# What non-super ability would you like to have? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 9, 2012, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-non-super-ability-would-you-like-to-have/615308 "2012-03-09T18:57:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-non-super-ability-would-you-like-to-have/615308/42 "2012-03-12T07:00:21Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Whistling. I’d trade that for the ability to walk unaided and climb stairs. ☹ be grateful for what you have. Just sayin’. ---
**Author:** ![Kaio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-non-super-ability-would-you-like-to-have/615308/43 "2012-03-12T07:24:19Z")
2 main things, I think: 1\> Parkour / stunting. I admire that absolute mastery of your body in space. I think it would lend itself well to my existing circus and stage fighting training, too. 2\> Composing music. Sometimes I will hear music in my head, but I absolutely _cannot_ get it outside of my head to where others can hear it. I sing, but I hear harmonies as harmonies, not individual melodic lines, so trying to pull apart what I hear in my head into separate parts is impossible. If I start singing one line all I can hear is that, and it obliterates the harmonies I hear in my head… gone forever. I tried to brute force my way into it with training – took composition class in college. What came out of that was… not good. ☹ Playing piano and perfect pitch would be nice too. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-non-super-ability-would-you-like-to-have/615308/44 "2012-03-12T15:45:05Z")
I have learned two languages but would really like to be a polyglot and know dozens. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-non-super-ability-would-you-like-to-have/615308/45 "2012-03-12T19:24:13Z")
I’d want to know how to understand people. To be able to read them like some people can. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-non-super-ability-would-you-like-to-have/615308/46 "2012-03-12T20:26:57Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > I have learned two languages but would really like to be a polyglot and know dozens. Greedy. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Il\_Palazzo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Lord\_Il\_Palazzo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Il_Palazzo)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-non-super-ability-would-you-like-to-have/615308/47 "2012-03-12T20:40:08Z")
There are several I’ve thought about. The most major are that I’d like to be able to speak Japanese or play the violin. On a lesser note, I wish I still remembered how to speak Spanish (I studied the language for 7 years in middle and high school, but never really practiced after that and lost it) or snap my fingers with my left hand (I can only snap with my right and not very loudly). ---
**Author:** ![Maiira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Maiira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maiira)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2012, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-non-super-ability-would-you-like-to-have/615308/48 "2012-03-12T22:33:14Z")
I, too, wish I was really good at math. I would’ve loved to have been an astrophysicist…or even just figure out discounts at stores. There are folks that can pull the proper math out of their ass in almost any circumstance, and I just can’t figure out how they do it. My siblings and my dad all know how to draw. My mom and I don’t. I realize that it takes practice, but I really do think that their brains work differently than mine and my mom’s. I would also love to be able to visualize physical settings in my mind (buildings, scenery, etc.). I have a decent imagination, and can come up with mental pictures of people, but when authors describe their character’s houses, or other settings, I just draw a blank. Then I see the movie version and see what the set designers come up with, and I think “ohhhh, so THAT’S what they meant.” I even have trouble visualizing what a redesign of a room would look like–if I ever had a designer working on my living room, they’d definitely need to draw me a picture of what they mean, because I just won’t see it. ---
**Author:** ![Jasper\_Kent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9a28c/32.png) [@Jasper\_Kent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasper_Kent)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2012, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-non-super-ability-would-you-like-to-have/615308/49 "2012-03-13T00:05:28Z")
I wish I could write. I mean write creatively and do it well. I’ve written a couple of short stories that were sort of okay, but it took a great deal of effort to do so. The end results were not at all worth the time and energy I’d spent. This is a close second: > [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > The ability to figure out what you want to do as a career (and then do it). In 45 years, I still haven’t figured this out, and I am in awe of people who just seem to fall into careers that they enjoy for life. Hell, I’m 52 and still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up. ---
**Author:** ![Jasper\_Kent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9a28c/32.png) [@Jasper\_Kent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasper_Kent)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2012, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-non-super-ability-would-you-like-to-have/615308/50 "2012-03-13T00:10:05Z")
I wish I could write. I mean write creatively and do it well. I’ve written a couple of short stories that were sort of okay, but it took a great deal of effort to do so. The end results were not at all worth the time and energy I’d spent. This is a close second: > [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > The ability to figure out what you want to do as a career (and then do it). In 45 years, I still haven’t figured this out, and I am in awe of people who just seem to fall into careers that they enjoy for life. Hell, I’m 52 and still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up. (If I were a good writer, that’s exactly what I’d do for a living!) ---
**Author:** ![thelabdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@thelabdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelabdude)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2012, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-non-super-ability-would-you-like-to-have/615308/51 "2012-03-13T02:58:35Z")
Sure be nice spend more time typing than correcting typos. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2012, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-non-super-ability-would-you-like-to-have/615308/52 "2012-03-13T06:25:02Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Whistling. > > > [@BMalion](#): > > > > I’d trade that for the ability to walk unaided and climb stairs. ☹ > > be grateful for what you have. Just sayin’. Okay, fine; I don’t wish I could whistle. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2012, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-non-super-ability-would-you-like-to-have/615308/53 "2012-03-13T16:41:09Z")
If eidetic memory doesn’t count as a super ability, I’d take that in a moment. After that is almost a three-way tie. The ability to easily and quickly learn to speak and understand other languages slightly edges out musical and artistic ability. ---
**Author:** ![RedBloom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/dbc845/32.png) [@RedBloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedBloom)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2012, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-non-super-ability-would-you-like-to-have/615308/54 "2012-03-13T18:21:49Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > The ability to be gregarious, social and immediately connect with people. I feel this would lead to a whole lot of success in many aspects of life that are missing in mine. Yup, this exactly. I envy the people that everyone loves, the people with all of the friends, the easy talkers, the ones who always knew what they wanted to do when they grew up, and are actually _doing it_, the good lookers… _sigh_ ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2012, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-non-super-ability-would-you-like-to-have/615308/55 "2012-03-13T18:56:36Z")
I’d like to stalk the night and be the hero this city needs. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-non-super-ability-would-you-like-to-have/615308.md?page=2)