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What is it that I look for?

To many, it is most important.

To some, it is how they confirm.

To itself, it is about one fifth.

Telling you any more, I would just be giving you the answer.

Hint #1

It is the one.

Hint #2

It is a piece of history, lost in time, not confined to the past, present, or future.

Hint #3

It and the fifth I speak of are actual numbers.

note: thanks to Rubio who helped me with this one :)
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  • $\begingroup$ Before anyone asks: the note is not relevant for the riddle. $\endgroup$
    – Tweakimp
    Dec 19, 2017 at 4:53
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    $\begingroup$ In the contrary, the note is very helpful: I could just ask Rubio for the answer. $\endgroup$
    – ibrahim mahrir
    Dec 19, 2017 at 5:37
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    $\begingroup$ @ibrahimmahrir Good idea. Let me know how that works out for you. $\endgroup$
    – Rubio ♦
    Dec 19, 2017 at 10:36
  • $\begingroup$ @Rubio So.... might as well try... what’s the answer? :P $\endgroup$
    – Quintec
    Dec 19, 2017 at 12:45
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    $\begingroup$ @thecoder16 No, what's not the answer. ;) $\endgroup$
    – Rubio ♦
    Dec 19, 2017 at 12:46

9 Answers 9

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What is it that I look for?

The letter I. Some of the clues refer to homophones of this letter.

To many, it is most important.

To many, the eye is the most important sense organ. And "I", that is one's ego, is important to many, too.

To some, it is how they confirm.

"Aye" is a onfirmation.

To itself, it is about one fifth.

"I to itself", or i to the power of i, where i is the imaginary unit yields:

  iⁱ = exp(i² π / 2) exp(−π / 2) ≈ 0.20788

— or about 1/5. Thanks, Sabre, for the leg up and Tweakimp for the "celebrity hint". :)

Telling you any more, I would just be giving you the answer.

Saying "I" would give the answer.

Hint 1: It is the one.

I is he Roman numeral for one and in some styles of handwriting it is also how an Arabic one is written.

Hint 2: It is a piece of history, lost in time, not confined to the past, present, or future.

I is in "history" and "time", but not in "past", "present" or "future".

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  • $\begingroup$ Correct! Except spoiler #4... What else can i stand for? $\endgroup$
    – Tweakimp
    Dec 19, 2017 at 13:47
  • $\begingroup$ It seems to me that this is still clearly present in time, not lost... $\endgroup$
    – Lolgast
    Dec 19, 2017 at 13:53
  • $\begingroup$ it is a piece of "lost in time". i is in that string $\endgroup$
    – Tweakimp
    Dec 19, 2017 at 13:55
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    $\begingroup$ Clue number four is literal "to itself" as in "i to the i power". i^i ≈ 0.2079 ≈ 1/5 $\endgroup$
    – Sabre
    Dec 19, 2017 at 15:10
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    $\begingroup$ Amusingly, if perhaps irrelevant, "i" is exactly one fifth of "fifth" itself. $\endgroup$
    – Scott Sauyet
    Dec 19, 2017 at 21:16
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Lolgast's answer led me to believe the answer is:

The green checkmark on Puzzling.SE, meaning that an answer has been accepted as the correct solution to a puzzle.

To many, it is most important.

People here on Puzzling.SE want the checkmark on their answer because it means they solved the puzzle correctly.

To some, it is how they confirm.

The poster of a puzzle confirms that an answer is correct by accepting it with the checkmark.

To itself, it is about one fifth.

Accepting an answer on SE is worth 2 points, which is one-fifth the point value of upvoting an answer (10 points).

Telling you any more, I would just be giving you the answer.

That's what you do by accepting an answer, you are telling everyone that is the correct answer.

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  • $\begingroup$ Your explanation fits surpringly well, especially in spoiler #4, but I meant something else, sorry :) $\endgroup$
    – Tweakimp
    Dec 19, 2017 at 7:08
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    $\begingroup$ @Tweakimp You will keep on meaning something else, most of the above answers fits your question. $\endgroup$
    – Wasiq Shahrukh
    Dec 19, 2017 at 11:06
  • $\begingroup$ I will add hints now. $\endgroup$
    – Tweakimp
    Dec 19, 2017 at 11:09
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It is perhaps

Thumbs up gesture (translates to up-vote / accept / like / confirm / appreciate etc.) enter image description here

As,

To many, it is most important.

Many feel it is important to get thumbs-up for their posts on social media, nowadays.

To some, it is how they confirm.

Thumbs-up is a gesture to confirm/acknowledge

To itself, it is about one fifth.

It is one of the five fingers of one's hand

Telling you any more, I would just be giving you the answer.

Not sure of this part though ! :-)

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  • $\begingroup$ No, sorry. But it's so interesting to see what you guys come up with. $\endgroup$
    – Tweakimp
    Dec 19, 2017 at 8:41
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Well, I could be on a completely wrong track here, but I'll guess:

An upvote?

