What Would You Do if...Questions

7/30/2019 What Would You Do if...Questions

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285NTERESTING QUESTIONS

1. For a person you loved deeply, wouldyou be willing to move to a distantcountry knowing there would be littlechance of seeing your friends or fami-ly again?

2. Do you believe in ghosts or evil spir-its? Would you be willing to spend a

night alone in a remote house that issupposedly haunted?

3. If you could spend one year in perfecthappiness but afterward wouldremember nothing of the experience,would you do so? If not, why not?

4. If you were to die this evening with noopportunity to communicate with any-one, what would you most regret nothaving told someone? Why haven'tyou told them yet?

5. If a new medicine were developed thatwould cure arthritis but cause a fatalreaction in 1 percent of those whotook it, would you want it to bereleased to the public?

6. You discover your wonderful one-year-old child is, because of a mix up at thehospital, not yours. Would you want toexchange the child to try to correctthe mistake?

7. Do you think that the world will be abetter or a worse place 100 yearsfrom now?

8. Would you accept $1,000,000 to leavethe country and never set foot in itagain?

9. Would you rather be a member of aworld championship sports team or bethe champion of an individual sport?Which sport would you choose?

10. Which sex do you think has it easier inour culture? Have you ever wishedyou were of the opposite sex?

11. You are given the power to kill peoplesimply by thinking of their deaths andtwice repeating the word "good-bye."People would die a natural death andno one would suspect you. Are thereany situations in which you would usethis power?

12. If you were able to live to the age of 90 and retain either the body or themind of a 30-year-old for the last 60years of your life, which would youwant?

13. What would constitute a "perfect"evening for you?

14. Would you rather be extremely suc-cessful professionally and have a tol-erable yet unexciting private life, orhave an extremely happy private lifeand only a tolerable and uninspiringprofessional life?

15. Whom do you admire most? In whatway does that person inspire you?

16. If at birth you could select the profes-sion your child would eventually pur-sue, would you do so?

17. Would you be willing to becomeextremely ugly physically if it meantyou would live for 1,000 years at anyphysical age you chose?


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286 INTERESTING QUESTIONS

18. If you could wake up tomorrow havinggained any one ability or quality, whatwould it be?

19. You have the chance to meet someonewith whom you can have the mostsatisfying love imaginable-the stuff of dreams. Sadly, you know that in sixmonths the person will die. Knowingthe pain that would follow, would youstill want to meet the person and fallin love? What if you knew your loverwould not die, but instead wouldbetray you?

20. If you knew of a way to use yourestate, following your death, to great-ly benefit humanity, would you do itand leave only a minimal amount toyour family?

21. Do you prefer being around men orwomen? Do your closest friends tendto be men or women?

22. If you could use a voodoo doll to hurtanyone you chose, would you?

23. Are there people you envy enough towant to trade lives with them? Whoare they?

24. For an all-expense-paid, one-weekvacation anywhere in the world, would

you be willing to kill a beautiful but-terfly by pulling off its wings? Whatabout stepping on a cockroach?

25. Would you be willing to murder aninnocent person if it would end hungerin the world?

26. If a prophet you have a faith inappeared to you in a series of vividand moving dreams and told you toleave everything behind, travel aloneto the Red Sea and become a fisher-

man, what would you do? What if youwere told to sacrifice your child?

27. What is your most treasured memory?

28. Have you ever hated anyone? If so,why and for how long?

29. Would you rather be given $10,000 foryour own use or $100,000 to giveanonymously to strangers? What if you could keep $1,000,000 or giveaway $20,000,000?

30. If you knew there would be a nuclearwar in one week, what would you do?

31. Would you accept twenty years of extraordinary happiness and fulfill-ment if it meant you would die at theend of the period?

32. What is the greatest accomplishmentof your life? Is there anything youhope to do that is even better?

33. What was your most enjoyabledream? Your worst nightmare?

34. Would you give up half of what you

now own for a pill that would perma-nently change you so that one hour of sleep each day would fully refreshyou?

35. If you knew you could devote yourself to any single occupation-music, writ-ing, acting, business, politics, medi-cine, etc.-and be among the best andmost successful in the world at it,what would you choose?

