They can't, but that shouldn't stop you from asking the taboo question: How many years would you guess you have left?
There are believers and non-believers, but in talking with many of my colleagues about this taboo question, I found that all scientists share a profound sense of awe and humility before the unfathomable mysteries of nature, which while not necessarily religious, is deeply spiritual.
"For him there are no taboo questions".
You could ask all these taboo questions.
The revelations provoked an outcry, and previously taboo questions about Turkey's military activities are now being asked.
And some, like all the best taboo questions, display a prurient interest in the sex lives of the arts.
"Some of these taboo questions," she said, "are coming out again," with economic, legal and ethnic trouble re-emerging in the new states, like Hungary and Romania, and new divisions in the old ones.
If mainstream politicians are inspiring enough, which in 2002 Mr Chirac and the Socialist Lionel Jospin were not, and if they are ready to take on taboo questions of national identity, as both Mr Sarkozy and Ms Royal did, the voters are ready to ditch the folly of the fringes.Second, Mr Bayrou's strong showing means that the run-off will now be determined largely by the centre.
Sowell's newest work is the last of a trilogy (Race and Culture, 1994; Migrations and Cultures, 1996) in which he gives his answer to one of the most troubling, and taboo, questions of modern times: why the achievements of different human groups vary so dramatically.
Up until a few decades ago, it was taboo to question the results of particular surgeons or physicians.
The MTV example works so well because the taboo in question fits so neatly with the brand.
