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Forrest has been so generous and awesome with answering questions from searchers. Now it is his turn! He has requested one to be asked of you all and he is curious and keen to learn the answers.

It is as follows:

If you could know everything there is to know about one subject, which subject would you choose, and why? Give it some thought before you answer. f

 

 

219 Comments

  1. Thanks for such an stimulating question, Forrest! You’re as interesting on the flipside….lol

    For me, this will be difficult to answer, because I love mystery and I’m not sure I ever want to know everything about anything….but if I could……? I will think about it!

    Jenny Kile
  2. One word…. TIME.

    It is the one constant that provides answers to everything in life. With a complete and universal knowledge of everything time was, what time is, what time will be; how it interacts with life, and how it can be manipulated. With a complete final understanding of all that is TIME you can….

    – Manipulate and travel back in time to right a past wrong or regret.
    – Manipulate and travel ahead in time to gleen a wisdom of future generations to help guide the present.
    – Understand where everything started from and when it all will end.
    – Understand how time affects human regeneration, hence the halt of aging and achieve immortality for as long as your choosing desires.
    – Restart the day and gain life experience like no other, by travelling unlimited paths instead of one.
    – Achieve world peace by controlling the “players” of each war through time manipulation.
    ….. But most of all, you can grow old by choice….and die….knowing that you saw and lived EVERYTHING that life could possibly offer you.

    …..or I’d like to know EVERYTHING about pleasing a woman, that’s my second choice 😛

    Will

  3. I think I would pick that subject to be ‘myself’…because that would be the scariest thing I had ever done to date. Once I knew…I wonder most what I would wonder after that? Would I even wonder? I bet I wouldn’t even exist after that. Well, I’m sure I would, but just not the same. I hope I’d still enjoy things like pizza and puppies all the same though….those kinda things would be a shame to lose.

  4. The TRUE origin and history of man?? To know where we began and the answers in-between …..could help us to determine not only where we truly have been, but where we are going and WHY, and perhaps solve many things we have been faced with in the past and are faced with even now?……….

  5. My subject to be the world’s greatest know-it-all would be – Anthropology…Why?…It is my belief that the races of men have been walking this planet much longer than science or religious belief currently allows…That civilizations worldwide have grown, thrived and disappeared without a trace over and over again…That unknown technologies have developed and died never to be rediscovered…And even with all the fantastic gadgets and knowledge we possess in the small window of time modern man has blossomed on this planet, we still cannot determine when and how the race of men truly began…I, for one would love to know that answer…

  6. This question makes me feel like a child being asked this to find out what they would want to do with their life….so ill answer it from the childish perspective in me…

    Area 51….

    I mean, whats that about? aliens? secret weapons? the burial ground for jimmy hoffa?

    But I always thought about space as a kid, and still do, so i guess area 51/aliens or is there life out there? and what kind of literature, music, if they love, art, politics, skyscrapers, spacecrafts do they have? I think human civilization is cool, rome, religion, native americans, revolutionary war, Philadelphia, kings and queens, egypt…all that is awesome but imagine how many other civilizations are out there…is it an infinite amount? or are we all alone?

    ps..Eagles vs cowboys next Sunday for the division crown…cowgirls are gonna choke…GO BIRDS!
    E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES!!

  7. Wow!!! I agree with all the answers everyone has given so far… Well except maybe Will’s #2…:) I was going to say something ambiguous like “unconditional love” but i don’t think that is what Forrest is asking so I have to go along the lines of Samsmith and his anthropology…. But more specifically I would like to know everything their is about Ancient Egyptian history. Why… I find it fascinating and I suspect there are some very interesting things to be learned.

  8. I would love to know all the languages. My ability to learn languages is disappointing. My wife speaks 3 languages fluently. I was once able to have a conversation in German with a 4 year old when I was in Berlin, and that was a struggle. I worked in Costa Rica for 6 months and learned about a dozen words and I worked in Slovakia for 2 months and learned fewer than that. I have been married to my wife for 8 years and can speak and read passing Greek (her native tongue). The only foreign country I have visited and been able to truly converse with the citizens in their own language was England. I have books in different languages that I had purchased hoping to trigger some slumbering ability to learn, plus I just like to buy a book from the country I am visiting. Knowing all the languages would open up so much of the world. Learning the roots of words opens up so much of the other fields of study, be it medicine, biology or science.