I'll do some better formatting once I'm on a pc rather than mobile, but my explanation:

To many, it's most important:

Upvotes give some very important[citation needed] InternetPoints.

To some, it is how they confirm:

Upvotes are a measure of how good your question is, which could be seen as a confirmation by some.

To itself, it's about one fifth:

Bit of a stretch here, but 1 upvote on a question gives 5 reputation.

Telling you any more, I would just be giving you the answer.

Not sure if this was also intended as a "literal" hint, but I don't really have an explanation for this one.

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  • 2
    $\begingroup$ This answer also fits the title $\endgroup$
    – Wen1now
    Dec 19, 2017 at 6:49
  • $\begingroup$ No, sorry, I'm looking for something else. :) $\endgroup$
    – Tweakimp
    Dec 19, 2017 at 7:10
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I'm going to guess that what you look for is:

Air / oxygen

To many, it is most important.

We need it to live

To some, it is how they confirm.

You can check for a person's breath to know they're alive

To itself, it is about one fifth.

The oxygen content in air is about 21% (i.e. about a fifth)

Telling you any more, I would just be giving you the answer.

Talking uses air

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  • 2
    $\begingroup$ We all need it to live, not just many. Sorry :) $\endgroup$
    – Tweakimp
    Dec 19, 2017 at 8:40
  • $\begingroup$ Heh, yeah, that's a glaring weak point in my answer! $\endgroup$
    – Phylyp
    Dec 19, 2017 at 8:45
  • $\begingroup$ @Tweakimp If by “all” you mean “anything that’s alive,” then no, not all species require oxygen, but many do. $\endgroup$
    – DonielF
    Dec 19, 2017 at 13:12
  • $\begingroup$ I meant all humans. $\endgroup$
    – Tweakimp
    Dec 19, 2017 at 13:18
  • $\begingroup$ @Tweakimp Anerobic bacteria: yuck $\endgroup$
    – new Q Open Wid
    Dec 3, 2020 at 14:40
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I guess it is

the answer

Since,

To many, it is most important.

An answer is.

To some, it is how they confirm.

Many confirm with a nod, some confirm with an answer.

To itself, it is about one fifth.

You defined four statements, the answer is the fifth statement and therefore one fifth of all statements.

Telling you any more, I would just be giving you the answer.

If you tell us the fifth statement by yourself, it must already be the answer. Otherwise the third statement would be wrong.

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  • 1
    $\begingroup$ I thought of this, but stumbled at explaining the 'one fifth'. Nicely done. $\endgroup$
    – Phylyp
    Dec 19, 2017 at 10:14
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Could you be

the sense of sight ?

To many, it is most important.

Many people's most valued sense is that of sight.

To some, it is how they confirm.

Musicians who play by ear might check with notes on paper, for example; or when you when you hear a strange noise, you have a look around.

To itself, it is about one fifth.

It is one of five traditional senses, but you can say there are at least a few more (BBC article which discusses others).

Telling you any more, I would just be giving you the answer.

Well, that depends what you tell us I suppose...

As for the title: What is it that I look for?

Possibly the answer to this riddle: the sense of sight.

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  • 3
    $\begingroup$ I had also considered this and thought that some of the lines were homophones of "eye": "aye" confirms; saying "I" gives the answer and "I" is one fifth of "sight",although that's a stretch. This would also fit the hint, because I is a Roman one. $\endgroup$
    – M Oehm
    Dec 19, 2017 at 11:16
  • $\begingroup$ @MOehm has pretty good points... $\endgroup$
    – Tweakimp
    Dec 19, 2017 at 11:22
  • $\begingroup$ Oh excellent interpretation @MOehm - that sounds like an answer waiting to be written. $\endgroup$
    – pb8330
    Dec 19, 2017 at 11:23
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Not mentioned in the answers above.

The title "What is it that I look for?" Feel like it is also part of the riddle.

When you ask a question you are looking for an answer which you can "checkmark"

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  • $\begingroup$ It is, but not in the way you think it is :p $\endgroup$
    – Tweakimp
    Dec 19, 2017 at 8:41
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Is it

The letter "Y" ?

To many, it is most important.

"Y" is important to the word many, which would be another word without it. It could also be that "why ?" is the most important question we always ask ourselves.

To some, it is how they confirm.

In most command line interfaces, you have enter "y" to validate some command (like in "are you sure to delete this folder ? y/n")

To itself, it is about one fifth.

This one is tough and is my biggest concern concerning this answer. I'd say that the space between the two upper "sticks" of the capital letter "Y" could represent about a fifth of a circle diagram.

Telling you any more, I would just be giving you the answer.

"Telling a(n) Y more" would indeed gives the answer !

It is the one.

"Y" is one letter only.

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  • $\begingroup$ Reading @M Oehm comment on @pb8330's answer, I have a feeling that the correct letter is instead "I", but I won't steal this answer ;) $\endgroup$
    – Keelhaul
    Dec 19, 2017 at 12:20
  • $\begingroup$ sry, but thats not it :) $\endgroup$
    – Tweakimp
    Dec 19, 2017 at 12:23

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