# Choose your one super power **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 17, 2018, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-your-one-super-power/818050 "2018-07-17T00:37:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-your-one-super-power/818050/41 "2018-07-18T13:25:50Z")
> [@UCBearcats](#): > > Snap my fingers and have any lady immediately pleasure me orally. Yeah, as if nobody would find _that_ power to be misogynistic and creepy. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-your-one-super-power/818050/42 "2018-07-18T13:34:07Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > You’d better off just knowing the value that will come up. If you always roll 7, people will assume you are cheating. Assuming you want to play craps, knowing your roll lets you move your bets around for max benefit, but you’ll still eventually crap out and that will keep most of the heat off of you. There’s a 4:1 space on a craps table for 7. Everyday, I go to one table at one casino, bet the max on it, collect my winnings and then go do something else. Really easy. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-your-one-super-power/818050/43 "2018-07-18T13:34:19Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Yeah, as if nobody would find _that_ power to be misogynistic and creepy. :rolleyes: Yeah, maybe it’s time to close this thread. It’s all dirty and sticky now. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-your-one-super-power/818050/44 "2018-07-18T13:37:53Z")
I would love to be able to freeze time for everyone but me. See a big pile of money? Freeze time, grab it, walk away, unfreeze time. ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-your-one-super-power/818050/45 "2018-07-18T13:54:47Z")
Teleportation. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-your-one-super-power/818050/46 "2018-07-18T14:14:10Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I would love to be able to freeze time for everyone but me. See a big pile of money? Freeze time, grab it, walk away, unfreeze time. Yeah, I’ve wanted that one since reading John D. MacDonald’s _The Girl, the Gold Watch, and Everything_ 50 years or so ago. I’d like to be able to assume the physical form of any person at will, with no time restrictions, and with appropriate wardrobe if I can visualize it. If I want to be the clone of Humphrey Bogart at the time when he was making _Casablanca_, _poof!_, I’m Bogie, dressed like Bogie would dress. (I’d ask my wife, “so, sweetie, who would you like me to be tonight?” :D) If I’m in a bar and someone seems like they want to start something with me, _poof!_, I’m André the Giant as he was in _The Princess Bride_. They might reconsider. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-your-one-super-power/818050/47 "2018-07-18T14:21:54Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I would love to be able to freeze time for everyone but me. See a big pile of money? Freeze time, grab it, walk away, unfreeze time. Good Lord, your version of this is so much better than mine! I want this power so I can go to the bathroom and not have to be embarrassed about it. Man, I need to think bigger. OR I would like the ability to create alternate universes and jump in and out of them as I choose, but I must return to my main universe at some point and after a designated amount of time. It’s basically an on-demand holo-deck with a timer. I’ll re-live moments in my life, I’ll change some other ones (let’s nail that penalty kick in high school and see what happens), or I can go to famous points in history and see what Dinosaurs looked like. ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-your-one-super-power/818050/48 "2018-07-18T14:29:03Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > Good Lord, your version of this is so much better than mine! I want this power so I can go to the bathroom and not have to be embarrassed about it. Man, I need to think bigger. > > . Assuming by go to the bathroom you mean piss (I’m British, sorry) that wouldn’t cause any embarrassment at all when people bump into your invisible self at the urinal when your disembodied stream of pee suddenly manifests itself 😃 ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-your-one-super-power/818050/49 "2018-07-18T15:05:45Z")
I had thought of microscopic vision, all the way down to reading somebody’s DNA, but that would get tedious after a while, and we have cheap sequencers anyway. So I think I might go for a five-minute do-over: _/sneaks toward bad guy, gets spotted, POOF! and it’s five minutes ago./ /sneaks again from the other side, got him!/_ Just hope he’s not too quick on the draw the first time around. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-your-one-super-power/818050/50 "2018-07-18T15:18:44Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I would love to be able to freeze time for everyone but me. See a big pile of money? Freeze time, grab it, walk away, unfreeze time. I’ve actually thought a lot about this one, but I don’t think it would work. Ok, you “freeze time” for everyone except you. Does that include inanimate objects? So how would you pick up the money if it’s frozen in time? Is the air affected by this time freezing process? How do you breathe or move when the air around you is completely motionless? If inanimate objects are not affected, does everyone in world who’s driving a car crash while you’re picking up the money? I just don’t see a consistent way to make this work the way you want. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-your-one-super-power/818050/51 "2018-07-18T15:35:08Z")
