [/QUOTE] I don’t have a cite, but I was once told that it refers to the ammunition belt used for the side guns on WWII bombers, which came in 27 foot lengths. So, when a gunner really opened up on an attacking fighter, he “gave him the whole nine yards.” Edit: Wikipedia says I’m wrong. Ignorance fought. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-ask-one-question-and-get-the-absolute-truth/439425/47 "2008-02-28T17:26:02Z")
I’d want to know the historical truth aboout the origins of Christianity. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-ask-one-question-and-get-the-absolute-truth/439425/48 "2008-02-28T17:41:06Z")
“Ginger or Maryanne?” ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-ask-one-question-and-get-the-absolute-truth/439425/49 "2008-02-28T17:54:53Z")
[QUOTE=Little Nemo] “How should I be acting in this life that will most directly benefit me in the afterlife?” If the answer is “It makes no difference” I’ve got the answer to another question. [/QUOTE] That wouldn’t necessarily tell you whether or not there is an afterlife. It could make no difference because there is no afterlife, or it could make no difference because the Calvinists are right. ---
**Author:** ![MJinks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@MJinks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MJinks)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-ask-one-question-and-get-the-absolute-truth/439425/50 "2008-02-28T18:11:15Z")
[QUOTE=pulehoopo] Other than my family, does anyone love me? [/QUOTE] Oh, I like that question better than any I could come up with… Good one. ---
**Author:** ![NajaNivea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NajaNivea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NajaNivea)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-ask-one-question-and-get-the-absolute-truth/439425/51 "2008-02-28T18:25:41Z")
Has my dad really never smoked pot in his entire life? Homeboy was sixteen in San Francisco during the summer of love. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-ask-one-question-and-get-the-absolute-truth/439425/52 "2008-02-28T23:27:55Z")
I’d satisfy my curiosity concerning the fate of [Amelia Earhart.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amelia_Earhart#Disappearance_theories) Since she made quite a splash around here during her time at Purdue University, I’d take special satisfaction in knowing that I (a seven-year resident of Indiana) had the answer to the question that’s preoccupied some of the locals for over seven decades! ---
**Author:** ![NightRabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbce88/32.png) [@NightRabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NightRabbit)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2008, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-ask-one-question-and-get-the-absolute-truth/439425/53 "2008-02-29T00:44:20Z")
“if the answer is 42, what is the question?” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2008, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-ask-one-question-and-get-the-absolute-truth/439425/54 "2008-02-29T02:52:31Z")
Tell me what you can see! ---
**Author:** ![Khampelf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Khampelf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khampelf)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2008, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-ask-one-question-and-get-the-absolute-truth/439425/55 "2008-02-29T03:10:18Z")
What happened to Judge Crater? ---
**Author:** ![Ronald\_C.Semone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cc9497/32.png) [@Ronald\_C.Semone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ronald_C.Semone)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2008, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-ask-one-question-and-get-the-absolute-truth/439425/56 "2008-02-29T04:01:17Z")
[QUOTE=The Sonoran Lizard King] What happened to Judge Crater? [/QUOTE] My understanding is that there is little doubt that he was taken care just the way and for the same reason Jimmy Hoffa was cancelled. There is no real proof in either case, but apparently both had become liabilities to the mob. ---
**Author:** ![Katriona](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/katriona/32/113_2.png) [@Katriona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katriona)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2008, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-ask-one-question-and-get-the-absolute-truth/439425/57 "2008-02-29T04:07:15Z")
Who was responsible for the deaths of the Princes in the Tower? My pet theory is that Henry VII’s mother was the brains behind it, but I’d like to know which of the henchmen actually did it. As I’m a member of the Richard III society, it’d take some pretty strong evidence to convince me that he did it. ---
**Author:** ![nikonikosuru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f8ce5/32.png) [@nikonikosuru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nikonikosuru)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2008, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-ask-one-question-and-get-the-absolute-truth/439425/58 "2008-02-29T04:32:21Z")
What happens to us after we die? Besides our physical vessal being cremated/buried/whatever, is there anything more? Man, I really wish I could know the answer to that one. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-ask-one-question-and-get-the-absolute-truth/439425.md?page=2)