I’m sure this topic has come up before so please forgive me. I’m not sure what forum it belongs in, so if it doesn’t belong in the cafe, please forgive me again, folks.
I had an ultra crappy day and I’m not above admitting that it was mostly my fault. I made one of those mistakes at work that you can only own up to and say “Yeah, I screwed up, and I know you (my boss) are gonna be angry at me for a long time even though it was a mistake and I’m sorry.” . It was a rookie mistake, too, and the only thing that actually hurts is that I know I let my boss down because he’s a good guy.
So I came home, dejected and sad and started watching the Heroes DVDs that my wife got for me. All I could think of is “Man, if I had Hiro’s powers I could go back and fix my f-up.”. Or if I had Claude or DL’s powers I could have snuck in the night before and fixed the problem making it look it never happened. Heck, if I had any of the powers on the show I could probably find a way to make it better or make myself look good. Then I got depressed again…
After all, I don’t want to be the kind of guy that would use super powers for purely selfish and most likely illegal activities. But if I could bend time or walk through walls or any of those other things I’d be afraid I’d turn into a real jerk. If I had Eden’s powers I could tell my boss “I didn’t screw this job up, you did and you’ll put it in writing that none of this my fault.” Or I could have Candice illusion powers and make it look like someone else made a mistake.
Its an awful thought. Just thinking about being such an asshole makes me feel sick. So I ask, would any of you be able to resist the temptation of using superpowers like that? We’d all like to think we’d be heroes but would we be villains instead?
If I had a big power (like Hiro) I wouldn’t use it for fear of actually fucking something up seriously. Killing Hitler never works. If it was a small but still useful power… probably not, since i’d be worried that since I have powers others might too and I would be in danger.
Nope. I’d help out friends and family or anyone that happened to pull on my heartstrings at that moment but, overall, I’d probably use my powers for self-centered purposes.
I’d jump back and see which aliens actually built the pyramids.
Grab my camcorder for some footage of T-Rex. Just see if we’re anywhere near correct about the coloring and behavior.
Just for chuckles I’d have to pop in and grab a couple of bullion bars from Fort Knox and leave them on the desk in the oval office.
Head off a few decades in the future and snag me a gamer PC with a terahertz processor and petabyte of whatever storage media it has. And a few games of course…
I’d be a hero or villain, depending on who you asked, and how much power I got. If I got Superman-level powers, I’d do things like destroy the US forces in Iraq; needless to say, whether that makes me a hero or villain would depend on whether you are an American or not.
With lower level powers, I’d be much more self interested and make fewer waves. Without the protection of writer’s fiat, most heros and villains would get killed by bad luck or people’s xenophobia or the authorities mighty fast. I’d only do heroic stuff if my powers allowed me to not get caught or killed.
It’d make you a villain, but not for the reasons you’d think and please lets not turn this into a political debate. You can get that in the BBQ pit I’m sure. By the way, I AM one of those US forces. Didn’t realize that being a media technician was a villain job. :rolleyes:
It leads quite naturally into politics. You don’t think that telepathy could influence politics ? How about an invisible man with a camera or recorder ? Or telekinetically arranging accidents for leaders you dislike.
I would be a hero as long as I could maintain certain things, like a paying job and a place to live.
Depending on the power would determine if I would be public about it. Superman like I would be public and help put out forewst fires and such. If it was something like walking through walls or turning things into gold I would keep that secret.
If for some reason I lost my job or apartment and couldn’t get back on my feet in time so I became homeless then I would definitely use my power for selfish reasons. I wouldn’t use it to become a billionaire type of thing just enough so I wasn’t homeless anymore.
If I could pick my power it would definitely be flying. Then I would go on world wide tours and do shows like Evil Knievel and make a nice living that way. I would also do the whole rescuing people from burning buildings and stuff for free of course.
Fine. I’ve seen past posts from you so I know how you feel about the US forces in Iraq. I think this statement would make you a villain.
But we’re going to use our inside voices and not talk about that here.
This is more on line with what I meant. If you could, say, have the powers of Claude you could get away with quite a lot…as long as you don’t get greedy or stupid. If you’re not wearing a cape and tights and running around in broad daylight I think most people wouldn’t even believe you existed.
Flying would be cool, but Der Trihs is right. The authorities would be all over you. I wouldn’t want that power unless it came with some kind of ability to avoid detection. But I should have put in the OP no godlike superman powers. Supes is cool with me, but he’s way too powerful to even be considered realistic. If I had Suuperman’s powers I wouldn’t have any other problems to overcome. I mean, who can stop Superman?
Yeah you two are right about that. And not only the authorities I can see other groups, the mob, terrorists, or some greedy government (including the US) who might want to take you and experiment on you to try and make super-soldiers who can fly.
Still I’d prefer flying. After thinking on it a bit I think I would move out into the middle of nowhere Nebraska so I could still fly around a bit with only the cows to see me.
I would not be a hero, not in the classical sense.
Saving kittens in trees? Yeah, right. They got up there, they can get back down the same way.
That said, if the level of my powers enabled me to put a crimp on areas of great concern to me (such as the African genocides, child pornographers, or human trafficking), I’d be on it. Unlike Batman or Superman or Spiderman, I’m not going to throw you into a revolving door prison. You can surrender, confess, and accept punsihment - or you can disappear. I hear the Gobi desert is good this time of year.
In a cases like trafficking, a cash business, I’d take a fee from the perpetrators (maybe 10%, and return any other funds to the victims. Even heroes need to eat, and a place to sleep.
I’d keep it secret no matter what. Who wants to be Superman? Let’s say this morning all you want to do is get up and have a nice quiet cup of coffee for 10 or 15 minutes.
Then a train derails in India killing 36 people. Where were you Superman??? People died!
Multiply that by however many bad things happen to people every single day, all over the world. Millions and millions of people at any given time are going to resent you for not saving them. No thanks.
I’d try to be a hero, but it would be behind the scenes, if at all possible. I like to keep my own hours.
Okay, maybe that doesn’t make me the most selfless hero in the world, but I really need a good night’s sleep and my coffee in the morning.
Makes it hard to know whether I’d be a hero or not, without knowing what power I would have.
Some of the powers on the show, wouldn’t really help you to be a “hero”
If I get any sort of mildly useful power, I think I would be selfish with it intially, making sure me and my family was comfortable. Once that was done, then I might turn towards helping others more. Once again depending upon what the power was.
Mankind is its own worst enemy.
All people need to do to save themselves, is to stop hurting themselves.
How can you help somebody who doesn’t really want to be helped?
No, it would depend on if you have any morals or not. Buddy, I don’t like what the US Military is doing in Iraq. But what I want is for them to stop doing it and come home. If you *destroyed *them, then your villainy would be far worse than anything they have done. Do you really want to be a murderer many times over?.
