Hw could you best exploit the ability to self-teleport?

[enipla]

@Critical1

that would make the range pointless, because earth/mars teleportation involves a massive difference in motion. you would have some serious limitations even on earth itself.

Yep, even if it’s only a degree or so in latitude, you had better hit the ground running. Heck, even a difference in elevation would be a big problem.

[Sam_Lowry]

I’ve thought about this a lot. Teleporting is the super power I’d most like to have. It’d be my dream to go to some concert in London, then to the beach in Austrailia, then to Chicago to get some deep dish pizza, then be able to pop home and sleep in my own bed. There’s also friends and family I don’t get to see very often now, who I could pop in and see much more often. And just never being stuck in traffic or in an airport or any other number of travel issues would be wonderful.

It is tempting to keep the ability secret. But it would suck to go to all these amazing places and not tell anyone. If I read online about an amazing taco place in California, then I bamf over there for lunch, I would want to tell people about it, and not have to pretend that I just ate at home. I guess I could just tell some friends about it and but otherwise keep the ability secret, but it seems like the secret would get out.

So here’s what I’d do. I’d get the Randi prize of $1 million. I’d work with NASA to do some delivery stuff. I’d work with MIT or some other science organization where I’d agree to go through some of their tests to see if they can figure out my ability. Although I’ve seen enough sci-fi and fantasty movies about people with superpowers fearing being studied, so I’d tell my friends and family and post on Facebook before each time I meet with scientists to have my ability studied, and I’d bamf right out of there if any of them start seeming too eager and mad scientisty.

I would also go on some talk shows. Every talk show in existence would want the first person with superpowers to appear on them. I’m pretty sure they have to pay appearance fees, so I’d make some money from that, but I’d make more money from the inevitable book deal or movie rights to my story.

I would buy a big nice house somewhere with cheap housing costs. It would be somewhat isolated, out in the wilderness, since it wouldn’t me an issue for me to go out there in the country. Maybe it’d be in another country, but I’m not sure how that would go, with me being an American citizen with superpowers. So it’d probably be in some rural American area.

Someone mentioned about your family being kidnapped and criminals forcing you to do crimes. I’d use some of my new money to buy them security. Also when I go on the talk shows and otherwise make myself known, I would lie about my abilities to some extent: either making them sound weaker than they are, so that I’d sound unsuitable for stealing things and committing other crimes, or making myself sound more dangerous, and like criminals really wouldn’t want to mess with me.

@SenorBeef

I would decide on a few of the worst tyrants of the world and assassinate them. And using the media attention that would be obviously afforded to me because of the ability, I would warn the rest of the world that unless they were on a clear path towards reforming to allow more respect for human life and the betterment of their citizens, I would assassinate them and whoever followed them. Dictators, warlords, whoever is responsible for creating the most human suffering.

Now they could go hide in bunkers that I wouldn’t have a map/picture/etc of and remain safe, but they might not know the limitations of my powers, and so there’s a decent chance they might at least make some sort of reasonable gestures towards being less dickish.

This is possible, but you would really have to prove yourself 100%, without a doubt, that you can teleport. Because right now, everyone knows that teleporting is impossible. If you killed a tyrant right now, people would assume it was some secret highly advanced CIA technology that made it just look like someone teleported in and out. Even if you did it at the Olympics where there are thousands of people around and millions watching on TV, then people would think it was a combination of crazy technology and maybe mass hysteria.

Your idea could be carried out, but I think it would take some planning to actually scare the dictators and warlords into behaving, and not scaring/inciting them into attacking the US or whoever they think is responsible for the ghost assassin trick.

@JRDelirious

One problem we milder-mannered folk may have with the attractive idea of using this power to travel on faraway holidays without paying airfare and sleeping in our own beds is with paperwork, specifically entry-exit records. For instance if I’m bamfing my way across Europe at some point I may be stopped for some minor transgression and asked at what point did I *enter *the Schengen zone within the last 90 days. Oh, sure, I can just bamf myself away from any unpleasant encounter with the authorities but eventually they’ll post my face at the police websites and that’s no way to see the world.

That’s true. I want to wander The Louvre in peace, not wondering if Interpol will try to catch me again.

So probably one of the first things I’d do after making myself and my powers known is I’d meet with the US government about what I need to do for my passports. Then after discussing with them, I’d maybe meet with some other governments about what I need to do before teleporting in or out. Maybe if I do upfront meetings, there’d be less trouble later. I’d take the same precautions meeting with governments as I do before meeting with scientists: tell all my friends and family, post on Facebook and Twitter and wherever else, and that if they haven’t heard back from me by X time to raise hell.

