Riddles

[Bill Phil]

What? Dates and some data are, but apart from that... the majority of history is written down in whatever language is most popular at the time.

X years ago y happened...

Number are also equally destructive. Enough pressure and you explode. I mean, it fits because it's so general.

[Starwhip]

"Numbers" fits, yes. Is it the best answer, or the one designated as the "correct" answer by the riddle's poster? Eh, probably not. A lot of riddles have answers that the one who thought of them never anticipated, especially here. Take this one, which I came up with a while ago:

Slammed into my home with a powerful blow,

Into a place I did not wish to go,

Governed by beings who heed not my pleas;

They will do anything to satisfy their needs.

Beaten and bent with no end in sight,

And still they will not leave me be.

Deeper and deeper I sink,

Until I fit, like a lock and a key.

I was intending the answer to be "nails" (which works perfectly fine), and then Vexx went ahead and answered "Lockpick".

See what I mean?

Edited January 31, 2015 by Starwhip
DAMMIT, text, be the right size!!! :mad:

[Bill Phil]

Yeah....

Is it NAILS!!!

Oh, you beat me to it.

[vexx32]

X years ago y happened...

Number are also equally destructive. Enough pressure and you explode. I mean, it fits because it's so general.

In both cases, the numbers are really irrelevant; they're just a human way of interpreting the event. Just a method of pigeonholing bits of history so they're easy to organise, and (in the other example) just a method of comparing the strength of the force. The numbers themselves are not responsible for any of it, they're merely a representation of the true event/cause.

Anyway, this is a riddle thread, not a philosophy one! Whose turn is it, again?

[Bill Phil]

Exactly the point of why it doesn't exist per se...

TheMoonRover is next.

[TheMoonRover]

Remember when I said I wouldn't try to make a cryptic riddle? Well I'm not so sure about that now.

This will either take ten minutes, or a very long time:

Always changing, never the same,

But always one in nature and name,

Always wandering, always collecting,

But never travelling, and never detecting

What their true importance is to us all,

For without them, even the mighty could fall,

They all have their lives, they all have a quest,

But one of their number is more than the rest.

Edited January 31, 2015 by TheMoonRover
line break

[Xannari Ferrows]

Hmm... all have their lives, all have a quest... always changing... Kerbals! No that would be silly.

Umm... importance to us all... mighty can fall...

Stars? (No that would be even sillier.)

Wow, this is hard. Stars make sense to me, but it probably isn't right. I'll keep thinking.

[TheMoonRover]

Wow, this is hard. Stars make sense to me, but it probably isn't right. I'll keep thinking.

Stars does fit pretty well, true, but it's not the answer I'm looking for. And no, it's not Kerbals

[MoeKitsune]

Is the answer life related? Is it animals?

Edited January 31, 2015 by TheJewelOfJool

[Xannari Ferrows]

I swear, it's gonna hit me like a brick wall, and then I'm gonna feel stupid, but I am not leaving this page until I figure it out! (If only the answer was as easy as looking down to check the time. God knows that's what 'someone' did...)

EDIT: Perhaps, a brain? (This makes me sound like I don't have one, I know.)

EDIT: I have a feeling something in your editing reasons could be related, and I'm totally not saying that because I'm thoroughly stumped.

Edited January 31, 2015 by Xannari Ferrows

[TheMoonRover]

Always changing, never the same,

But always one in nature and name,

Always wandering, always collecting,

But never travelling, and never detecting

What their true importance is to us all,

For without them, even the mighty could fall,

They all have their lives, they all have a quest,

But one of their number is more than the rest.

Is the answer life related? Is it animals?

That's for me to know and you to work out but the answer is not animals.

(If only the answer was as easy as looking down to check the time. God knows that's what 'someone' did...)

*ahem* I wonder who that might've been...

EDIT: nope, the answer is not a brain

EDIT: Editing reasons? You mean "line break"? That was because I accidentally put the first two lines in one line

Edited January 31, 2015 by TheMoonRover
Someone keeps editing

[cantab]

Money? 10chars

[Xannari Ferrows]

Alright. I think I've got it. If this is not the answer, I will (for one, flip the table) just wait for the answer because this is just breaking me.

DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid)?

It makes the most sense of anything I've found.

"Always changing, never the same" -DNA is constantly replacing itself, and can never return to the same configuration.

"But always one in nature and name" -Though it is all different, it all serves one purpose and name.

"Always wandering, always collecting" -It always moves, and collects new compounds.

"But never travelling, and never detecting" -It has no will of its' own.

"What their true importance is to us all" -It is required for all life as we know it.

"For without them, even the mighty could fall"-It is more than one thing, and can bring down the most powerful life.

"They all have their lives, they all have a quest" -Each individual band has a limited life before it is cycled. During that life, it serves the greater purpose of giving you life.

"But one of their number is more than the rest" -One band of DNA is always more than itself. What it is can represent all life within you.