  9. I asked my grandma this question once and she thought for a single moment and said quite matter of factly “Well. I’D want the recipe for Stricklands custard.” I pushed her for a second and said “no grandma…you can know ANYTHING in the world” She kept a stern hold on her answer and said “yes, I know…but why would I want to be a know it all? Then again…one little secret can’t hurt, can it? Yes. I’m certain. I’d want that recipe” She was so positive, and the grin on her face explained away any doubt in the world, it was almost like she already had it. So pleased with her answer. I like to think she has it all figured out.

    So for me? I guess I’d want to know that recipe too. Just so I could taunt her with it 😉

  10. Farming/ranching.

    I have always had a green thumb. It started with house plants. I now have had a garden every year for about 12 years now, ever since I bought my first house. I would love to live off the land full time! I have 3 acres of mountain land at 8200′ and have really been interested in high altitude farming lately.

    I also think that this skill may come in handy in future years. The bee scare over the past few years has shown me how vulnerable we humans can be.

    1. I think that I most want to know all about our Creator. I don’t know why that would be sinful…as Whiterock suggests. I think the way our DNA is designed, even the enthalpy of living things as opposed to the entropy of the inorganic universe reveals a sort of direction for our knowledge to keep increasing. The more we understand of quantum physics, the more we see the “spiritual” nature of existence. When I see the star – filled sky, I long to know the Maker of it all more than anything.

    1. I don’t know Forrest..maybe eliminate pain, but cure all diseases? how would anybody ever die then? Would it all be wars and car accidents and brutality? If we lived forever wouldn’t that kind of seem like we were hogging a bit too much of our space?

    2. There would be a lot of moral and ethical problems that would arise from one person knowing how to cure every disease. It would probably make a person be regarded as a god, especially in some other countries. A lot of good could come from finding cures for the most horrible diseases, but I would not want to discover that knowledge on my own.

      Most likely, the government would take all of the good I could do and twist it away to make it bad, by imposing harsh taxes, or making far too expensive for those who needed it most or rendering the formula mostly ineffective by strict FDA regulations.

    3. Unless man learns to accept death, the life will not be sustainable on the earth. Death is a natural part of life, and we should learn to accept it rather than fight it. Then the focus would be on the eternal aspect of our life, that is our soul, rather than on the mortal physical body, which is no more than a temporary vehicle for it. We would be so much stronger if we did, and we would live in harmony with nature.
      Curing diseases, extending life and extreme saving newborns that would otherwise not make it, is a double barrel shotgun aimed at human survival as a whole, which indirectly results in wars over resources and other disturbance in otherwise perfect balance. Human race was, and is being deceived. Man has been weakened by his own insecurities.

    4. Ok Forrest that is a good one. There are simple ways to cure any and all diseases. That is if we are allowed to use those methods. What I would live to learn the most about would be History through Archeology abd Anthropology. Because I love to find things that meant something to the people that had it before me. I would love to get to know the person or people behind each new thing I came acrossed. It would mean more to me than any other person I know. I love finding things and we will leave it at that.

      Paula A Olson
  11. God, women, time all are great answers but my answer would have to be myself. Simply because it’s the one subject I know the least about. And the one subject that no one else does either. Not to be selfish but to be more selfless. Hey somebody has to pick a boring subject.

  12. Subject: Universe

    How did it really begin and what existed before? During creation, when and where did life begin and how did it arrive here – on a comet from and ancient exploded star? Are we alone; and if not where does life exist beyond our pale blue dot?

    Oh! to be able to slip the surly bonds of earth
    And dance the skies on laughter-golden wings;
    To star-ward scorch, and join the tumbling mirth
    Fly star-split nebula, and view a billion things

    Up, up beyond, delirious burning blue
    Warp through galaxies unknown with simple grace
    Where never a Pioneer, or Voyager ever flew
    And, while with silent, lifting mind to trod
    The vast untrespassed sanctity of space,
    To put out my hand, and touch the face of God.

    Then return and see earth as if for the first time.

  13. I gotta agree with the aliens/outer space/astronomy folks…as I sit here looking out the window at the almost full moon. I’ve always loved looking at the night sky especially in the remote dark southwest where you can see the Milky Way…always loved watching the space shuttle launches from cape canaveral and toured Spaceport America in southern New Mexico a couple years ago and witnessed the construction of Virgin Gallactic’s hangar. Or…learn how to distill my own tequila, age it for several years to make a great anejo, and get away with it!

  14. First, Great question.

    Question: …. The when, where, why, and how of “existence”? To trace the origin of existence.

