What superpowers would you choose?

[zoobyshoe]

This thread also reminds me of the children's book, "The Five Chinese Brothers." They were a set of quintuplets, all identical to each other, but each had a unique superpower. One was condemned (wrongfully) to die, but by serial substitution of another brother who had the power of evading the next successive method of execution, they exhausted the system and the accused was finally set free.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Can't say that I did. The most prominent example to my mind is from the Dune saga. Several characters posess the ability to sense possible futures, and plan accordingly.

It could be Men in Black lifted the idea from Dune, then. At any rate, it featured prominently in that movie.

 

[Ryan_m_b]

It could be Men in Black lifted the idea from Dune, then. At any rate, it featured prominently in that movie.

Maybe, it's a bit of a trope now I think. I can't remember the name but I read a fantasy book at some point with a character that had this gift. The problem was that exploring possible futures was addictive and he spent more and more of his time completely zoned out as his mind sought through more distant and branching futures.

On the topic of limitations it occurs to me that the book absorbing power specifically says any book you touch. A big downside to that would be the unavoidable info dump from every book, magazine and pamphlet you brush past. Bookshops would become a hellish environment where you absorb every celebrity biography, pseudoscience fad and paranormal romance novel they litter them with :(

 

[zoobyshoe]

On the topic of limitations it occurs to me that the book absorbing power specifically says any book you touch. A big downside to that would be the unavoidable info dump from every book, magazine and pamphlet you brush past. Bookshops would become a hellish environment where you absorb every celebrity biography, pseudoscience fad and paranormal romance novel they litter them with :(

I didn't take it that way.

"You will know and understand the knowledge of any book you touch."

I took this to mean that, in addition to knowing the content of any book you touched, you would also gain a deep, in fact empathetic, understanding of the mind of the author. So, by touching, say, some apparently vapid magazine you would be infused with a complete grasp of the motivations and emotions of the authors such that it all suddenly made sense. It would, in this case, not be a matter of entering into a higher mind but, to be blunt, a lower one that you've never been able to grasp.

I thought, in fact, of the Oliver Sacks story, The Dog Beneath The Skin, in which a medical student's artificially heightened sense of smell gave him the apparent experience of understanding what it would be like to live in a dog's world:

The story in question is called “The Dog Beneath the Skin.” In it, Sacks describes meeting a 22-year-old medical student who, after an amphetamine binge, dreamed he was a dog and experienced, in his dream, all the unimaginable smells that dogs smell every day. Upon waking, however, he found that the smells were still there. For the next three weeks, his world was greatly enhanced: he could recognize people he knew by smell, he found that there was “a whole aesthetic, a whole judgment, a whole new significance, which surrounded him,” Sacks writes. “It was a world overwhelmingly concrete, of particulars, a world overwhelming in immediacy, in immediate significance,” the student says. After three weeks, it was gone, but for that brief time, it seems to me, the student had accessed that part of the brain that we share with dogs and other animals—that part capable of unbelievably rich olfactory perception—but that is somehow inaccessible to most of us in our daily lives.

http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node/7380

 

[Colaspidea]

May I dumb this down? I would like the ability to shrink so I can swim in a glass of expensive champagne.

 

[Enigman]

You will be able to see the future (everything you see in the future will definitely happen given you do not look into the future)

This.
No other power comes even close to it. Because this is an instant global victory condition. Creatively used one could get plans for any technology developed in the future, pre-empt any disaster, win any war, cure any disease cured in the future, etc. etc. Basically, the easiest way to total world domination and optimization. But since I also get two more powers on top of godhood to help me take over the world, I will have to choose:

• You will know and understand the knowledge of any book you touch.

• Your mind will be upgraded with a powerful computer. This implies you gain the processing speed and the memory of a supercomputer. But this does not necessarily make you any "smarter".

 

[Vanadium 50]

Can I travel back in time and then re-pick? That sounds like the best choice.

 

[zoobyshoe]

This.
No other power comes even close to it. Because this is an instant global victory condition.

O.K. You're assuming there is one and only one timeline, which I think is a reasonable assumption.

Consider that bring some technology from the future back to the present will necessarily change the future.

