Sample questions for WhatIf

Question

There is now a WhatIf.SE proposal over on Area 51. One element that would help it along would be a collection of sample questions. I believe we have that source material already at hand. (They're the very questions we're wrestling with when considering Is Worldbuilding a What If Site?)

I request your help in assembling a list here of questions asked on WB.SE that you think would be good sample questions for WhatIf.SE. Please submit one question per post, and we can bring the highest-voted sample questions over to the proposal.

(I've just grabbed a couple and posted them below, as a way of "seeding" the list. Vote as you think they would be interesting/on-topic on a WhatIf.SE. My working motto for the site is "curiosity: meet expertise.")

Thanks.

Answer 1

What if the social contract was literal?

What if, as a rite of passage at the age of reason, we all had to sign a contract agreeing to live in the systems created and maintained by the government? We'd get the benefits of order, infrastructure, justice, etc. and in exchange we follow the laws and don't interfere with the enforcing of the laws. Anyone who refused to sign the contract would not be able to live in that area of governance. We'd have basic statutes to allow people to travel through the area, but even that would require a less binding agreement.

What could have happened to make this system preferable? What sort of social pressures would result if the contract was seen as preferable to exile?

Answer 2

What if humans were shorter?

I was looking outside of the window and got an idea "All tools human use seems to be strangely fit for our size. Buildings, cars, various power tools. All of them are have good size for humans that are 1.5-2m in height." But is that really true?

How would human society, tools, buildings or machines look like if humans were much smaller or shorter. Lets say 1m or 0.5m . Would the buildings or machines be just scaled down or are there any mechanical or technical issues that would need to be handled when fitting them to smaller humans? Or how would such smaller species of humans develop? Would it same as current humans or would there be any differences?

Answer 3

Could life form in a universe without galaxies?

Galaxies, they come in many shapes, and many sizes. In fact, the universe is filled with galaxies, holding the stars and planets together. What if, in a universe where black holes and dark matter don't exist, would habitable planets form? Would there be intelligent life?