# What's your secret power? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 23, 2000, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-secret-power/46948 "2000-12-23T01:56:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![aztec](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@aztec](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aztec)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2000, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-secret-power/46948/41 "2000-12-26T23:22:01Z")
I can sleep with my eyes open. I can’t really fall asleep with my eyes open (still working on that part), but sometimes when I’m asleep my eyes just pop open. This power has helped me take a nice nap during church several times. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2000, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-secret-power/46948/42 "2000-12-27T10:42:47Z")
I have two special powers: 1. Once I learn something, I don’t forget it. (small details don’t count) 2. Complete and utterly unwavering conviction that I am destined for greatness. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2000, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-secret-power/46948/43 "2000-12-27T19:39:31Z")
I can spot a wedding ring on a woman’s finger from 50 feet away. ---
**Author:** ![Sophie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/35a633/32.png) [@Sophie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sophie)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2000, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-secret-power/46948/44 "2000-12-27T19:55:17Z")
I remember every phone number I’ve ever heard. I can nag my husband into taking out the trash. I can do what Claire did in “Breakfast Club” with a tube of lipstick. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2000, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-secret-power/46948/45 "2000-12-27T20:56:59Z")
I have the ability to wake up moments before an alarm clock goes off, even if it’s the first time it’s been set to a particular time. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2000, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-secret-power/46948/46 "2000-12-27T22:36:56Z")
**bup** : Cecil Adams did a _Straight Dope_ article about that very phenomenon. It’s at [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2\_300.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_300.html). The crucial part of this article is where Cecil says: “You may not be consciously aware of this, but in virtually all mechanical and many electric clocks there’s a faint click or some other change in rhythm a short time before the alarm goes off. You’re quite capable of hearing this in your semi-wakeful pre-dawn state, and over time you associate it with the alarm that invariably follows. Since the alarm itself is so unpleasant, you unconsciously learn to snap to a state of full wakefulness as soon as you hear the click so you can shut the alarm off. If you were to buy a clickless electronic clock or clock radio, however, you’d be more likely to sleep straight through till the alarm.” ---
**Author:** ![Wozzo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a6a055/32.png) [@Wozzo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wozzo)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2000, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-secret-power/46948/47 "2000-12-27T23:09:02Z")
My special power - apparently - is to look like at least one of most people’s relatives. I can’t begin to count the number of times I’ve been told that I look just like the speaker’s cousin, in-law, etc. Even aunt _and_ uncle! Just call me Pat (sigh). ---
**Author:** ![Fugazi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f08c70/32.png) [@Fugazi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fugazi)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2000, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-secret-power/46948/48 "2000-12-28T12:44:36Z")
Your not going to like this but: I have the uncanny ability to kill a thread by posting to it. (this could be a murphy’s law type thing so may not apply to this thread) ---
**Author:** ![superdenseprotohippy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@superdenseprotohippy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/superdenseprotohippy)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2000, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-secret-power/46948/49 "2000-12-28T19:10:54Z")
I have just discovered that I have the ability to go for great periods of time without sleeping, with no apparant harm. The last time I was asleep was about noon on boxing day. Nothing since then, and I feel fine. Am I a freak? ---
**Author:** ![Simon\_Met\_a\_Pieman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simon\_Met\_a\_Pieman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simon_Met_a_Pieman)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2000, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-secret-power/46948/50 "2000-12-28T20:00:18Z")
I can speak backwards. Shoot me a word, and I can immediately repeat it backwards, most of the time. The notable exception being words that nobody uses except when they’re testing someone who claims that they can speak backwards. In those rare cases, it may take as long as five seconds or so for me to translate the offensive word into backwardstalk. ---
**Author:** ![FallenAngel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@FallenAngel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FallenAngel)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2000, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-secret-power/46948/51 "2000-12-28T23:32:25Z")
My special powers: I also can read upside down and backwords (very useful for cribbing info off people’s desks when I was a reporter) I can do that shoulder dislocation to get out of straightjackets trick Mel Gibson made famous in some movie I can pull up relevant quotes out of memory for nearly any occasion I can write five different alphabets with my tongue (he said modestly) I don’t get hangovers ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2000, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-secret-power/46948/52 "2000-12-28T23:47:35Z")
If I’m tired on the verge of fighting sleepiness during the day and sitting down I can “freeze”. I’ll be awake but not a muscle short of eyeblinks, respiration and internal functions is moving. Not a twitch, not a micro-millimeter. It’s almost spooky. I have to make an slight effort to switch back to “live” mode again. ---
