Home On The Strange Forums

[Aliza]

"I wish for Person X, whom I am thinking of currently, to be returned to life in a state that would make them the happiest, here in front of me."

I don't think being reincarnated as a happy amoeba or puppy would qualify as fulfilling this wish.

[samldanach]

Hmm. That's an odd philosophical question. Would reincarnating a person's soul in a different form count as returning that person to life? Yeah, I wouldn't want to bet on it.

REVISED WORDING:

"I wish for Person X, whom I am thinking of currently, to be returned to life as a human in a state that would make them the happiest, here in front of me."

[Aliza]

Most retarded people I've met are pretty happy. Most people who conform to the values and expectations of their wider society are happy... and I suspect that most of the people who read and post here are proud to deviate from the standards of society in one way or another.

[samldanach]

So, I guess it would depend on how you could defend "happiest." While a retarded person might be happy, I think a non-retarded person is happier. Similarly, a person who is, by nature, a free thinker would not be happier being turned into a Republican drone.

I also suppose it would depend on just how far the genie could distort the results, and still technically fulfill "Person X." What defines who we are?

[Gatper]

Achtung!!
_________________
Come Out To Play Lyrics

[divergence]

Rather than wishing for the person to come back in "the state that would make them happiest" -- which, as has been pointed out, could leave them a blissfully happy idiot -- how about something like this:

"I wish for Jane Doe (insert unambiguous identifying information here) to be restored to life in whatever physical and mental condition she herself would choose, were she to have full knowledge and understanding of the range of possibilities available within the power of this wish."

Of course, you've gotta trust that Jane won't choose to come back as a world-shattering villain armed with all manner of genie-granted powers...but hey, if we're going to all the trouble of wishing her back to life, she must be a nicer person than that.

[ChaoticJosh]

"I wish for Jane Doe (insert unambiguous identifying information here) to be restored to life in whatever physical and mental condition she herself would choose, were she to have full knowledge and understanding of the range of possibilities available within the power of this wish."

BUGGED PHRASE: ...be restored to life in whatever physical and mental condition she herself would choose...

this has more implications than mere restoring somebody, and them making themself super powerful. if the dead person died via suicide, then restoring them in this manner would be futile, because the desired physical condition is no condition at all, the person prefers being dead. this also excludes people who are simply not competent to make a choice of that magnitude (ex. a mother bringing her 1 month old child back to life). the child wouldn't be competent enough to make a choice like that. possibly trapping it in the "registration" phase of the wish, or not at all.

WORDING OMISSION: "...the recipient of revival will revive in a place of my choosing..."

the current wish doesn't entail where the person will revive. leading to revivals where the person dies again because he is still trapped in his coffin. so something must be done about that.

so a revised version would be:

"I wish for [name and Identification] to be revived in a current, painless, safe, and timely manner, exactly [place of revival], said person will be placed in control of an animated, surrogate, exact replica body of themselves which will be in a healthy, strong, competent, uncontaminated, and complete version of said [dead person's] self, retaining artificial modification (for users of pacemakers, and earrings and such), and retaining natural talents, skills, and abilities. said body of [the deceased] will be willed into existence through [genie's] great and magnificent powers, using no resource outside said powers. [the deceased]'s mental, psychological, and intellectual state upon being revived will be exactly as it were during [before time of death, or any other exact time in recipient's life, to avoid extreme senility]. the [deceased] upon being revived will be placed in [location, mentioned above], in a condition that is both comfortable and conscious."