Once again, I’m using a Chuck Klosterman hypothetical, in part because they make me laugh, but also because I just got back from vacation and don’t really want to think for myself today. Here we go. Think of someone who is your friend (do not select your best friend, but make sure the person is someone you would classify as “considerably more then an acquaintance”). This friend is going to be attacked by a grizzly bear. Now this person will survive the attack; that is guaranteed. There is a 100 percent chance that your friend will live. However, the extent of his injuries is unknown; he might receive nothing but a few superficial scratches, but he also might lose a limb (or multiple limbs). He might recover completely in twenty-four hours with nothing but a great story, or he might spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair. Somehow you have the ability to stop this attack from happening. You can magically save your friend from the bear. But his (or her) salvation will come at a peculiar price: if you choose to stop the bear, it will always rain. For the rest of your life, wherever you go, it will be raining. Sometimes it will pour and sometimes it will drizzle-but it will never not be raining. But it won’t rain over the totality of the earth, nor will the hydrological cycle de disrupted; these storm clouds will be isolated, and they will focus entirely on your specific where-abouts. You will also never see the sun again.
Hypothetical Tuesday – Bears
Hypothetical Tuesday – Sweet Dreams
Today’s hypothetical comes courtesy of one of my favorite writers, Chuck Klosterman. At long last, someone invents “the dream VCR.” This machine allows you to tape an entire evening’s worth of your own dreams, which you can then watch at your leisure. However, the inventor of the dream VCR will only allow you to use this device of you agree to a strange caveat: When you watch your dreams, you must do so with your family and your closest friends in the same room. They get to watch your dreams along with you. And if you don’t agree to this, you can’t use the dream VCR. So, are you buying a dream machine?
Hypothetical Tuesday – Millennium Falcon or Superman

Let’s say I can give you one of the following. Either you get the powers of Superman for the next 24-hours, or you can have the Millennium Falcon for the rest of your life. A couple of caveats, if you choose the powers of Superman you are not allowed to fly around the world at top speed, reversing the rotation of the Earth, thus going back in time and giving yourself more than 24-hours because a.) that’s like wishing for more wishes, and b.) that’s ridiculous even for science fiction. As for the Falcon, you can keep it for the rest of your life, and you have the owners manual, so you will know how to fly it. However, it only has a six month warranty, and after that, when it inevitably breaks down, no one on our planet will know how to fix it. Which one are you taking?

