# Things you would do if you were impervious to injury. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 20, 2014, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-would-do-if-you-were-impervious-to-injury/684136 "2014-03-20T03:42:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-would-do-if-you-were-impervious-to-injury/684136/1 "2014-03-20T03:42:50Z")
You’re walking along the desert and find a lamp. You rub it and out pops a genie, who says, “You got me on my day off, so _I’m_ going to choose your wish. Ummm, let’s see. Okay, you are nearly invincible. But don’t get too cocky. You still need air, so no spacewalking or deep-sea diving without a suit. Also, you’re not immune to pain. You won’t have anything hurt worse than a broken arm, but there will be no discernable damage. Other than that, you’re pretty much good to go.” Before you can say, “Waitaminit, don’t I get 3 wishes?”, he disappears. So what would you do? I would definitely try parkour. And double-diamond skiing. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-would-do-if-you-were-impervious-to-injury/684136/2 "2014-03-20T03:58:37Z")
Broken arms tend to hurt pretty bad, but they heal up fine. I still avoid getting them due to the pain factor. Am I impervious to the point that, say, nothing can penetrate my skin? In that case, I’d be dead within a week or two due to lack of insulin. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-would-do-if-you-were-impervious-to-injury/684136/3 "2014-03-20T05:14:36Z")
Hollywood stuntman or maybe some kind of magic act. ---
**Author:** ![Teddy\_Kennedy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Teddy\_Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teddy_Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-would-do-if-you-were-impervious-to-injury/684136/4 "2014-03-20T05:27:21Z")
For one thing, I would never sleep ever again. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-would-do-if-you-were-impervious-to-injury/684136/5 "2014-03-20T05:34:06Z")
Possible job: Adjuster of running machinery? 🙂 Things like cliff-climbing and skydiving become more attractive. Plus being a test pilot or race-car driver. Or bomb defuser. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-would-do-if-you-were-impervious-to-injury/684136/6 "2014-03-20T05:41:15Z")
If I were immune to hunger, cold and bug bites, I’d go live deep in a forest or jungle for awhile. I could study plants and animals that are under studied or even undiscovered. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-would-do-if-you-were-impervious-to-injury/684136/7 "2014-03-20T05:55:04Z")
There’s [an annual event](http://otescouts.org/) in Downtown LA that allows people to repel off the side of one of the skyscrapers. I’ve always been too chicken to do that. ---
**Author:** ![Askthepizzaguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askthepizzaguy/32/9405_2.png) [@Askthepizzaguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askthepizzaguy)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-would-do-if-you-were-impervious-to-injury/684136/8 "2014-03-20T07:05:48Z")
Impervious to injury means I would be the first to storm a building if there was a person or persons shooting up a school, or if there were a fire. Perhaps useful in a hostage situation as well, especially if you can sneak me inside. Build me a basically indestructible breathing device and an air tank, and make sure I’m on call in case of an emergency. Put me near a small airport with a jet on standby just for me, in case there’s a major disaster somewhere in the country. I’d basically be Superman except without the ability to fly or generally be that strong. Just pay me a salary comfortable to live on, and respect the fact that I need to take vacations once in a while that, short of a national disaster, I won’t come back from. ---
**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:** [March 20, 2014, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-would-do-if-you-were-impervious-to-injury/684136/9 "2014-03-20T10:26:18Z")
I would have airplanes fly over some very remote spots where I could set up camp. I would just jump out of the airplane when I saw a good spot right in the middle of grizzly bear country. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-would-do-if-you-were-impervious-to-injury/684136/10 "2014-03-20T12:20:29Z")
Real answer: I’d go careening down a hill in a wagon with a stuffed tiger. Calvin made it look so fun. Also: bull riding at a rodeo. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-would-do-if-you-were-impervious-to-injury/684136/11 "2014-03-20T12:57:02Z")
Jumping off cliffs and tall buildings. ---
