Today, the Flying Spaghetti Monster has touched you with His Noodly Appendage and graced you with one of two abilities:
1 - The ability to do anything that can currently be done or
2 - The ability to know everything that is currently known.
In the first case, for instance, you could build a skyscraper or fission reactor, or run as fast as Usain Bolt, or be as limber as Olga Korbut, but you can’t build a light-sabre or run as fast as the Flash. It must have been done previously by someone else (maybe at a different scale). In the second case, you know everything that is in everyone’s minds, from all the top scientific discoveries to Uncle Bob still being madly in love with Aunt Sue after 50 years; but it’s what people know, so it may be false. And your knowledge is strictly limited to what is actually known, and you can’t extrapolate or make connections
Wait a minute. I can’t extrapolate or make connections? How can thought exist if I can’t connect the dots? Can you give an example of this violation you’re envisioning?
I think I’m going to take limited omnipotence. That’s close enough to superhero status for me.
I’d rather be able to do anything. There are lots of things I’d rather not know. Then there’s the fact that I’d be able to learn anything I did want to know since somebody else has done that. Plus, I’d be the best lay in the world and a super athlete, rock star, chess champion.
It says some of the things you “know” might be false. So it looks as though what it’s really talking about is belief, not knowledge. The power described is the “power” to have every belief that has ever been had.
Then it says you can’t “extrapolate or make connections,” which to me makes it seem as though I will have no way to be able to tell the false beliefs from the true ones.
The “omniscience” of the OP looks completely uninviting.
Also, knowing something is something you do. So to have the power to do whatever has been done by someone in history is already the power to know the truth concerning whatever is such that the truth concerning it has been known by someone in history.
So… there doesn’t really seem to be much of a choice to make here.
I already know a bunch of stuff. It would be useful to actually be able to apply that knowledge, like being able to resist cupcakes, or knowing what to say to people in all situations.
I’m taking the omnipotence just because, as has been pointed out, the omniscience is deeply flawed. Plus, the omnipotence might be fun to play with. And I’d finally be able to change my own oil.
It just seems to me that to be all-knowing can be very lucrative. People will pay you to give them the straight dope on everything, like political candidates’ beliefs, national leaders’ true intentions, indicted criminals’ true guilt or innocence, etc. That’s enormous power which leads to money which leads to getting people to do whatever you want. Besides being omnipotent means little if I’m too lazy to actually get off my ass to do anything! So I opt for omniscience.
Let’s see I could be the fastest, strongest, greatest lover and most physically talented person to live or know the entire plot to Guiding Light. No question, I’ll take omnipotence. Even without the weird limitations on the omniscience I think that the omnipotence would be the most enjoyable and create the greatest opportunity to make money.
I start off playing football and baseball then retire to being the greatest golfer in the world and kicking Michale Phelps’ ass in the pool. Then I’d go be a P.E. teacher some where and torture all of the kids who were less physically talented then me.
If I chose omnipotence, would I be able to conceive a child? I do not currently possess the necessary equipment.
If I cut off my hands, could I regenerate them? After all, I could not clap my hands without having hands. Or could I?
Well, to date no human has regenerated hands or given birth as a phenotypic male, so, no, neither of those would be allowed.
I would still go for omnipotence because it would drive me crazy to know everything. Plus, knowing all of the evil and corrupt things out there but not being able to do anything would make me depressed.
