Paul Harvey Riddle

my answer was dirt....

I heard this joke before and got it immediately, but this time I got hung up trying to think of something simple and just got frustrated and clicked the link, about 20 clicks later it hits me and I remember the first time I heard it, just to make myself feel good I said I got it.

People get stupider with age.

On the whole god thing . . . many atheists are frustrated with the whole idea of religion and would simply skip that part of the riddle, which is probably the easiest.

hmmmm....Being a die hard athiest...I could only come up with oxygen or air....but since that didn't quite fit...I had to go look. bahhhhh

I'm going to get needlessly annoyed about the rooster riddle because it's always ticked me off.

The thing about riddles is what they tell you is then assume to be true. Somebody tells you "a rooster lays an egg", making it true in the little universe of riddles. Then for them to say "the rooster DIDN'T lay the egg!" is to completely do a 180.

For example, when somebody asks you "What did the chewing gum say to the shoe?", the hilarious and very clever answer will be "I'm stuck on you." Not, "AHA! Shoes and bubblegum don't converse! Idiot."

Heh Criq, that made me laugh...

Anyways, I got the answer pretty quickly, but I highly highly doubt that 80% of Kindergartners got it.

The part about "eat it and you'll die" tipped me off. I started thinking it was air and went on from there.

As to the religious sections, those really threw me off. I happen to be an Athiest Jew (yah, it sounds contradictory, but I swear it isn't), and I just saw the word "God" and "Devil" and automatically assumed I wouldn't get it, so I just kind of ignored those sections.

I got it before finishing reading it, even if I'm not for sure a theist, and even not an english native speaker. This because, being a roleplayer, I know the "tricking" way of thinking that lies behind riddles... a way of thinking that would almost never work in a scientific/technical environment where problems are real ones.
As an hilarious example of that way of thinking, to people that knows Terry Pratchett, think in "Pyramids" the encounter with the Sphinx... 😛

This is the first time I've seen this riddle. I must say it's pretty good. It took me a couple of minutes but I figured it out (thanks to my Christian upbringing I guess). Oh, and I'm neither in kindergarten nor university right now.

Being very boring but - if you take the answer (which I failed to get) logically - its wrong.

midlandsea said;

"if you take the answer ... logically - its wrong."

AAB had the same "insight"

It's a riddle, git. The riddle of the sphinx is "logically" wrong too, but everyone gets it.

Aren't most grads pretty washed out once they've finished uni and aren't young kids just learning basic morals? It's a bit of an unusual stat to claim however completely possible if the sample numbers in each catagory are not relative.
For me the answer was obvious, however I dont think that was the point!!

OK, I've got to come out and say that this "I couldn't get it because I'm not religious" excuse is a big cop-out. I don't believe in Odin, but I can answer quite a few questions about him. I also know quite a bit about Oliver Twist and Huckleberry Finn, although I'm pretty sure they didn't exist in real life.
The "this isn't literally true" complaints don't cut it either. It's a riddle, not a PhD dissertation! Get over it!

Big Gary C said:

"OK, I've got to come out and say that this "I couldn't get it because I'm not religious" excuse is a big cop-out. I don't believe in Odin, but I can answer quite a few questions about him."

I can't speak for anyone else, but I didn't mean to imply that an agnostic or atheist COULDN'T get this riddle, but that it seemed to me to have an attitude of "Well, EVERYONE believes in God, so you should get this with no problem" behind it.

Having had 12 years of Catholic school, I too know a wee bit about the Big G, but I don't automatically "go there" (as the kids say) when confronted with something like this.

No wonder you're cranky, 12 years of parochial school did it to you.

Something I just remembered about this after working it around in my mind. I knew I had heard this before but I didn't remember the answer, and I didn't get it here, and it finally came to me. This riddle startedin the 50's sometime. Instead of working on it with today's cultural references, try it from the culture of the 50's it might be easier to understand and get.

Cultural references?
Let's see, we have God, the Devil, the poor, the rich, eating, and death.
Which of those references seem dated to you, Christopher?