36. What was your worst experience withdrugs or alcohol?

37. If you went to a dinner party and wereoffered a dish you had never tried,would you want to taste it even if itsounded strange and not very appeal-ing?

38. Do your close friends tend to be olderor younger than you?

39. If the person you were engaged tomarry had an accident and became aparaplegic, would you go through with

the marriage or back out of it?

40. Your house, containing everything youown, catches fire; after saving yourloved ones and pets, you have time tosafely make a final dash to save anyone item. What would it be?


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41. When were you last in a fight? Whatcaused it and who won?

42. You are offered $1,000,000 for the fol-lowing act: Before you are ten pistols-only one of which is loaded. You mustpick up one of the pistols, point it atyour forehead, and pull the trigger. If you can walk away you do so a mil-lionaire. Would you accept the risk?

43. Someone very close to you is in pain,paralyzed, and will die within a month.He begs you to give him poison sothat he can die. Would you? What if itwere your father?"

44. When did you last sing to yourself? Tosomeone else?

45. You have the power to go any distanceinto the future and, after one year,return to the present with any knowl-edge you have gained from your expe-rience but with no physical objects.Would you make the journey if it car-ried a 20 percent risk of death?

46. Given the choice of anyone in theworld, whom would you want as yourdinner guest? As your close friend? Asyour lover?

47. While parking late at night, you slight-

ly scrape the side of a Porsche. Youare certain no one else is aware of what happened. The damage is minorand would not be covered by insur-ance. Would you leave a note?

48. If you could choose the manner of your death, what would it be?

49. Do you have any specific long-termgoals? What is one and how do youplan on reaching it?

50. For what in your life do you feel mostgrateful?

51. How do you react when people sing"Happy Birthday" to you in a restau-rant?

52. What is the worst psychological tor-ture you can imagine suffering?Anything causing even minor physicalinjury should not be considered.

53. Would you like your spouse to be bothsmarter and more attractive than you?

54. If you found that a good friend hadAIDS, would you avoid him? What if your brother or sister had it?

55. A good friend pulls off a well-con-ceived practical joke that plays on oneof your foibles and makes you lookridiculous. How would you react?

56. By controlling medical research funds,you are in the position to guaranteethat a cure will be found in 15 yearsfor any disease you choose.Unfortunately, no progress on anyothers would be made during thatperiod. Would you target one disease?

57. Would you add one year to your life if it meant taking one year from the lifeof someone in the world selected atrandom? Would it matter if you weretold whose life you had shortened?

58. If you walked out of your house onemorning and saw a bird with a brokenwing huddled in some nearby bushes,

what would you do?

59. Assume there were a technologicalbreakthrough that would allow peopleto travel as easily and cheaplybetween continents as between near-by cities. Unfortunately, there wouldalso be 100,000 deaths a year fromthe device. Would you try to preventits use?

60. You and a person you love deeply areplaced in separate rooms with a but-

ton next to each of you. You know thatyou will both be killed unless one of you presses your button before 60minutes pass; furthermore, the first topress the button will save the otherperson, but will immediately be killed.What do you think you would do?


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61. When you tell a story, do you oftenexaggerate or embellish it? If so, why?

62. Do you feel that advice from olderpeople carries a special weightbecause of their greater experience?

63. Without your kidney as a transplant,someone close to you will die withinone month. The odds that you will sur-vive the operation are only 50 per-cent, but should you survive youwould be certain of a normal lifeexpectancy. Would you consent to theoperation

64. When has your life dramaticallychanged as the result of some seem-ingly random external influence? Howmuch do you feel in control of thecourse of your life?

65. If a friend were almost always late,would you resent it or simply allow forit? Can you be counted on to be ontime?

66. When did you last yell at someone?Why? Did you later regret it?

67. Would you be willing to have horriblenightmares every night for a year if you would be rewarded with extraor-dinary wealth?

68. If you could have free, unlimited serv-ice for five years from an extremelygood cook, chauffeur, housekeeper,masseuse, or personal secretary,which would you choose?

69. Would you enjoy spending a month of solitude in a beautiful natural setting?Food and shelter would be providedbut you would not see another person.

