# Mundane "super powers" you have **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 17, 2012, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-super-powers-you-have/638078 "2012-10-17T23:07:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-super-powers-you-have/638078/41 "2012-10-18T16:57:20Z")
> [@grude](#): > > I have a extremely poor sense of smell Thread winner right here. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![MegaBee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f0a364/32.png) [@MegaBee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MegaBee)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-super-powers-you-have/638078/42 "2012-10-18T17:15:21Z")
I’m immune to urushiol, the irritant produced by poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-super-powers-you-have/638078/43 "2012-10-18T17:20:01Z")
I can jiggle my eyes back and forth rapidly, I can convincingly bark like a dog, I don’t really develop body odor even after vigorous exercise (not that I do much of that), and I have the mutant ability, which manifested itself during my teens just like all mutants, to not be detected as a mutant by magical, scientific or psionic means. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-super-powers-you-have/638078/44 "2012-10-18T17:32:43Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I can’t get even close to it. But I can stick out my tongue and touch my ear. Are you telling us that you’re \*\*Giraffe’s \*\*sock puppet? 🙂 My super power is that I can almost instantly identify the name of the voice-over talent on practically any commercial. ---
**Author:** ![vix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a88e4f/32.png) [@vix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vix)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-super-powers-you-have/638078/45 "2012-10-18T17:38:28Z")
I’m very good at packing and moving, although I hate doing it. Of less utility, I have an odd tendency to attract hippie women of a certain age. By “attract,” I mean “appeal to,” as in, they all seem to like me A LOT, for no apparent reason. I have several friends that fit that description, and on the occasion that I meet an older hippie woman, she always seems to love me at first glance. ---
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-super-powers-you-have/638078/46 "2012-10-18T17:45:21Z")
I have an unusually conscious sleep-state. In other words, I will frequently realize that I’m dreaming when I’m in a dream. Sometimes I wake up, and sometimes I just continue along merrily in the dream to see what happens next. Unfortunately, I sometimes get stuck, and I have experienced sleep paralysis more frequently than anyone else I know. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-super-powers-you-have/638078/47 "2012-10-18T17:51:13Z")
Compared to the people in my office, I have the amazing ability of being able to follow simple verbal and written instructions. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-super-powers-you-have/638078/48 "2012-10-18T17:51:34Z")
In 8th grade I taught myself to perform a trilling whistle similar to that of a referee whistle or a cricket. Its not something I had ever seen anyone do I just thought it should be possible to and spent a week or so practicing in my spare time until I could do it. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-super-powers-you-have/638078/49 "2012-10-18T17:56:43Z")
> [@MegaBee](#): > > I’m immune to urushiol, the irritant produced by poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac. I would hope you’re immune to melittin/apitoxin as well! > [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > I can jiggle my eyes back and forth rapidly I had a friend who could do that. It is unnerving. > [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](#): > > I have an unusually conscious sleep-state. [Lucid dream](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucid_dream) ---
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-super-powers-you-have/638078/50 "2012-10-18T18:02:21Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > [Lucid dream](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucid_dream) Well that’s ironic. I was familiar with the term lucid dreaming, but I learned a new term from that article: false awakening. What I frequently experience when I get stuck in my dreams is not really sleep paralysis, but false awakening. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-super-powers-you-have/638078/51 "2012-10-18T18:03:09Z")
I’m also immune or at least highly resistant to hangovers. I also sober up more quickly than anyone else I know (I suspect I produce larger amounts of ADH than other folks). I used to be really, really good at fast-forwarding the VHS to the beginning of the actual movie. A power that’s kind of obsolete now and doesn’t seem to have transferred to digital fast-forwarding. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-super-powers-you-have/638078/52 "2012-10-18T18:04:34Z")
I can touch the tip of my nose with my tongue. (I put that down as one of my “five interesting things about you” on my _Jeopardy_ forms, but for some reason Alex declined to bring it up. I was totally prepared to demonstrate, too.) Also, I take absolutely awful photographs. (Photos of me, not by me!) Seriously, I have some horrible face I pull out without even realizing it, even if I am unaware of the camera. Surprisingly, my bad-photo Kryptonite seems to be bridal photos. I took absolutely amazing bridal photos a day after taking my usual bad engagement ones. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-super-powers-you-have/638078/53 "2012-10-18T18:06:56Z")