**Author:** ![Atreyu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@Atreyu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atreyu)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2000, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-secret-power/46948/53 "2000-12-29T01:49:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tracer \* > \*\ ***bup** : Cecil Adams did a _Straight Dope_ article about that very phenomenon. It’s at [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2\_300.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_300.html). The crucial part of this article is where Cecil says: > > “You may not be consciously aware of this, but in virtually all mechanical and many electric clocks there’s a faint click or some other change in rhythm a short time before the alarm goes off. You’re quite capable of hearing this in your semi-wakeful pre-dawn state, and over time you associate it with the alarm that invariably follows. Since the alarm itself is so unpleasant, you unconsciously learn to snap to a state of full wakefulness as soon as you hear the click so you can shut the alarm off. If you were to buy a clickless electronic clock or clock radio, however, you’d be more likely to sleep straight through till the alarm.” \*\* [minor hijack] My alarm clock is a vibrating alarm clock about the size of your fist. It is placed in my pillow so that it is opposite my head. I have to use this type of alarm because I was born severely-to-profoundly deaf, and therefore can’t use the standard alarms. The interesting thing is that I almost always wake up just a couple of minutes before the alarm goes off. Even if I change the wake-up time by half an hour, I will still wake up approximately 2 to 3 minutes prior to the vibrating alarm shaking my head. Same goes if I vary the times that I turn in for the night. Since I wouldn’t be able to hear any faint clicks or rhythm in the alarm clock prior to its activation, I don’t the theory presented by Cecil would hold in this case. My theory is that the brain really does have a kind of internal clock, and unconsciously marks off the time elapsed while sleeping. I realize that this theory would be difficult to prove, but the theory presented by Cecil would certainly not apply to me. [/minor hijack] Any way, since waking up before the alarm has already been taken, I’ll say that my secret power is that I have a kind of gut instinct that yells at me bloody murder whenever I’ve made a decision or when I’m at the threshold of a decision that could potentially screw up my life something fierce. It’s only happened to me a few times, and it has never been wrong. Even on the one time where I ignored it. ---
**Author:** ![Amazing\_Tiki\_God](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazing\_Tiki\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazing_Tiki_God)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2000, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-secret-power/46948/54 "2000-12-29T04:35:08Z")
My weird secret power is that I really don’t have emotions. I know that sounds f\*cked up but I don’t. I don’t have a conscious, I don’t really feel anything ever. I really don’t even know if I can emotionally love someone. It has served me good in certain instances and in others it’s screwed me over pretty good. I’d go into more detail about it but I’d probably yelled at by some people. ---
**Author:** ![jay-c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@jay-c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jay-c)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2000, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-secret-power/46948/55 "2000-12-29T16:08:44Z")
Okay, my secret power? I have magnetic breasts. No joke. Any time a member of the male gender speaks to me, his eyes are automatically drawn to my breasts. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2000, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-secret-power/46948/56 "2000-12-29T17:52:57Z")
**jay-c** : Does that mean the “c” in your username is your cup size? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2000, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-secret-power/46948/57 "2000-12-29T17:57:39Z")
Shy Ghost wrote: > [@](#): > > My alarm clock is a vibrating alarm clock about the size of your fist. It is placed in my pillow so that it is opposite my head. I have to use this type of alarm because I was born severely-to-profoundly deaf, and therefore can’t use the standard alarms. > > The interesting thing is that I almost always wake up just a couple of minutes before the alarm goes off. Even if I change the wake-up time by half an hour, I will still wake up approximately 2 to 3 minutes prior to the vibrating alarm shaking my head. Same goes if I vary the times that I turn in for the night. How does this alarm clock keep time internally? Is it mechanical, or electronic? I ask because the click-click-click of a mechanical alarm clock, if it’s next to you, can be _felt_ as well as heard. And if, like a mechanical alarm clock with alarm bells, it uses a mechanical trigger of some sort to set off the vibrating alarm, the click-click-click rhythm can change ever-so-slightly a few minutes before the alarm goes off, just as it does in a mechanical alarm clock with alarm bells. ---
**Author:** ![jay-c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@jay-c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jay-c)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2000, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-secret-power/46948/58 "2000-12-29T18:26:32Z")
> [@](#): > > jay-c: Does that mean the “c” in your username is your cup size? Actually, **tracer** , if that were the case, then my username would be _ **jay-d** _. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Atreyu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@Atreyu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atreyu)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2000, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-secret-power/46948/59 "2000-12-29T23:10:01Z")
\*Originally posted by tracer \* > [@](#): > > How does this alarm clock keep time internally? Is it mechanical, or electronic? > > I ask because the click-click-click of a mechanical alarm clock, if it’s next to you, can be _felt_ as well as heard. And if, like a mechanical alarm clock with alarm bells, it uses a mechanical trigger of some sort to set off the vibrating alarm, the click-click-click rhythm can change ever-so-slightly a few minutes before the alarm goes off, just as it does in a mechanical alarm clock with alarm bells. \*\* It’s electronic, and it does not produce any motion at all prior to the alarm. Doubt Cecil will ever read this thread, so I may just send him a little note about this. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-secret-power/46948.md?page=2)