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| 46043 |
What would you choose? Why?
1.) Cats or Dogs?
2.) A female president meeting you’re requirements or a male president meeting your requirements?
3.) A car or a truck?
4.) To study abroad, or in the U.S?
5.) To learn 20 languages so you can talk with almost anyone, or just 1 language and hope everyone speaks it? :)
6.) To go back in time and fix a mistake, knowing you could mess up your future, or leaving the past behind and barreling into the future with no regrets?
7.) Reading or writing?
8.) Teaching or learning?
9.) Indoors or outdoors?
10.) Enjoying what you have in life, or enjoying life itself?
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Language pair: English; German
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| 46156 |
Re:What would you choose? Why?
1.) Cats or Dogs?
Neither. I prefer to have a pet only if the pet prefers to have me. If I am forced to pick one, I will take the cat, as it is easier to keep, and with no loyalty to its keeper it is probably better equipped to make itself comfortable with human beings.
2.) A female [...] or a male president meeting your requirements?
What is wrong with emperors? :-)
We could also try a government with no single leader.
3.) A car or a truck?
A truck. It can serve as a car, while a car cannot serve as a truck. A helium blimp might be yet better.
4.) To study abroad, or in the U.S?
Abroad. "Abroad" is many countries, while U.S. is only one country.
5.) To learn 20 languages [...] or just 1 language [...] ?
20 languages, provided I have time to learn them. In practice I already have to satisfy with less.
6.) To go back in time and fix a mistake, [...] or leaving the past behind [...]
A third option would be to create something beneficial in the present time to compensate for the mistake.
7.) Reading or writing?
8.) Teaching or learning?
These cannot and should not be mutually exclusive alternatives.
9.) Indoors or outdoors?
My hobbies are indoors, but if I were forced to choose, I would feel like a prisoner in both.
10.) Enjoying what you have in life, or enjoying life itself?
"Life itself" contains plenty of "having". Do you mean to contrast material things with immaterial ones? This world is made of materials even though its people may have immaterial values. Therefore the choice cannot be made in a pure, absolute form.
Puti
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Language pair: English; German
This is a reply to message # 46043
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| 46187 |
Re:What would you choose? Why?
1. I would choose dogs over cats because they are better and I have dogs but no cats but I am around both cats and dogs
2. Female because we need to give them a chance and see how she would run the country
3. truck, you can fit more in a truck than in a car
4. abroad, I would really like to travel and visit other countries
5. 20 languages, I would love to talk to everyone and I would also want to know all of the bad things other people were saying about me ;)
6. going forward, why mess with your memories even if they are bad
7. reading, I really don't know why
8. outdoors, it is so boring to be stuck inside all of the time
9. life itself, material things are not what we live for
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Language pair: English; German
This is a reply to message # 46043
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| 46209 |
Re:What would you choose? Why?
Part 1 of 2
I was relly impressed with Puti’s answers, and I’m afraid I’m going to sound like a copycat, but here goes:
1.) Cats or Dogs?
I’m not sure. I have five cats in my house and no dogs.
I try to take animals on a case-by-case basis, just like people. I have known some very sweet dogs whom I loved dearly, and some really obnoxious cats whom I couldn’t get out of my life quickly enough. But I tend to get along a lot better with cats generally. Cats tend to be much cleaner and require less care. I enjoy the way cats express affection, cuddling and purring, to dogs’ barking, and jumping on you and licking your face, and, for many larger dogs, beating you with their tails.
2.) A female president meeting you’re requirements or a male president meeting your requirements?
Ideally, gender would be unimportant to me. If they both met my requirements, and they were perfectly equal, I’d have to flip a coin. Under present circumstances, however, I’d be inclined to vote for the woman.just to set a precedent that a woman can be President of the United states. We need to end this terrible record we have in our country.
3.) A car or a truck?
Here I disagree with Puti. I drive a car and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I feel very resentful of so many large vehicles—the trucks, the SUV’s and such. It’s one thing if the owners regularly need the capacity, that’s practical and I understand. But many people buy the SUV because they want to go camping and then they never do. So their burning more fossile fuel, increasing pollution, and harming the ozone layer for nothing. If I want to go camping, I’ll rent an SUV for the week, and save money on my gas bills the rest of the year.
4.) To study abroad, or in the U.S? All things being equal, I’d study abroad. I only study in the US because I can’t afford the travel.
5.) To learn 20 languages so you can talk with almost anyone, or just 1 language and hope everyone speaks it? :)
I honestly pity people who speak only one language. They have no idea what they’re missing. On the other hand, I speak 20 languages, and I don’t speak very well—though I’m finally starting to get a handle on the Spanish. Puti put it very well-it doesn’t make sense to take on more languages than we can handle in the time available to us. If some day I am able to speak 20 languages well, I will be a very happy man.