> [@prettydorky](#): > > I am having trouble describing this, but here goes. My son can bend his middle two fingers down (like when making devil horns), and then touch his pinky and pointer together. He’s the only person I’ve ever seen do that. And many have tried after seeing my son do it. I don’t think I have any of my own. It seems I can also do that. ---
**Author:** ![Aeris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Aeris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeris)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-super-powers-you-have/638078/54 "2012-10-18T18:17:17Z")
I have what I call bug radar. I will walk into a room and my eyes immediately go the bug even if it is really small or on the opposite wall from where I am looking. Several people could have been sitting in that room for an hour and not see it but when I walk in within 30 seconds I have seen the bug and reported it to someone with the willingness to kill it. ---
**Author:** ![FlyByNight512](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/82dd89/32.png) [@FlyByNight512](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyByNight512)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-super-powers-you-have/638078/55 "2012-10-18T18:23:02Z")
There are a number of muscles in the human body that some people can control voluntarily, but are involuntary for most. I have control of most of them - I can wiggle my ears, wiggle my nose (very quickly, too), I have voluntary control of the tensor tympani (a muscle inside the ear that can be engaged to help protect it from loud noises), I can roll my tongue (genetically determined, or so I’ve been told), I can fake a ‘real smile’ (engaging the eyes). Raising one eyebrow, the only cool one of the group, is of course the only one I can’t do. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-super-powers-you-have/638078/56 "2012-10-18T18:33:23Z")
Some of these “super powers” are quite sad. Lack of smell? Always in people’s way? Always breaking cash registers or cashiers themselves? Having voluntary control over normally involuntary muscles BUT NOT being able to raise only one eyebrow? What next, are the people who suffer from migraines and seizures going to come in here and talk about their “super powers”? I feel sorry for you ☹ ETA: That actually reminds me of my mom, who has almost constant numbness in her hands. She can still move them and grip things, but she just doesn’t feel stuff, usually. One time she handed me an EXTREMELY hot plate and I dropped it immediately, practically screaming. She revealed to me that she just didn’t feel it at all, and I said that was some sort of super power. Actually, one Bond villain did have the power of not being able to experience pain, because of a bullet in the brain. My Mom didn’t think of it that way, sadly. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-super-powers-you-have/638078/57 "2012-10-18T18:42:25Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > ETA: That actually reminds me of my mom, who has almost constant numbness in her hands. She can still move them and grip things, but she just doesn’t feel stuff, usually. One time she handed me an EXTREMELY hot plate and I dropped it immediately, practically screaming. She revealed to me that she just didn’t feel it at all, and I said that was some sort of super power. > > Actually, one Bond villain did have the power of not being able to experience pain, because of a bullet in the brain. My Mom didn’t think of it that way, sadly. My wife has that, the exact same thing has happened to us where she hands me a pot lid and I go FUCK and throw it in the sink. She went to doctors and advised was shoulder exercises, claiming it was likely a pinched nerve higher up in her arms. She also drops stuff all the time and once broke a wine glass by gripping it too hard. If she hadn’t had the problem since she was a teen I’d be concerned it was something serious(well more serious than going through life with no sensation in your hand). ---
**Author:** ![FlyByNight512](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/82dd89/32.png) [@FlyByNight512](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyByNight512)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-super-powers-you-have/638078/58 "2012-10-18T18:43:23Z")
Hey, if you’ve got better superpowers, tell us about them! Not being able to feel pain is a fairly serious problem to live with, from what I understand. My sympathies to your mom. ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-super-powers-you-have/638078/59 "2012-10-18T18:50:31Z")
I can clasp my hands behind my back, the right one behind my head, the left below my lower back. Then without releasing my hands, I can pull my right arm over my head, my left hand around, and end up with both arms in front of me. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-super-powers-you-have/638078/60 "2012-10-18T19:01:18Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > Some of these “super powers” are quite sad. Lack of smell? Always in people’s way? Always breaking cash registers or cashiers themselves? Having voluntary control over normally involuntary muscles BUT NOT being able to raise only one eyebrow? > > What next, are the people who suffer from migraines and seizures going to come in here and talk about their “super powers”? > > I feel sorry for you ☹ Yeah, you’re right. I really wish I had the power to blow bubbles because that’s so useful. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-super-powers-you-have/638078.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-super-powers-you-have/638078.md?page=4)