Ok, so granted, I wasn't alive in the 50's, but it seems to me that what Christopher is saying is that things like God and the Devil were much more prominent in every day life in the 50s than they are now. Also, the societal differences between the rich and the poor were more pronounced in the 50's and more of a cultural issue then they are now. I can't really see a difference between the eating and death though.

Maybe I'm way off, but I think that's what Chris is getting at.

I meant from the reference point of the 50's. OK, so I ain't perfect and I do go so fast that I don't write exactly what I mean sometimes. I normally work something over for three weeks or so before I think it's done in my normal writing. I should have looked the comment over and thought about it before submitting it. Proof-reading isn't exactly the most fun part of writing, necessary though it is.

I figured this one out pretty quick from the second part. being a non-religious person, the first part of the riddle can be confusing until you think a little differently.

bloody hell, talk about some people getting a tad touchy about the whole thing. It's supposed to be a bit of fun, something to exercise your brain. It's not supposed to start world war three! Debating is all well and good but there's no reason to get personal and start insulting each other. That's just acting like a kindergartener!

I think this is a useful riddle in reminding people of the unreality of nothing--people too often confuse nothing with something, as though it were a real thing or force--nothing is not real! everything is! by definition! Although I do believe in God, or an infinite creative force, it is a different awareness than than the image put forth by modern religion. Since God existed before anything else, he/she/it could only have made everything else out of itself... there was nothing else around, and to suggest God created everything out of nothing would be to say that God has power over nothing, and that would mean God had no power at all. Read it over. So, since God can't stop being God (this truth is inherent in the definition of God) then everything around us, inclusing us, is God. Everywhere. This makes the possibility of satan and hell impossible. God would not make himself into a place of eternal torment. Nor would God force the truth of this on a piece of himself/herself/itself--it is anathema to the truth--truth can only be offered, once it is forced it ceases to be the truth, and there is no rush--God will be God forever. So people are allowed to believe in hell, or do anything for that matter--another thing about being God is being at choice. The power is yours. It always has been and always will be. God isn't some guy in the sky, but you are free to believe that--God is all there is, and inherent in that isness is the infinite potential of all that could be. Find this in yourself--trust me, it is there.

Very Descartian...

i still don't know the answer i'm sorry but i was never good at riddles can someone please tell me the answer

Kelli, press the shift key and see what happens. That's your answer! 😊

never mind i figured it out as soon as i submitted my ? thanks and duh

Well the first time I got this was about a year ago, I was 13. I always got it in an e-mail from my friends. Well I tried it and just got frustrated. I kept pushing shift over and over again, and nothing happened! I was so angry. I thought something was wrong with my computer lol! I thought in my head as I read it over and over again, NOTHING, but I never thought that 'nothing' was the actual answer. One of my friends e-mailed me back, and said a dollar? And the funny thing is that he is one of the smartest ppl I know (he was 14 @ the time). Once I saw the answer I just felt dumb. every answer I could think of didn't work because say I thought is was love, you can't eat love, and sure anough you wouldn't DIE! and how would love be even more evil than the devil? The devil is a D infront of evil (which I just noticed) so what could be even more evil? Then I thought hate, but once again, you can't EAT hate...One other reason I couldn't believe anything was greater than God, or more evil than the Devil, is that I'm a Trinitarian...although I might not be a strong christian, I still believe in god as my savour, and yes I believe in the Devil just as much as God. Don't get me wrong, I'm not perfect, I don't try to be, don't think I am, and I know I never will be; but yes, *I* believe everything in the whole bible, and in Jehovah (Yahweh), Jesus, and the holy spirit, and that each is equal to another, and if one were not there, everything would fall apart as *I* know it.

