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30 impossible questions that will make you doubt

30 impossible questions that will make you doubt

March 23, 2024

Doubt is the origin of wisdom. This phrase, written by René Descartes, tells us a fundamental fact. We need to doubt things in order to investigate, seek knowledge. The human being has made himself and numerous other questions throughout his history, some transcendental and others much more prosaic and everyday.

But many of these questions do not find or have found a solution, or even if they have, they require a lot of research and reflection. That is why in this article I have collected a series of impossible questions and / or difficult answers for most .

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30 impossible questions

Below is a brief list of impossible questions that will make you doubt, or for which there is no clear answer.


1. Can we choose?

Freedom is one of the most valued concepts, and a large majority of people feel free and capable of making their own lives, making their own decisions. But is this really so? ** are we really free? **

Our behavior is mediated and modulated by different aspects, such as our expectations, social desirability, norms and laws ... or even something as simple as our biology can make us unable to do exactly what we want how and when we want. In addition, it is worth wondering what freedom really is, and distinguishing this concept from the fact of doing what we want without further ado.

2. Does the world really exist?

Although it may seem a strange question and for some even stupid, the truth is that there is no adequate way to respond. The senses tell us yes, but how can we know that everything we see, feel, learn and live, all the people we know and the way the world seems to work are not only an elaboration of our mind ?

3. Can we be objective?

It is a complicated question. We can try to abstract and set aside our beliefs and prejudices, but is a total objectivity really possible? At the end of the day our own conception of the world is governed by assessments we make of it, and our beliefs, values ​​and expectations alter not only what we think of a specific phenomenon but even how we perceive it, at a level alien to the conscience.

4. Is a psychopath born or made?

The term psychopath could be replaced by any other. While we know that in everything we are there a combination of biological and environmental factors , the question is to determine if the nucleus of what the subject is is genetically prefixed or is elaborated with experience. For example, in the case of the psychopath, it is considered that a large part of his way of being is explained by biological elements (the sociopath being the one that acts in a similar way due to the life experiences).

5. How was life formed?

We know that we are made of matter, just like everything else. But what is it that makes us alive it's a mystery. We can assume the conditions in which life was formed on our planet (and even reproduce these conditions to generate some living cells), but not what exactly caused it to arise and be organized in a certain way. And this knowledge is circumscribed to how it came about here, there being no clear explanation for the existence of molecules and amino acids in elements such as comets and asteroids.

6. Is there good and evil?

Often the acts and situations are identified as good or bad, being these words constructs elaborated by the human being to assess what happens and how it affects oneself or others. However, morality is something subjective: although almost all people have somehow this kind of concepts or ideas , different people will see the same event or action differently, and what for one is bad can be good for another.


  • You may be interested: "What is morality? Discovering the development of ethics in childhood"

7. How can we be happy?

Almost everyone wants to be happy. However, when we ask ourselves how we can be happy we probably will not be able to give us a valid answer, or at least it will be for us and for the rest of the world. Well-being and happiness are something that can depend on a wide variety of variables , and these variables will change greatly for each person.

8. How did the Universe come about?

The origin of the Universe is still unknown today, there are numerous theories and attempts to explain it. Although to this day The Big Bang theory is one of the most accepted at a scientific level , the truth is that it is still a theory that can not be fully demonstrated. In fact, some scientists argue that this theory is true, that it existed in the previous moments if there was one or how it happened.

9. What is death?

A question that many would respond with a "the fact of losing one's life", or from a religious perspective as "the step towards another life / reality / reincarnation". But that does not really define what it is or what it supposes.

10. Is there life beyond death?

Directly derived from the previous, whether or not there is something beyond death it's something that we can only assume or theorize until we experience it for ourselves.

11. Why do we dream?

The ability to dream is something unique, which appears in both humans and other animal species. But, why do we do it? Do our dreams have any meaning? These are questions that have generated multiple theories (psychoanalytic, cognitive, etc.) but for which a definitive experience has not been found

12. What and who am I?

Deep question that does not have an easy answer. Most people respond by indicating their characteristics and their way of being. But that does not stop answering the question. That I am? What does it mean to be me? What makes me different, if I am, from what surrounds me?

  • Maybe you're interested: "Who am I?"

