# Paranormal Poll **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 9, 2010, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paranormal-poll/524251 "2010-01-09T04:41:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2010, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paranormal-poll/524251/1 "2010-01-09T04:41:42Z")
If you could pick a single paranormal ability to have, what would you choose? ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2010, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paranormal-poll/524251/2 "2010-01-09T04:44:29Z")
Reality Warping. You don’t NEED any other power. Edit: I beat the actual poll part, limited choices is no fun. Feh, fine, I’ll go with LOS teleportation strictly for rule of cool. Though prediction powers could be fun for Jedi-like limited precognition, getting into fights and freaking people out with beyond the impossible blocks. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2010, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paranormal-poll/524251/3 "2010-01-09T04:50:36Z")
What do you mean, what paranormal ability do I _want_? Never mind answering, I know what you were going to say. > [@Jragon](#): > > Reality Warping. You don’t NEED any other power. And you don’t need special powers to accomplish this, as long as America continues to have streetcorners. ---
**Author:** ![Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prelude_to_Fascination)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2010, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paranormal-poll/524251/4 "2010-01-09T04:50:58Z")
I’d say telekinesis. I’m a lazy bastard, and it’s too much trouble to get up off the couch for a drink of water or M&Ms. ---
**Author:** ![MC\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c77e96/32.png) [@MC\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MC_E)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2010, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paranormal-poll/524251/5 "2010-01-09T04:51:05Z")
I’m going with invisibility, but I’d probably only ever use it to see people naked. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2010, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paranormal-poll/524251/6 "2010-01-09T05:01:50Z")
Scanner ability. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2010, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paranormal-poll/524251/7 "2010-01-09T05:02:46Z")
I picked telepathy, one person at a time, thinking ‘Ok, that doesn’t help the three-ways much, but the vanilla sex would be great!’ And then I realized that no, no you really don’t need to know what the other person is REALLY thinking about when things are hot and heavy, nor do they need to know what’s going on in YOUR head, so… Line of sight teleportation = killing myself by landing on what I CAN’T see, since I’m near-blind \ Prediction only for myself = Hell no! I’ve had a lot of fun, if short-lived, relationships that never would have gotten started had I known how they would end. 😛 So that leaves invisibility…Hrm…Lord I must be tired. I can’t think of anything I’d care to see at the moment \>.\< ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2010, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paranormal-poll/524251/8 "2010-01-09T05:06:30Z")
> [@Taomist](#): > > So that leaves invisibility…Hrm…Lord I must be tired. I can’t think of anything I’d care to see at the moment \>.\< “See”? You don’t need to see anything, “screw with the paranormal investigators” is its own reward. Well, I guess technically it’s still paranormal, but hey, if they still think it’s ghosts it’s still funny. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2010, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paranormal-poll/524251/9 "2010-01-09T05:18:19Z")
I choose prediction. You can ask people what they are thinking, you can pick up or travel by mundane means; seeing the future gives you something you can’t really do in mundane fashion. As for invisibility, self-prediction gives you a limited version of invisibility; you can predict if you will be caught. You can really leverage self prediction with some cleverness. For example, you could use it to break any code by foreseeing the possible future that has you breaking it. You can persuade people of almost anything by foreseeing the future where you succeed in persuading them. You can win at gambling or stocks by foreseeing the future in which you win. You can increase the speed and effectiveness of many types of creative/inventive work by foreseeing which of your ideas, if implemented, lead to you succeeding - and which won’t, so you don’t waste time on dead ends. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2010, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paranormal-poll/524251/10 "2010-01-09T05:55:21Z")
Call me nosey to the extreme, but I chose telepathy. I’d probably die alone. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Gustav](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/919ad9/32.png) [@Gustav](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gustav)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2010, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paranormal-poll/524251/11 "2010-01-09T14:33:33Z")
Prediction or telepathy are better, since they can both be abused for evil, and they can be kept secret. Teleportation and invisibility would both create too much fuss. Hell, I’d be worried about being kidnapped by Russian spies, or having the government declare me a security risk. Voted for prediction, since telepathy has the extra element of uncertainty. Assuming of course that the predictions would always come true. Be kinda worthless otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2010, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paranormal-poll/524251/12 "2010-01-09T15:34:36Z")
Invisibility. Just don’t let me forget the stopwatch 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2010, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paranormal-poll/524251/13 "2010-01-09T15:37:00Z")
It’s weird. I’ve often wondered how fast I could travel the globe if I had LOS teleportation. Like how long would it take to get from Texas to Egypt? ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2010, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paranormal-poll/524251/14 "2010-01-09T15:38:54Z")
Just wait for the ISS to pass overhead and it’s pretty quick. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2010, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paranormal-poll/524251/15 "2010-01-09T15:53:15Z")
I’d go with invisibility too, but I’d definitely need it more than 30 minutes a day. How else could I get to the student loan office, learn how to break into their system and delete my account otherwise? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2010, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paranormal-poll/524251/16 "2010-01-09T16:03:50Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > It’s weird. I’ve often wondered how fast I could travel the globe if I had LOS teleportation. > > Like how long would it take to get from Texas to Egypt? Just be _very_ careful when looking at the moon. ---
**Author:** ![Gustav](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/919ad9/32.png) [@Gustav](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gustav)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2010, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paranormal-poll/524251/17 "2010-01-09T17:04:39Z")
> [@faithfool](#): > > I’d go with invisibility too, but I’d definitely need it more than 30 minutes a day. How else could I get to the student loan office, learn how to break into their system and delete my account otherwise? A few well placed lottery predictions and you wouldn’t need to. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2010, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paranormal-poll/524251/18 "2010-01-09T18:14:24Z")
Sign me up for prediction, too. I’ll thereafter be moving to Vegas, and will eventually die from a heart attack brought on by over exertion, but I’ll go through truly heroic amounts of hookers and blow before that happens. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2010, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paranormal-poll/524251/19 "2010-01-09T18:18:50Z")
I took the invisibility as well. Escaping from the “boss”, strolling behind the bank counter and casino cage for a few extra bucks, getting through airport security and ticket control for free flights to anywhere, seeing free movies and concerts and shows - yeah, sounds pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2010, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paranormal-poll/524251/20 "2010-01-09T18:34:53Z")
> [@Gustav](#): > > A few well placed lottery predictions and you wouldn’t need to. Ooh, that’s a good point. Perhaps I should change my answer… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paranormal-poll/524251.md?page=2)