# People who must exist by definition, but you can never find: Who interests you most? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 25, 2026, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-must-exist-by-definition-but-you-can-never-find-who-interests-you-most/1027000 "2026-01-25T09:38:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2026, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-must-exist-by-definition-but-you-can-never-find-who-interests-you-most/1027000/41 "2026-01-25T19:07:48Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > Anyone can claim to be the smartest in the world (Furtive glance in the general direction of the White House) ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2026, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-must-exist-by-definition-but-you-can-never-find-who-interests-you-most/1027000/42 "2026-01-25T19:10:30Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > Knowledge and intelligence do not overlap perfectly. I would even go so far as to claim that they are independent variables. They’re independent, but usually highly correlated, because intelligence tends to be associated with curiosity and education. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2026, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-must-exist-by-definition-but-you-can-never-find-who-interests-you-most/1027000/43 "2026-01-25T19:54:54Z")
Watching a movie on your TV counts as watching a movie. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2026, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-must-exist-by-definition-but-you-can-never-find-who-interests-you-most/1027000/44 "2026-01-25T20:03:12Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > I want to meet the most intelligent person on this planet right now. What would they be like? According to the 1985 documentary\* _Real Genius_, at that point in time, it was a recluse with limited social skills (but a good heart), who lived in the steam tunnels underneath a prestigious California university, until he became wealthy by gaming the system on a Frito-Lay sweepstakes. Also, he had a very cute blonde wife. 😃 [![](https://i.redd.it/yqd9a4hbfhjb1.jpg) ](https://i.redd.it/yqd9a4hbfhjb1.jpg) \*- Not an actual documentary. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2026, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-must-exist-by-definition-but-you-can-never-find-who-interests-you-most/1027000/45 "2026-01-25T20:10:20Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > It is possible to know everything No, it’s not. “Everything” wouldn’t fit in a human head. I didn’t think vos Savant was being unintelligent because she’d never heard of solar flashlights. I thought she wasn’t being intelligent because she didn’t think to check before answering. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2026, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-must-exist-by-definition-but-you-can-never-find-who-interests-you-most/1027000/46 "2026-01-25T20:24:28Z")
As to the “perfect match for you” subtopic, xkcd has some disappointing commentary for you: **[Soul Mates](https://what-if.xkcd.com/9/)**. As to most … aah … _experienced_ toilet and this idea: > [@John\_DiFool](#): > > Edit: someone suggested at an older airport, Atlanta Hartsfield, but that’s relatively new. LaGuardia? The last of the old La Guardia terminals were torn down about 4 years ago. It’s all pretty new there now. I’d nominate a train station in Mumbai or another Indian city. IMO daily volume counts for a lot more than longevity. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2026, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-must-exist-by-definition-but-you-can-never-find-who-interests-you-most/1027000/47 "2026-01-25T20:26:04Z")
One imaginary (but presumably real) person I sometimes think about is ‘t **he most powerful person on Earth** ’. If (like me) you are an atheist, and sceptical about the existence of alien life, then the ‘ **most powerful entity in the universe** ’ might turn out to be identical to the most powerful person on Earth. Supernovae and active galactic nuclei may be more powerful than any human, but they aren’t thinking entities. AFAIK. That is to say, the ‘ **ontologically necessary supreme being** ’ (which must exist, I suppose) could be a powerful person on our planet; the person with the most effective power, whoever that may be. How one might determine the identity of this person s another matter. Is it Trump? Modi? [Xi Jinping](https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=e03599accdb1e70e&sxsrf=ANbL-n5Y-HdMQ4Y81Bi2b5M1ch6pZUzIzw%3A1769372606218&q=Xi+Jinping&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiq46zNwqeSAxVVQUEAHaa3OLEQxccNegQIKxAB&mstk=AUtExfApOUlEy461Se_kfGDX_2WcySSyPmUFNyKr4rdiZfFB87_EwtF8pq7cNzwU5zYr6VFvGbTwiTw0OGkpbEJnT1681wmlu-X9_-3ACc8q-jXZVjQd9fMQKMIpH6DY7JnPyrZZqHH2BzdIvvaPejzQt880xUQPP35blWNYCjCzz-Jm5byOL0Wj7pMxVicV3dejXVOB&csui=3)? The Pope? Taylor Swift? Beats me. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2026, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-must-exist-by-definition-but-you-can-never-find-who-interests-you-most/1027000/48 "2026-01-25T20:50:10Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > I’d like to meet the man who only sees one movie each year. On TV or DRV? Lots. In a theater? Havent been since covid. > [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Marilyn vos Savant once answered a question about solar flashlights by claiming the whole idea was absurd. Well after they’d not only been invented but were commonly on sale. The idea of a solar flashlight is indeed- silly. The idea of a solar _powered_ flashlight is not. But having owned one, I find that the solar panel is not really big enough to fully charge the tool in one sunny day. > [@Shalmanese](#): > > I’d like to observe that moment of the “second death” for any person IIRC, it is kinda one of the ideas behind _Dia de los Muertos._ ---
**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:** [January 25, 2026, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-must-exist-by-definition-but-you-can-never-find-who-interests-you-most/1027000/49 "2026-01-25T20:51:30Z")
Ooooh. I’m telling. Y’all in troubba, big! I’m calling Cecil Adams. If he’ll pick his phone up. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2026, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-must-exist-by-definition-but-you-can-never-find-who-interests-you-most/1027000/50 "2026-01-25T21:04:14Z")
