Are there any unanswerable questions? | Notes and Queries (2024)

NOOKS AND CRANNIES

Are there any unanswerable questions?

Justin Rigden, Adelaide, Australia

There are questions to which it is impossible to give a correct answer, for example: "How many atoms are there in the universe?" Nonetheless, it is not unanswerable since I could answer that question, my answer just may not be correct.
Stuart, London, UK

The only unanswerable question is the one that is not asked.
Rod, Southern California, USA

Graham of Stoke has cause and effect the wrong way round. The question was always answerable, therefore Stuart of London was able to answer it. It did not change from unanswerable to answerable, although it did change from unanswered to answered, assuming that there were no previous answers rejected by the editor.
Pelham Barton, Birmingham, UK

There are many unanswerable questions. The most obvious class relates to regions of space time about which we are incapable of knowing anything - for example what are other universes like?The second (much favoured by lawyers) are those questions to which all the answers are wrong "Do you still beat your wife, yes or no?" which, given that you do not, is unanswerable.
Neil Knowles, London, UK

Yes, there is an unanswerable question, but I can't tell you what it is...
Stephen Hull, Bristol, UK

Hmmm. What is the answer to this question?
Tony, Philadelphia, USA
See Also
Why Not Having All the Answers Is Freeing and a Good Thing

"What happens when an irresistible force meets an impenetrable barrier?" is a good example. By definition, the force and barrier cannot coexist in the same universe so the question cannot be answered.
Brian Parks, Liss, UK

I'd been really hoping - with the best intentions - that no one would have answered this question.
Sheila Kirby, Esbjerg, Denmark

An unanswerable question would be: "Will your answer to this question be 'No'?".
Julian Bond, Apopka, USA

If a drug store is open 24 hours, why are there locks on the doors?
Alex, Kansas City, America

Unanswerable question? How about: is sterility hereditary?
Mason Willey, Mansfield, UK

If space is constantly expanding, what's it expanding into? And what's on the other side?
Glyn, Halifax, UK

The only unanswerable question is "Why are you sleeping in class?"
Pearl Zhang, Australia

What is the answer to this question? I don't know. That is an answer. That question is not unanswerable. The only unanswerable question is the one that is not asked? Which question? If a question hasn't been asked it does not exist. It only has a potential for existence. An unanswerable question cannot be based on unknown knowledge, as an answer can be given, but just not be correct.
John McCain, St. Louis United States

The only question which is unanswerable is a question which has had no attempt to be answered.
George Tarrant, Molde Denmark

If a tree falls in a forest with no one to hear it does it make a noise?
Michael, Buckingham, England

What is beyond the existence of time and space. We cannot know, we can only speculate as we can never travel there or exist there. But does that mean I have answered this question? Maybe the only things unanswerable are those unquestionable. If you believe "I dunno" is an answer, albeit not a correct one.
Paul Steele, Middlesbrough, UK

I have an unanswerable question. If a thought can be transformed into knowledge and knowledge can be transformed into an idea and an idea can be transformed into an an invention, then why can't the thought of an invention be real?
Nick Baddour, Phoenix, Arizona Maricopa

When you are dead, can you 'be' dead? Like, is it a verb? When you are dead, can 'you' be dead?
Ashley Siavoshi, Calabasas, USA

Well I don't think so. Unless you can live to die again its unlikely you can die or be dead when your dead
Brian Gilligan, Kilkenny city. Ireland.

What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object?
Derek, Waipio, HI USA

you ask because there is an answer...and you cannot answer without a question..
glen, bacolod philippines

What happens when an unstoppable/irresistible force meets an immovable object/matter..my friend the game of FRICTION begins...apply to real life incidence and you will get the answer,no matter how ugly the consequence may be.. It all matters who wins the game of Friction.. And that's when you realise the winner..yes the game or as I might add action or reaction is called friction..just a thought...:)
Knash, Blore India

If I speak or write a sentence and within this sentence I use 'Their, they're and there', and then I then speak to someone and tell them I've used these three words but don't actually say I used their, they're and there in a sentence but instead (speaking only) I say 'I used the three "there"s in a sentence today'. If I wanted to write down what I have just said how would it be written correctly if it can be written correctly at all?
Tony, Bexhill UK

Maybe the question should be asked, Do any questions exist that has no correct answer?
Jimmy Jones, Tremont, MS, USA

Unanswerable question? Three guys walk in a hotel. They pay the clerk 10 dollars each for a room. The clerk realises that he charged them five dollars too much. He gives five dollars to the bell boy to take to the men. The bell boy slips two dollars in his pocket for a tip and returns the men one dollar each. All three men have nine dollars in the room the bell boy has two in his pocket so where is the last dollar?
Dustun Vest, Liberty, US

Dustun Vest, Liberty, US: There is no missing dollar. Room was $25, bellboy got $2, men got 3x$1 refunds. Just because they paid $9 each making $27 you don't add the $2 to make $29, you subtract it to make the $25. Hardly unanswerable!I would suggest an unanswerable question would be: How long was it before time existed?
Richard Page, Warrington, UK

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