70. After a medical examination, your

doctor calls and gravely says you havea rare lymphatic cancer and only a fewmonths to live. Five days later, sheinforms you that the lab tests weremislabeled; you are perfectlyhealthy. Forced for a moment to lookdeath in the face, you have beenallowed to turn and go on. During

those difficult days you would certain-ly have gained some insights aboutyourself. Do you think they would beworth the pain?

71. One hot summer afternoon, whilewalking through a parking lot at alarge shopping center, you notice adog suffering badly from the heatinside a locked car. What would youdo?

72. Do you feel ill at ease going alone toeither dinner or a movie? What aboutgoing on a vacation by yourself?

73. If you knew that in one year youwould die suddenly, would you changeanything about the way you are nowliving?

74. For $20,000 would you go for threemonths without washing, brushingyour teeth, or using deodorant?Assume you could not explain yourreasons to anyone, and that therewould be no long-term effect on yourcareer.

75. Would you rather die peacefullyamong friends at age 50, or painfullyand alone at age 80? Assume thatmost of the last 30 years would begood ones.

76. If you were to discover that your clos-est friend was a heroin dealer, whatwould you do?

77. Is it easy for you to accept help whenyou need it? Will you ask for help?

78. If you were helping to raise money fora charity and someone agreed tomake a large contribution if you wouldperform at the upcoming fund-raisingshow, would you? If so, what would

you like to perform? Assume the showwould have an audience of about1,000.

79. Would you have one of your fingerssurgically removed if it somehowguaranteed immunity from all majordiseases?


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80. Would you like to be famous? In whatway?

81. How do you picture your funeral? Is itimportant for you to have peoplemourn your death?

82. Which of the following restrictionscould you best tolerate? : leaving thecountry permanently, or never leavingthe state in which you now live

83. You, your closest friend, and yourfather are on vacation together, hikingin a remote jungle. Your two compan-ions stumble into a nest of poisonousvipers and are bitten repeatedly. Youknow neither will live without animmediate shot of anti-venom, yetthere is only a single dose of anti-venom and it is in your pocket. Whatwould you do?

84. If you could choose the sex and phys-ical appearance of your soon-to-be-born child, would you do it?"

85. Would you rather play a game withsomeone more or less talented thanyou? Would it matter who was watch-ing?

86. Is there something you've dreamed of doing for a long time? Why haven't

you done it?'

87. On a busy street you are approachedapologetically by a well-dressedstranger who asks for a dollar to catcha bus and make a phone call. He sayshe has lost his wallet. What would youdo? If approached in the same way bya haggard-looking stranger claimingto be hungry and unable to find a job,what would you do?

88. If by sacrificing your life you could

contribute so much to the world thatyou would be honored in all nations,would you be willing to do so? If so,would you make the same sacrificeknowing that someone you thorough-ly disliked would receive the honorwhile you went unrecognized?

89. What are your most compulsivehabits? Do you regularly struggle tobreak these habits?

90. You know you will die of an incurabledisease within a year. Would you allowyourself to be frozen within the weekif you knew it would give you a mod-est chance of being revived in 1,000years and living a greatly extendedlife?

91. You are driving late at night in a safebut deserted neighborhood when adog suddenly darts in front of yourcar. Though you slam on the brakes,you hit the animal. Would you stop tosee how injured the animal was? If you did so and found that the dog wasdead but had a name tag, would youcontact the owner?

92. What do you most strive for in yourlife: accomplishment, security, love,power, excitement, knowledge, orsomething else?

93. How close and warm is your family?Do you feel your childhood was happi-er than most other people's?

94. At a meal, your friends start belittlinga common acquaintance. If you felttheir criticisms were unjustified, would

you defend the person?

95. You are invited to a party that will beattended by many fascinating peopleyou've never met. Would you want togo if you had to go by yourself?

96. Since adolescence, in what three-yearperiod do you feel you experiencedthe most personal growth andchange?

97. If you were having difficulty on an

important test and could safely cheatby looking at someone else's paper,would you do so?"

98. If you were at a friend's house for adinner and you found a dead cock-roach in your salad, what would youdo?


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99. If you could take a one-month tripanywhere in the world and moneywere not a consideration, where wouldyou go and what would you do?