While I recognize that the OP started with an unpleasant physical-control superpower, this crosses a line into “female sex slave” territory. Let’s not. > [@UCBearcats](#): > > Snap my fingers and have any lady immediately pleasure me orally. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-your-one-super-power/818050/52 "2018-07-18T15:50:40Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > I’ve actually thought a lot about this one, but I don’t think it would work. Ok, you “freeze time” for everyone except you. Does that include inanimate objects? So how would you pick up the money if it’s frozen in time? Is the air affected by this time freezing process? How do you breathe or move when the air around you is completely motionless? If inanimate objects are not affected, does everyone in world who’s driving a car crash while you’re picking up the money? I just don’t see a consistent way to make this work the way you want. It worked on _The Twilight Zone_. Unfortunately the guy dropped his watch and everyone remained frozen. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-your-one-super-power/818050/53 "2018-07-18T15:51:20Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > I’ve actually thought a lot about this one, but I don’t think it would work. Ok, you “freeze time” for everyone except you. Does that include inanimate objects? So how would you pick up the money if it’s frozen in time? Is the air affected by this time freezing process? How do you breathe or move when the air around you is completely motionless? If inanimate objects are not affected, does everyone in world who’s driving a car crash while you’re picking up the money? I just don’t see a consistent way to make this work the way you want. When I’ve imagined it, I am able to extend the atemporality at will to objects I’m touching. For me, teleportation. Save on commute, save on housing costs, save on car expenses… ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-your-one-super-power/818050/54 "2018-07-18T15:56:47Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > I’ve actually thought a lot about this one, but I don’t think it would work. Ok, you “freeze time” for everyone except you. Does that include inanimate objects? So how would you pick up the money if it’s frozen in time? Is the air affected by this time freezing process? How do you breathe or move when the air around you is completely motionless? If inanimate objects are not affected, does everyone in world who’s driving a car crash while you’re picking up the money? I just don’t see a consistent way to make this work the way you want. Like it’s been stated, you freeze time for everything and everyone around you unless you say so. If I want to use the bathroom (like I would) then I would freeze time, but allow time to work for the door to the bathroom, the stall, and for the toilet to flush. Or if I really wanna get down with Mrs. Cups I’d freeze the world, unfreeze her and unfreeze the bed. It’s like a bubble that you can expand or contract ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-your-one-super-power/818050/55 "2018-07-18T15:57:36Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I don’t care as much about my super power as I do about my costume. Something with a cape. And maybe a cowl, though I’m not 100% sure what a cowl is, exactly. Oh, and a codpiece. Dude, if I recall, you own your own business. You could go ahead and start wearing this _NOW_. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-your-one-super-power/818050/56 "2018-07-18T16:04:20Z")
> [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > Dude, if I recall, you own your own business. > > You could go ahead and start wearing this _NOW_. Heh, I currently work under the “not all heroes wear capes” banner.😃 ---
**Author:** ![Crazy\_Canuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazy_canuck/32/5282_2.png) [@Crazy\_Canuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazy_Canuck)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-your-one-super-power/818050/57 "2018-07-18T16:23:06Z")
Pyrokinesis. Instead of just passively watching the world burn, I would light it up myself. ---
**Author:** ![Navigator66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/43a26b/32.png) [@Navigator66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Navigator66)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-your-one-super-power/818050/58 "2018-07-18T16:46:15Z")
OP here. While I realise that my super power can be used for just juvenile pranks, I had a little more in mind to do good with it. What if all 435 members of congress started soiling their undies on a daily basis. They then receive an anonymous back channel message stating that: " Until you start working for the American people and not your corporate over-lords, you will have a new definition of the term Red Ass." I believe it will also work on the lobbyists and the corporate over-lords themselves. Don’t even get me started on the current POTUS, but I do wonder how long a man can go on if he is crapping his pants about 20 times a day. I would probably start with the Kremlin though. Poopin Putin has a nice ring to it. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-your-one-super-power/818050/59 "2018-07-18T19:13:14Z")
I’d like to be nominally immortal (like a Tolkien elf: killable but otherwise undying) in my 30 year-old physiology–body, brain chemistry, vigor, everything. Anything else I’d want would follow naturally. Hopefully I could outgrow empathy and compassion because they are a seemingly endless source of torment. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-your-one-super-power/818050/60 "2018-07-18T19:37:23Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > I’ve actually thought a lot about this one, but I don’t think it would work. Ok, you “freeze time” for everyone except you. Does that include inanimate objects? So how would you pick up the money if it’s frozen in time? Is the air affected by this time freezing process? How do you breathe or move when the air around you is completely motionless? If inanimate objects are not affected, does everyone in world who’s driving a car crash while you’re picking up the money? I just don’t see a consistent way to make this work the way you want. Only freeze time for living objects. Inanimate objects would remain in your time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-your-one-super-power/818050.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/choose-your-one-super-power/818050.md?page=4)