this post was submitted on 31 Oct 2023
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[–] [email protected] 87 points 1 year ago (9 children)

I wish for one electron to disappear from every atom. The net result would be that all atoms would now have a positive charge.

True, it would not only end all life on earth, but also destroy the entire earth. But everything would be positive.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Mandatory XKCD, sort of.

TL;DRIt breaks the whole universe. That's a lot of charge density over a very substantial area.

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[–] [email protected] 61 points 1 year ago (6 children)

Simple. True empathy for everyone. Literally feeling what others feel

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[–] [email protected] 54 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I’m trying to focus this answer on something that seems like a really small change:

I wish everyone is slightly more empathetic.

I feel like this could give us a lot of small nudges toward being better people and a better society. I wonder if a small nudge could end up having a profound effect.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 year ago (1 children)

With a baseline minimum empathy. Cause damn, some people really bottom out that needle.

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[–] bloopernova 47 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Everyone religious wakes up tomorrow realizing that it's just a social club and none of the god stuff is real.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (5 children)

So in this scenario where you have a magical Genie, you would use a supernatural being to stop others from believing in supernatural beings?

[–] bloopernova 10 points 1 year ago

Whoa dude. I just woke up and was not prepared for philosophy!

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[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 year ago (1 children)

They would still pretend. And, though it would solve a lot of problems, it would remove purpose for so many people.

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[–] [email protected] 35 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Low back pain eliminated in all humans.

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[–] [email protected] 34 points 1 year ago

Eradicate all mosquitoes

[–] [email protected] 29 points 1 year ago (4 children)

People can no longer share or post something on social media unless it is objectively true.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago

In my opinion, this i̴s̸ ̷n̴o̷t̷ ̷a̸ ̸g̸o̵o̷d̵ ̸i̴d̵e̷a̴,̷ ̵b̸̟̂e̸̯͠c̷̞̕à̷͖u̷̼͝s̷̜̀e̵͖̾ ̷̲͗t̸͖͊h̵͔̿ē̷͉r̴̲͆e̸̥̚'̵̠͊s̴̰̿ ̶͔̇p̶̰̍l̷͍͆e̵̗͊ǹ̷̻t̶̫̾y̷̞̍ ̸̗̑ȏ̶̻͓̯̇̆f̴̯͋ ̷̪̀͝t̷̢̡̐̂h̴̖͛̂i̴̮̱̳̓̀̾ņ̷͔̯͝g̸̗͂s̴̢̀̑͜ͅ ̴͍̝̀͑̾ṅ̶͇́ǫ̷̐̽t̴̥͙̋͂ ̷̲̥̕s̵͖̞͓̑͝͠ṭ̵̋̚r̸͖͆i̸̪̺͆͗c̵͓̼͛t̴̡̯̄͘l̶͕̏̈́̕y̴̤̣͈̅ ̷̛̜̗̻̈́v̶͔̺͐͑̍e̵̛͉̮r̷͖͓̉ỉ̷͈́f̸̟̓̕i̴̧̯͎͒̅͒a̶̖͑̈́b̴̡̧̈́̿͠l̴̜̿e̵̼̻͇͝ ̴͚̈́̅t̷̘͕̺͋͂̒h̸̳͔̑ȃ̶̹̗͔́t̴̡̰̺̋ ̸̫͜͝͝ ̶̖̀ ̷̣̬͑̂̐ ̴͇̄̔͝ ̴̟̃̀͜ ̶̽̿ͅ ̴̠̿s̵̼͚̖͆̎̉t̷̳̝̜̅̾ĩ̴̟̈̍l̵̫̗̼̈́́l̶̥̪̀ ̶̧̪̜̅̍n̸͖͊͆̕ė̴̹͔̭̇̚ḛ̷̊d̵̛̄͘ͅ ̶̡̘̱͝s̸̰͆̍̀a̶̩̻̐ẏ̵̳͉̦ḯ̸̞̻͒ṉ̷̏ͅg̵̩͓̈́ ̴͍͚̏ ̴̭̘͐̂ ̵͙̤̻͐̋̊ ̶͉͌ ̴̬̈ ̸̡̄ ̴̗̼̌ ̶͕̐ ̸̪̄ ̵̢̿̏ ̴͕͉̗̀ ̸̠͋́͝ ̴̺͈͛͐͐ ̷͓̙͑͋͒ä̸͖̝͇́n̴̛̹̰̏d̸͍̗̓͋ ̷̯̫́ ̸͚̀ ̶̱̽̃̔ ̷̖̣̈́͂ ̶̧̉̇̾ ̷̰̊̂͊ ̵̧̤̊ͅ ̶̞̮͂ ̴̨̑̿ ̴̜͛̋̐ ̵͉̆ ̶̼̫̌ ̶͍̥͊̎ ̷̭̃ ̵̙̪͎̔̍ ̸̢̧̇͜ ̷̲̰̃̐ ̶͙̐ ̴̞͊̉ͅ ̷̭̟͔̏̉̃ ̸̨̱͂͝ ̶̫͈̐̔͝ ̷̧̹̊̈̈́ ̶̥̠̜́ ̷̰͍͌͂͝ ̸̹̗̀ ̶͎̱͉͗ ̷̣̚ ̶̛̤̱̈́̃ ̷̰̪̗͂̐͌ ̷͓̝̬͗̎ ̴̨̦͈̆̊̃ ̷̡̓͐̕ ̸̰̍̕ ̵̗̞̥̓ ̸ ̸͕͆ ̴͒ͅ ̸͙͌ ̸̢͛ ̷̙͝ ̴̗̈́ ̵͚̿ ̵̯̓ ̶͎̐ ̵̘̇ ̵͂͜ ̷̧̃ ̵̫̿ ̵͔̌ ̵͔̌ ̷̟͗ ̸̣̆ ̴̖̾ ̶̤͠ ̷̲̒ ̷̱̑ ̸̟͗ ̸͇̐ ̴ ̴͎͋ ̸̪̍ ̶̜̽ ̶̪̂ ̸͇̋ ̵̹̎ ̶̡̊ ̴ ̴ ̸ ̶ ̷ ̶ ̴ ̴ ̴ ̴ ̴ ̸ ̵ ̷ ̷ ̸ ̴ ̵ ̴ ̵ ̷ ̵ ̶ ̸ ̷ ̸ ̷ ̴ ̵ ̸ ̵

