# Godlike Powers, Human Mind: What Would You Do? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 25, 2014, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godlike-powers-human-mind-what-would-you-do/686963 "2014-04-25T16:10:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godlike-powers-human-mind-what-would-you-do/686963/61 "2014-04-26T09:41:52Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > The OP says you have a human mind … kind of like you have now just omnipotent powers. You WANT to make the world a better place, but without, you know, stomping all over it and oppressing it. Your slashfic project could arguably make the world a better place … but perhaps not a LOT better, certainly now what you’d expect from someone omnipotent. I assure you, my hypothetical cross-millennium, trans-stellar, dead language lesbian poetic opus would merely be the result of going mad with power and artistic opportunity, not part of my plan to make the world a better place. I’d like to be perfectly clear on that point. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godlike-powers-human-mind-what-would-you-do/686963/62 "2014-04-26T12:35:41Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > Four year olds with guns need to be stopped. You can oppose spanking for example while still conceding that there are times when force needs to be inflicted on children, just like everyone else. > > Rape: the option of withdrawing of consent in the middle of the act might shift power dynamics somewhat. I suppose both genders could try that stunt, though it would be easier for one. That’s easy for the children – this nausea comes from the immediate intent/desire to do harm, not the intent/desire to help people. So only trying to hurt children for gratification or out of rage (or similarly evil reasons) would result in this nausea, not tackling a kid with a gun or similar. As for rape, if someone withdraws consent the other person should stop. If he/she doesn’t, then they feel the nausea until they do. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godlike-powers-human-mind-what-would-you-do/686963/63 "2014-04-26T12:44:38Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > (a) how is it decided what acts do and do not qualify? Do your powers extend to the ability to basically set up an infinite number of local AIs? Or do you yourself have to actually come in and monitor each individual situation? If I have infinite power, I can monitor each instance as it happens. Or I can set up a universal physical/mental “law” – if someone feels the immediate desire and intent to harm a child out of gratification or rage, or commit rape, they feel crippling nausea. > [@](#): > > (b) Like it or not, it does take away free will, which some object to on ethical grounds Taking away the free will to harm children and commit rape is absolutely fine with me. > [@](#): > > (c) It also will certainly be noticed that “hey, all of a sudden everyone who tries to rape anyone gets nauseous”, without any explanation. Which is going to be throw society into massive spiritual/religious/ethical/scientific/philosophical chaos. That’s probably true, though most of the instances of nausea would probably be hidden – few rapists are going to come forward and complain that they keep feeling nauseous right when they’re about to get a-rapin’! Though I imagine that, in parts of the world, many men habitually rape their wives (and probably don’t think that’s it’s rape), so they will probably complain. But fuck them. The chaos wouldn’t last forever (and, conveniently, wouldn’t have any of those pesky rapes and child murders that often come with chaos!). I might even leave hints about an extra-terrestrial explanation or something like that (depending on how I actually got my powers). Humanity would adjust, and most people would be rather pleased about this new development. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godlike-powers-human-mind-what-would-you-do/686963/64 "2014-04-26T18:43:16Z")
The idea of tinkering with people’s minds to eliminate criminal behavior sounds good. However, human beings have a remarkable capacity for self-deception, double-think, and rationalization, so I am doubtful that it would be effective. I would concentrate on more physical things. I would confiscate and eliminate every atom of plutonium on earth. Also, every atom of uranium in the territory of governments that I don’t trust. Clean up Chernobyl, Fukushima, and other known radiation and toxic spills. I would pull greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere. Convert the methane and carbon dioxide into water and oxygen, sequestering the carbon in the form of large, gem-quality diamonds. I would create massive quantities of ivory, making it so plentiful and so cheap that elephant-poaching would become unprofitable. Likewise rhinoceros horn, shark fin, tiger penis, and every other commodity that is driving species to extinction. Assuming that I could eliminate microbes faster than new ones could evolve, I would eliminate the more serious infectious diseases. (I suspect that this would be logistically impossible. If so, I would give priority to eliminating VD.) I would create dragons, unicorns, and gryphons. (Not for any practical purpose. Just because I want to.) ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godlike-powers-human-mind-what-would-you-do/686963/65 "2014-04-27T03:28:35Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > I would create massive quantities of ivory, making it so plentiful and so cheap that elephant-poaching would become unprofitable. Likewise rhinoceros horn, shark fin, tiger penis, and every other commodity that is driving species to extinction. Why not just make it so Chinese men can get boners? That would pretty much solve the problem in one stroke – so to speak. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godlike-powers-human-mind-what-would-you-do/686963/66 "2014-04-27T04:06:39Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > If I have infinite power, I can monitor each instance as it happens. Or I can set up a universal physical/mental “law” – if someone feels the immediate desire and intent to harm a child out of gratification or rage, or commit rape, they feel crippling nausea. I think your first idea there may be fighting the hypothetical. If you still have just a human brain, then you can no more use your God-o-vision to watch every spot on earth for rapes than you could, as a human, watch a billion TV screens of security footage. In any case, and I’m probably giving this topic more pedantic thought than it deserves, I’d rather give people the ability to escape from unpleasant situations, as defined by each individual person, than attempt to preemptively interfere with hard-to-precisely-define actions… ---
**Author:** ![scratch\_llll](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@scratch\_llll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scratch_llll)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godlike-powers-human-mind-what-would-you-do/686963/67 "2014-04-27T05:17:15Z")
I would go back to Friday morning when I held the door for a doddering old lady and a young punk bumped her out of the way to get in ahead of her so that instead of being stunned at what an asshole he was I would think to stick out my foot and trip him. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godlike-powers-human-mind-what-would-you-do/686963/68 "2014-04-27T12:16:27Z")
It sounds too much like the set up for those genie jokes. My brain is not great enough to be able to figure out unintended consequences of major actions and we humans tend to not be as smart as we think we are. I’d proceed with great caution first by doing things that merely facilitated the good that people were trying to do on their own. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godlike-powers-human-mind-what-would-you-do/686963/69 "2014-04-27T15:11:20Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > Why not just make it so Chinese men can get boners? That would pretty much solve the problem in one stroke – so to speak. Godlike powers, human mind. Since I am not an MD, monkeying with human physiology would carry a significant risk of unintended side effects. Not that I care that much about a bunch of strangers, but it’s the principle of the thing. Besides, since I only have a human mind, curing a billion cases of ED would present logistical problems. (I am assuming that xeroxing a tiger carcass a zillion times would require less mental effort than diagnosing a zillion patients and tinkering with their biological systems. I could be wrong. Give me the power, and we will find out.) In general, I would prefer not to use the power directly on humans. I have too much faith in Murphy’s Law. Better to provide a favorable environment, and encourage them to volunteer to do what I want. I am not going to try to create a harem of hot babes. But I will create a mountain of gold, and hot babes will come to me. I am not going to overthrow every corrupt regime in the world. But I will give aid to the regimes that seem (to me) to be less corrupt. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godlike-powers-human-mind-what-would-you-do/686963/70 "2014-04-27T16:17:56Z")
I would blast myself into outer space where I couldn’t screw things up any more than they allready are. Consequences may take centuries or even longer to play out. I would not want that responsibility. ---
**Author:** ![MoonMoon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moonmoon/32/2959_2.png) [@MoonMoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoonMoon)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godlike-powers-human-mind-what-would-you-do/686963/71 "2014-04-27T16:34:27Z")
One for the unintended consequence column: cancer is awful and evil and I fervently wish no one ever had to suffer it again, but if you remove it from the equation how do you deal with the subsequent population issue? ---