13. Can a person's IQ level be increased?

Traditionally it has been considered that the intellectual capacity was a capacity that was determined by biology and development, being able to increase the level of knowledge and train different skills, but not improve the base ability, known as fluid intelligence. However, some models propose that intelligence can be increased through training.

14. Are there limits?

Most people consider that there are things that they are capable of doing, things that they would be able to do with training. things that are not possible . But do the limits really exist or have we not yet found a way to break them? Formerly it was not believed that man could fly, travel to space or cure certain diseases, and yet it has been achieved.

15. Is intelligence a unique ability or are they the union of several independent abilities?

The intelligence is an abstract construct whose definition is, even today, complex and highly disputed. There are several models that propose a unique intelligence, others that there is a general ability and then specific skills more or less hierarchical.

16. Is the world fair? / Is there karma?

The idea of ​​the existence of a cosmic justice , that in the end everyone has what they deserve, is common in a large number of people. There are also those who say just the opposite, or even that justice is only a concept that does not occur in nature.

17. Can there be other forms of life based on non-carbon elements?

The scientific community has no answer to this question. It is possible to speculate, but all known life so far is based on carbon.

18. Is there intelligent life on other planets?

Another one of those impossible questions based on the threshold of the unknown . It is difficult for us to be alone in the universe, but no evidence has been found about it.

19. Are mathematics totally objective?

We have often heard that mathematics is the only totally objective science. However, demonstrations about the objectivity of something are often based on mathematics, which prevents us from demonstrating the objectivity of the element we use to observe objectivity is fallacious. They are also based on logic, a logic that has been conceptualized by the human being and that as such is subject in subjectivity.

20. What are antimatter and dark energy?

These concepts refer to elements that are deduced from the behavior of matter and energy, but it is still unknown what exactly they are and what they are. without being able to observe directly .

21. Does the universe have a beginning? And an end?

We know that the universe existed long before the first human beings came into the world. However, we do not know how it originated (although the theory of the Big Bang is the most popular) if it had an origin, or if at some point it will end (although it is speculated that with time it will end to expand and then begin to contract due to the attraction of black holes.

22. What is behind a black hole?

A great mystery to which no one can give an answer, since not even light is capable of escaping from within.

23. What is time?

Apart from defining it as a physical dimension, establishing what exactly time is is not as simple as it seems.

24. To what extent does the environment modify the expression of genes?

We know that the genes we have have the basic information of different characteristics, which may or may not be expressed depending on the environment and of the vital circumstances that surround each subject. Genes predispose, but they do not have to be activated. To what extent are they influenced by the environment?

  • Related article: "Differences between DNA and RNA"

25. Can we know exactly how much time we are going to live?

To this day, we can not give an answer to this question. We can give an approximate forecast based on the average life expectancy. But we do not know if we will suffer diseases or we will have some type of accident at some time.

26. Is there chance?

Chance and probability are strange concepts, which basically propose that things can happen without a reason for it, in a casual and not predictable way . But does it really exist or are we facing something that we just can not predict yet?

27. Can the sum of infinite numbers give a concrete result?

This question does have an answer, and although it may be surprising for most people, it is affirmative. It is the number e or number of Euler.

28. Where is the conscience?

Although we know that it is in the brain and it is suspected that it is linked to the frontal lobe, it is still not known at what exact point it is or if it is a property that arises from the global activity of the encephalon .

  • Related article: "The 6 levels of loss of consciousness and associated disorders"

29. Can we get to live on other planets?

Our planet is huge and a beautiful place to live in, but it is not infinite. It has limited resources and space. Maybe at some point the human being must depart to other planets and colonize them. Is this possible? Could we survive? Astronauts who spend a long time in space lose muscle and bone mass. What would happen to someone who would consider living not just a time but a whole life in space? Could we terraform an entire planet, or a specific area?

30. Is it possible to transfer our consciousness to an artificial body?

Recently, the first interventions aimed at making a head transplant in humans have been carried out (although until now it has only been tested in cadavers). There are projects that pose to go further: transplant a brain in an artificial body, and in the future even transfer our consciousness to an artificial unit (without brain itself). But is this last possible? And if carried out, would we be before a transfer of consciousness or would a new one really be created and the old and original one (that of the real person) would die?


15 Tricky Riddles That Will Drive You Insane (March 2024).


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