_People_ does an annual award for Sexiest Man Alive, but I’m skeptical that they vet all of the candidates. I’d like to know who it is. I’ve always suspected some sheep herder near the Himalayas, but I’m not a professional in these matters, so I might be wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2026, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-must-exist-by-definition-but-you-can-never-find-who-interests-you-most/1027000/51 "2026-01-25T21:08:59Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > As to the “perfect match for you” subtopic, xkcd has some disappointing commentary for you: **[Soul Mates](https://what-if.xkcd.com/9/)**. I don’t think it’s quite as dismal as that, because some of those factors that are discounted probably are relevant to who’s whose soul-mate. And in particular, someone can’t be perfect for you if the circumstances of your lives guarantee that you’ll never meet. The chance of the meeting must, perforce, be one of the factors that goes into the goodness-of-match figure of merit. > [@Moriarty](#): > > _People_ does an annual award for Sexiest Man Alive, but I’m skeptical that they vet all of the candidates. > > I’d like to know who it is. I’ve always suspected some sheep herder near the Himalayas, but I’m not a professional in these matters, so I might be wrong. A similar effect applies here. Money and fame are sexy. How much weight we ought to put on them is surely a topic of disagreement, but they must be in there somewhere. Himalayan sheep-herders have very small amounts of either. The people that People considers for their award have both. So their chances of getting it right are higher than you’d think. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2026, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-must-exist-by-definition-but-you-can-never-find-who-interests-you-most/1027000/52 "2026-01-25T21:12:59Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Money and fame are sexy. How much weight we ought to put on them is surely a topic of disagreement, but they must be in there somewhere Warren Buffett isn’t making any top 10 lists. No offense to the Oracle of Omaha, but my point stands. Until _People_ clears a few billion people from South Asia, I’ll continue to doubt the accuracy of their analysis. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2026, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-must-exist-by-definition-but-you-can-never-find-who-interests-you-most/1027000/53 "2026-01-25T21:29:59Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > _People_ does an annual award for Sexiest Man Alive, but I’m skeptical that they vet all of the candidates. > > I’d like to know who it is. I’ve always suspected some sheep herder near the Himalayas, but I’m not a professional in these matters, so I might be wrong. Their vetting sucks. Just the fact that it’s “People” magazine is evidence of bias. If you want sexy, I recommend “Modern Dog Magazine”, and incidentally, behold my avatar! ---
**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:** [January 25, 2026, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-must-exist-by-definition-but-you-can-never-find-who-interests-you-most/1027000/54 "2026-01-25T21:39:45Z")
The “perfect person for us” would, of course, be someone who accepts us, flaws and all. Part of the “perfect” part would have to mean them wanting us as much as we want them. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2026, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-must-exist-by-definition-but-you-can-never-find-who-interests-you-most/1027000/55 "2026-01-25T22:25:17Z")
That reminds me of **[St. Anselm’s ontological proof of Godott’s existence](https://iep.utm.edu/anselm-ontological-argument/)**. It may be logical, it may be coherent, but it has never convinced me. > [@Moriarty](#): > > _People_ does an annual award for Sexiest Man Alive And **[EMMA](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_(magazine))**, a feminist German magazine modelled on the American magazine _[**Ms.**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ms._(magazine))_ in terms of content, targeted audience and layout, has since 2019 an annual Sexist Man Alive Award (**[cite](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_(Zeitschrift)#Negativpreis_%E2%80%9ESexist_Man_Alive%E2%80%9C)** in German with a list of the recipients). Please note the missing _e_ in Sexist. None of them probably are or were the most sexist man alive and the grammar and semantics are … huh, German?, but still no one was ever pleased with the awarding. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2026, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-must-exist-by-definition-but-you-can-never-find-who-interests-you-most/1027000/56 "2026-01-25T22:27:06Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > _People_ does an annual award for Sexiest Man Alive, but I’m skeptical that they vet all of the candidates. I can confirm that they do not. Every year my wife and I are appalled at the snub. I think she’s appalled, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2026, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-must-exist-by-definition-but-you-can-never-find-who-interests-you-most/1027000/57 "2026-01-25T23:06:20Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > _People_ does an annual award for Sexiest Man Alive, but I’m skeptical that they vet all of the candidates. > > I’d like to know who it is. This one is easy. Pedro Pascal. No need to hold a new contest every year. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2026, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-must-exist-by-definition-but-you-can-never-find-who-interests-you-most/1027000/58 "2026-01-25T23:12:11Z")
In other words, you’re saying that believing that Pascal is the sexiest man alive offers enormous benefit with little loss? It’s like some kind of wager… ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2026, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-must-exist-by-definition-but-you-can-never-find-who-interests-you-most/1027000/59 "2026-01-25T23:20:34Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > That reminds me of **[St. Anselm’s ontological proof of Godott’s existence](https://iep.utm.edu/anselm-ontological-argument/)** I’d been waiting for that. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2026, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-must-exist-by-definition-but-you-can-never-find-who-interests-you-most/1027000/60 "2026-01-25T23:21:37Z")
At any time in time, there’s a person is is closest to dying - but we don’t know who. At any point in time, there’s a person who is the youngest - we could know that, but the answer changes more than once a second, so it’s hard to keep up [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-must-exist-by-definition-but-you-can-never-find-who-interests-you-most/1027000.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-must-exist-by-definition-but-you-can-never-find-who-interests-you-most/1027000.md?page=4)