**Author:** ![Krouget](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b38774/32.png) [@Krouget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krouget)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-would-do-if-you-were-impervious-to-injury/684136/12 "2014-03-20T13:26:47Z")
> [@Agent\_Foxtrot](#): > > So what would you do? I would definitely try parkour. And double-diamond skiing. Realistically, I’d drop and save money on health/other types of insurance.😃 At least initially, I could see myself periodically being careless, while testing how durable I am within my pain tolerance. However, since I’d still feel pain, I’d probably avoid specific actions which cause it, unless I could take something to dampen it. That is to say, there are things right now which don’t necessarily cause critical damage over time, but I still avoid them due to pain. ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-would-do-if-you-were-impervious-to-injury/684136/13 "2014-03-20T13:29:24Z")
> [@Askthepizzaguy](#): > > Impervious to injury means I would be the first to storm a building if there was a person or persons shooting up a school, or if there were a fire. Me too. But when I’m not needed to save lives I’d run a full marathon every month. All over the world. ---
**Author:** ![Septima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@Septima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Septima)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-would-do-if-you-were-impervious-to-injury/684136/14 "2014-03-20T14:13:41Z")
I’d freak out. What if I need a c-section? And what happened to the baby, does this cover my unborn too? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-would-do-if-you-were-impervious-to-injury/684136/15 "2014-03-20T14:32:16Z")
Join the bomb squad. ---
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-would-do-if-you-were-impervious-to-injury/684136/16 "2014-03-20T16:14:18Z")
I think an invulnerable person (who still feels pain) joining a bomb disposal unit in a war zone would make a great premise for a book or movie. They might feel obligated to use their gift to help humanity. But what are the limits? How many times do you get knocked unconscious by an explosion and wake up in severe pain before you throw in the towel? Do you just start popping pain killers every day? How does that affect your general decision-making and state of mind? Let’s say someone is captured and being held in a known but well-fortified location. Do you grab a gun, strap on some grenades, load up on morphine, and just take the excruciating bullets and explosions that come your way until you, through bloody attrition, manage to take out the enemies and rescue the hostage? Let’s say you decline, and the hostage is killed. Everyone knows you _could_ have saved them without injury to yourself. Some people would understand the choice you made. Others wouldn’t. What would that do to a person over time? ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-would-do-if-you-were-impervious-to-injury/684136/17 "2014-03-20T16:31:39Z")
Wait. Pain up to broken arm level…and I still need to breath? So , kind of like The Greatest American Hero , but a little weaker?\* Cause broken arm pain is practically incapacitating. I guess bomb squad guy is the most useful. What would my superhero name be? Ohhhhhh Goddamn That Hurts Lad? Roll Around On The Ground Boy? \*Or a weaker version of Unbreakable. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-would-do-if-you-were-impervious-to-injury/684136/18 "2014-03-20T16:35:16Z")
I’d paddle a canoe over Niagara Falls, and as I reach the precipice stand and holler “Hey, watch this!” to the crowd. ---
**Author:** ![Melchior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Melchior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melchior)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-would-do-if-you-were-impervious-to-injury/684136/19 "2014-03-20T16:41:06Z")
Quit flossing! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-would-do-if-you-were-impervious-to-injury/684136/20 "2014-03-20T16:48:58Z")
I’m a little puzzled by the pain thing. How long does it last? Yeah, a broken arm is painful, but by the time the bone has healed, it’s long since stopped hurting. But if the bone was never actually damaged in the first place, what’s hurting, and when does it stop hurting? Anyway, the first thing I’d do is go to the nearest university with a medical research program so they could poke over me to try to figure out how it works. Yeah, I know most people in “what if you had superpowers” thread usually try to take measures to avoid that sort of thing, but trying to avoid it is completely alien to my nature. Oh, I’d probably also try to publicize my situation so I couldn’t be disappeared quietly, but I don’t fear the research itself. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-would-do-if-you-were-impervious-to-injury/684136.md?page=2)