So, it's conceivable that by, say, bringing the ultimate cure for all cancers back to 2016 from 2116 will shift things around in unforeseen ways by butterfly effect such that it causes global destruction by nuclear war in 2050. You will know that, of course, and can take some action to stop it, but it might require the rest of your life to make that effort.

In other words: this superpower may only put you in the position of being the old lady who swallowed a fly.

 

[zoobyshoe]

I want, also, to point out that the ability to see "the future" translates into "remote viewing" of the present. If "the future" includes one second into the future, then it also includes one millisecond into the future, and so on, until "the future" is indistinguishable from the present.

 

[micromass]

O.K. You're assuming there is one and only one timeline, which I think is a reasonable assumption.

I don't think you need to assume this at all. Even under my description, it's still an "instant victory condition".

 

[zoobyshoe]

I don't think you need to assume this at all. Even under my description, it's still an "instant victory condition".

I suppose you're right. Assuming the alternate future you look at is extremely similar to the non-alternate you don't look at.

 

[Scott C.]

There is the question regarding your ability to effect any change of a major nature. Your limited lifespan is short compared to your "vision." Removing various key folks, acquiring wealth, doing small, but significant, things, sort of trimming the tree as in Asimov's "End of Eternity" is fairly limited.

Even if you are able access the time and place of your choosing, this power sounds more like a more efficient method to get ulcers.

 

[zoobyshoe]

There is the question regarding your ability to effect any change of a major nature.

Define "major."

Consider that Rasputin gained near total sway over the Czarina by his apparent ability to relieve the suffering of her son, who had hemophilia. How much more influence could a person exert politically if they could demonstrate at will the authentic ability to see the future?

 

[Astronuc]

teleport anywhere in the universe instantly. You are able to additionally teleport 100kg of other items.

This one appeals the most. It would be nice to go to the furthest point. Ostensibly, one can teleport back to the point of origin, i.e., round trip, otherwise, getting lost in the universe and running out of oxygen or water would not be appealing.

 

[Scott C.]

My point is outside of strategic trimming there is little a single person can accomplish, unless they become extraordinary.

Greg Rasputin represents history written by the victors. Okay, he invested time and effort with Tzarina (joke) but he was not out achieving total victory. He enjoyed a limited success until he was multiple murdered (talk about stamina, whoa).

To exercise such influence you need access. Even the future, how would an ordinary citizen influence the POTUS? No way, until that person built themselves to extraordinary heights while changing and rechanging the world about them.

T'would be interesting though, wouldn't it?

 

[zoobyshoe]

My point is outside of strategic trimming there is little a single person can accomplish, unless they become extraordinary.

Define "extraordinary." Was Ghengis Khan extraordinary? If so, consider that any military dictator could duplicate his conquests if he had the power to see the future. He could refuse to show up for any battle he foresaw he would lose and only fight those he knew he would win.

To exercise such influence you need access. Even the future, how would an ordinary citizen influence the POTUS? No way, until that person built themselves to extraordinary heights while changing and rechanging the world about them.

This 'building up' is exactly what Rasputin did. He started out a peasant in Siberia and traveled toward the Russian capitol slowly building up his reputation as a mystic and healer. Before he got to the Czarina, he had won over all the important heads of organized religion. It was their say-so that granted him access to the nobility, which got him access to the Czar and Czarina.

If you could, in fact, demonstrate accurate knowledge of the future at will, there is pretty much no one you couldn't eventually get access to, including the President. Start with the local dog catcher and work your way up.

 

[Enigman]

My point is outside of strategic trimming there is little a single person can accomplish, unless they become extraordinary.

Or are creative.
You can see into future. That would include stock markets and lotto tickets. Spend the first year becoming a billionaire, create a corporation as a front for your powers with research divisions getting the credit for any bit of knowledge or tech. As for longevity, what makes you think old age would still be an issue in the future?

 

[Astronuc]

Can I travel back in time and then re-pick? That sounds like the best choice.

Time travel and anywhere in the universe seems like the best combination.

 

[CynicusRex]

• You will be able to control air. This includes flying.
• You will be able to teleport anywhere in the universe instantly. You are able to additionally teleport 100kg of other items.
• You will know and understand the knowledge of any book you touch.

 

[Scott C.]