[TheMoonRover]

Money? 10chars

Nope

Alright. I think I've got it. If this is not the answer, I will (for one, flip the table) just wait for the answer because this is just breaking me.

DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid)?

It makes the most sense of anything I've found.

"Always changing, never the same" -DNA is constantly replacing itself, and can never return to the same configuration.

"But always one in nature and name" -Though it is all different, it all serves one purpose and name.

"Always wandering, always collecting" -It always moves, and collects new compounds.

"But never travelling, and never detecting" -It has no will of its' own.

"What their true importance is to us all" -It is required for all life as we know it.

"For without them, even the mighty could fall"-It is more than one thing, and can bring down the most powerful life.

"They all have their lives, they all have a quest" -Each individual band has a limited life before it is cycled. During that life, it serves the greater purpose of giving you life.

"But one of their number is more than the rest" -One band of DNA is always more than itself. What it is can represent all life within you.

That fits incredibly well, except:

DNA does replicate itself, but is always in the same configuration in a particular organism (with the exception of reproduction)

Without DNA, there wouldn't be life in the first place. That wouldn't even really fit "the mighty would fall" let alone "the mighty could fall"

Last line. That's not the same either. "More than itself" is not the same as "more than the rest"

But otherwise that's pretty good. Not what I'm looking for though.

Sorry about your table.

EDIT: You've got the right general idea though. The whole being greater than the sum of its parts.

Edited January 31, 2015 by TheMoonRover

[Bill Phil]

Human condition?

[neamerjell]

1 Always changing, never the same, <== okay, so it is / they are dynamic

2 But always one in nature and name, <== not sure, singular identity?

3 Always wandering, always collecting, <== air molecules? water molecules? they are always fluid and collecting dust particles, etc.

4 But never travelling, and never detecting <== that blows my last idea, so this is something intangible...

5 What their true importance is to us all, <== this statement makes no sense grammatically, ignored, for now

6 For without them, even the mighty could fall, <== something intangible, dynamic, with a singular identity, which is "always collecting", and is absolutely essential, hmm...

7 They all have their lives, they all have a quest, <== this seems related to the singular identity, but this is a major clue

8 But one of their number is more than the rest. <==Got it! The human mind!

The human mind is constantly collecting and rearranging information (1, 3), every living creature has a mind of some sort (2), the mind can't exit the body it inhabits (4), it is essential to the being (5, 6), each one is unique with its own wants and dreams (2, 7), the human mind is considered to be the greatest of them all(8)

Edited January 31, 2015 by neamerjell
korektd speilng eroors

[TheMoonRover]

Human condition?

Nope

1 Always changing, never the same, <== okay, so it is / they are dynamic

2 But always one in nature and name, <== not sure, singular identity?

3 Always wandering, always collecting, <== air molecules? water molecules? they are always fluid and collecting dust particles, etc.

4 But never travelling, and never detecting <== that blows my last idea, so this is something intangible...

5 What their true importance is to us all, <== this statement makes no sense grammatically, ignored, for now

6 For without them, even the mighty could fall, <== something intangible, dynamic, with a singular identity, which is "always collecting", and is absolutely essential, hmm...

7 They all have their lives, they all have a quest, <== this seems related to the singular identity, but this is a major clue

8 But one of their number is more than the rest. <==Got it! The human mind!

The human mind is constantly collecting and rearranging information (1, 3), every living creature has a mind of some sort (2), the mind can't exit the body it inhabits (4), it is essential to the being (5, 6), each one is unique with its own wants and dreams (2, 7), the human mind is considered to be the greatest of them all(8)

That's the second person who's got a good answer which isn't the one I was looking for. Perhaps I was too vague.

Note the lack of a comma at the end of line 4. Line 5 runs on from it and so makes no sense by itself. That's why I put them together.

Should I add a couple more lines to make this a bit less vague?

EDIT: I think I should:

Their movement defies the laws of nature

Never knowingly make them hate-yer

Edited February 1, 2015 by TheMoonRover
emphasis

[B787_300]

are they memories?

[cantab]

Fields? As in electromagnetic, Higgs, etc.

[TheMoonRover]

are they memories?

nope

Fields? As in electromagnetic, Higgs, etc.

nope

[vexx32]

Constellations?

[TheMoonRover]

Constellations?

Nope

Always changing, never the same,

But always one in nature and name,

Always wandering, always collecting,

But never travelling, and never detecting

What their true importance is to us all,

For without them, even the mighty could fall,

They all have their lives, they all have a quest,

But one of their number is more than the rest.

Their movement defies the laws of nature

Never knowingly make them hate-yer​

Edited February 1, 2015 by TheMoonRover
Why do lines one and two insist on being on one line

[vexx32]

Religion/gods?

[Ikaneko]

A slinky? Just based on that last line.

[TheMoonRover]

Religion/gods?

That's a no

A slinky? Just based on that last line.

and no again.