(Continued)
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Language pair: English; All
This is a reply to message # 46043
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| 46210 |
Re:What would you choose? Why?
Part 2 of 2
6.) To go back in time and fix a mistake, knowing you could mess up your future, or leaving the past behind and barreling into the future with no regrets?
There was a great Star Trek Episode about this on The Next Generation. Picard had been a macho, rash fool as a young man and had gotten into a fight where his heart was injured, and he had to have an artificial one installed. He was offered a chance to go back and make a wiser choice, and he jumped at the opportunity, but being less bold changed his whole future, and he never developed the leadership skills and never got the promotions he’d enjoyed in his original life. He decided to go back to his original choices.
If you take away my mistakes, you take away my self and my potential, my past, my present, and my future. I would not go back and undo them, and certainly would not forget them. I use them to build my future.
7.) Reading or writing?
I can’t add much to Puti’s response on this. Reading and writing are oppossite sides of a coin. Reading teaches me to write, and writing teaches me to read. I could never live without either. If I absolutely had to make a choice, though, I’d want to be able to read. That way, I still have some opportunity to learn new things.
8.) Teaching or learning?
Again, they are opposite sides of a coin. I can’t teach without learning. If I stopped learning, I’d make a hopeless teacher. If I could learn, though, I could still live—though it’s hard to imagine what kind of life I’d have if I couldn’t teach. But at least that way, there would still be some possiblity. There is no life without the abilty to learn.
9.) Indoors or outdoors?
I have to confess, I would probably be happy enough if I never went outdoors again. Don’t you dare tell my girlfriend! I’m a brainy guy. I enjoy the outdoors, I love the mountains, and I love rivers, lakes, streams, anything with running water in it. But if I never saw another one again, I could still be happy if there were plenty of books around. Istn’t that awful?
10.) Enjoying what you have in life, or enjoying life itself? I guess there’s probably a lot of ways to read this, but I think I see it similarly to how Puti did—do I enjoy possessions, or do I enjoy the simple experience of being. I think it’s far better to enjoy being than to focus on things, experiences, and so on. But I’m still not very good at it. I’m far more impressed by my experiences and by my possessions.
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Language pair: English; All
This is a reply to message # 46043
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| 46215 |
Re:Re:What would you choose? Why?
1) Cats, cause they bury their poop
2) Male, cause I don't trust most women
3) Car, less gas needed
4) U.S., cause unknown places are scary
5) Depends. Quality over quantity, but if I can have both. . .
6) Go back in time. The future isn't real until it's the present.
7) Reading is safer, noone to judge you
8) Learning. Can't teach til you learn anyway
9.) Indoors, I hate mosquitos
10.)Being Affluent is underrated.
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Language pair: English; German
This is a reply to message # 46156
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| 46589 |
Re:Re:What would you choose? Why?
Good answers! For the last one (8), I should have bin more clear. Enjoying the material possessions of life, and never taking major risks, or living with immaterial values and taking big risks. Like, if one day someone gives you a chance to bunji-jump off a bridge, or jump out of an airplane, would you take it then and there? Or, say you will do it later?
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Language pair: English; German
This is a reply to message # 46156
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| 46733 |
Re: What would you choose? Why?
> Enjoying the material possessions of life, and never taking major risks, or living with immaterial values and taking big risks.
Quite many people fall outside of both categories.
However, thinking just the "risk" part of the question, I would take some level of risk, if I can gain something useful (like skills or knowledge) in exchange. Therefore I would consider jumping with a parachute, but probably would not take a benji jump. Flying with a glider parachute would be yet better, because it would teach me how to fly.
Puti
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Language pair: English; German
This is a reply to message # 46589
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| 48536 |
Re:What would you choose? Why?
1) Cats or Dogs
I pick dogs because they are more loyal and i'm scared of cats!!
2) Female president, i think a woman would be able to understand the needs of the country better and more emotively, especially in UK
3)A Car, i'm way too small to drive a truck, i would't reach the steering wheel!!
4)Study in Europe, from the Uk, the USA is just a little too far from home for me.
5)20 languages and speak with everyone!! i would rather know a little of everything than evrythig about one thing.
6)Obviously, leave the past behind i would hope but something would tempt me to go back and fix the mistake, especially if it had a big effect, that's beinga perfectioist i suppose!
7)Reading, to gain knowledge rather than to impart knowledge.
8)Teaching, on the flip side, to know you have had an influence on someone's life.
9) inside in winter, outside in spring,summer and autumn!!(obv. it being freezing english weather! :)
10) enjoying life for itself, but only when spending it with people around you that you love!
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Language pair: English; German
This is a reply to message # 46043
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