this post was submitted on 24 Dec 2023
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Obviously a hypothetical scenario. There is no way to pass on the knowledge to anyone else. Time freezes for you only, and once you have your answer you are out of this world.

The question can allow you to see into the past, present and future and gain comprehension of any topic/issue. But it's only one question.

Edit: the point isn't "how to cheat death". You can't. Your body is frozen and there is nothing you can do with this knowledge other than knowing it, and die. So if you would rather be frozen in a limbo just thinking of numbers for eternity, be my guest.

Such a variety of replies, it's been really interesting to read them!

What would you want to know? Personally I'd want to see a timelapse or milestone glimpses of humanity's future until the end of Earth's existence (if we survive that long)

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[–] hperrin@lemmy.world 95 points 11 months ago (5 children)

When is going to be the year of the Linux desktop?

[–] NaibofTabr@infosec.pub 28 points 11 months ago (2 children)
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[–] souperk@reddthat.com 12 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (4 children)

I am interested to see what 2024 has in store for the Linux desktop.

Immutable distros seem to be the new cool thing, and for once I buy it, they greatly increase stability and reproducibility. It's about time we see the rule 34 of Linux desktop configuration, if you can think of it there is already a GitHub repository with a configuration for it.

Also, gaming has greatly improved! If a few years ago you said to me I could buy a PS5 controller to play games on my Linux machine, I would lose my mind. Well, the order is arriving on Thursday!

Some governments are making honest efforts to go full open source, investing in the libre office and other tooling they deem necessary.

Last but not least, nowadays most apps are browser based, they are cross platform by default.

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[–] Krauerking@lemy.lol 46 points 11 months ago (3 children)

Was I ever a good impact on someone else's life?

Simple and sweet. Let's you go to the next thing either with your head held high or knowing for sure if you just lived and died.

[–] deweydecibel@lemmy.world 18 points 11 months ago

I'd rephrase this to "was I ever a good impact on someone else's life that I was unaware of?"

Because most people are fairly confident they've had a good influence on "someone's" life. My partner has told me as much, and I've said it to them. Even if just their parents or something, there's typically obvious answers to this question.

I'd want to know the non-obvious answers.

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[–] A1kmm@lemmy.amxl.com 42 points 11 months ago (7 children)

I'd pick an irrational number, say pi, and ask for every decimal digit of it. Then, I have infinite time to walk around the world in explore mode (i.e. I can't die, and hence don't need to eat etc..., and am effectively an infinite energy source, and can interact with objects) while time is frozen. This effectively makes me a god, but only for one point in time, with the ability to create a discontinuity in the world state at that point. I'd travel around the whole world (even if it involved swimming oceans) and try to make it so that the infinite sum of each action I take while the world is frozen converges on a world that is in a much better state infinitesimally after the moment compared to infinitesimally before.

[–] little_water_bear@discuss.tchncs.de 52 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

But if you actually had infinite time, then that would mean that the world for all intents and purposes has ended. It would never continue, ever. No matter what you do, it would have absolutely no impact at all.

Furthermore, I imagine if you actually had to wait infinitely long for the answer to finish, that would be like hell. There is only so much you can look at in a frozen world, assuming you would even be able to move at all. I can hardly imagine any happiness after some billions and trillions of years of no new stimuli in a frozen world.

[–] viking@infosec.pub 25 points 11 months ago

That's how you trigger a blue screen.

[–] GutsBerserk@lemmy.world 15 points 11 months ago

No death for an infinity is a torture in itself.

[–] 4L3moNemo@programming.dev 11 points 11 months ago

And in a moment you'll learn, that at your scale, for the practical purposes, the universe rounds pi to n numbers. E.g. ~3.1416. Check & mate.

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[–] inspxtr@lemmy.world 36 points 11 months ago (1 children)

How is the entity or power that has the ability to grant me such knowledge connected to the existence of the universe?

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[–] Symphonic@lemmy.world 34 points 11 months ago (2 children)

I want stats like the end of a game. How many red lights did I run, did anyone die by my actions, how many hours did I sleep, how many meals did I eat. Things like that.

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[–] butsbutts@lemmy.ml 33 points 11 months ago (2 children)
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[–] PeepinGoodArgs@reddthat.com 30 points 11 months ago (8 children)
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[–] MTK@lemmy.world 28 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Just "Why?" Leave this magical answers being confused and questioning humanity, like the rest of us.

[–] StephniBefni@lemmy.world 15 points 11 months ago

Just 'because'

[–] Rinox@feddit.it 11 points 11 months ago (1 children)
[–] Sterile_Technique@lemmy.world 47 points 11 months ago (1 children)

https://www.ascii-code.com/

In ASCII, 42 is an asterisk, which is a common computer placeholder for "whatever you want it to be". The computer in Hitchhikers wasn't just pooping out a random number, but in the most computer way possible it pretty much just said life is what you make of it.

So yea, 42.

