My 3 Wishes

“What would you do if you had three wishes?” is an age-old question that dates back to Arabian tales involving genies and magic lamps. The legend allows the master of the lamp any three requests except more wishes. In college, during boring lectures, I used to ponder what I would wish for. Coming up with a realistic answer is very difficult because one always wants to maximize the benefit of one’s three wishes. Considering which wishes might be encompassed in other wishes is crucial. For instance, requesting infinite wealth may seem like a great first wish, but upon greater reflection, asking to live forever would eventually allow you to achieve the same goal. Not only would your investments have more time to grow, but book and television deals would keep you in the flush for centuries. Flawless beauty is another common wish. However, it would be silly to wish for beauty when you could wish for attractiveness instead; for attractiveness is the underlying purpose of beauty. Of course, you could make all of your wishes irrelevant by simply requesting everlasting happiness. Happiness is the goal of money, fame, power, beauty, and any other desire. After all, even if you were poor, unknown, weak, and ugly, what would it matter if you were absolutely thrilled with life? If I had three wishes, though, I’d be careful about asking for such all-encompassing things. The benefits of any good thing are bound to fade when there is nothing bad with which to contrast it. If you were always happy, then happiness would turn into a standard, unspecial state. Even a wish as wonderful-sounding as living forever would backfire because life is validated by death. If we were able to live forever, our time would become worthless. There would never be a need to seize the moment because infinite other moments would lie ahead. Therein lies the quandary of all-encompassing wishes: they eliminate risk and uncertainty, rendering life unexciting. If I had three wishes, I would ask 1) for myself,...