100. Would you be willing to reduce yourlife expectancy by five years tobecome extremely attractive?

101. Given the ability to project yourself into the past but not return, wouldyou do so? Where would you go andwhat would you try to accomplish if you knew you might change thecourse of history?

102. Have you ever considered suicide?What is so important to you that with-out it life would not be worth living?

103. If your friends and acquaintanceswere willing to bluntly and honestlytell you what they really thought of

you, would you want them to?104. If this country were to suffer an

unprovoked nuclear attack and wouldbe totally obliterated in a matter of minutes, would you favor unleashingthe nuclear arsenal upon the attack-ers?

105. Would you accept $10,000 to shaveyour head and continue your normalactivities sans hat or wig withoutexplaining the reason for your hair-cut?

106. Were you able to wake up tomorrow inthe body of someone else, would youdo so? Whom would you pick?

107. If you were happily married, and thenmet someone you felt was certain toalways bring you deeply passionate,intoxicating love, would you leaveyour spouse? What if you had kids?

108. When you do something ridiculous,how much does it bother you to haveother people notice it and laugh at

you?109. Who is the most important person in

your life? What could you do toimprove the relationship? Will youever do it?

110. If you could change anything aboutthe way you were raised, what wouldit be?

111. You are at a lake with some friends;the sun is warm and the water is cold.Going into the water would temporar-ily chill you but you know that laterthe warm sun would be even moreenjoyable and you would be glad youhad gone in. Would you take theplunge?

112. Do you believe in any sort of God?Where do you think you'll go afterdeath?

113. If 100 people your age were chosen atrandom, how many do you think you'dfind leading a more satisfying life thanyours?

114. Would it disturb you much if, uponyour death, your body were simplythrown into the woods and left to rot?Why?

115. Which would you prefer: a wild, tur-bulent life filled with joy, sorrow, pas-sion, and adventure, intoxicating suc-cesses and stunning setbacks; or ahappy, secure, predictable life sur-rounded by friends and family withoutsuch wide swings of fortune and

mood?

116. If you knew your child would beseverely retarded, would you decideto have an abortion?

117. Do you find it so hard to say "no" thatyou regularly do favors you do notwant to do? If so, why?

118. Would you like to know the precisedate of your death?"

119. Would you accept a guaranteed, life-time allowance of $50,000 per year(adjusted annually for inflation) if accepting it meant that you couldnever again earn money from eitherwork or investments?"


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120. Do you ever spit or pick your nose inpublic? What about cleaning yourteeth with a toothpick?

121. A close friend asks-and genuinelywants- your opinion about something,but your opinion is one that he is like-ly to find quite painful. For example,your friend is an artist and asks your

honest estimate of his chances of being successful. You think he is anatrocious artist who hasn't the slight-est chance of success. What wouldyou do?

122. When did you last cry in front of another person? By yourself?

123. If, by having a 2 inch by 2 inch tattoo,you could save five lives and preventa terrorist attack, would you do so? If you were allowed to select the location

and design, where would you have itand what would the design be?

124. Someone you love deeply is brutallymurdered and you know the identityof the murderer, who unfortunately isacquitted of the crime. Would youseek revenge?

125. Would you be willing to give up all tel-evision for the next five years if itwould induce someone to provide for1,000 starving children in Indonesia?

126. While arguing with a close friend onthe telephone, she gets angry andhangs up. Assuming she is at fault andmakes no attempt to contact you, howlong would you wait to get in touchwith her?

127. What do you value most in a relation-ship?

128. If you learned you would die in a fewdays, what regrets would you have?Were you given five extra years of life,

could you avoid those same regretsfive years hence?

129. Do you judge others by higher orlower standards than you use to judgeyourself?

130. Would you be willing to make a sub-stantial sacrifice to have any of thefollowing: your picture on a postagestamp, your statue in a park, a collegenamed after you, a Nobel prize, anational holiday in your honor?

131. If you had to spend the next two yearsinside a small but fully provisioned

Antarctic shelter with one other per-son, whom would you like to have withyou?

132. You notice a self-destructive behaviorpattern in a friend who is clearlyunaware of it. Would you point it out?

133. If you had the choice of one intimatesoul mate and no other close friends,or of no such soul mate and manyfriends and acquaintances, whichwould you choose?