Criss, Althought I do agree with most of what you say, there is one thing I would like to point out to you, as you say that everyone has a choice of what they do, and all, and that there might not be a satan or hell because god is everything and he wouldn't be something evil, or something like that, that god created satan....Well not exactly satan. He created angels, Satan was an angel that *chose* to backstab god, and try to be greater than him. So he had the choice as you say we do, to change his future. True god is everything, because he made everything, like when you have a child, you are part of them (more along the line of they are part of you), and you are with them because of that (sorta). Well my point is, that god created an angel that *chose* to go bad, and with the newly created "bad angel" was his new identity: Satan, who took with him all of the bad angels who *chose* to not follow god, but an other angel who they thought was greater, and that even though god may have created them, and is parshally with them, that it was *their* choice, not his...so in a way since he was still a part of them, he in tern, create hell....I might have some flaws in what I'm saying...but I am still in middle school, and @ the age of 14, but Criss, I'd love to share our beliefs sometime or another! Thanx for giving ur comment, and I indeed learned from it.

Heather, I only have this to say...

In relation to religion, GET OUT WHILE YOU STILL CAN.

I know you're gonna think I'm picking on you or your religion, or trying to "convert you to being an atheist", but no, I'm not. My basic mission when I talk about religion is to try and make people actually think about what they are blindly believing in.

I'm not going to go into it here, (I can hear the sighs of relief from the regulars 😊 ) and it's pretty hard to make people see reason through the internet, anyway.

But one glaring thing that stuck out from your posts was that you believe in equality because the Bible teaches it. Where? From what I understood when I read it, God has his chosen people, and everyone else is below them. Not to mention the many references to slavery (never a bad one) and to male over female domination. If you don't see what I mean, read the book again, and tell me exactly where it teaches equality.

Rod said:

"Heather, I only have this to say...

In relation to religion, GET OUT WHILE YOU STILL CAN."

Gotta agree with you there, Rod. Heather, you're young, you still have time to realize what a scam organized religion is.

Just for starters, why are you expected to pay someone (priest, rabbi, guru, etc.) to talk to God for you? Can't you do that without the middle man (not that I believe in God)?

Why don't you try this little experiment: visit one of the atheist web sites that quote some of the more, shall we say, "unusual" passages from the Bible and question their meaning and logic and see if you can come up with good, logical answers to the questions they pose about them.

If you find you can't, the next question you should be asking yourself if why you want to believe in something that simply makes no sense.

Honey, I know I'm young, anyone can see that...(although I do often get mistaken for an other age). I not only pay for someone to explain the bible to me (lol like I have enough money to do that, they only get a tenth of my allowence! ...Only I haven't been going to church for awhile, so I hardly ever give money), but I also give to misionaries and the expensises for the church.... But like I've said in my first post, I'm not a very strong christian, although I believe it all. Infact I'm one of Eminem's biggest fans. I understand what he's talking about, and I relate to him because he's been threw a lot in his life. He also seems to have this love/hate thing going on for women... I have that for men. I need them, and yet I push them away. I love them, but when I think they're going to hurt me, boom, I hurt them and hate them. But I'm getting better @ this. One day @ a time...just like how my dad gets through not having alcohol, one day at a time. Anyways, back to your comment; you say that I should look @ a website and find some answers to some of the things that the bible is saying... I do that at church events, like cell group, and Wednesdays. Our I ask some of my cell group leaders, one of them Danny, is like a big brother to me....infact in some ways he was more of a brother to me than my own brother. But that's an other story, and I'd rather you find that out from my novels...when I write them, and get them published. You might find some explainations to why I believe what I believe and why I have an ambivalent sort of realationship with men.

" I not only pay for someone to explain the bible to me..." - Heather

Let me get this straight. You pay somone else to tell you what you should believe?
Anyone interpreting any book for another person invariably puts their own self-serving interpretation to it.

Read the book yourself, Heather. Form your OWN opinions.
Then, as CMG suggested, read other people's opinions. Reject or accept these as you will, but please, please, PLEASE apply logic to your thinking on this subject.

And you're asking us to refer to books that you haven't read yet as your explanation of why you do all you do?

"I do that at church events, like cell group, and Wednesdays."

Did I miss something? Wednesdays are a 'church event' now? 😊

First of all I'd like to say that I am a Christian and God is there! That riddle which was put in our 7th grade history class took us awhile to figure it out. I do agree that the first part, "What is greater than God" would give it away; because we all know that NOTHING is greater than HIM! But the other lines do give it difficulty to figure it out such as, "The rich need it, and if you eat it, you'll die?"