[–] victorz@lemmy.world 23 points 11 months ago

Bro. I love this. TIL. Never thought of checking the ASCII of 42.

[–] Crashumbc@lemmy.world 27 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I would like to know the detailed life history of every human that was ever born...

Start taking I'll wait :)

[–] MrFunnyMoustache@lemmy.ml 18 points 11 months ago (3 children)

Sounds like a nightmare when you're dying and probably in pain... It extends that painful state for a virtually infinite time.

[–] SilentStorms@lemmy.dbzer0.com 14 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Not to mention the overwhelming amounts of unimaginable suffering you would see.

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[–] bdonvr@thelemmy.club 24 points 11 months ago (3 children)

By what mechanism did the universe come to be, or if it simply always existed, why does it exist in this particular way with these particular laws?

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[–] bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.de 22 points 11 months ago (3 children)

Why do hotdogs come in packs of ten while hotdog buns come in packs of six?

[–] StephniBefni@lemmy.world 14 points 11 months ago (2 children)

So you buy 10 packs of buns and 6 packs of hotdogs

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[–] mr_satan@monyet.cc 20 points 11 months ago (28 children)

Assuming other implications (existence of an afterlife and God) with this scenario I would have but one question. Why? Why everything? Honestly I would be mad furious if there was an afterlife. More so if there was a God.

[–] TomAwsm@lemmy.world 23 points 11 months ago

"In the beginning, the universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."

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[–] vaselined@lemmy.world 19 points 11 months ago (2 children)
[–] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 17 points 11 months ago (1 children)

If you need to ask, then probably not. If she really did, you wouldn't have to ask, you'd know.

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[–] kromem@lemmy.world 18 points 11 months ago

I'd like to see the details of the events from Nefertiti up through the end of the 19th dynasty and the activities of the sea peoples with a special focus on the figure of Muksus, in an interactive format where I could sort of scrub the timeline to fast forward or rewind and instantly move around the Mediterranean to observe the different events in different places in parallel.

I wouldn't mind having the same for the 1st century CE too, but that would be a secondary priority.

[–] Rocketpoweredgorilla@lemmy.ca 18 points 11 months ago (1 children)

What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?

[–] StephniBefni@lemmy.world 12 points 11 months ago (2 children)
[–] Rocketpoweredgorilla@lemmy.ca 9 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

I... I don't know that...

AAAAHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!

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[–] sudoshakes@reddthat.com 18 points 11 months ago (1 children)

What is the diagnosis and cure for the disease that has ravaged me for the last 13 years?

Thanks.

[–] TheUncannyObserver@lemmy.dbzer0.com 21 points 11 months ago (1 children)

With how the universe and its sense of humor works, it would probably end up being something simple like β€œyou didn’t clean out your faucet aerator and the bacteria growing on the scum caught inside was poising you”.

In a related note, this is a reminder for everyone to clean out your faucet aerators if you haven’t done that this month.

[–] remotedev@lemmy.ca 13 points 11 months ago (1 children)
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[–] Melatonin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 17 points 11 months ago (4 children)

I would want to know if I could have accomplished anything different that I did. Could I have been a super successful NFL quarterback? Could I have been a lawyer? Could I have been president of the United States? Could I have been a rockstar or a movie star? Could I have been a bodybuilder? Could I have been a New York times best-selling novelist? I would like to know all the possibilities of what I might have been. I would like to see them lived out, what it looked like, what steps were taken, what decisions were made. Given the limited raw intelligence I had, the genetic potential of my physical body, what was the most I could have done with it?

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[–] mub@lemmy.ml 17 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Given that God is infinite, and that the universe is also infinite, would you like a toasted tea-cake?

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[–] BreakDecks@lemmy.ml 15 points 11 months ago (3 children)

Personally I'd want to see a timelapse or milestone glimpses of humanity's future until the end of Earth's existence (if we survive that long)

I'd ask for the same thing, but not a glimpse, I'd ask for an immersive first person view, and not a timelapse, I'd want to see it in realtime.

And just like that, I'd be reborn.

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[–] thorbot@lemmy.world 13 points 11 months ago (2 children)

I wouldn’t ask anything. I’m gonna die and that knowledge would be lost. Just play me out Ricardo

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[–] not_amm@beehaw.org 13 points 11 months ago (1 children)

"Can I see the moments when I made other people feel good/better?" or to know what people i helped and how

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[–] WhatsHerBucket@lemmy.world 12 points 11 months ago (8 children)
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[–] Chef_Boyargee@lemmy.world 11 points 11 months ago (2 children)

How does one use the three shells?

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[–] OrteilGenou@lemmy.world 11 points 11 months ago (1 children)
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[–] WheelcharArtist@lemmy.world 11 points 11 months ago (3 children)
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[–] calypsopub@lemmy.world 10 points 11 months ago (5 children)

Did my childhood dog really go live on a farm in the country?

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[–] CeruleanRuin@lemmings.world 10 points 11 months ago

"What's next?"

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