[Ultimate Either-Or] A great conversation starter and a chance to get to know each other!
Have you heard of the ultimate either-or questions? They’re two-choice questions where it’s hard to pick one, but you have to choose, and they can reveal a person’s values and spark conversation.
They’re perfect as conversation starters with friends or partners and for getting to know each other.
In this article, I’ll introduce a collection of ultimate either-or questions related to life and personal values.
There are plenty of prompts that will make you agonize over which to choose, so have fun giving them a try!
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Two-choice questions on food, entertainment, and hobbies (1–10)
Which would you choose: ramen from a popular restaurant that you can only eat once a year, or cup ramen that you can eat every day?
Compared to ramen you eat at a shop, cup ramen tends to have a rather ordinary image.
With that image in mind, here’s a question: would you choose to eat ramen from a popular restaurant only once a year, or be able to eat ramen whenever you like but only in cup form? Whether you’d prefer to savor a painstakingly crafted bowl from a shop even if it’s limited, or have ramen anytime even if people say it’s ordinary—your attitude toward ramen really comes through.
For those who actually prefer cup ramen, this might feel like a question from heaven.
If you could only eat either meat or carbohydrates for a whole year, which would you choose?
The ultimate either-or question, “If you could only eat meat or carbohydrates for a whole year, which would you choose?” might have something in common with the low-carb diets that have become popular in recent years.
Cutting out carbs and eating only meat can help with weight loss, but it’s said to make body odor stronger, and your options for seasoning are limited.
On the other hand, carbohydrates offer a wide range of choices—rice, bread, noodles—so your diet can be more varied, but from a dieting perspective, they’re considered fattening.
It’s only for a year, but it’s an ultimate dilemma that would leave anyone torn.
If you could only eat one from now on, Kinoko no Yama or Takenoko no Sato, which would it be?
Meiji’s chocolate snacks “Kinoko no Yama” and “Takenoko no Sato” are a classic topic that always divides opinions.
Let’s have people answer which one they’d choose if they could only eat one of the two.
Since this question approaches the so-called “Kinoko vs.
Takenoko War” from a different angle than simply asking which they like more, it might lead to different kinds of answers.
Because the products differ noticeably in sweetness and texture, this question also seems likely to reveal what people prioritize when imagining eating them over time.
Shōnen manga or shōjo manga—which do you like more?
Which do you prefer: shonen manga or shojo manga? If you had to choose and could never read the other again… that would be a tough call, wouldn’t it? Both shonen and shojo boast countless masterpieces, and you probably have many fond memories of reading wonderful works from each.
Once you’ve made your choice, tell us why you picked it and introduce the work that clinched it for you.
For manga lovers, this is the ultimate either-or question—one that’s not easy to answer.
Two-choice questions on food, entertainment, and hobbies (11–20)
If you could only eat one for the rest of your life, which would you choose: natto rice or tamago kake gohan (raw egg over rice)?
Let’s have them think about which they would choose if they could only eat either natto rice or tamago kake gohan (rice with raw egg).
Focus on the “for life” aspect as well: beyond preference and taste, nutrition is important for living a healthy life.
If we assume not only that one option would be off-limits but also that other dishes wouldn’t be available, the choice becomes more serious and helps expand their imagination.
How many variation recipes they know could influence the range of textures, flavors, and nutritional balance, and likely become key points in their decision.
Everything you eat for the rest of your life becomes either spicy or sweet.
The ultimate either-or choice of “everything you eat for the rest of your life tastes spicy or sweet” is something that makes you think, even if you have a preference.
Please consider it purely as a matter of perceived taste—not about your stomach getting irritated from constantly eating spicy foods or your diabetes risk increasing from always eating sweet foods.
By the way, spiciness isn’t taste but pain, yet that doesn’t necessarily mean having a constantly sweet mouth would be better, either—so it’s a tough call.
The fact that it’s hard to answer quickly from every angle might be exactly what makes it a fun ultimate dilemma.
Which convenience store would you go to: the one that’s a 1-minute walk from home, or the one that’s a 10-minute walk?
When a facility is close to home, it feels more convenient because you don’t spend much time traveling.
Let’s picture a situation where there’s a convenience store near your house and think in detail about what the ideal distance would be.
The closer it is, the more convenient it seems, but if it’s just a one-minute walk, you might still be able to see your home, so it may not feel like you actually went out.
If you want at least a bit of that “going out” feeling, or prefer a distance where you don’t have to worry about running into people you know, then having it a little farther away might actually be ideal.