1. The rich do need things not movies, cars or their over little toys but they need food and shelter.

2. The statement "if you eat it you'll die..." misleads you to thinking that it's some poisonous food.

--:gulp:I was offended by the rude people who do not believe in God! He is there and you should start to live with him and his glory too!

God Rules!

I'm amazed on how people are so ignorant to think that there ISNT a God!

First of all, there is.
He's there if you believe or even if you dont.
He loves you.
He'll forgive you.
You need to know that.
I'm sad to say but it will come back to you.

And miss smarty pants, I dont call it "PAYING" somone to teach a book to me. ITS NOT A BOOK its the Bible, which teaches us the amazing things God has done for us. AND we dont go to church to have someone give us there opinions, WE go to celebrate his glory and that fact that we wake up!

WWJD!?!?

Dazed said:

"I'm amazed on how people are so ignorant to think that there ISNT a God!"

Yes, some of us actually have the temerity to ask questions about the world around us and aren't content to accept superstition as being the answer.

"First of all, there is."

Oh. Well, that settles THAT, I guess. How silly of me to doubt something as obvious as THAT.

"He's there if you believe or even if you dont.
He loves you.
He'll forgive you.
You need to know that.
I'm sad to say but it will come back to you."

Oh, let me see here. God is love but if I have the nerve to questions His existance, He'll punish me, even though He gave me the ability to use my mind. Well, who could question the logic of THAT?

"And miss smarty pants, I dont call it "PAYING" somone to teach a book to me. ITS NOT A BOOK its the Bible, which teaches us the amazing things God has done for us."

I'll put aside the fact that I'm a MAN, not a woman, and just deal with what you're saying.

Uh, the Bible ISN'T a book? What is it then?

"AND we dont go to church to have someone give us there opinions, WE go to celebrate his glory and that fact that we wake up!"

Um, isn't saying that there is a God an OPINION? (Hint: Yes) Doesn't your priest, minister, rabbi or whatever speak on various issues in the course of your worship service? I believe it's called a homily. That would constitute OPINION.

Yes, you DO go to church, synagogue, mosque, whatever to worship God. You also listen to your local religious leader give his OPINION on various things and you donate money in the course of the service. Therefore you ARE paying to hear someone's opinions.

Hey, here's an experiment if you doubt me. Next time you go to church/synagogue/mosque, tell the preacher/priest/whatever that you'd like equal time to speak to the congregation since you contribute money. Let us know what response you get.





WWJD!?!?

Since when did I become a smarty pants? I thought I was sticking up for god, not trying to make fun of people who love him. I'm sorry if I offended you or something like that. Not intentional I swear! (I don't go to church to listen to just one persons opinion) I go to church to listen about what is taught in the bible since I don't read it much myslef...although I'm getting back into more things like that now. I've walked away, but I'm comming back on the path. Oh, and I don't think that Dazed necessarily ment that if you don't follow god he will punish you, more along the lines of, you punished your self. Dazed, I'm not trying to put words in your mouth, or anything like that. I just didn't think you ment it that way. I'm trying to stick up for you here. Oh and Cranky Guy, at my church, people do get to speak when they want to @ like JC's Place, and sometimes the Entry, or at cell groups.

Heather said:

"I don't think that Dazed necessarily ment that if you don't follow god he will punish you, more along the lines of, you punished your self."

I may have confused your postings with Dazed's. I'm not sure but if I did, sorry.

As for me "punishing myself," what exactly would THAT mean? My life seems to me to be more than I even have a right to expect it to be. Overall, things seem pretty good on the Me Front. How am I being punished or suffering because I don't give money to people in funny costumes to interpret God's Will for me?

"Oh and Cranky Guy, at my church, people do get to speak when they want to @ like JC's Place, and sometimes the Entry, or at cell groups."

I don't know what those things are; I'm assuming that they're some sort of church-related groups.

Tell you what. Try this: Next time you're at one of those church-sponsored soirees, get up and say that you've decided that there is no God. See how reasonably they respond to that.

Talking only to church people about God is inevitably going to give you only one side of the story no matter how many of them you talk to.