**Author:** ![Aquadementia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aquadementia/32/555_2.png) [@Aquadementia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aquadementia)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godlike-powers-human-mind-what-would-you-do/686963/72 "2014-04-27T16:48:09Z")
> [@MoonMoon](#): > > One for the unintended consequence column: cancer is awful and evil and I fervently wish no one ever had to suffer it again, but if you remove it from the equation how do you deal with the subsequent population issue? I haven’t read the thread, but I’ll chime in with the idea that you can choose either to have a normal life and as many children as you want or eternal good health but with a maximum of one child. Equation subject to change after space colonies able to hold billions of people can be established. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godlike-powers-human-mind-what-would-you-do/686963/73 "2014-04-27T19:51:48Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > It sounds too much like the set up for those genie jokes. My brain is not great enough to be able to figure out unintended consequences of major actions and we humans tend to not be as smart as we think we are. I’d proceed with great caution first by doing things that merely facilitated the good that people were trying to do on their own. That’s why I decided to start at least by using my powers to stop the most obvious evils, i.e., mass murder and mass torture. Then I could use my mind-reading abilities to find out who is guilty and who is innocent in prison, and release the innocent under a seal of protection so that they cannot be subsequently harmed by the authorities that imprisoned them (let’s say I’ve got nanobots everywhere hooked up to an extremely powerful computer that can keep track of everything and do anything). Then I’d go find all the serial killers using my mind reading powers, and jail them. Serial rapists, too, thinking about it. And serial child molesters. KNOWING who’s guilty makes things a lot easier. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godlike-powers-human-mind-what-would-you-do/686963/74 "2014-04-27T20:52:03Z")
Just a simple mindhack one everyone. No one is capable of deception any longer. They won’t be compelled to volunteer that they took the last donut. Or even answer the question if someone asks if they took it. But if they do answer, they won’t be able to say that they didn’t, or in any way attempt to mislead or redirect the question to avoid the truth. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godlike-powers-human-mind-what-would-you-do/686963/75 "2014-04-27T22:22:07Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > I would blast myself into outer space where I couldn’t screw things up any more than they allready are. Consequences may take centuries or even longer to play out. I would not want that responsibility. But there’s a flip side to that. If you blast yourself into outer space, you might come back a century later and see that all of human life has been wiped out by global warming/the technological singulariy/zombies/whatever. Are you willing to just wash your hands of the world in that fashion? ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godlike-powers-human-mind-what-would-you-do/686963/76 "2014-04-27T22:47:37Z")
> [@MoonMoon](#): > > One for the unintended consequence column: cancer is awful and evil and I fervently wish no one ever had to suffer it again, but if you remove it from the equation how do you deal with the subsequent population issue? Use your powers to make Nitro Burning Funnycar Jousting the new hit amateur sport. Do it right, and you might have to deal with a population _deficit_. ---
**Author:** ![ThisUsernameIsForbidden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b4bc9f/32.png) [@ThisUsernameIsForbidden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisUsernameIsForbidden)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godlike-powers-human-mind-what-would-you-do/686963/77 "2014-04-27T22:56:05Z")
Whirled peas, man. That is all. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godlike-powers-human-mind-what-would-you-do/686963/78 "2014-04-29T15:41:07Z")
Firstly-I would know I’m not smart enough to use that kind of power properly, so I would ask advice of the best and brightest, as far as giving them (very limited) access to the power. I may not know what a cancer cell looks like or how best to destroy it without hurting folks, but I’m sure someone else will. Second. No one can get pregnant unless they want to. Thirdly-marketing. If I’m gonna be the protector and New God (and I will be) people are gonna recognize me. When you see Superman’s S, you know what’s up immediately, and that’s half the work right there, though I’d make it so I’m not omnipotent unless needed, since that would freak people out too much. Thirdly-I only step in if it’s really needed-I am there to help, but I am not your babysitter. Ferry sinks, hurricane hits or girls get kidnapped by assholes in Nigeria? I’m on it. Hit-and-run? That’s the police’s job unless I happen to be around. Running myself ragged and fostering dependency helps no one. And of course zero-tolerance on folks trying to manipulate my closest to use me. Your life will be short and painful. I am a good God, not a nice one. (I’d also likely give some of my close friends powers. I’m only human) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/godlike-powers-human-mind-what-would-you-do/686963.md?page=3)