Define "extraordinary." Was Ghengis Khan extraordinary? If so, consider that any military dictator could duplicate his conquests if he had the power to see the future. He could refuse to show up for any battle he foresaw he would lose and only fight those he knew he would win.

By his position as Khan he was extraordinary. As single simple warrior he would be nothing until he achieved higher rank and more influence. Hitler was nothing as a common soldier in WWI. His rise to power is well documented. I agree with you that the extraordinary may be able to change thing if politically possible and in their local area of influence.

This 'building up' is exactly what Rasputin did. He started out a peasant in Siberia and traveled toward the Russian capitol slowly building up his reputation as a mystic and healer. Before he got to the Czarina, he had won over all the important heads of organized religion. It was their say-so that granted him access to the nobility, which got him access to the Czar and Czarina.

Okay, so you and I agree re Grigori R. If the upper crust of Mother Russia hadn't been in the midst of a strong fascination with mysticism he wouldn't have had a chance. But it did and so he did. By the way, maybe I disagree a bit regarding his winning over the heads of the "Church" first. 1902 records show he impressed some religious and upper class folks in Kasan (but that's a long way from Moscow). However in 1905 when he shows up and starts impressing the right people he needed access first maybe you've got a point. After getting access he became more extraordinary and eventually made it to the Tzar and Mrs. Tzar.

If you could, in fact, demonstrate accurate knowledge of the future at will, there is pretty much no one you couldn't eventually get access to, including the President. Start with the local dog catcher and work your way up.

The key to your statement is "work your way up with being considered a person of interest in said events. However, it might be fun, except I think R.A. Heinlein had it right when he wrote: "in the Country of the Blind the one-eyed man is in for a hell of a rough ride" (Puppet Masters, Chapter 4).

 

[JorisL]

May I dumb this down? I would like the ability to shrink so I can swim in a glass of expensive champagne.

Just take the wallet and build a machine that opens it, takes out the money and repeats the process until you can fill a pool with expensive champagne.

 

[zoobyshoe]

By his position as Khan he was extraordinary. As single simple warrior he would be nothing...

I was trying to determine who you consider extraordinary as opposed to a mere tree trimmer. If you grant Ghengis Khan was extraordinary, then consider how a person could leverage knowledge of the future into the position of Khan, or the equivalent thereof.

On the other hand, if you (or someone) only considers intellectual feats as "extraordinary" consider that this power would allow you to steal all kinds of ideas from the future and claim them as your own.

I'm agreeing with Enigman: this is the superpower of superpowers. Barring complications.

 

[mfb]

Nothing with a much longer but infinite lifetime :(. Immortality would be interesting with a way to kill yourself.

Moving at any speed you like sounds quite useless if we have teleport.

Make anybody love you looks like a subset of injecting arbitrary thoughts, apart from the longer range.

Let's see what the wallet can do: opening it once per second nonstop, we get 10 millions per day, or 3 billions per year. Not worth it, injecting thoughts is more powerful - get within 100 meters of some billionaire and you get the same result in a day. Getting in range should be easy because you can convince everyone to help you. "See the future" and backwards time travel also include ways to get a lot of money, but those could be much more visible (you cannot win the lottery or big money at the stock market every day without getting attention).

• You will be able to talk to animals.

I can do that already, just sophisticated communication doesn't work ;).

• You will be able to travel back in time (travelling back in time puts you in a new alternate universe)

• You will be able to see the future (everything you see in the future will definitely happen given you do not look into the future)

• You will be able to teleport anywhere in the universe instantly. You are able to additionally teleport 100kg of other items.

Can we choose the reference frames for those actions? Instant teleport is time travel if you can choose the reference frame.
With time travel, we certainly want to be able to land on Earth, so I guess it also includes choosing the new position - which includes teleport?
If all those things are just possible in an arbitrary reference frame, like the CMB, then they are different.

Backwards time travel without going to the future: unless you really want to live in the past, it looks like a modified version of seeing the future. Watch what happens, go back in time a tiny bit, and you know the future (which you can change then - if it fails, repeat). You have more attempts than with seeing the future, but you cannot see years or decades into the future without other issues.- See the future
- Instantly read and understand books (assuming we can also forget/ignore stuff we do not care about)
- The attached supercomputer could be interesting, depending on how exactly it would work. If you want to change the future of humanity on a large-scale way, injecting thoughts would be very useful. Or body regeneration, especially if it counters aging.

