102. Your perception of the world is just what your brain constructs for you from the signals sent by your senses. Plus, there is a slight delay, so you aren’t even experiencing the simulation in real time. What would it be like if humans could perceive what the world is actually like and do it in real time? Also, what are the ramifications of every single person’s reality being a little different and unique to them?
103. If language influences how we perceive color, what other things could languages be changing our perception of?
104. Is a sense of humor a byproduct of consciousness or something else entirely?
105. Are intelligence and happiness tied together in any way? If you are highly intelligent, is it more likely that you’ll be more, or less happy?
106. Human memory has been shown to be incredibly unreliable. With that in mind, how do you know which of your memories are genuine and which have been altered or made up?
107. Different people and different organisms perceive reality in vastly different ways. With that in mind, what is real and what is just our perception of reality? Or does every organism live in its own personal reality?
108. When, if ever, is taking a human life justified?
109. Can animals have morals?
110. Without religion would people become more, less, or be equally morally corrupt?
111. If humanity was put on trial by an advanced race of aliens, how would you defend humanity and argue for its continued existence?
112. What rights does every human have? Do those rights change based on age?
113. Do animals have rights and do those rights extend to all animals or do the rights change based on the complexity of the animal?
114. Is justice a human construct or is it independent of humans?
115. Why do people expect a universe full of randomness to be fair?
116. With no laws or rules to influence your behavior, how do you think you would behave?
117. What’s the difference between justice and revenge?
118. If it was discovered that personality traits were partly genetic and could be removed with gene therapy, would it be ethical to edit out negative character traits that harm others like extreme aggression, compulsive lying, or cruelty?
119. If you could press a button and receive a million dollars, but one stranger would die, would you press the button? And if so, how many times?
120. What would be the most ethical way to give away five million dollars?
121. Are people ethically obligated to improve themselves?
122. Is privacy a right?
123. At what point is overthrowing a government ethical, considering all the violence a revolution usually entails?
124. Can morality ever be objective or is it always subjective? If it can be objective, in what instances? If it’s always subjective, how do we decide whose concept of morality is correct?
125. Are intentions or outcomes more important when judging whether actions are moral?
126. Should there be limitations on the right to free speech?
127. If it was discovered that most animals were conscious of their existence and eventual death, what would be the ramifications of that discovery?
128. Should euthanasia be legal? Why or why not?
129. If scientists could accurately predict who was more likely to commit crimes, what should society do with that information?
130. Do business owners have the right to refuse service to customers?
131. If babies are considered innocent, when do people cease to be innocent?
132. Why do humans often associate beauty with morality?
133. If you can save another’s life and don’t because doing so would break the law, are you ethically justified in your decision?
134. Are all individuals morally obligated to save another person’s life if they are able? What if that person lives in another country?
135. Is it just and right to deny entry to a country when doing so probably means death for the immigrant and their family?
136. Should we terraform planets if it means that we may be destroying undiscovered microscopic alien life?
137. Does anonymity encourage people to misbehave or does it reveal how people would choose to act all the time if they could?
139. What is the most fertile soil for hatred? Fear, ignorance, jealousy, or something else entirely? Is it possible that some people are genetically predisposed to hatred?
140. If doing something good for others makes us feel good, can there ever be such a thing as pure altruism?
141. What is your definition of evil?
142. Do all people have equal value regardless of their actions or is a person’s value based on their actions?
143. Why are humans so fascinated by mass murderers if their actions are universally considered evil and vile?
144. As people, we feel our moral obligation weaken with physical as well as emotional distance from individuals in need. For example, you’re more likely to help someone dying of hunger at your feet than someone dying of hunger in another country. How does this human trait of morality dependent on distance shape our world?
145. If I steal a loaf of bread from you and eat it, when does the bread itself cease to be yours and becomes mine?
146. How much effort should an individual put into not offending others?
147. If you could start a country from scratch, what would it be like?
148. Would a government run with algorithms, A.I., and statistics be better or worse than the government we have now?
149. Would the world be a better or worse place if everyone looked the same?
150. What causes the most harm in the world, but is completely avoidable?
151. How far should governments go to prevent its citizens from causing harm to themselves?
152. Do people in wealthier countries have a moral obligation to help those in poorer countries?
153. What should the role of a government be, what boundaries and limitations should it have?
154. Is poverty in society inevitable?
155. How should we measure the productivity of a society?
156. What would a utopia be like, how would it function and continue to exist?
157. Do you think there will ever be a global government? If a world government did come to power, assuming it wasn’t particularly cruel or evil, would it be a good or bad thing?
