2 Comments
Sep 15Liked by Jason Frowley PhD

Interesting thought experiment and one where the outcome might be more than a little different after the gin and tonics, the malbec and the absinthe. Oddly enough it occurred to me in a sober enough state (despite it being Sunday afternoon) that one might do something beneficial to humanity if one thought it could be done without fear of punishment. Pour concrete in Iranian nuclear centrifuge, obtain and release compromising facts about leaders who threaten world peace, human rights and climate, delete all recipes that call for combining dark chocolate with strawberries. Is it against the premises of the game to propose to do something useful, like put up wind chimes where they are clearly missing or putting in a spare apostrophe in a way that gives you joy and puts a spring in your step? Let me know.

Expand full comment
author

Thanks for your comment! You’ll be interested to know that my wife & I thought up the thought-experiment after some Malbec & gin-&-tonics. I just wished I had some temptation more interesting to succumb to. You are quite right of course that one could very well use the opportunity to do good as well as ill. It reflects well on you that you thought of it! Ending the Iranian nuclear programme would doubtless be a great idea, but I’m afraid that, if younger the opportunity to distribute wind-chimes & apostrophes, the genie will refuse to grant your other two wishes. He will if he’s at all a reputable genie, anyway.

Expand full comment