The Unanswerable Question

BlueRose713 · New Member Joined: 06 Jun 2006 Posts: 17

I hope this is a hard one...

There is a wise man who can answer about any question. Because of this, people come to him for answers. One day, a stranger comes in and asks the wise man something, to which the wise man has no reply. Why?

HINT: The wise man knows the answer to the stranger's question; for some reason, he doesn't want to tell him.

Riddleman · Site Admin Joined: 18 May 2005 Posts: 594

i really dont know but i think this is it

he asks "What is the one question you can't answer?"

am i right?

sam_solves_riddles · New Member Joined: 07 Jun 2006 Posts: 12

i agree with riddleman, its the only question that the wise man wouldnt want to tell him..

or maybe "how can you answer every question?"

BlueRose713 · New Member Joined: 06 Jun 2006 Posts: 17

Ha! That's a good guess, but no. ^_^

Want another hint? At this rate, you won't get close.

Let me put it this way: it wouldn't have mattered what the question was. It could have been "What's the color of my hair?" and the wise man still wouldn't have answered (and no, the wise man isn't blind).

Unclever title · Posted: Thu Jun 08, 2006 4:41 pm Post subject:

You want to know why? Well the wise man sees that it is better for the question to not be answered, for the benefit of the one asking, or perhaps for the benefit of society.

With a less humanitarian wise man, such as a wise ass, then he just wants to make this guy, or perhaps alll of society to be angry.

Or perhaps the wise manfinds the answer to this question embarrassing, as if it were, "Have you ever worn a dress?" etc.

There are any multitude of reasons why, so maybe I should keep it general.

Why? Well, because!

BlueRose713 · New Member Joined: 06 Jun 2006 Posts: 17

O_O Whoa...

You are looking WAY too deep now...it's a lot simpler than that, but it's still a pain to figure out.

Good try, though...want another hint?

BlueRose713 · New Member Joined: 06 Jun 2006 Posts: 17

The wise man didn't want to hurt the stranger's feelings...but not in a way you would normally think. Think outside the box, or in this case, the question.

memyself&i · New Member Joined: 09 Jun 2006 Posts: 10

i've got 3 answers....

1) he died as the question was asked
2) god doesnt talk
3) "what is the meaning of life?"

memyself&i · New Member Joined: 09 Jun 2006 Posts: 10

my brothers got a response...

"what does silence sound like?"

deryk · Guy Who Comes A Lot Joined: 19 May 2006 Posts: 159

ha ha, i know what the question is.
"have u been messin around with my wife?"

memyself&i · New Member Joined: 09 Jun 2006 Posts: 10

haha i love it

BlueRose713 · New Member Joined: 06 Jun 2006 Posts: 17

I'm sorry to say that this is going nowhere. Let me clear something up.

The question is a perfectly reasonable question and is simple (and not embarassing or revealing) for the wise man to answer. If anyone else asked him the question, he would have answered it. Don't try to figure out what was asked; I don't even know and it doesn't matter. Think: the question wasn't [i]"What's the question?"[/i], but [i]"Why?"[/i]...

If this doesn't help (or if no one still gets what I'm trying to say) I might have to give another clue. If anyone's still stumped, please tell me.

deryk · Guy Who Comes A Lot Joined: 19 May 2006 Posts: 159

hmmm, the wise man may kno the answer to every question but he never answers them?

BlueRose713 · New Member Joined: 06 Jun 2006 Posts: 17

[quote="deryk"]hmmm, the wise man may kno the answer to every question but he never answers them?[/quote]

*sigh* I don't know what else to do. He does answer all of the questions normally...just not this guy's question for some reason. You have to figure out the reason. That's what I've been saying the whole time...

Unclever title · Posted: Sun Jun 11, 2006 11:08 pm Post subject:

Okay, compiling the hints: the wise man's not answering of this question is not based on the question, yet it is a special case, ordinarily he answers any question. The next conclusion I come up with is that the wise man doesn't like this person for some reason, most realistically it would be personal, but since the man is a stranger the wise man has no good reason to not answer the question. The wise man does not answer the man's questioon because he doesn't want to hurt the man's feelings.

A simple kick yourself in the face response is that the wise man retired yesterday and is no longer answering questions, I have an image in mind of a wise man on a mountaintop and I think my feelings would be hurt if my question weren't answered after such a long treck, well maybe.

What in the answer to the question would hurt the man's feelings no matter what the question was, hence no matter what the answer was, and why?

The only thing that comes to mind is some kind of cultural value, but I don't think this applie here, yes I'm overthinking, perhaps, but I do that with everything.

I think more context is neccessary to come up with a reason, unless one of the hints needs to be changed...

BlueRose713 · New Member Joined: 06 Jun 2006 Posts: 17

[quote="Unclever title"]Okay, compiling the hints: the wise man's not answering of this question is not based on the question, yet it is a special case, ordinarily he answers any question. The next conclusion I come up with is that the wise man doesn't like this person for some reason, most realistically it would be personal, but since the man is a stranger the wise man has no good reason to not answer the question. The wise man does not answer the man's questioon because he doesn't want to hurt the man's feelings.

A simple kick yourself in the face response is that the wise man retired yesterday and is no longer answering questions, I have an image in mind of a wise man on a mountaintop and I think my feelings would be hurt if my question weren't answered after such a long treck, well maybe.

What in the answer to the question would hurt the man's feelings no matter what the question was, hence no matter what the answer was, and why?

The only thing that comes to mind is some kind of cultural value, but I don't think this applie here, yes I'm overthinking, perhaps, but I do that with everything.

