Which of the following powersets would you choose and what would you do with them. You’ll be the only person on the planet to get a power.
[ol]
[li]Regeneration - you gain the regenetive abilities of aaxolotl salamander, you’ll be able to fully regenerate limbs, even brain matter and you’ll age extremely slowly. In addition to this, you’ll be resistant to the symtoms of any disease, but you can still carry it and effect others. Furthermore, your muscles recover very quickly from training, so you can build muscle very easily. There is a downside to this power though, rapid onset multi-area cancer will arise sometime between your 80th and 120th birthday.[/li][li]Dolphin communication - you’ll be able to speak, vocalise and understand the language of all dolphin species and cultures including Orca. Your swimming ability and talent will be raised to Thorpe’s or Phelps’ at their peak, and you’ll be able to go 300 seconds without coming up for air. However, there is a downside, your hearing will be augmented to dolphin levels, so any sound that would annoy a dolphin would annoy you.[/li][li]“Peak” Human - You’ll be able to run as fast as sprinter Usain Bolt for as long as a champion ultramarathoner, you’ll be able to jump to the height of a highjumper but for the distance of a long jumper. You’ll be able to hit as hard as the best boxer and your endurance and damage resistance would be peak too, you’ll live to 120 and probably even longer what with medical advances.[/li][li]Brain enhancement - You’ll get an eidactic memory and perfect concentration as long as you sleep at least 3 hours a day. [/li][li]**Charisma **- Strangers are as friendly and accepting towards you as their best friend. You’ll be able to become the world’s best lobbyist, politician, seducer or salesman, but remember people can still refuse you, and your charisma can only effect those within 5 metres of you.[/li][/ol]
Brain enhancement.
I could get a lot of shit done.
Peak Human, definitely.
The regeneration one would be good - except for the cancer, dolphins are dicks, brain enhancement would be my second choice, and I don’t think involuntary mind control is moral.
ETA - I’d just be the world’s best all-round athlete, I guess.
I can’t decide between regeneration and brain enhancement. Brain enhancement apparently has no downsides, which would be cool, and I’m assuming perfect concentration means no ADD and the willpower to actually do shit.
But my body is shit. And I have a good chance for Alzheimers. And I have fairly good brain, except for the concentration. And living to 80-120 is good enough for me (although I might change my mind when I get closer to that).
In either case, I’d do all the stuff I want to do now. Write great novels, create languages, build nerdy stuff.
I’m going for brain enhancement. My memory sucks donkey balls and I’d love to not have to do the math every time I’m asked how old my children are. (Lets see it’s 2012 and she was born in 90 so um… HOLY SHIT REALLY?? Every freaking time. You’d think I would learn.)
Brain enhancement, no doubt.
Brain enhancement definitely. I kinda contemplated peak human, but at the end of the day, if you have perfect concentration you’ll be better at training and eidetic memory will mean that you can memorise fighting patterns, sprint styles etc and recall them at will. a combination of concentration and training will mean you can emulate the techniques others use. You might not be the best physically but you’d get pretty close. Plus you have all the other advantages of having good concentration and eidetic memory.
I went with regeneration in spite of the cancer.
I ruled out dolphins, because seriously, who wants to talk about how good fish taste all day?
I ruled out Peak Human because no matter how good you are, a simple accident and your toast.
I ruled out Brain Enhancement because honestly, there are some things you wish you could forget.
Charisma might be nice, but then how do you know if they like you or are forced to like you?
Besides, with regeneration, I could go into hotbeds of violence and disease and help without dying.
omg please gimme number 4.
I devour information; however, I lose it faster than a bulimic on ex-lax.
And I love the idea of being super-fit, or super-charismatic, but I’ve never been even close to either of those and wouldn’t really know what I was missing.
But I do get smart-crushes on people; it’d be nice to be able to talk with them instead of just going ‘Uh-huh, awesome’.
Skipping the regenerative portion as I already have like 70 percent of my skin regenerating too fast, and that gets old. My bod’s dumb, wouldn’t know when to stop; I’d lose a finger and end up with 3 extra. And it wouldn’t be a COOL 3 extra, that would let me play the piano awesomely or anything, it’d be 3 extra growing out of the back of my hand or something stupid.
The regeneration and peak human options would have had a lot more allure if I’d been offered them 25 or 30 years ago. I’d probably choose the charisma and use it to accumulate great enough wealth to live out my own life in luxury and allow my daughter to do the same.
I went with peak human because that “fixes” my shortcomings that I care about (regeneration and talking to dolphins have no appeal).
I would have gone for x-ray vision to see people naked but that wasn’t a choice.
I’d really like the Peak Human, but I voted Charisma because that is really the most valuable.
If you want to see people naked, pick #3 and become Captain America.
The downside is living and remaining healthy beyond the average life expectancy of an American male? I think this one needs some work.
Peak human, no contest. But for pretty personal reasons.
I’m having a great time as a dad. But I’m in my late 50s, and he’s turning 5. My one wish would be more good years to share with him. Living to 120+ and in excellent health for most of that? Count me in. I don’t even need the superpowers.
Dolphin communication: What do we have to chat about?
Peak human: Not interested in sports, sorry. Throw in some superpowers like invulnerability and controlled flight, and we’ll talk about it.
Brain enhancement: I already have an IQ of 142, and there’s no point in learning new stuff faster than I do watching “Jeopardy!” But again, throw in some mental powers like telekenesis and telepathy, and I might be interested.
Charisma: Never cared much what other people think about me (one of the advantages of being “different”). Besides, with any of the above powers, what would I need other people for?
That leaves…
Regeneration: Definitely! Not only will I outlive everybody I can’t stand and stay in perfect mental and physical health, I’ll have the opportunity to amass enormous wealth and can then buy and do anything I want!
Under “Brain Enhancement,” do I get to lose all traces of mental illness? Do I have a kind of “focused willpower” that keeps me from stupid habits like procrastination?
(Does “Peak Human” also cure mental illness?)
I voted for Brain Enhancement, solely on the presumption that it would increase my reading speed. If I could quadruple my reading speed (with no loss of comprehension) that would trump ALL of the other superpowers on the list!
I’m sure a champion athlete with 3# would have no problems getting people naked.
Yes, procrastination/willpower isn’t a problem for someone with #4 and no disease could make it worse. However, if you want blanket immunity to mental illness, you’ll have to pick #1
Perfect concentration should help your reading speed, but as I don’t know how quick you are currently, I can’t guarantee it would quadruble it.
It’s “affect” not effect, stupid.
It’s just in there to stop eternal youth making #1 a no-brainer.
Well, with no guarantees, I wouldn’t choose any of the options. Too dangerous; I won’t buy a pig in a poke…
(“You’ll live forever. You’ll be a frog…but you’ll live forever.”)
I presume, of course, your intent isn’t to trick us into a diabolic “gotcha.” But I would have to know a lot more before being able to choose. Still, all taken with all, I have to vote for Brain Enhancement.
(“My brain! That’s my second-favorite organ!” Woody Allen.)
You should go with the peak human. If you can run as fast as the fastest runner and jump as high as the highest jumper, you can read as fast as the fastest reader. Unless you are a remarkably fast reader already, that probably means quadrupling it or more.
And – you should also be able to think as well as the best thinker, remember as well as the best rememberer, etc.