# What would you do with the powers of Multipe Man in real life? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 14, 2012, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-with-the-powers-of-multipe-man-in-real-life/612853 "2012-02-14T22:01:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [February 14, 2012, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-with-the-powers-of-multipe-man-in-real-life/612853/1 "2012-02-14T22:01:30Z")
> [@](#): > > His power is the ability to create perfect duplicates, or “dupes”, of himself, and all items on his person (clothing, weaponry, et cetera) through impact when he absorbs kinetic energy (although this sometimes has happened at will) through an unknown process. Most of the time, this is caused by him snapping his fingers, stomping his foot, being struck, or collisions. Each of the duplicates has exactly the same power as Jamie himself, and has independent thought, though Madrox “Prime” is usually telepathically and empathically linked to the dupes. His powers have, at least once, been shown to affect the actual design of the shirt he was wearing. > > Jamie “Prime” can absorb a dupe back into himself at will, which also makes him absorb the memories, knowledge, and skills of the duplicate. The dupe usually appears right beside the body it “springs” from. It has been noted that dupes have trouble creating more dupes themselves if they have not used their powers for a while,[volume & issue needed] while Madrox is able to use his ability whenever he wants without any such issue. Working various jobs to cobble together a big paycheck seems like a no brainer, but then you’re absorbing all of that boredom and low morale. I’d have a few dupes be on vacation consistently so I could absorb those relaxing and refreshing memories. Pursuing multiple degrees and technical training would be high on the list. I could have a dupe learn to pilot a helicopter while another dupe spends his day learning Latin and yet another is pursuing a PhD in surgery. Instead of straight jobs for money, I suppose I could have a team of masked dupes rob banks while I establish a public, taped, rock-solid alibi. ---
**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:** [February 14, 2012, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-with-the-powers-of-multipe-man-in-real-life/612853/2 "2012-02-14T22:07:41Z")
Of course, there’s always the hypothetical you’d arrive at [eventually](http://i.imgur.com/xzDnl.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-with-the-powers-of-multipe-man-in-real-life/612853/3 "2012-02-14T22:42:52Z")
I hadn’t heard of this particular hero before, but there are several interesting ethical and philosophical issues involved. > [@](#): > > Each of the duplicates has exactly the same power as Jamie himself, and has independent thought, though Madrox “Prime” is usually telepathically and empathically linked to the dupes. Does “independent thought” mean the same thing as “humanity” or “personhood”? What happens if a dupe is killed, empathically-linked-wise? Can I send a bunch of dupes off to do backbreaking but well-paying work, collect their pay, and then dispose of them in some way other than re-absorbing them? Who am I kidding, though… Even if the dupes aren’t technically people, I don’t think I’d have it in me to knock them off when I’m done with them. Which leads me to this part: > [@](#): > > Jamie “Prime” can absorb a dupe back into himself at will, which also makes him absorb the memories, knowledge, and skills of the duplicate. This makes me wonder about the very nature of experience. If I reabsorb my dupe and I _remember_ doing that difficult and boring work, is that the same as actually having _done_ it? Memories of bad experiences may be painful, but not nearly as painful as the experience itself was. On the flip-side, remembering a great vacation is nice, but surely not as nice as I felt while actually _on_ the vacation. Perhaps I’m giving this far too much thought, but in light of the above ruminations, I think I’d create duplicates to take care of all the necessary grunt work of life, thus freeing up Wheelz-prime to live a life of leisure and debauchery. I want to do the fun stuff myself instead of merely remembering a dupe having done it, and I’ll take just the memory of the bad stuff over actually having to do any of it. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-with-the-powers-of-multipe-man-in-real-life/612853/4 "2012-02-14T22:56:19Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > Of course, there’s always the hypothetical you’d arrive at [eventually](http://i.imgur.com/xzDnl.jpg). That’s of course the first thing I thought of. If his possessions also duplicate well that’d be a handy way to get extra cash. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-with-the-powers-of-multipe-man-in-real-life/612853/5 "2012-02-14T23:14:34Z")
I would love to have this power! I could earn more money, and also have lots of time for multiple hobbies. I would enjoy having plenty of time to improve my drawing skills, learn to play several musical instruments, etc. I am thinking that would be even better if you had some type of foolproof method to keep any one else from discovering your self-replicating ability. If people knew, you would probably wind up getting carted off to a secret government facility! ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-with-the-powers-of-multipe-man-in-real-life/612853/6 "2012-02-14T23:46:36Z")
The guy would be one hell of a military platoon! All the minds would think alike, so you would have less battlefield confusion. No security issues. No morale conflicts. They aren’t even all that concerned about dying. If a normal guy dies, that’s the end of it all. But if one of the dupes dies, well, that’s tragic, but he didn’t even exist two days ago, and all of his previous life-experience is carried forward by the others. There would be a kind of built-in fatalism. This could be translated into additional valor in combat. And if the duplicates pop up with whatever the original guy was carrying…wow…endless supply of weapons, ammo, rations, medical supplies, comm gear, etc. Damn! Send that platoon on deep patrol into enemy territory! It can sneak around like one guy…or fight like fifty! ---
**Author:** ![Sleel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Sleel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleel)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do-with-the-powers-of-multipe-man-in-real-life/612853/7 "2012-02-15T02:53:06Z")
I would have time to do every single hobby and activity I’ve wanted to do, but currently have no time for. My multiples would be busy buggers, and I’d have a lot of them. I’d probably start working on a couple of PhDs and other programs to learn all the things I’ve wanted to study, but never had a chance to. Most people would say this power is not as cool as invulnerability or super-strength, but I’d say that the ability to pursue whatever you wanted to do with your time, while living multiple lives simultaneously, and also learning from whatever your multiples experience is one _hell_ of a power.