@bump

Sure, but if you’re not a usual suspect and you do take those precautions, it’s about impossible for you to get caught or even suspected.

I mean, I’m a 300 lb 6’1" white male with no police record, a professional job, and a family.

For example, If I was to zap into the Tower of London, steal the Crown Jewels (wearing my hood & generically soled shoes), zap to my fence, give him the goods, take my payment and zap back to Texas, there would be NO reason to assume that I was the thief- what reason would there be to suspect a 41 year old IT guy from Texas who had an alibi of being at home in Texas in bed that night?

That’s true that you wouldn’t be a suspect. But you’d have a lot of the same issues as if you tried to be a criminal right now without any super powers. How would you, a guy with no police record and a professional job find a reliable fence that could get you good money for the crown jewels or whatever other valuable items? I would have no idea how to do that myself. I’d probably end up talking to an undercover police officer who is acting like a fence. How would you launder the money? There’s probably other issues I’m not thinking of.

[RTFirefly]

If given such a power, I wouldn’t want it to be widely known that I had this talent. And I’d want to use it to acquire enough wealth so that I’d be able to live comfortably while never having to work again.

@TokyoBayer

A better heist may be an armored car service. They carry lots of cash. Get a solid alibi such as being out of the country staying at an expensive hotel with security cameras showing you never left your room and you should be set.

I’m too much of an asshole to be given power like that. I’d quickly start using for personal gain.

Armored car heists would be perfect. They’re insured, so you wouldn’t be stealing from real people, so to speak.

[running_coach]

@RTFirefly

If given such a power, I wouldn’t want it to be widely known that I had this talent. And I’d want to use it to acquire enough wealth so that I’d be able to live comfortably while never having to work again.

Armored car heists would be perfect. They’re insured, so you wouldn’t be stealing from real people, so to speak.

Quoth The Stainless Steel Rat.

Highly intelligent, and a master of self-rationalization, the Rat frequently justifies his crimes by arguing that he is providing society with entertainment; and besides which, he only steals from institutions which have insurance coverage.

[That_Don_Guy]

@RickJay

4a. Somehow your teleportation ability prevents teleporting into a space occupied by existing mass. If your best friend just put a pool table in his living room you will not accidentally become part of his pool table, you will materialize in the nearest available space. Air and liquids are pushed out of the way when you materialize.

Before answering the question in the manner in which the OP wants it answered, here’s a question: wouldn’t the sudden rush of air to fill the vacuum caused by the space that I left result in a rather large boom? After all, that’s pretty much how thunder works, isn’t it? (And would there be an equivalent boom caused by the air being pushed out of the way instantaneously by my sudden appearance in that space?)

That being said (and, for purposes of the rest of this response, ignored), the easiest way to make money from this seems to be as a courier - “When it absolutely, positively has to be there right now.” You can try all sorts of illegal things, but in the end, it would probably lead to, “We can’t capture him as he’ll just escape from any prison, so shoot to kill.”

[RickJay]

@SenorBeef

The orbital thing depends on what you’re stationary in regards to, I guess it’s sort of nitpicking the hypothetical. If you just show up in orbit, stationary relative to the earth, you wouldn’t have an orbital momentum, anything you drop would just fall back to earth. I guess if you stationary relative to some point on the surface of the Earth, you could get a geosynch satellite up there if you went the right distance. But generally getting stuff into orbit is more an issue of getting things fast, rather than high. You need significant horizontal velocity to enter an orbit.

You assume a stationary position relative to the destination you visualize. If you are shown a picture of the inside of the ISS, you can teleport yourself to the ISS and you are in the same orbit as the ISS, just like the astronauts that are already in there.

[One_Love]

Far too risky to be useful. You would eventually get caught or killed.

Remote viewing would be far better for me.

[RTFirefly]

@runner pat

Quoth The Stainless Steel Rat.

I don’t get it.

The OP really allows for maybe three possibilities:

1. Only use your power to improve your life at the margins. (Broomstick’s approach.)
2. Make a fortune by using your power to accomplish some useful work (e.g. boosting stuff to orbit) which in all likelihood will make your powers well known.
3. Steal a fortune.

There’s been a fair amount of discussion of option 3 in this thread. I’m kinda wondering why you picked my post to comment on. The only explanation I can come up with that makes sense is that in your view, once having decided to obtain a fortune through theft, minimizing the consequences to others of doing so is a Bad Thing.