If everything were either forbidden or mandatory...

[Boojatta]

and if you were prohibited from asking, about a given thing, which it was (forbidden or mandatory), then how would you cope?

[XemaSab]

1. Are you in high school?

[Boojatta]

4. Grandpa said I shouldn't give personal info to strangers on the internet.

[Deep13]

2. Do you live with my mother?

:shrug:

[Boojatta]

3. Not any more. We broke up about nine months before you were born. e.o.m.

[Deep13]

5. You must be really old.

[Boojatta]

9. Are you including the decades when I was in a coma? e.o.m.

[kay1864]

6. Watch others, and learn by example. Carefully.

How did you come up with this question, btw?

[Boojatta]

7. This reality thing is impressive. It's like reality TV without the TV.

Watch others, and learn by example. Carefully.

Thank you. That had not occurred to me. Of course, I have to make sure that they aren't stampeding towards a cliff, but no short piece of advice will cover all situations.

How did you come up with this question, btw?

By listening to others.

[kay1864]

8. Can you explain more?

Did this occur to you from listening to others talking about unwritten rules, or what? It's a neat question!

[Boojatta]

10. I can't recall.

However, here's a related thought that comes to mind. I heard that a novel was banned. I heard that another novel was mandatory reading in some compulsory classes at some public schools. If a novel were on both lists, then what?

[kay1864]

11. Blow up the school library. Only possible recourse.

Seriously, it's obvious the lists are in conflict, and one of them needs to be fixed.

[kay1864]

12. This situation is similar to Russell's paradox

or at least it reminded me of it. It's a mathematical concept that can be sorta explained by a "List of all lists that do not contain themselves"; an example is here

Saw it on a PBS special once and was fascinated.

A simpler version is the Barber paradox, which supposes a barber who shaves everyone who does not shave himself, and no one else. When one thinks about whether the barber should shave himself or not, the paradox begins to emerge.

[kay1864]

13. And THAT post reminds me of...

a brilliant little story I discovered years ago. Funny, silly stuff...

This Is the Title of This Story, Which Is Also Found Several Times in the Story Itself
David Moser

This is the first sentence of this story. This is the second sentence. This is the title of this story, which is also found several times in the story itself. This sentence is questioning the intrinsic value of the first two sentences. This sentence is to inform you, in case you haven't already realized it, that this is a self-referential story, that is, a story containing sentences that refer to their own structure and function. This is a sentence that provides an ending to the first paragraph.

This is the first sentence of a new paragraph in a self-referential story. This sentence is introducing you to the protagonist of the story, a young boy named Billy. This sentence tells you that Billy is blond and blue-eyed and American and twelve years old and strangling his mother. This sentence comments on the awkward nature of the self-referential narrative form while recognizing the strange and playful detachment it affords the writer. As if illustrating the point made by the last sentence, this sentence reminds us, with no trace of facetiousness, that children are a precious gift from God and that the world is a better place when graced by the unique joys and delights they bring to it.

More

[Boojatta]

14. Consider the issue of luxuriousness

In one place, people might complain that your shoes are an extravagance and that you should travel by walking barefoot.

In another place, people might complain that your car is not expensive enough and that you must be some kind of loser or cheapskate to drive the car that you drive.

In both cases, people might be sincerely offended.