# If you could have one question answered completely truthfully... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 15, 2009, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-one-question-answered-completely-truthfully/489527 "2009-03-15T15:50:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Stauderhorse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Stauderhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stauderhorse)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2009, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-one-question-answered-completely-truthfully/489527/1 "2009-03-15T15:50:35Z")
What question would you ask? So let’s say that you come across a secret source that happens to have all the knowledge in the universe. Interestingly enough, this source is duty bound to answer one question for you with complete truthfulness. You trust that it knows what it’s talking about, even if you don’t like the answer it gives you. Keeping in mind that you only get one question to last you for the rest of your life, and that whatever the source says is the indisputable truth, what’s the question that you ask? Mine would probably be something along the lines of “what will happen to humanity/the world in the future?” This is a fairly open-ended question, and the source will give as much information as one would want. Will humans learn to get along better? Cure diseases? Cure death? Explode in a fiery blaze? I’d be tempted to ask “is there a God/afterlife?” just to confirm my suspicions. Since I’m fairly sure of the truth, though, it would be kind of a waste of the question. Next? ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2009, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-one-question-answered-completely-truthfully/489527/2 "2009-03-15T17:01:54Z")
The question that has haunted me for as long as I can remember. _Am I doing the right thing?_ ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2009, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-one-question-answered-completely-truthfully/489527/3 "2009-03-15T17:10:49Z")
So this oracle can see the future? Cool. I’d be tempted to ask if Yellowstone will blow in my lifetime, but if the answer is yes that would be way too depressing and if it’s no, then I’d think it was a waste of a question, like you. I don’t think I’d want to know what ultimately happens to mankind. I have a feeling the answer would be horrific. It’d be nice to know, not if, but _how much_ of the rest of the universe is populated. But then, that’d be depressing too, since I don’t believe in UFOs or alien visitors and would just know that we’ll probably never meet/see any of them. In the end, I’d have to make it personal. I wouldn’t be able to help myself. I’d have to ask this: “Will [this artist](http://www.myspace.com/happyrhodes) ever get the acclaim and respect _from the music world_\* that she deserves, either in her lifetime or beyond?” If the answer is yes, then I can be satisfied, knowing that even if I don’t live to see it happen, it WILL happen. If the answer is no, then I’ll just have to live with it. Actually, I’m certain it will happen, but it would be nice to know for absolute sure. \*an important distinction, since I’m not concerned with the general public, only other musicians and music historians. ---
**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:** [March 15, 2009, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-one-question-answered-completely-truthfully/489527/4 "2009-03-15T17:16:03Z")
How do we access the source of energy would give us the greatest mount of power for the least amount of hazard, to either us or our environment? ---
**Author:** ![Dottygumdrop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Dottygumdrop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dottygumdrop)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2009, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-one-question-answered-completely-truthfully/489527/5 "2009-03-15T17:23:08Z")
Who killed JFK? ---
**Author:** ![Telcontar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Telcontar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telcontar)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2009, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-one-question-answered-completely-truthfully/489527/6 "2009-03-15T17:31:03Z")
Why? ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2009, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-one-question-answered-completely-truthfully/489527/7 "2009-03-15T17:44:21Z")
[How can entropy be reversed?](http://www.multivax.com/last_question.html) ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2009, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-one-question-answered-completely-truthfully/489527/8 "2009-03-15T18:22:37Z")
Do these jeans make my butt look big? Actually, I think I’d ask if there’s a god. I’m 99.999999% the answer is no, but just to make sure. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2009, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-one-question-answered-completely-truthfully/489527/9 "2009-03-15T18:51:55Z")
JFK/Hooover in a dress, Lincolns lost speech, was jeusu real are all well and good, but Ill take the numbers for the next powerball drawing … Ignorance may be bliss, and money may not buy happiness but I can get a hell of a computer and look shit up in the internet and rent me some happiness for a few hundred million dollars=) ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2009, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-one-question-answered-completely-truthfully/489527/10 "2009-03-15T19:36:34Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > JFK/Hooover in a dress, Lincolns lost speech, was jeusu real are all well and good, but Ill take the numbers for the next powerball drawing … This was my thought also. Even if I had the answer to some _ **GREAT QUESTION** _[sup]TM[/sup], what would I do with it? No one’s going to listen to _me_. If I posted the answer here, all that would happen is someone would respond _cite?_ ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2009, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-one-question-answered-completely-truthfully/489527/11 "2009-03-15T20:06:27Z")
I would either ask about whether or not there is an afterlife, or what was \*there \*before the big bang. ---
**Author:** ![David\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/51bf81/32.png) [@David\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_B)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2009, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-one-question-answered-completely-truthfully/489527/12 "2009-03-15T20:35:10Z")
What are the winning Mega-Million Lottery numbers for this week? ---
**Author:** ![I\_Have\_Hippos\_In\_My\_Garden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/4491bb/32.png) [@I\_Have\_Hippos\_In\_My\_Garden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Have_Hippos_In_My_Garden)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2009, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-one-question-answered-completely-truthfully/489527/13 "2009-03-15T20:43:38Z")
This is a really really good thread. I would ask if there is a God. I’m not religious in any way at all because I just don’t understand it. I don’t understand how people can put so much faith into something that doesn’t definitely exist. I’d like some scientific proof behind it. ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2009, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-one-question-answered-completely-truthfully/489527/14 "2009-03-15T20:44:59Z")
Do girls just really want to have fun? ---
**Author:** ![maikai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/53a042/32.png) [@maikai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maikai)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2009, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-one-question-answered-completely-truthfully/489527/15 "2009-03-16T01:30:46Z")
I would like to know how many women that I’ve known have been attracted to me. If any. Especially this one particular girl. ---
**Author:** ![tattman40](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/db5fbb/32.png) [@tattman40](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tattman40)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2009, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-one-question-answered-completely-truthfully/489527/16 "2009-03-16T02:05:29Z")
Whats the frequency Kenneth? ---
**Author:** ![dubs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dubs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dubs)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2009, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-one-question-answered-completely-truthfully/489527/17 "2009-03-16T02:38:40Z")
Who will miss me when I’m gone? ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2009, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-one-question-answered-completely-truthfully/489527/18 "2009-03-16T02:41:54Z")
Wow…hard to boil it down to just one. Here is what I am torn between… The God question. I have grown my whole life with the belief and faith, but lately I just don’t know :(☹ Will I be happy in the future? To me my future looks so bleak and I just wanna know if it has a happy ending. Did I matter? Did I really matter to anyone? I think once all is said and done, I would probably go with question two. ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2009, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-one-question-answered-completely-truthfully/489527/19 "2009-03-16T02:54:17Z")
Are we human or are we dancer? ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2009, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-one-question-answered-completely-truthfully/489527/20 "2009-03-16T03:04:43Z")
I’d like to know how my life might have been changed had I made different choices. Had I made a left instead of a right - had my first breakup with my ex been my last - had I gone to school for what I wanted to, instead of what I was advised to go for. All that is assuming I can’t get the Powerball numbers for next week. 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-have-one-question-answered-completely-truthfully/489527.md?page=2)