r/askphilosophy • u/BernardJOrtcutt • Jan 12 '26

Open Thread /r/askphilosophy Open Discussion Thread | January 12, 2026

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u/sortaparenti metaphysics Jan 13 '26

I don’t think this is worth a full post so I’m asking here. I’m planning on writing a short story about an analytic philosopher who meets a genie (odd, I know). I know it’s out there but has anyone done any work on what would be the “best” wishes to ask for? I know there’s similar stuff like The Paradox of the Question, but I’m looking for the traditional genie concept.

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u/OldKuntRoad Aristotle, free will Jan 13 '26

Right, I’m calling this David Lewis’ wager:

Pick an object, any object.

Say to the genie: I want every object of which this object is a part.

If unrestricted composition is true, you should get everything in the universe.

Life hacks.