# Would you use a superpower that gives you the ability to stop time? Limitations apply. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 26, 2018, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-use-a-superpower-that-gives-you-the-ability-to-stop-time-limitations-apply/813167 "2018-04-26T15:34:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2018, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-use-a-superpower-that-gives-you-the-ability-to-stop-time-limitations-apply/813167/21 "2018-04-26T18:37:01Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > ISTM that the “non-interference clause” has a bit of a loophole. I go to the casino and sit down at a high-stakes poker table. Every time cards are dealt and looked at, I stop time, get up from my seat, and take a stroll around the table, behind each opponent, and taking a look at his cards. Then I sit back down, restart time, and use my knowledge to guide my wagering. That would probably work as long as you don’t do it all the time at the same place, otherwise people would start to suspect something, then they’d look at the security tapes and see you glitch every time you win a suspicious hand, and would most likely then kick you out even if they didn’t know exactly what was happening. They’d probably suspect that someone was colluding with you to mess with the security tapes. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2018, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-use-a-superpower-that-gives-you-the-ability-to-stop-time-limitations-apply/813167/22 "2018-04-26T18:37:52Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > You wake up one day and realize that whatever deity grants superpowers has given you the ability to stop time, but has placed limits on the ability. Here’s how it works and the limitations that come with this superpower. > > …snip… > I think I would use it on days that I felt I needed extra sleep. I would stop time just after waking up in the morning to get a few more hours of sleep while still having a full day to do all the things that need doing. I’d probably use it once in a while to read a book I just hadn’t gotten around to reading. That would be about the only thing it would be good for. Now if I had the watch as described by John D. MacDonald in The Girl, The Gold Watch And Everything…different story. ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2018, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-use-a-superpower-that-gives-you-the-ability-to-stop-time-limitations-apply/813167/23 "2018-04-26T18:44:52Z")
Why use it for sleep? Lack of sleep is unhealthy, sure. But every hour you’re sleeping is taking aproximately an hour off your longevity, relative to the other people in your life. It’s like reverse vampirism. ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2018, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-use-a-superpower-that-gives-you-the-ability-to-stop-time-limitations-apply/813167/24 "2018-04-26T18:53:20Z")
I just would like to point out that removing even one of your stipulations would make this a cool power. If, for example, you did not age during the freeze process, it would be a very cool power. But the OP has seemingly deliberately thought of every single way to make this a crappy power. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2018, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-use-a-superpower-that-gives-you-the-ability-to-stop-time-limitations-apply/813167/25 "2018-04-26T18:59:02Z")
> [@Ashtura](#): > > … the OP has seemingly deliberately thought of every single way to make this a crappy power. Agreed. It’s not a super power, just a fair-to-middlin’ power. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2018, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-use-a-superpower-that-gives-you-the-ability-to-stop-time-limitations-apply/813167/26 "2018-04-26T19:05:53Z")
This makes me want to start a “If you could be a vampire in True Blood, would you?” thread (Traditional vampire downsides, minus the killing people part, in trade for immortality). I’m sure this was probably talked about during the show’s original airing, I was taking a hiatus here unfortunately. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2018, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-use-a-superpower-that-gives-you-the-ability-to-stop-time-limitations-apply/813167/27 "2018-04-26T19:07:48Z")
Also, not to fight the hypothetical, but I’m not quite clear on how “no interacting with objects” works. Isn’t everything an object? ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2018, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-use-a-superpower-that-gives-you-the-ability-to-stop-time-limitations-apply/813167/28 "2018-04-26T19:16:25Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > Also, not to fight the hypothetical, but I’m not quite clear on how “no interacting with objects” works. Isn’t everything an object? Yes, the OP needs to clarify this. The “28 hours for everybody elses 24 hours” comment seems to imply that the spirit of this exercise is to _appear_ to have more productivity than other people, at the cost of longevity compared to other people. Not personal material gain by exploiting dirty tricks. As fair as a “superpower” goes, I’d like to be able to function healthily on half the sleep others require, but this is not the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2018, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-use-a-superpower-that-gives-you-the-ability-to-stop-time-limitations-apply/813167/29 "2018-04-26T19:17:11Z")
There is a pretty good book in which the narrator has this superpower (without all the silly loopholes mandated by the OP) - [The Fermata by Nicholson Baker](https://www.amazon.com/Fermata-Nicholson-Baker/dp/0679759336/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1524769838&sr=1-1&keywords=fermata). The narrator takes quite a few sexual liberties with his powers, but he has a bit of a conscience when it comes to using it for financial gain. He goes into business and takes money from the cash registers, but he only takes a dollar or two from each location. He rationalizes this method as he is “working” for the money. Anyway, like many of the posters before me, I have issues with the restrictions. I think I would try negotiating the particulars before signing anything. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2018, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-use-a-superpower-that-gives-you-the-ability-to-stop-time-limitations-apply/813167/30 "2018-04-26T19:20:50Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > The narrator takes quite a few sexual liberties with his powers, but he has a bit of a conscience when it comes to using it for financial gain. He goes into business and takes money from the cash registers, but he only takes a dollar or two from each location. He rationalizes this method as he is “working” for the money. Do the peons get in trouble when the tills come up short? ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2018, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-use-a-superpower-that-gives-you-the-ability-to-stop-time-limitations-apply/813167/31 "2018-04-26T19:27:54Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > The idea behind it is that it could be useful for a busy person that feels he or she never has enough time to get everything done and still get enough rest for the next day. The idea started out with my thinking along the lines of “what if I had a 28 hour day but everyone else still had a 24 hour day?” I understand but, in a sense, you are bartering away 1/6 of your life. Every six days means that you would be a day older than everyone else. Every year, you would be two months older than everyone else. In just six years, you would have traded away a year of your life. Etc. Let’s say you started that at the age of twenty. By the time you reached sixty-eight, you wouldn’t be sixty-eight. You’d be seventy-six (if even alive). Still worth it? ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2018, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-use-a-superpower-that-gives-you-the-ability-to-stop-time-limitations-apply/813167/32 "2018-04-26T19:46:43Z")
