Would you rather...
 

This is nice and simple. I start with a question where you have to choose between two options (occasionally three if it makes sense). You make your choice and give your reasons, then give a new 'Would you rather...' question for the next person to reply to. The only rule is to limit each person to one 'Would you rather...' question and answer per day.

I'll start.

Would you rather find the next Mersenne Prime or discover a method to test for Mersenne Primes that is much faster than an LL test (on similar hardware)?

I would rather (at the moment!) do the latter.

This is in large part because I think that the next is likely to be under the 10M digit threshold. Secondly, this will help all future M primes be found faster.

You need a followup question...

Would you rather take an unknown fate 50/50 good bad, or a sure and known sorta bad thing?

I would take my chances on 50/50. At least I have a 50% chance of a good outcome. I have a 0% chance the other way.

Would you rather win the Academy Award for Best Actor/Actress or win the MVP title in your favorite sport?

Win the Academy Award. It would guarantee the purchase of a couple of hundred crunching machines.

Would you rather work hard for a great career and eventually a modest fortune or win $10 million from the local lottery?

I'd prefer the lottery win, as I then have the opportunity to make the decision where to work without the need that it is paid well enough - it can even be completely voluntarily when I like it...

Would you rather have had a cheap or an expensive car, assuming you have a crash, don't get hurt but completely destroy the car so it's use- and worthless and you don't get any money from an insurance company (Point is: whatever you take, there won't be a (physical) difference afterwards)?

The expensive car because I already drive a cheap car.

Would you rather be eaten by an alligator or a great white shark/

Shark, it's quicker (I'd hope.)

Be an elected Prime Minister/President or a non-elected dictator?

President because I believe in freedom.

Would you rather do DC projects for the next 30 years and die or live without them for 50 and die?

That's too easy. I would rather work on DC projects. That's a lot more fun.

Would you rather work for Apple or Microsoft?

[QUOTE=rogue]
Would you rather work for Apple or Microsoft?[/QUOTE]

Definitely Apple. :-) :bow:

Would you rather be a mathematician without programming skills or a programmer without math skills?

Mathematician w/o programming skills.

I'd think that if one could grasp some of the less obvious points of higher level math, one'd ought to be able to pick up some programming skills fairly easily. I'm sure someone will point out an example to the contrary... :smile:

I know there are several programming languages that require little or no mathematical knowledge.

Would you rather teach at a public school or at a college?

Teach college. Less, pig in a poke.

Would you rather travel the world as a near slave-like personal servant or have a good job in a remote corner of the world, but no travel available (like on Pitcairn)?

A good job in a remote corner of the world. I've never liked travelling.

Would you rather be the person who designs the space ship that wins the [URL=http://www.xprize.org/home.php]X-prize[/URL], or the astronaut who goes up in the ship (i.e. 10 million dollars or a trip into space)?

I'd rather be the astronaut, I already have 10 million dollars.

Would you rather marry a beautiful airhead or a plain but intelligent companion?

plain but intelligent companion.

Beauty is fleeting, intelligence lasts until I can find a beautiful and intelligent companion.

Outlnder,
It is your turn to pose the next question.

Would you rather be the popular guy with dates all the time and no money for DC or the wall flower with no dates and a bunch of computers in your dining room??

[QUOTE=outlnder]Would you rather be the popular guy with dates all the time and no money for DC or the wall flower with no dates and a bunch of computers in your dining room??[/QUOTE]

Popular guy, because I wonder what it would be like...

Would you rather go to the top of Mount Everest or to the bottom of the Marianes Trench?

The trench, it is far more of an exclusive club.


Would you rather have a window or aisle seat?

A window seat. That way I can look at the scenery as we go down in a firey crash.

Would you rather have a nice apartment with A/C, fireplace, in a decent neighborhood with no furniture so you can't invite people over or a not so nice apartment without A/C, fireplace, good neighborhood but have decent furniture so you can invite friends over??

[QUOTE=outlnder]A window seat. That way I can look at the scenery as we go down in a firey crash.

Would you rather have a nice apartment with A/C, fireplace, in a decent neighborhood with no furniture so you can't invite people over or a not so nice apartment without A/C, fireplace, good neighborhood but have decent furniture so you can invite friends over??[/QUOTE]

I'd prefer the nicer apartment as I like A/C in the summer and fires are nice in the winter.

Would you rather be a cat or a dog?

[QUOTE=rogue]Would you rather be a cat or a dog?[/QUOTE]

A cat. According to my experience, they are more independent from their owners and live out their curiousity. :banana:
And I was seen as cute and nice and such by humans, although I'd brutally torture mice - but they don't think about that... :devil:

Dogs are generally ok, but I don't like barking on marking (when you have to take them for a walk).

