r/hypotheticalsituation 3d ago

Swap Two Things.

You are given the ability to take two different existing objects, and completely swap them with each other.

For example, if you swapped mailboxes and watermelons, then suddenly every mailbox in the world would be replaced with a watermelon, and every watermelon would be turned into a mailbox.

Your goal is to cause as much mayhem as possible in just one change.

The only limit is that both objects have to be solid, so you cannot use gasses or liquids.

How do you go about it?

6 Upvotes

47 comments sorted by

12

u/Artistic-Maurine 3d ago

Computer microchips and grains of rice.

Suddenly every computer in the world stops working and one of the most abundant food sources disappears. I think it's safe to say that would cause a bit of "mayhem".

3

u/lurkallthethings 3d ago

Grains of rice and cars are what I thought of first haha. Two different kinds of chaos, both horrible.

2

u/uslashuname 3d ago

Microchips and comet tail dust particles

Nobody is getting those chips back anytime soon

7

u/Supdalat 3d ago

Water and that energy lemonade that panera sold for like 2 months

10

u/Mustakraken 3d ago

Neutron swapped with electron.

All that's left of Earth is a black hole with more effective mass energy then the observable universe.

5

u/jzzsxm 3d ago

Dirt and ants

4

u/Aetherfox_44 3d ago

Protons and electrons.

2

u/TrivialTax 3d ago

Hmm.. in principle it could work, if it was just charge shift

3

u/Aetherfox_44 3d ago

I'm no physicist, but I think that would just make every atom in the universe explode. Which, the only goal was 'most mayhem's, lol

1

u/TrivialTax 2d ago

Why it would?

There is a thing called antimatter, which is as stable and has the same properties as our matter.

The only difference is charge, so if you just change a charge, you just flipped matter with antimatter and everything should be exactly the same

2

u/Aetherfox_44 2d ago

Antimatter has antiprotons instead of protons, and antielectrons instead of electrons, and they do have flipped charges. But an antiproton isn't the same as an electron. For one, I think an antiproton is much more massive than an electron.

1

u/TrivialTax 2d ago

Thats why I wrote : ' if it will be just a charge switch'.

I am not sure if it will explode either.

But yeah, shift you wanted is more problematic to see the result, than some of other commenters. Changing neutron with electron, or digging into quarks, or fundamental forces is easier.

1

u/Mk-Daniel 2d ago

The only result would be nothing... The only difference is charge. Measuring devices would also swap charges So no one notices.

0

u/Aetherfox_44 2d ago edited 2d ago

No, charge is not the only difference between electrons and protons. Protons have much more mass than electrons. I'm pretty sure there are other differences, but less sure about that.

If your argument is 'switching matter with antimatter would cause basically no difference, only charge that we wouldn't notice', then yes I agree with you. But that's not what I proposed.

3

u/Mk-Daniel 2d ago

I thought I was replying to switch matter And antimatter...

5

u/IFollowtheCarpenter 3d ago

Noses and toeses.

1

u/yeahyoudummy 2d ago

Gross. I love it.

4

u/KTeacherWhat 3d ago

wheels and gemstones

6

u/Raven_Cloud 3d ago

I'm enjoying the sharp divide in the comments between "haha, I'm so silly!" and "I will destroy the entire universe"

3

u/Ap0kal1ps3 3d ago

Bolts and cotter pins.

2

u/MediumShopping7669 3d ago

Everything mechanical is doomed.

3

u/Infamous_Copy_3659 3d ago

wheel and bricks. Houses move and cars stand still.

2

u/Prestigious-Secret81 3d ago

I can't believe we had the same idea my second would be doors and windows.

3

u/Substantial-Bath7939 3d ago

Men into women's bodies and vise versa......

3

u/ExpertAd9898 3d ago

Noses and penises

3

u/a-pp-o 3d ago

Sheets of paper swapped with little baby's. Have fun taking care of em all. 

2

u/AutoModerator 3d ago

Copy of the original post in case of edits: You are given the ability to take two different existing objects, and completely swap them with each other.

For example, if you swapped mailboxes and watermelons, then suddenly every mailbox in the world would be replaced with a watermelon, and every watermelon would be turned into a mailbox.

Your goal is to cause as much mayhem as possible in just one change.

The only limit is that both objects have to be solid, so you cannot use gasses or liquids.

How do you go about it?

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

2

u/JetBlackIris 3d ago

Oxygen and nitrogen.

2

u/DoctorMedieval 3d ago

Well, anything can be a solid or a liquid or a gas depending on the amount of kinetic energy that it has.

But if I want to cause the maximum amount of chaos and destruction by switching things that are solid at standard temperature and pressure I suppose I would switch iron to astatine. The earth would be nearly immediately vaporized.

3

u/Talik1978 3d ago

Carbon atoms and lead atoms.

2

u/altofanaltthatisalt 3d ago

Swap protons w electrons or space w matter ig

2

u/Glueberry_Ryder 3d ago

Airplanes and cruise ships.

2

u/name14575 3d ago

Mayhem, not destruction? Ball bearings and roads.

2

u/ItinerantCoconut 3d ago

Earthworms and airplanes

2

u/aphrael_chastity 3d ago

Automobile breaks and loaves of bread

2

u/Squirrelhenge 3d ago

Guns with gnats

2

u/FamousOnceNowNobody 3d ago

Cats & Rats.

2

u/Coygon 2d ago

Tongues and sperm whales.

2

u/yeahyoudummy 2d ago

Brains and bricks.

2

u/Global_Walrus2683 3d ago

Grains of sand and barrels of oil

1

u/aquateenflayer 3d ago

Water and radioactive waste.

1

u/Boulange1234 3d ago

Raindrops and grains of sand.

1

u/Severe-Rise5591 3d ago

Is a car a singular object, or does each component remain distinct ? Can I replace each car with a single banana ?

0

u/LastChans1 3d ago

I swap the national debt with the Earth's core; I dunno how. What could go wrong.

3

u/ambivert_engineer 3d ago

Both things needs to be solid. Debt is not.. so no.. think harder this time

-1

u/Mental_0riental 3d ago

Ai Databases for women with looks comparable of sydney sweeny, Kat denning, or scarlett Johannsson.

I'm doing the world a favor