# Is this the most interesting world possible?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-most-interesting-world-possible/616930
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [March 27, 2012, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-most-interesting-world-possible/616930 "2012-03-27T04:44:59Z")
**Posts on this page:** 16
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Three\_Packs\_a\_Day](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Three_Packs_a_Day)
#### Post date: [March 27, 2012, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-most-interesting-world-possible/616930/1 "2012-03-27T04:44:59Z")
See, I’m not sure if it is or isn’t. On the one hand, you could argue that the world would be more interesting if there were ghosts and goblins and UFOs and the like flying around all the time; but then again, would that really make it more interesting? Isn’t the unseen more intriguing than that which is seen?
For example, why is it that Grand Theft Auto doesn’t contain any monsters or aliens? You could argue it’s because the game is marketed to millions of unimaginative red-blooded males who just want to shoot people and steal cars and not have to deal with anything fanciful or weird, but you could also argue that Liberty City (like planet earth) is the most fascinating world possible BECAUSE it has no monsters, aliens, goblins, time-travel et al in it. That which is unseen is more fascinating than that which is out in the open.
---
### Author:  [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)
#### Post date: [March 27, 2012, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-most-interesting-world-possible/616930/2 "2012-03-27T06:26:11Z")
Of course it’s not the most interesting world possible. But, it’s the most interesting possible world that we’re likely to be present for. Although I wouldn’t complain if someone would hurry up and invent the kool-aid fountain and edible flowers that taste like cookie crisp.
---
### Author:  [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)
#### Post date: [March 27, 2012, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-most-interesting-world-possible/616930/3 "2012-03-27T06:27:29Z")
In a kind of “information theory” sense, a world is “interesting” if it is difficult to predict, but is not actually random. A totally random world is impossible to predict, but also uninteresting. To be really interesting, you should have a chance to predict events, but still be surprised a lot of the time.
A really good mystery novel is “interesting” in this sense. The author gives you a lot of clues toward “whodunnit,” but, at the end of the book, you still haven’t figured it out. Then you turn the last page, smack yourself on the forehead, and say, “Damn! I should have seen that! It was OBVIOUS!”
So, yes, our world could be a bit more “interesting” in this sense. A hell of a lot of events go forward just the way we expect them. A trip to the supermarket, or a visit to the in-laws, only occasionally leads to a weird, surprising plot-twist.
By the way, I am a horse.
---
### Author:  [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)
#### Post date: [March 27, 2012, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-most-interesting-world-possible/616930/4 "2012-03-27T11:23:11Z")
“Most interesting world possible?” oh, heck no. “Interesting” is an extremely fuzzy concept. Are you looking for most complex or most engaging?
Be that as it may, I work every day to make this as interesting a world as I can for myself and those I come in contact with.
---
### Author:  [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)
#### Post date: [March 27, 2012, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-most-interesting-world-possible/616930/5 "2012-03-27T14:25:12Z")
Its axial tilt creates seasons. And its luxurious plantlife creates seasoning.
It is the densest planet in the solar system. And that doesn’t count its inhabitants.
It controls both solar wind and earthen water.
It is the most interesting world possible.
Stay worldly my friends.
---
### Author:  [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)
#### Post date: [March 27, 2012, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-most-interesting-world-possible/616930/6 "2012-03-27T14:32:58Z")
No, it isn’t. I often escape to a more interesting world in my imagination. If this were the most interesting possible world, I couldn’t do that.
---
### Author:  [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)
#### Post date: [March 27, 2012, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-most-interesting-world-possible/616930/7 "2012-03-27T14:39:52Z")
I’d love to change the world
But I don’t know what to do
So I’ll leave it up to you
---
### Author:  [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)
#### Post date: [March 27, 2012, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-most-interesting-world-possible/616930/8 "2012-03-27T14:41:21Z")
Once you’ve
discarded
the rest of all possible worlds
You’ll find
that this is
the most interesting possible world.
---
### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [March 27, 2012, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-most-interesting-world-possible/616930/9 "2012-03-27T14:50:06Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#):
>
> edible flowers that taste like cookie crisp.
But something like this is only “interesting” because it doesn’t exist and thus we don’t expect it or take it for granted. It’s no more inherently interesting than edible fruits that taste like peaches.
---
### Author:  [@Three\_Packs\_a\_Day](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Three_Packs_a_Day)
#### Post date: [March 27, 2012, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-most-interesting-world-possible/616930/10 "2012-03-27T16:05:38Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#):
>
> Once you’ve
> discarded
> the rest of all possible worlds
> You’ll find
> that this is
> the most interesting possible world.
Strangely, I find this to be the case; I think this is the most interesting world possible, down to the tiniest detail. Maybe it’s just me.
---
### Author:  [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)
#### Post date: [March 27, 2012, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-most-interesting-world-possible/616930/11 "2012-03-27T16:44:32Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#):
>
> But something like this is only “interesting” because it doesn’t exist and thus we don’t expect it or take it for granted. It’s no more inherently interesting than edible fruits that taste like peaches.
Cookie crisp is better than peaches. :mad:
---
### Author:  [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2012, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-most-interesting-world-possible/616930/12 "2012-03-28T00:27:42Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#):
>
> . . . edible fruits that taste like peaches.
Well, let’s not be _silly!_
> [@rachelellogram](#):
>
> Cookie crisp is better than peaches. :mad:
I’m suddenly possessed by a deep-seated need to try Cookie Crisp. What the heck is it?
---
### Author:  [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2012, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-most-interesting-world-possible/616930/13 "2012-03-28T00:35:24Z")
If we could all fly and had laser eyes it would be a much more interesting world.
---
### Author:  [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2012, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-most-interesting-world-possible/616930/14 "2012-03-28T00:43:04Z")
Unfortunately it’s not. For example, it would have been nice if those old sci-fi ideas about there being Martians and Venusians and so forth had been true; instead the solar system is full of dead rocks. And so much of the newer scientific discoveries involve things that aren’t on a human enough scale to be as interesting as that would have been; they take too long, are too small/large, are too far away, or happen too fast to be really directly experienced.
---
### Author:  [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2012, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-most-interesting-world-possible/616930/15 "2012-03-28T00:49:34Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#):
>
> …and edible flowers that taste like cookie crisp.
The Schnozzberries taste like Schnozzberries!
---
### Author:  [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2012, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-most-interesting-world-possible/616930/16 "2012-03-28T01:30:26Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#):
>
> Unfortunately it’s not. For example, it would have been nice if those old sci-fi ideas about there being Martians and Venusians and so forth had been true
This!