134. You become involved romantically butafter six months realize you need toend the relationship. If you were cer-tain the person would commit suicideif you were to leave and were also cer-tain you could not be happy with theperson, what would you do?

135. If there were a public execution ontelevision, would you watch it?

136. If someone offered you a largeamount of money for some informa-tion about one of your company'sproducts, would you accept it?Assume you know you won't be dis-covered,"

137. Do you consider yourself well organ-ized? How often do you have to lookfor your keys?

138. If you could increase your I.Q. by fortypoints by having an ugly scar stretch-ing from your mouth to your eye,would you do so?

139. Would you be willing to do somethingvery unsatisfying (for example, cleantoilets) for five years if you were cer-tain that the experience would after-wards bring you a deep sense of per-sonal fulfillment for the rest of yourlife?


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140. What things are too personal to dis-cuss with others?

141. How many times during the day doyou look at yourself in the mirror?

142. Walking along an empty street, younotice a wallet. It contains $5000 incash but no name or address. What

would you do?

143. Would you prefer to be blind or deaf?

144. How many of your friendships havelasted more than ten years? Which of your current friends do you feel willstill be important to you ten yearsfrom now?

145. Before making a telephone call, doyou ever rehearse what you are goingto say?

146. You are leading 100 people whoselives are in danger and you mustchoose between two courses of action.(One would save only 90 people; theother would have a 50 percent chanceof saving everyone but were it to faileveryone would die. Which would youchoose?

147. If you went to a movie with a friendand it was lousy, would you leave?

148. For $1,000,000 would you be willingto never again see or talk to your bestfriend?

149. What do you like best about your life?Least?

150. Have you ever disliked someone forbeing luckier or more successful thanyou?

151. When you are given a compliment doyou usually acknowledge it or suggestthat you really do not deserve it?

152. What sorts of things would you do if you could be as outgoing and uninhib-ited as you wished? Do you usuallyinitiate friendships or wait to beapproached?

153. If you decided to do something andyour friends strongly advised you notto, could you do it anyway?

154. In a nice restaurant, after getting thecheck for an excellent meal, younotice that you were not charged forone of the items you ate. Would youtell the waitress?

155. Do you establish routines in your life?For example, do you usually sleep inthe same place in your bed? Eat mealsat the same time? Regularly return tothe same vacation spot?

156. Can you be counted on to do what yousay you'll do? What does it take foryou to trust someone?

157. Do you feel you have much impact onthe lives of people you come in con-

tact with? Can you think of someonewho, over a short period of time, sig-nificantly influenced your life?

158. Would you rather be happy yet slow-witted and unimaginative or unhappyyet bright and creative? For example,would you rather live the life of a bril-liant yet tortured artist such asVincent van Gogh, or that of a happybut carefree soul who is a bit simple-minded?

159. When you are with your friends, doyour interactions include much touch-ing-for example, hugging, kissing,roughhousing, or rubbing backs?Would you like to have more of this?

160. Given the ability to project yourself into the future but not return, wouldyou do so? If not, would you changeyour mind if you could take someonealong? How far would you go?"

161. Of all the people close to you, whosedeath would you find most disturbing?

162. You have arranged an evening with afriend, but on the day preceding yourdate a special opportunity arises to dosomething much more exciting. Howwould you handle the situation?


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163. What has been your biggest disap-pointment in life? Your biggest failure?

164. You are given $1-000,000 to donateanonymously to charity or to astranger. How would you dispose of it?

165. In conversations, do you tend to listenor talk more?

166. Do you frequently find yourself-just tobe polite-saying things you don'tmean? For example, when you saygood-bye to someone who does notinterest you, do you act as though youenjoyed their company?

167. Would you be willing to commit per- jury for a close friend? For example,might you testify that he was drivingcarefully when he hit a pedestrianeven though he had been jokingaround and not paying attention?

168. Relative to the population at large,how do you rate your physical attrac-tiveness? Your intelligence? Your per-sonality?

169. Running too quickly on an icy sidewalkin front of a neighbor's house, you slipand break your leg. Would you be like-ly to sue the owner of the house if youwere confident you could win the suit

because of his negligence in shovelingthe snow?