What I was suggesting was that you make an attempt to get the other side of the story so that you can use your brain to decide what you really believe. Remember, ANY church/mosque/synogogue/etc. has a financial incentive to keep you in the flock. Even if that isn't their only motivation, do you really expect them to give you both sides of the God story? Would you expect the Young Republicans to tell you all the good things about the Democratic Party?

wow i figured it out as i clicked the link...i knew that if i clicked it u wud have to wait a few seconds cause my internet is slow nd i wud have to think fast nd then it came to me about five seconde b4 it showed up

Heather, I appreciate your reply, please allow me to clarify what I said. You say that God creted angels, the devil, etc.... Whatever God created, he created out of himself. Those creations are still God. God cannot stop being God. It is impossible. He/she/it is pure potential, and can manifest into any form. But those forms are still 100% God. You are one with God, just as Jesus said "I and the father are one," and related it with the rest of us "you are all my brothers and sisters"
What else would god have made us out of? Nothing? You'll recall from the riddle that there is no such thing as nothing. Therefore, he made it out of something, and the only something that was around was Himself! The devil is a myth created by humans thousands of years ago as way of explaining what they percieved as evil, and also as a way of scaring people into being good. God = Love. God is all there is. Love is all there is. But love will not force even this knowledge upon you, as the moment truth is forced on someone it ceases to be the truth--it can only be offered, and you may choose to receive it when the time is right for you. God loves you unconditionally. Love without condition. He would not allow a piece of himself to be in a place like hell for eternity. That goes against the very basics of love.

the answer is nothing

Wow, Jeff, you're a genius.

But that answer doesn't work. Since god doesn't exist his greatness must equal null. Likewise the devil's evil must also equal null. Since x>null is invalid then x=nothing is not a valid solution.

Boo.. thank you... <bowing>
Charybdis.... God Bless You

It's funny, that comment at the end of the email chain is actually true- if you send it to 10 people and press shift, you'll get nothing....lol

WWJDD?!?!?!
What would Johnny Damon Do??

Go Red Sox!!!!!!!!!!!

This is a very good riddle to have a message board for. Here's my two cents. (in four points, sorry)
I'm a Christian, but I use my mind. I have, on multiple occasions (one being three weeks ago) disagreed with what was preached. On that specific day, the first thing my family did was discuss it in the car. Secondly, I think of the Bible as a book. However, I believe God worked through men to write that book (or collection of them). Thirdly, in response to the Chris, yours is a beautiful idea on the outside, but I serve a God who is not a rapist or serial murderer and who created something distinct from him (the mysteries of which I admit I do not understand). Fourthly, I, too, encourage you, Heather (if you read this) to use your mind. After all, C.S.Lewis, Pascal, Thomas Aquinas, and Augustine thought it wise to.

Doesn't anyone chat about Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes anymore?

Karen said:

"Doesn't anyone chat about Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes anymore?"

Yeah, Scientologists.

I feel it very important to study the bible, and not always with a 'it is 100% true' approach. I believe it was written through man with the help of god, but then it has been re-written and re-written and translated into another language and probably again in most cases. This does leave room for error in what you are reading.
I would love to say that to my preacher/head pastor but i don't pay any tithes/offerings so i can't really, but i'm sure if i did he would offer me a moment in the spotlight :D.
Just one more thing, I have personally felt the touch of god on two occasions. One was about three weeks before a major change in direction in my life which also happend to co-incide (however you spell it) with a pro kickboxing fight (that i won) It was such a powerfull moment that I bled from the nose more profusely then i ever have before/since. What I think was important was not whether or not religion matters or that i was in church, but that my life is better off for it. For you cynics out there, maybe it was him maybe it was just me and repeated nose injuries and some good base making me in the mood. Instead of arguing over what it is how about you just find someone you like who believes in god or goes to church and tag along a couple of times (do it your way) and check it out. Don't look for answers just enjoy.

Jeeze people, it's a damn riddle! You don't have to get all technical and self righteous about it being religious. Funny how those who want to state their negative point about the God part, but not one of these people mentioned the devil part. Hmm...no wonder this world is doomed.