It would be useless with all those restrictions. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2018, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-use-a-superpower-that-gives-you-the-ability-to-stop-time-limitations-apply/813167/33 "2018-04-26T19:53:23Z")
The opposite would be an interesting superpower–the ability to stop time only for yourself for some predetermined amount of time, essentially fast-forwarding the rest of the world. You could skip the boring parts. You could decide to vault yourself way into the future and buy a flying car. I’m not sure how that would work–how would the rest of the world perceive you during your timeout? But it presents no more problems than the OP’s premise (e.g., if you restart time and are not in exactly the same spot as you were in when you stopped it, then how would the people around you perceive that? You just disappear and appear? That would raise some suspicions.) ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2018, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-use-a-superpower-that-gives-you-the-ability-to-stop-time-limitations-apply/813167/34 "2018-04-26T20:16:05Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > The opposite would be an interesting superpower–the ability to stop time only for yourself for some predetermined amount of time, essentially fast-forwarding the rest of the world. You could skip the boring parts. You could decide to vault yourself way into the future and buy a flying car. > > I’m not sure how that would work–how would the rest of the world perceive you during your timeout? But it presents no more problems than the OP’s premise (e.g., if you restart time and are not in exactly the same spot as you were in when you stopped it, then how would the people around you perceive that? You just disappear and appear? That would raise some suspicions.) Not do derail the thread, but that is interesting. I would presume the way it would actually would be like severe retrograde amnesia. You “turn it on”, go about your business, then when you “turn it off”, all memories and perception of time go out the window. Kind of like when you’re on Versed during a medical procedure, but _completely_ lucid. If you “poofed” every time you activated it, that’s pretty shitty to your loved ones, so I would recommend short term use only. Poofing so you could instantly get to “flying cars” seems pretty selfish unless absolutely everyone in the world hates you (guess how I feel about suicide). Getting severe retrograde amnesia to get to “flying cars” doesn’t seem worth it because you will have to readjust to everything else in your new world (“Who the hell is this guy? Oh, he’s my kid. Didn’t recognize him.”). I’m not sure of it’s practical benefits. Let’s say your kid died, and you don’t want to experience it. So you use your superpower. Your grief would carry over as soon as you deactivated it. And you’d have to know, for sure, that an entire segment of your life was going to be “boring” to not miss out on any piece of joy, right? Long term activation, it would be extremely risky imo, if you didn’t know the future. How do you know flying cars will exist while you’re still alive? What if you blow through 20 years and there are still no flying cars? You poofed or got amnesia for nothing? ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2018, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-use-a-superpower-that-gives-you-the-ability-to-stop-time-limitations-apply/813167/35 "2018-04-26T20:50:08Z")
Yeah they already did the fast forward through parts of your life, it’s a movie called Click, with everyone’s favorite actor, Adam Sandler. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2018, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-use-a-superpower-that-gives-you-the-ability-to-stop-time-limitations-apply/813167/36 "2018-04-26T20:57:13Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > …you could even stop time for a longer period, months or even years, to go on diet or exercise, and then reap the benefits immediately (as perceived by the rest of the world when time starts back up)… Why on earth would I stop time for a year to go on a diet or exercise? So someone would say, “Hey, Jim, have you lost 80 lbs. or so since yesterday?” mmm ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2018, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-use-a-superpower-that-gives-you-the-ability-to-stop-time-limitations-apply/813167/37 "2018-04-26T21:18:53Z")
I would use it very rarely because of the “you continue to age” clause. That’s when I would be scared of sleeping because I don’t want to do it too much. That being said, I would budget that I only lose a handful of hours here and there and try to not go too crazy with it. If I use 2 hours a month then I lose 1 full day a year. That means for every year I’m alive I lose a day. Say I have 50 more years of life left, I’ve only lost about 2 months…which actually doesn’t sound too bad. I would use the power only for quick naps at work and to use the bathroom because I HATE using the bathroom in public and especially when it’s not convenient. I might have to do more math, this is interesting now… ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2018, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-use-a-superpower-that-gives-you-the-ability-to-stop-time-limitations-apply/813167/38 "2018-04-26T21:25:01Z")
To have a miraculous snooze button every once in a while would be a dream come true. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2018, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-use-a-superpower-that-gives-you-the-ability-to-stop-time-limitations-apply/813167/39 "2018-04-26T21:42:43Z")
By the rules, it sounds like I could do some _get-rich-and-famous_ stage magic without aging too much: visibly climb into the basket, and then stop time just long enough to stroll back offstage before my assistant thrusts swords through it after putting a lid on top. Or folks can clearly see spotlights trained on the raised platform, and just as the buildup gets comically over-the-top I somehow appear out of nowhere. With a little showmanship and some _wait-that’s-actually-impossible_ effects, figure even one paltry week of stray minutes could be worth the payoff. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2018, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-use-a-superpower-that-gives-you-the-ability-to-stop-time-limitations-apply/813167/40 "2018-04-26T21:58:42Z")
I would use it to do my grocery shopping without morons getting in my way with their carts and kids and absent minded wandering in front of me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-use-a-superpower-that-gives-you-the-ability-to-stop-time-limitations-apply/813167.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-use-a-superpower-that-gives-you-the-ability-to-stop-time-limitations-apply/813167.md?page=3)