    The Knowledge and understanding of not only the human race, but the existence of life through-out.
    Mankind has traveled through time, learning and understanding so many discoveries. I could only dream of what we will discover in the tomorrow’s. Maybe My question should be,
    Why do we dream of the unknowns?

  15. I would like to know the real truth as to why we are all here. Is there a purpose for the human race and if so what is that purpose? I know that of course will probably never be answered, so I guess I would like to know everything about history, the true story of it all, not just what has been written by the victors of war. The history of everything. That way you would have the “knowlege” to proceed with the up most confidence in what ever you chose to do, and you could help to provide for a better way of life for all.

  16. Nothing…….. I’d want to know everything about Nothing.

    Because it’s more powerful than God and more evil than the Devil…… which is funny because the poor have it and the rich lack it……….. and if you eat it you die………

    Plus I think it was Tolstoy who once wrote, “We can know only that we know nothing. And that is the highest degree of human wisdom.” That quote was just a ripoff from Plato who came up with this wonderful nugget, “I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing.” Ha!

    So, yeah……. Nothing.

  17. I too agree with the astronomy type of answer. The universe is a lot to know and discovering new things about the universe is actually the most fun and the anticipation of learning the next thing, so I may not want to know all about it. It would keep me from learning more.. The most fascinating thing on earth however, my be DNA. What an amazing thing and most likely the whole key to life.
    So for my one answer, I would say DNA.

  18. That’s a difficult question. There is so much I would like to know…although I usually get bogged down with minutiae and move on to something else. Life is a lot like that.

    “The more we think we know about…the greater the unknown.” …from one of my favorite bands, RUSH.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHmHmg7I1ec

    http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/rush/mysticrhythms.html

    But to answer the question, I would “simply” like to know the answer to the question, “Why?” for ANY subject that I choose. I don’t want to get bogged down in the details. I just want to know “Why?”

    Of course, in order to truly know the answer to that question at any moment I would have to see through the eyes of The Creator Himself. Is that too much to ask? 🙂

  19. Questions such as this have plagued me my entire life. I can’t think of one thing I would want to know everything about any more than I could ever find any one thing I wanted to be, do, see. I don’t want to know everything about anything. I don’t want to know half of what I already know about a lot of things.

    Jon
  20. Mr Fenn, If I could know anything about one subject, I would want to know about my daughter and who she will become. I can only hope to live long enough to see her into adulthood and her adult life. Beyond that, I would want to know her family, her husband and children. I would want to know of all the goodness that she will bring to our world.

  21. I know the most important subject to me is wanting to
    Know more about God, Jesus, and his word.
    I want to know everything before Adam and Eve.
    Why? Because that is the most important subject to know about.
    And when u know all about The Beginning, and Christ and u live it and
    Breath it, you will draw close to him. That’s where I’m at, at the
    Age of 42, Jesus is our Saviour and we need to be saved.
    We need him everyday in our life. I want to know
    More and more about his word, this is what is important
    To me. It’s the only thing that matters 🙂 !!!!!

  22. My subject would be history, specifically of the United States. Thanks to Forest Fenn, we learned so much history of New Mexico and states we traveled through on way there from upstate NY in search of his treasure. It sparked eagerness to learn of our great history, that so many times in a school environment is lost due to boredom by the presentation so many teachers give. I am constantly reading, researching the amazing history of our ancestors and the people that lived in our vast country long before Columbus landed here. There is so much to learn, I often wonder if I will learn it all in my lifetime. The past often times can give enrichment to our lives.

  23. Human nature… And not just the psychology aspect of it.

    As a species, we are a curious bunch. My wife and I like to people watch and I find it fascinating all the different behaviors that go on, yet so much of it is often predictable. Some of the greatest triumphs and deepest sorrows on this earth have been the result of actions of our own fellow beings. Somewhere amongst an almost innumerable amount of people is myself, and perhaps if I knew everything about human nature, I would understand how I might be able to affect the lives of those around me for the better; to lift the head and cheer the heart of one who bears a heavy burden in life or to celebrate along with one who has succeeded and accomplished something that is special to themselves. And maybe, just maybe, I might understand why I am the way that I am.

    JCM
  24. I dont like the idea of knowing all about anything. If we know it all, then we stop looking for new answers. But you asked the question, so I would say knowing all about the brain to understand how to help us all by using that knowledge to offer solutions to brain related illness. Much illness originates in the brain. We understand very little about our brain, how they work and why we use such a small amount of its potential.

    deb

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