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[TheFerrett]

The goal of the Open-Source Wish Project is to create perfectly-worded wishes, so that when the genie comes and grants us our wish we can get precisely what we want. The genie, of course, will attempt to interpret the wish in the most malicious way possible, using any loophole to turn our wish into a living hell. The Open-Source Wish Project hopes to use the collective wisdom of all humanity to create wishes with no loopholes whatsoever.

The Open-Source Wish Project was inspired by this comic on Home on the Strange.

This wish’s intent is that the user ends up very rich. “Rich” is different from “money” in that “money” is a singular object that may not be able to purchase some things, whereas “rich” indicates that you have material goods galore from the get-go.

And this is how what we would tell the genie to get it:

I’m actually not sure how to phrase it so that I wind up with a mansion and a yacht and all sorts of material goods, so I leave this one up to you.

1) If you think you have found a loophole (or "bug") in the current Wish wording that could backfire significantly, cut-and-copy the precise phrase you have issues with and post your suggested fix thusly:

BUGGED PHRASE:
…the erroneous part of the phrase.

POTENTIAL MISINTERPRETATION:
An explanation of how the phrase could be twisted to serve that genie's evil ends.

SUGGESTED FIX:
…the reworded phrase.

2) If you think the current Wish wording is lacking something that could be disastrous, then post it thusly:

WORDING OMISSION:
…the suggested phrase you think should be in the wish.

POTENTIAL MISINTERPRETATION:
An explanation of how, without this added clause, our wish could come to ruin.

3) If you think the entire Wish wording is so hopelessly botched that you would need to wish for something else entirely to get what you'd actually want, post it this way:

BUGGED WISH WORDING:
Your new wording, rewritten from the ground up

REASON FOR NEW VERSION:
An explanation of why the foundations of the current Wish wording are so frotzed that it'd be better to start over, with a list of why your changes are better.

Periodically, all of the changes will be looked over by the moderators, and the most reasonable of the suggested changes will be incorporated into the official Wish text, at which point this thread will be closed and the new Wish version will be put open for discussion.

There are other Wish wordings for different goals, which you can see here. If you want to suggest a new Wish goal, go here. You may cut-and-copy the wish with attribution to its original source on Home on the Strange.

That said, let's wishulate!

[inncubus]

I wish that I could obtain, legally and without harm to others or myself, all such material possesions as I, being of sound mind, desire.

[Jayla]

POTENTIAL MISINTERPRETATION:
"all such material possesions as I, being of sound mind, desire."

Many humans don't know exactly what they desire -- desires are fluid and inexact. If at that specific moment you desired a cheeseburger above all else -- could the genie interpret it that way and just give you a cheeseburger?

Not sure how to amend it, though.

[inncubus]

I think the "all such" covers that; a cheesburger is unlikely to be the only desire one has at a given moment.

We could amend it though:
SUGGESTED FIX:
I wish that I could obtain;NOW AND AT ALL TIMES HENCE; legally and without harm to others or myself, all such material possesions as I, being of sound mind, desire.

[phoenixredux]

"Being of sound mind" is both unnessecary and could cause unwanted wish feedback. If "sound mind" were loosely interpreted, you could end up with nothing more than a fancy pair of headphones. Actually, I DO want a set of Bose Quiet Accoustic 3 noise-cancelling headphones, but I'd rather buy those myself with the huge pile of money the Genie will grant to me.

[inncubus]

POTENTIAL MISINTERPRETATION:

The problem is that without some such clause the genie simply drives you to a state of madness where all you desire is furry dice, or other such frippery.

[phoenixredux]

How could you possibly know if you've been driven to madness by the Genie? You're hardly the most neutral observer of your own psyche, and some might argue that talking with powerful Genies is beyond madness in itself. So the fact that you think it's reasonable to not only speak to a Genie, but to have one grant your wishes may be substanitive proof that you are not of sound mind. A certain amount of sanity must be suspended to accept the improbable premise of magical genies, don't you think?

[inncubus]

True, one may well not know (although given the malice implied in the excercise it seems likely one may have some understanding left), and indeed be then quite content with ones collection of fuzzy dice.

This discussion does not actually presopose the existance of said genie. It is merely an excercise in logical thinking. It is certainly possible for thought about a non-existant situation to be worthwhile, look at all the money to be made from it in the entertainment media (whether they are in fact worthwhile is a different debate). There have been books and films based around the very situation under discussion here. Indeed, although this idle amusement is far removed from it, this type of thought is one of the bases of philosophy surely?

It does seem that your criticism has little to do with the wish and more to do with the topic of wishes. After all it appears what you are saying is the wording doesn't matter becuase genies don't exist; which, while perfectly true, does rather put a stop to this entire set of topics.
Even insanity often has it's own rules and peculiar logic.

[phoenixredux]

Ok, so if I accept the premise that one can be perfectly sane and make wishes of magical genies, then the next thing is to establish the parameters of "rich" in such a fashion that the Genie doesn't turn you into a particularly rich Hot Fudge Sundae. Nor would you want to wind up with a bunch of useless junk, since one man's junk is another man's treasure. Would one need to explicitly spell out the definitions and expectations of wish fulfillment, perhaps in some sort of Wish Fulfillment Contract that could specify all the nessecary clauses, subclauses, and provide a mechanism for redress of magical wrongdoing on the part of the Genie, such as that one could simply say, "Genie, I wish for you to be faithfully execute the terms of this Wish Fulfillment Contract, and to be bound by it." Thus, what we're doing here is not so much the verbal command between the person (herein referred to as the "wisher") and the wish-granting entity (herein referred to as "Genie") as we are drafting the language of that Wish Fulfillment Contract.

Is there a Magical Lawyer in the house?

[inncubus]

That seems like a fair description of the process yes. I think the assumption is that it would have to be stated verbally as one may or may not have such a contract with one at the time, but the thinking is certainly the same.

[TheFerrett]

[phoenixredux]

Wherein "Could obtain" changes to "shall obtain". However, I believe that my alternate wish pertaining to the execution of a "Wish Fulfillment Contract" is probably better still. Nevermind that we haven't drafted the WFC yet.

[inncubus]

Good one. I also realised that I left out a time component such that it may happen on ones death-bed.

REVISED VERSION:
I wish that I shall obtain; now and at all times hence; legally and without harm to others or myself, all such material possesions as I, being of sound mind, desire, and that recipt of same should occour within twenty-four earth hours (one day) of the desire becomming known to me.

[phoenixredux]

There's another loophole there for the Genie that's dangerous. This wish implies that you actually WANT every material item you desire. Some things that you desire may not be things that you actually want to own for yourself, for various reasons. For example, you might look at the Hope Diamond and desire it, but Federal authorities might ask some questions about how it came into your possession after it disappears from the highly-guarded display in the Smithsonian. There has to be an opt-out, or you'll suffer in the same way that King Midas suffered for his golden touch.

[inncubus]

If I got it legally surely the questions are pre-answered?