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[–] [email protected] 28 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Everyone is gifted with the ability to control their own fertility. You're only fertile if you want to be. The only chance for pregnancy to occur is if both partners want it to.

I imagine that would cause a severe population decline, and I'm fine with that. There's too many humans on this planet already.

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[–] Nugelz 28 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] Nugelz 28 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 year ago (1 children)
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[–] [email protected] 24 points 1 year ago

Make everyone's interpretation of "small thing" slightly more similar.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 1 year ago (3 children)

A ubi funded by a hefty carbon tax on big polluters.

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[–] [email protected] 22 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (5 children)

Every one gets a strong moral compass that they can't ignore.

Sure we won't all have the same morals but I believe that most bad things in the world happen because people ignore morals and act selfish and only a small part of our issues stem from actual moral differences.

Edit: Seems I am much more optimistic than I thought.

[–] [email protected] 29 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Rates of religiously based terrorism would go through the roof. The problem is that people that, e.g., bomb abortion clinics believe that they are doing the morally correct thing, because it's better to murder a few people than to allow those people to "murder" thousands of innocent "babies". Likewise, you'd suddenly have people that are casually racist now immediately turn to full-on race war shit, because if you believe that nonwhite people are causing harm to the "white race" simply by existing, and you have a moral compass that you can't ignore, then the moral thing to do is to prevent that harm by killing the people committing the harm, esp. when you believe that they're irredeemable by virtue of genetics.

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 year ago (10 children)

Pull a gazilion tons of carbon out of the atmosphere, crystallise it into gigantic diamond shards, and drop them from the stratosphere onto the 95th percentile by wealth in each country.

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[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 year ago

Normalise the phrase: "I don't agree with your opinion and that's fine"

[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Metacognition becomes routine for humans. We are able to better de-fuse from our thoughts, and recognize them not as reality but as thoughts about reality.

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago (2 children)

The invention of a small easily producible power source that never runs out and has enough power to power vehicles/planes/vessels of all kinds.

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago

Make everyone understand basic propositional and predicate logic.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Not a very small thing maybe, but: All people gain ability to instantly recognise bullshit (at work, in media, interpersonal relationships, etc)

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

OP asks for small thing, most replies ask for huge things.

I guess the opposites of small thing and biggest positive impact on the world makes it hard to answer.

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago

Every figure leading every cult of personality is now seen as an imposter pretending to be themselves. For example, people think some orange-faced lunatic keeps trying to get on stage at a Trump rally, but Trump himself just disappeared.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago

To remove the desire for power over others.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)
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[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago

Not sure if it's a small thing but I think I would change it so good deeds make a bigger impression on people than the bad.

It's a bit of a rainbow sunshine kind of wish but it's human nature to remember bad things easier than the good, it's a survival instinct to protect ourselves. But with all these conflicts and discrimination, big or small, if people don't let fear dominate, everyone would cut each other more slack.

Of course this requires everyone to have the same mindset to work, that's why I think making that small change in human nature at its core is the only way, and only a genie could pull that off.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

A deadly virus that kills assholes

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I get your intent... I think, but taken literally that's going to cause some issues. A virus that causes necrotic butt holes... Hmmm.

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago (9 children)

A black hole about 2cm across filled entirely with protons.

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago

Elimination of the tribal parts of the brain that want to go to war.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Bring back the concept of shame.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago

cries in has lots of it

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (10 children)

People regain the ability to agree to disagree, and stop hating each other over political issues.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago (2 children)

What would that look like? I'm a trans woman. When someone is standing there trying to take my rights away, and actively working to remove my access to care and support, what does "agree to disagree" look like?

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

After decades of sci-fi/fantasy entertainment to prime us, the primal part of the human brain that reacts to in-group and out-group members suddenly changes in every human and we start reflexively and unintentionally classifying all earth life as friends and space/environmental threats as enemies.

Humanity immediately gets serious about climate change, CO2 reduction, and the like, but we also get way too zealous about deploying space lasers.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago

"You are a human too" for all people.

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