Is there death after life?
Yes – according to atheists. No – according to spiritualists, Buddhists, Hindus and monotheistic believers in a literal heaven and hell.
Alaisdair Raynham, Truro, Cornwall, UK
• Possibly, but nobody ever lived to tell the tale.
Paul Probyn, London, UK
• I suspect so, judging by the number of funerals I go to in my senior years. At one such event recently, the retired doctor sitting next to me offered the cheering view that life is a sexually transmitted terminal condition.
Ursula Nixon, Bodalla, NSW, Australia
• However many of our ancestors have died, we represent an unbroken line of fusing and dividing cells for at least 2bn years.
Stuart Williams, Kampala, Uganda
• Not there yet. Ask me later.
David Isaacs, Sydney, Australia
• I have grave concerns regarding this topic.
Roger Morrell. Perth, Western Australia
• No, not at least for our atoms, which will simply be recycled, passing through millions of future living organisms before the universe finally ends. Thus it has been suggested that up to a billion of the atoms that make up each and every one of us previously belonged to Shakespeare.
John Caryl, Orillia, Ontario, Canada
• All available evidence strongly favours the proposition. If you can find a bookmaker who will bet against it, you could leave your heirs a very tidy sum.
Terence Rowell, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada
• Yes, a plop! into life and then an exhilarating, roller-coaster ride through the tunnels of death.
Lizzie Wagner, Featherston, New Zealand
• Ask the cat, provided he’s not still on his first life.
Margaret Wyeth, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
• Only time will tell.
Philip Stigger, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
Just try to catch the wind
Is prison the answer?
The US has only 5% of the world’s population but it accounts for 25% of its prisoners. What in hell could this situation possibly be the answer to?
Donna Samoyloff, Toronto, Canada
• It depends on whether the question to be answered is about crime prevention, or just about punishment.
Lawrie Bradly, Surrey Hills, Victoria, Australia
• About as good an answer as capturing the wind.
Doreen Forney, Pownal, Vermont, US
• Only if rehabilitation is a real possibility.
R De Braganza, Kilifi, Kenya
• Ask a publican – they spend their entire career behind bars.
David Tucker, Halle, Germany
Fun is where you find it
Is there such a thing as fun for the whole family?
Isn’t fun what families are for?
Richard Orlando, Westmount, Quebec, Canada
It’s all about the money
Politics excluded, what is the most dishonest occupation?
Financial management. The exponents invest your funds, which produces money to which they help themselves and call it a bonus. Try that at the Canadian mint and you will earn a visit from people in red suits with funny hats who call it theft.
Anthony Walter, Surrey, British Columbia, Canada
• Lawyers. They defend the guilty and the innocent, depending on who pays.
Reiner Jaakson, Oakville, Ontario, Canada
Any answers?
What sport most taxes an observer’s ability to stay interested?
Terence Rowell, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada
Is a fall the necessary sequel to pride?
E Slack, L’Isle Jourdain, France
Send answers to weekly.nandq@theguardian.com or Guardian Weekly, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU, UK