[quote=Uncwilly]Would you rather take an unknown fate 50/50 good bad, or a sure and known sorta bad thing?[/quote]
The presidency election campaign in the US came to my mind... :rolleyes:

[b]New question:[/b]
Would you rather lose your arms or your legs? (Damn, I should get away from those accident-related questions!)

Legs, hands are so usefull and eating with your feet can freak folks out.

Would you rather win a free Mac G4 or get a P4 3.0GHz for ~$100/euro

free Mac G4

Would you rather have a million dollars now or $40,000 a year for 25 years

$1M now, as I can invest them somewhere, take $40K/year and have still something left after 25 years...

The Matrix(TM) question:
Would you rather fight against or live in the Matrix?

I would rather fight, because I have never considered myself a lemming.

Would you rather be a vampire or a werewolf?

Teenwolf!

Would you rather be in prison in your homeland for years or be plopped down in a country that is far from your home with no knowledge of the language, nor the natives knowledgable of yours, again for years?

Free and stupid, baby. That's for me!

Would you rather cook every meal you eat for the rest of your life, or eat out every meal?

Cook.

I've been living in residence, and wishing I could cook something.

Would you rather live a long, happy life and die a painful death or die peacefully tonight?

Live a long and happy life with just a few very good friends.

Would you rather be the first human to walk on Mars or find the first 10 million digit Mersenne prime?

10 Million digit prime (less chance of vomiting on myself.)

Would you rather know a little bit about everything or almost everything about one thing?

Well, I already know a little about everything, and I don't have a great job. So I will take a lot about one thing and make billions.

Would you rather [B]get[/B] fantastic pleasure from sex or [B]give [/B] fantastic pleasure from sex??

:whistle:

What?, no takers??

Get, it's nice to be selfish every once in a while.

Would you rather have lived 100 years ago with what you know now or live 100 from now with what you know now?

Live 100 years ago. Imagine the investments that one could make. Easy money. Never bet on Boston again, etc. Could "discover" things. Like Mprimes. :)


Would you rather re-live your current life or live the life of a random person born 30 years before yourself?

I would relive my current life because if I lived a randomly chosen life 30 years before mine, it most likely would have been one in a third world country.

Would you rather go back in time to meet Jesus Christ or Mohammed?

I'd be scared to meet either but by choice Jesus Christ because there are 3 or 4 questions I'd really like to ask him.

Would you rather spend a quiet evening with your spouse or take your spouse out on the town? :ermm:

Out on the town because she's always telling me I don't take her out anywhere.

Would you rather be on the jury of the OJ Simpson trial or the Scott Peterson trial?

Who is Scott Peterson?

Scott Peterson is accused of killing his wife and unborn child around Christmastime of 2002. He supposedly killed her then put an achor on her and threw her out in San Francisco Bay near the Berkeley marina.

Biggest trial in California right now.

Of course he did it.

I thought MJ was the big trial in California. At least in news in Belgium, it is.

MJ trial didn't start yet AFAIK.

I'll bite: OJ, cause it is already over.

Would you rather have a classic (Beetle, Rolls, Mustang, Mini-Cooper, T-Bird, Corvette, etc.) or the new (Beetle, Rolls, Mustang, Mini-Cooper, T-Bird, Corvette, etc.)? Specify which.

Classic Porsche 356B. Something about that upside down bathtub shape is a true classic.

Would you rather want to know who killed JFK or know where Jimmy Hoffa is?

Jimmy Hoffa

If i knew who killed JFK I'd be dead :smile:

(BTW, who is Jimmy Hoffa? :innocent: )

Mustang or Ferrari?

[QUOTE=ET_](BTW, who is Jimmy Hoffa? :innocent: )[/QUOTE]

[url]http://www.who2.com/jimmyhoffa.html[/url]

Definitely Ferrari (as long as I don't have to pay for it!) because Mustangs are cheap cars unlike Ferraris.

:coffee: *WaitingForANewQuestion* :coffee: :confused:

OK Then...

Would you rather have $250 million now or $5M a year for 20 years, $10M for the next 19, and the rest ballooned in the 40th year?

(That's the two ways of receiving payment in Pepsi's Play For a Billion.)

The latter. That way, I'll have a steady source of income for the next 40 years. If appropriated correctly, this can be divisioned into new hardware to run PrimeNet and the electricity to run that hardware. And some left over, maybe buy a small island, move the farm there, set up windmills and solar panels to power it. Then I only have to be concerned about the hardware cost.

Now a more realistic question that some people I know have actually had to deal with: would you rather have no keyboard for your computer or no mouse?

No mouse, I think.

I've been known to forget my mouse at home while the mouse-like thing on my laptop was broken - I survived the day. I can't imagine not having a keyboard, though.

If you were going to be the same age for the rest of your life, until you suddenly died, would you choose to be 5 or 50?

50, 5 year olds are essentially powerless.

Woluld you rather change your gender or religon?