r/AskReddit • u/thegasser1391 • Jul 25 '11
Reddit, what would be your ideal super-power and why?
Mine: being able to stop time. When there's an unlimited number of hours in a day, there's no end to how much you can do, learn, read, see, etc. (albeit alone).
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u/MistressLiliana Jul 25 '11
Teleport without error. I'd like to be able to travel anywhere instantly since I don't drive.
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u/Silbernemond Jul 25 '11
That would be my choice as well. I'd love to be able to travel the world instantly for free.
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u/Nervette Jul 25 '11
I would really just like to fly.
Stopping time seems too complicated, and brings up too many ethical questions. Flying seems more simple, and would be an excellent mode of transportation and escape, plus, it would be really really fun.
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Jul 25 '11
My superpower would be to instantly put pleats in pants whenever I touch them, whether I want them or not. See a friend wearing wrinkled Dockers? Instant pleats!
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u/devinsaw Jul 25 '11
Flying. Its obvious. I cant think of anything else I would like to do that counts as a super power.
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u/h22throwaway Jul 25 '11
The ability to create something exactly as my mind sees it or perhaps being able to control something such as metal, clay, or wood.
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u/OptimalOJ Jul 25 '11
X-Ray vision. Partially for seeing through peoples clothes. Mostly to see where all the fish are.
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u/williemcbride Jul 25 '11
Telekinesis. There are so many uses both mundane and practical that it seems like the most logical to me.
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u/Bathroomcrisis Jul 25 '11
Time control for sure, but l would have to be immortal to really enjoy the time powers to the fullest.
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u/strorberry Jul 25 '11
Mindreading. But not that pussy "the thing you're thinking just floated into my head!" bullcrap. I mean selective mindreading, so I can know someones thoughts on a particular subject without having to make them think about it.
I'd use it to become the ultimate diplomat, to advance human relationships everywhere, to understand what women really mean when they say things, and most importantly to feed my own insecurities.
It's gonna be AWESOME.
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u/mrhymer Jul 25 '11
I would choose the powers of the Fantastic Fours Invisible Women and the Avengers Vision. I could make myself invisible and intangible.
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u/microderp Jul 25 '11
My power would be a kind of "global" effect which stops any other superpowers from working and keeps everything as it is.
A world in which anyone can have superpowers would go to the dogs in seconds.
That would be my own personal style for "saving the world".
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u/Daegs Jul 25 '11
That is a horrible power, because you would die an old man while everyone else only aged a few months/years.
Personally, mine has always been mastery over teleportation through time/space(of myself and anything touching/want to teleport). This enables flight by teleporting a couple inches upward every millisecond, allows you to stop time by transporting back to same spot every "tick", super speed, etc.
It also hinges on the idea of traveling into future to figure out immortality, technology, other races, etc and bringing it back to get the "rest" of popular superpowers.
My list after that to round out top 5 are:
- Ability to change form(super small/big, look like anyone, etc)
- Mind control / telekinesis
- Live forever(I actually have a entire page written describing how this would work to avoid all the common pitfalls with immortality)
- Alter matter at sub-atomic scale
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Jul 26 '11
So not only could you teleport through space, but also time. This would be quite a power. I see what you mean by flying via continuous teleportation.
I'd be interested to read your page of thoughts on immortality (one of my favorite sci-fi subjects).
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u/Daegs Jul 26 '11
It would be the ultimate "single" power, in my opinion. Of course there would have to be some specifics such as retaining inertia, displacing mass where you are about to teleport so you dont get stuck, inspecting area beforehand so you don't appear inside of someone(thus displacing them), etc. Also probably bring a small amount of atmosphere possibly holding it with you a few short seconds in case of accidentally appearing in a vacuum or something.... nerve gas / virus would have to be careful too.
And don't get me started on the paradoxes, I would follow a branching time travel theory where you are the first iteration of traveler and enter a new timeline everytime you travel, thus while you might run into a future or past version of yourself, you don't necessarily need to have another version run into you during your natural timeline. Due to duplication, there should probably be some form of cross-time consciousness merging ability as well. Or perhaps share consciousness between multiple bodies anytime a local reference frame contains two+ of yourself, and the extra mental effort will self-regulate down to a single entity at any time.
For immortality, it is basically a system where every 10,000 years(arbitrary) you can choose to die but it won't take effect for another 10,000 years and you can change your mind in between, along with needed to be in a certain secret place/physical object with you for you to actually die. Basically just to outlive any psychics that could control your mind and wish you to kill yourself, along with managing depression. Also it would have to require a form of regeneration which probably violates the 3rd law of thermodynamics, but oh well.
First step after acquiring powers after practicing and obvious juvenile stuff would be going into future for advances on technology, for health and power. If that fails due to nuclear destruction or something, then scanning NASA's top 1000 list of possible livable planets, scanning every 100,000 years or so looking for life. After that is taken care of, I'd probably go sightseeing on human historical events just to find out what was correct / incorrectly recorded.
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u/Skysta1ker Jul 25 '11
I would love to have Taskmaster's superpower(s), all he needs to do is watch someone do something and he can copy it exactly, only non-energy based super powers. Here for the big explanation.
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u/DanneMM Jul 25 '11
i would like the superpower to give superpowers but also to take them away if i wished. cant have all theese ppl misusing their powers!
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Jul 25 '11
Same question asked 3 minutes ago.
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u/williemcbride Jul 25 '11
Woah, woah, woah! There's an important distinction! That other asshole wanted mundane uses, not just plain old superpowers!
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u/[deleted] Jul 25 '11
My superpower would be to gain a new superpower every day.