Comments on: I Wish Your Wish (Would Fall Off)

By: Dandybot

Dandybot — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 16:49:06 +0000

THE,
I’m no scientist, but I’ll point out that the universe coming to an end due to “a paradox in the fabric of spacetime” isn’t self-evident as you seem to think ;p I’d actually imagine that nothing at all would happen, but that’s just a hunch.

Then, “If you had a secret unconscious wish for it not to fall off, and it fell off”, also doesn’t work, because the string needs to fall off before the wish comes true. The closest analogue I can think of would be to hope you won’t drive into a wall after driving into a wall. It’s not a paradox, just, umm… retarded! ^__^ Given that you don’t happen to have a history of repeatedly hitting walls within a short span of time, and are hoping to not do it again within some 10 seconds. Then it’s just sad, or maybe magic! Or maybe even candy, boy would THAT be awesome.

I suppose that tears to pieces the rest of your reasoning ;o

By: KayDubs

KayDubs — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 04:02:11 +0000

Anyone else reminded of ‘fruit by the foot’?

By: Claire C Smith

Claire C Smith — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 03:11:32 +0000

Julianne says,

“I’m assuming that the pilgrims in Bahia did not use modern synthetic materials, but sadly, Neuenschwander did”

Brilliant!

The colours/colors of these ribbons are super.

By: blah

blah — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 19:09:14 +0000

The art piece is colorful yet idiotic. And I know I have a piece of coal where my heart should be, you don’t have to remind me.

By: THE

THE — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 10:53:39 +0000

Julianne,
It occurs to me that this may be the reason why the string doesn’t fall off.
If you had a secret unconscious wish for it not to fall off, and it fell off,
then that would create a paradox in the fabric of spacetime,
and the universe would come to an end.

Now as the multiverse branches according to the laws of quantum mechanics in the MWI,
only those universes where no contradictions exist are still there,
so we can never actually observe the fall of the string.
There may be universes where the string falls,
but they immediately cease to exist because of the paradox.

By: THE

THE — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 10:24:01 +0000

But what if your wish was that the string never fell off?

Then if it fell off, it would create a self-referential paradox.

The only way the wish can show it’s come true, is by not coming true.

By: spyder

spyder — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 20:58:10 +0000

Tibetans monks have a similar tradition. In 2000 a group of monks from the Labrang Monastery, in my home city at the time, offered braided prayer strings while visiting and blessing one’s home. I received three of them, which were given in honor of monks and nuns in Chinese prisons. When a tie fell off the monk or nun was free, either from release or through death. The first fell off after seven years, the second just came off last year, and the third is still in great shape tied around my right ankle (going on more than ten years now).

By: Fernando

Fernando — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 00:14:58 +0000

Over here in Brasil people use these things decoratively most of the times. I don’t see many worn out ribbons with people, most are cute looking and new.

By: Non-Believer

Non-Believer — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 19:30:30 +0000

If you are considering changing your wish grantor, may I suggest my new cult Knot Ceres. (we have decided the asteroid Ceres is actually a giant death star – who are watching us to protect us from the Thetans #stupidscientology )
If you were to change, I would suggest dipping your wrist in some acetone (nail polish remover) for about 5 minutes. This will obviously hurry the disintegration of the ribbon which will free you up to actually accomplish your own wish fulfillment.

By: Ken Muldrew

Ken Muldrew — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 15:14:02 +0000

Maybe some uv, some ozone…if you want that wish to come true you have got to try a little harder.

By: Lab Lemming

Lab Lemming — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 11:23:50 +0000

“I wish I could remember where I left the scissors”

By: Metre

Metre — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 11:04:38 +0000

If your wishing for the Higg’s Boson, that ribbon may be there a while. Otherwise, I recommend scissors. I hear they work quite well.

By: Ben

Ben — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 08:30:07 +0000

Nylon and polyester thread/rope are significantly weakened by exposure to acid. Clearly it would be violating the spirit of the tradition and the art to deliberately soak it, but maybe you could discover a liking for very vinegary salad dressing and hand-tossing your salads.

By: Rahul

Rahul — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 07:03:53 +0000

A similar tradition though with less conceit exists at the tombs of Sufi saints in India (and Pakistan). You tie a small piece of thread around the marble lattice work structure and when your wish is fulfilled you are expected to come back to untie it. You don’t need to untie your specific knot (it would be impossible to find it to begin with!) but just one knot amongst the many. With the enormous number of such threads that exists at the tombs of these saints one can only conclude either 1) few wishes are getting fulfilled or 2) people are too lazy to come back to untie one once their wishes come true.

http://rwapplewannabe.files.wordpress.com/2006/12/make-a-wish-on-string.jpg

By: Odani of the Faith

Odani of the Faith — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 07:02:44 +0000

The deity of your choice simply has yet to process your wish. Only after the wish has been granted can the ribbon fall off.

At least, that’s what the Bishop tells me, and he’s infallible. Have you considered changing deities? Ours offers a full line of wish-granting, and He* puts you on His speed dial!

*Actually, I’m unsure as to the sex of our Divinityship. When I asked the Bishop, he just tilted his head in a way so as to indicate the question was not considered appropriate.

By: Ian

Ian — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 03:32:43 +0000

If you buy your wish ribbon from one of the many ladies selling them outside the church in Bahia, it usually lasts a matter of weeks to months. Then again, it could be something about the tropical sun, humidity, and sweating that one does while in Bahia.

By: Karen S.

Karen S. — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 22:52:01 +0000

yes, mine lasted a good year and a half as well! my wish did in fact come true, and the string fell off shortly thereafter.

By: Tweets that mention I Wish Your Wish (Would Fall Off) | Cosmic Variance | Discover Magazine -- Topsy.com

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 16:41:45 +0000

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Cosmic Variance, kosmofilo. kosmofilo said: #CosmicVariance I Wish Your Wish (Would Fall Off): A few weeks ago, the New York Times highlighted the work of Bra… http://bit.ly/bWSvSo [...]