Healing others sounds nice, but if you can bring cures of whatever from the future to the current world you heal much more than you can touch in a lifetime.

 

[gjonesy]

controlling air (flight)
immortality
telekinesis...(only if its has no weight limit)
If it does then substitute for super strength.

 

[SophiaSimon]

• You will be able to heal anybody with a single touch.
• You will be able to teleport to anywhere in the universe instantly

With

• You will know and understand the knowledge of any book you touch.
  
• You will be able to control water.

Or

• Your eyes and brain will be able to visualize more than 3 dimensions.

It's on average a 1/3 chance for each set depending on when you ask me. Right now I'm leaning towards the water, because me and water are tight. I would disappear into an ocean for a good bit. Hang out with fish and get me some treasure :)

 

[SophiaSimon]

Healing others sounds nice, but if you can bring cures of whatever from the future to the current world you heal much more than you can touch in a lifetime.

Right, it takes a lot less time to heal everybody if you can just get a cure from the future out to the mass public instead of having to go around touching everybody. This is taking for granted I can find a cure somewhere in the future...I see in the future that the only cure to a future pandemic was created and lost forever in the past...

I'm curious to know how I could affect the universe by being able to visualize more than 3 dimensions. I can't visualize it, so its the most dubious. It might be like a terrible head trip. As long as I have the power to NOT use my superpower, I might choose that one. If I had that stuck on loop, I think I'd pass.

 

[mfb]

It is possible to get some reasonable intuition about 4-dimensional objects, and I guess it is not limited to those. No superpower necessary, just a lot of practice. There is nothing in particular that would stop us imagining things in higher dimensions, our brains are just not used to it.

 

[jackwhirl]

With immortality, regeneration and healing touch I could cut myself in half enough times for there to be enough of me to heal everyone. I don't think I'm that generous.

Immortality, healing touch, and teleportation. Maybe I'd make deliveries to the ISS, or Mars.

 

[SophiaSimon]

It is possible to get some reasonable intuition about 4-dimensional objects, and I guess it is not limited to those. No superpower necessary, just a lot of practice. There is nothing in particular that would stop us imagining things in higher dimensions, our brains are just not used to it.

I can imagine the difference between 3D and 4D the same way that I can imagine the difference between 2D and 3D. I would think that 4D systems would just be those that are, to me, so incredibly large that there is a need for another dimension to measure them. I'm not sure if this is correct though.

 

[mfb]

Is a 3D grain of sand "larger" than a 2D football field?
Higher-dimensional things tend to be more complex, but that is not always true.

 

[SophiaSimon]

Is a 3D grain of sand "larger" than a 2D football field?

No, I suppose a step up in a dimension isn't just larger. I mistakenly put myself in place of the 3D observer looking down on the 2D, but even then I guess 3D isn't just larger than 2D.

Higher-dimensional things tend to be more complex, but that is not always true.

I don't intuitively pick up on this. Do you mean that mathematically some 4D object may be easier to analyze than some 3D object?

 

[mfb]

A 4 D hypercube is certainly easier than a 3 D object with a complex shape.

Also, sometimes higher dimensions have great symmetries, like packing hyperspheres in 8 and 24 dimensions.

 

[ComplexVar89]

My choices show off my ten-year-old brand of aesthetics. :P

(In my case, I will further stipulate that the powers are only available when wearing a suit, in the style of the Kamen Rider franchise. I don't see this to be in violation of the caveat rule, because Kamen Rider is exactly what I think about when I think "powers".)

You will have a superhuman strength.

I'd need this one to be a Rider, since ALL Riders have it.

You will be able to move at any speed you like and is physically possible (physics still applies, especially the theory of relativity)

Clock-up. (Kamen Rider Kabuto) [Similar visual effect, not the in-story explanation which would definitely violate physical law.]

You will be able to control fire. This includes never feeling too hot or too cold.

This better include the ability to create explosions at a distance. "Explosion, now!" (Kamen Rider Wiseman)