I think more context is neccessary to come up with a reason, unless one of the hints needs to be changed...[/quote]

I'm really sorry you don't get my hints (although they are all true). I was trying as hard as I could not to give the answer away. Let's see if this clears things up a bit:

The wise man doesn't dislike the man, but he has a good reason not to answer the question. The wise man does not want to hurt the stranger's feelings.

The wise man did not retire.

Culture has nothing to do with this riddle.

It's not the question or the answer itself that would hurt the stranger's feelings or cause the wise man not to respond, but how it was said. (And, a new clue) They share a condition that is the reason why the wise man is iffy about answering the question.

Intelligent Person · New Member Joined: 14 Jun 2006 Posts: 1

A wise Man never talks to Strangers

hduncan · New Member Joined: 20 Jun 2006 Posts: 5

shot in the dark here but is the question--are you asleep?

Ahab · New Member Joined: 22 Jun 2006 Posts: 7

Hey Blue Rose: Here's my guess:
The question he asks is . . . "How many questions have you ever answered." If the wise man answers honestly, it will be the wrong answer after he gives it.
Close?

Ahab · New Member Joined: 22 Jun 2006 Posts: 7

Hey Blue Rose: Here's my guess:
The question he asks is . . . "How many questions have you ever answered." If the wise man answers honestly, it will be the wrong answer after he gives it.
Close?

hardykindaguy · New Member Joined: 29 Jun 2006 Posts: 6

maybe the wise man needs to be payed in order to answer the question and this man did not pay the wise man Confused

eggsandbacon1205 · New Member Joined: 03 Jul 2006 Posts: 5

i really have no idea but i'm gonna geuss that the stranger is deaf and since the wise man knows everything, he knows he's deaf. Therefore, the wise man does not answer him in knowing that he can't hear him.

eggsandbacon1205 · New Member Joined: 03 Jul 2006 Posts: 5

i really have no idea but i'm gonna geuss that the stranger is deaf and since the wise man knows everything, he knows he's deaf. Therefore, the wise man does not answer him in knowing that he can't hear him.

JustinT · New Member Joined: 03 Jul 2006 Posts: 6

I can't view page two for some reason on this topic so I'll guess even it's been answered or not...
is it...
"Did you sleep with my wife?"
Cause if it is he wouldn't want to tell him because it's on personal matter to this one individual, but oouldn't mind tell anyone else.... Twisted Evil

Master · New Member Joined: 04 Jul 2006 Posts: 6

He can awnser "about any question" is it a play on words and he can't awnser all questions?

Clarinetmaster84 · New Member Joined: 06 Jul 2006 Posts: 11

Maybe the guy who asked the question is himself and he doesn't want to answer himself cause then he would be considered crazy? I don't really know I am just throwing stuff out there like every one else.

gorskichick44 · New Member Joined: 07 Jul 2006 Posts: 3

... the question is "why"... you said it was simple and normaly he would answer any question but not in this case bcause the man doesnt kno why the man asked why... so he is silent

BoloMark33 · New Member Joined: 25 Jul 2006 Posts: 5

The stranger was his son and he asked "Are you my father?"

?? That's my guess.

darkatma · New Member Joined: 30 Jul 2006 Posts: 1

OMGEEZ you guys are so THICK

"Why are you so wise?"

...no response

Unclever title · Posted: Wed Aug 02, 2006 8:56 am Post subject:

Well I could answer that question,

"Why are you so wise?"

"Because I know that I am foolish."

There. That's hardly unanswerable.

Besides, the answer to the riddle does not lie in what question was asked, but how it was asked, that last hint is probably the one to tip it over, if this water jug is full enough.

However, it is 4:57 AM in Pennsylvania (Where I live) And I'm too tired to care.

Xx_Blood_Rose_xX · New Member Joined: 06 Aug 2006 Posts: 1

Hmmm... maybe the stranger was deaf, and asked in sign language, "Will I ever regain my hearing?"

...I know it's probably not right, but it's just a thought.

dark and disturbed · Posted: Fri Aug 11, 2006 9:38 pm Post subject: i think this might be it

[color=red][/color][size=18][/size

do the wise man and the stranger share a disease and the wise man being old and having come to terms with the fact that the disease will take his life not want to tell the man (who i will assume is young) that he is going to die young and sort of kill his spirit

i luv solvin riddles · Posted: Fri Aug 25, 2006 1:34 am Post subject:

i have no idea wat the answer is so im just gonna take a wild guess and im srry if somebody has already guessed this... but im gonna say he didnt want to tell him bc he knew he would die if he did... im pretty sure thats not right tho... but whoever said that a wise man doesnt talk to strangers i do agree with him a little bit

Stpepi09 · New Member Joined: 05 Sep 2006 Posts: 1

The Question was "WHY!?!?!?" Shocked

courtveenie_zuccini · New Member Joined: 06 Sep 2006 Posts: 2

the answer is:
he asked himself a question that he couldnt answer....
am i right? probably not Razz

BrioLucent · New Member Joined: 07 Sep 2006 Posts: 2

i agree with blood_rose, the guy asking must not be able to hear so to answer him of any question would be useless

xman_nuke · New Member Joined: 28 Apr 2006 Posts: 4

The guy asking was the high school boyfriend of the wise man's daughter and he asked with a big smile "Is your daughter still a virgin"? Cool

xman_nuke · New Member Joined: 28 Apr 2006 Posts: 4

Actually to be serious the guy asking the question probably could only speak a different language than the wise man so the wise man didn't understand him. Cool

slash · New Member Joined: 28 Sep 2006 Posts: 3

Maybe the stranger asked a question in chinese, if it was asked in english he would understand it. Evil or Very Mad