170. If you could prevent either an earth-quake in Peru that would kill 40,000people, a crash at your local airportthat would kill 200 people, or an auto-mobile accident that would kill anacquaintance of yours, which wouldyou choose?

171. Would you be willing to eat a bowl of live crickets for $40,000?

172. If you came upon the scene of a terri-ble highway accident just after theambulances arrived, would you stopto watch? Assume that your presencewould neither help nor hinder the res-cuers.

173. If you could script the basic plot forthe dream you will have tonight, whatwould the story be?

174. You are given a chance to return toany previous point in your life andchange a decision you made, but youwill lose everything that has happenedto you since then. Is there a time you

would return to? If so, would you liketo retain the memory of the life youare giving up even though you couldnever recapture it?

175. Would $50,000 be enough money toinduce you to take a loyal, healthy petto the vet to be put to sleep?

176. Ignoring all financial considerations,would you rather spend the next fiveyears confined to the city of New Yorkor to the environs of Morro Bay, a

beautiful, isolated town on theCalifornia coast?

177. What would you like to be doing fiveyears from now? What do you thinkyou will be doing five years from now?

178. What important decision in your pro-fessional life have you based largelyupon your intuitive feelings? Whatabout in your personal life?

179. Would you like to be elected presidentof this country? Why? If so, would youstill choose to be president if it meantthat your sleep would always be veryfitful and disturbed, punctuated byfrequent nightmares?

180. If a crystal ball would tell you the truthabout any one thing you wished toknow concerning yourself, life, thefuture, or anything else, what wouldyou want to know?

181. If you were guaranteed honestresponses to any three questions, who

would you question and what wouldyou ask?

182. Which is more important: actual expe-riences, of the memories that remainwhen the experiences are over?


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183. If you were expelled from the countryand had only limited financialresources, where would you try torebuild your life?

184. How much are you affected by a per-son's physical appearance? How wouldit change your life if something hap-pened to make you much less attrac-tive than you are now?

185. Do you find anything disturbing aboutimmortality? What age seems ideal toyou?

186. In love, is intensity or permanencemore important to you? How much doyou expect from someone who lovesyou?

187. If you were offered $40,000 would youaccept to continue your life withoutany electronic device?

188. What kind of people do you like tospend time with? What do such peoplebring out in you that others do not?What can people learn about you bylooking at your friends?

189. Should it be illegal to help a terminal-ly-ill person to die? If someone is notdying but has chronic pain, should theperson be allowed to commit suicide?

What if the person is in emotionalrather than physical pain?

190. Would you prefer to die a hero'sdeath, die a martyr to some greatcause, die in a natural catastrophe, ordie peacefully? Why is it so temptingto have death catch us in our sleep?

191. How forgiving are you when yourfriends let you down?

192. In the mid 1800s, had you been able

to look into the future and see that theautomobile would cause 5 millionfatalities in the next century, howwould you have felt about this newdevice? Is there scientific knowledgethat is best left undiscovered? If so,

what areas of research do you feelshould be restricted?

193. Do your comments and suggestionsinfluence other people much? Howcould you present your ideas so thatthey would have more impact?

194. Would you risk your life for someoneclose to you out of feelings of obliga-tion or out of feelings of love? Would itmatter if you could refuse withoutanyone ever knowing? What if theperson asked you not to risk your life?

195. How would you like to be rememberedafter you die? What would you likesaid at your funeral? Whom would youlike to speak?

196. Would you like to have a child muchbrighter and more attractive thanyourself? What difficulties mightresult? How much would it bother youto have an ugly, stupid, or crippledchild?

197. If you saw someone cheating on atest, what would you do? What if youhad signed an honor code?

198. How might the world be different if you could actually change some his-torical event? How sure are you that

the long-term consequences would bepositive?

199. When you make a big sacrifice, do youtell people about it or keep it to your-self? What would you never willinglysacrifice? Your life? Your health? Yourintegrity? Your dreams?

200. Most people say if they found a walletfull of cash on the street they wouldreturn the money; do you believethem? Most also think their own lost

wallets would not be returned; do youfeel similarly? How do you explain thiscontradiction?

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What Would You Do if...Questions