158. What is the biggest threat to the social contract in our country?
159. Is it more or less difficult to be successful in the modern world than it was in the past (10, 50, 100, or 1,000 years ago)?
160. Could societies exist without a way to transfer value (i.e. without money or a barter system)?
161. What would happen if a maximum income of was implemented?
162. What will the economy of wealthy countries look like in 50 to 100 years?
163. What do you think the long-term effects of so many people being glued to their screens will be?
164. If all humans want the same basic things, why is there so much violence and strife between people?
165. Is the human tendency to create groups an overall positive or a negative trait in terms of general human flourishing?
166. What would happen to a society in which no one had to work, and everyone was provided enough food/water/shelter/healthcare for free?
167. Is the cultural trend of individualism and the rejection of collectivism a beneficial or detrimental trend?
168. Considering that the technology exists to enable a real democracy, would a true democracy (every single person can vote on every single legislation) be advantageous or detrimental?
169. If everyone said what they were actually thinking, what would happen to society?
170. What are the benefits and drawbacks of diversity in society?
171. Under our government are there any rights that you have but shouldn’t? How about rights you don’t have but should?
172. What is the most important right our government allows for?
173. Has social media been a net positive or a net negative for our society? Why?
174. How would society change if men were able to get pregnant and men and women both had an equal chance of getting pregnant?
175. Why have many societies begun to place such a high value on emotions and being emotional?
176. Is it right or wrong that everyone seems to be accustomed to the fact that all of humanity and most of the life on Earth could be wiped out at the whim of a handful of people?
177. In an ideal government, what should a good citizen provide to their government and what should that government provide that good citizen?
178. Should tax payers have the option to explicitly say what they don’t want their tax dollars spent on?
179. Can a society exist without laws?
180. Will humanity ever be able to escape tribalism and the creation of in and out groups? Should it?
181. How much privacy are you willing to sacrifice for safety?
182. How would the world change if there was an accurate measure of aptitude?
183. Is hierarchy necessary for all successful human communities?
184. Is some degree of censorship necessary?
185. What are the biggest moral dilemmas your country is facing now?
186. Was the agricultural revolution and the explosion of civilizations that came from it an overall good thing for humans or a negative? In other words, would it have been better or worse for people to stay in small tribes?
187. What will be/are some of the by-products to society of everyone having the ability to take pictures or a video at any time?
188. Does marriage as an institution need to be updated or is it fine how it is?
189. If you were given the ability to reform how your country’s leaders were chosen and how they serve, what would you change?
190. At what point is a technologically enhanced human not a human anymore?
191. Does the modern age make global conspiracies more or less feasible?
192. Is technological advancement a net positive or a net negative?
193. Is technological progress inevitable as long as humans exist or can it be stopped?
194. Is true artificial intelligence possible with our current technology and methods of programming?
195. What scientific breakthrough would have the biggest effect on humanity?
196. Why did technology progress more slowly in the past than it does now?
197. Will we keep leaping to even greater technological and scientific breakthroughs that radically change society, or will the rate of progress slow and humanity’s progress be limited to incremental improvements?
198. If a robust and cheap genetic engineering industry existed, would you have your genes edited? If so, what genetic changes would you choose to make? If not, why not?
199. Assume that in the future there will be huge leaps in human augmentation. Given a scale from completely human to completely machine, how far would you choose to augment yourself with robotics? What parts would you augment and why?
200. If the transporters in Star Trek existed and you used it, your particles would be disassembled and then reassembled, do you die every single time? Are you ever alive at two places at once? Are you ever completely dead?
201. Should full access to the internet be a fundamental human right?
202. Has the invention of the atomic bomb made the world a more peaceful place?
203. Do you think the singularity will occur? If so, what time frame do you think it will happen in?
204. If emotions are the product of biochemical reactions, then in the future we will be theoretically able to control them. If we could control emotions through technology, should we?
205. Is there a limit to what humans can create through technology and science?
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