# You get powers but you have to choose five people to get them as well **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 17, 2026, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-powers-but-you-have-to-choose-five-people-to-get-them-as-well/1029343 "2026-04-17T22:59:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cmyers1980](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyers1980/32/11814_2.png) [@Cmyers1980](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cmyers1980)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2026, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-powers-but-you-have-to-choose-five-people-to-get-them-as-well/1029343/1 "2026-04-17T22:59:28Z")
You get powers today. The powers are super strength (10,000 tons), speed (Mach 100), reflexes (microsecond reaction time), healing (perfect physical and mental health until you die at the age of 150), durability (no weapon or tool in the world can hurt or kill you but another superhuman) and flight (Mach 100). You’ll have perfect control of the powers and the required secondary powers to use them properly. The catch is that you have to choose five other real life living people to get the same powers before you can use yours. No one will know this choice was made but you. You have an hour to choose. Who would you choose and why? ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2026, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-powers-but-you-have-to-choose-five-people-to-get-them-as-well/1029343/2 "2026-04-17T23:01:19Z")
I’d choose my two daughters, grand niece, two nephews. Keeping it all in the family. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2026, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-powers-but-you-have-to-choose-five-people-to-get-them-as-well/1029343/3 "2026-04-17T23:14:28Z")
Jack Black, cuz I’d want to see what he’d do. AOC, cuz a leftist superhero would be interesting, and the conservative backlash would be entertaining. I imagine it’d be like the [Soviet Superman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superman:_Red_Son_(film)). Ronda Rousey so she can kick some more ass. Maybe I’d finally pay to watch a fight. Like her vs 1000 random UFC fighters, in the Colosseum. Greta Thunberg, so she can get to the next conference a bit quicker. Presumably her magic flight would be lower carbon too. And @LSLGuy, because why not. A super-Doper would be fun to watch. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2026, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-powers-but-you-have-to-choose-five-people-to-get-them-as-well/1029343/4 "2026-04-17T23:42:17Z")
My siblings, three college friends and one cousin, perhaps the only people I’d really trust enough with such power. ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2026, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-powers-but-you-have-to-choose-five-people-to-get-them-as-well/1029343/5 "2026-04-18T00:55:18Z")
My husband, my best friend, her husband, Paul McCartney, and…the Dalai Lama. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2026, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-powers-but-you-have-to-choose-five-people-to-get-them-as-well/1029343/6 "2026-04-18T02:09:22Z")
My husband, my two kids, Ketanji Brown Jackson, and Pope Leo. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2026, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-powers-but-you-have-to-choose-five-people-to-get-them-as-well/1029343/7 "2026-04-18T10:25:43Z")
I can’t imagine giving the powers to someone I don’t know personally, no matter how impeccable their public image is. Too many apparently wonderful people have turned out to be monsters. So I’d give it to my wife, my son, my sister, my brother (which would have the added bonus of healing his quadriplegia) and the more emotionally stable of my two best friends. I trust them all with my life, and by implication, the world. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2026, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-powers-but-you-have-to-choose-five-people-to-get-them-as-well/1029343/8 "2026-04-18T10:35:43Z")
> [@Cmyers1980](#): > > No one will know this choice was made but you. That’s a deal-breaker. So nobody. Seriously, I’m not going to dump all this on someone without asking them first if they want it. So even if that criterion is removed, having to choose in an hour is right out, because I might not even be able to get hold of all the would-be recipients in an hour, let alone have the sort of conversation that would go with such an offer. Let alone giving them enough time to think of whether they wanted this gift or not. As Terry Pratchett said, sin is treating people as things. So I find these terms unacceptable, and will cheerfully refuse this gift. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2026, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-powers-but-you-have-to-choose-five-people-to-get-them-as-well/1029343/9 "2026-04-18T11:21:16Z")
> [@Cmyers1980](#): > > The catch is that you have to choose five other real life living people to get the same powers before you can use yours. No one will know this choice was made but you. You have an hour to choose. I hope this isn’t a threadshit, but no way do I do that to someone without their consent. You can’t ethically force that kind of responsibility (“with great power…”) on somebody. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2026, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-powers-but-you-have-to-choose-five-people-to-get-them-as-well/1029343/10 "2026-04-18T12:21:44Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Seriously, I’m not going to dump all this on someone without asking them first if they want it. I missed that. Yeah, i can’t do that to anyone without their consent, either. I was assuming i was allowed to check with them. (And glossing over the logistical problems with that.) @Cmyers1980 , you might want to add something about that to your conditions. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2026, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-powers-but-you-have-to-choose-five-people-to-get-them-as-well/1029343/11 "2026-04-18T12:28:20Z")
I’m not sure I understand this thread… It looks like it’s supposed to be a gotcha, but as presented, I’m not just ending up as a superhero; I have a whole superteam, too. Is it supposed to be hard to find five people we’d trust with superpowers, or something? ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2026, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-powers-but-you-have-to-choose-five-people-to-get-them-as-well/1029343/12 "2026-04-18T12:57:37Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Seriously, I’m not going to dump all this on someone without asking them first if they want it. This. You are basically creating Clark Kent. I had the people picked out. But this is a LOT to lay on someone if you could not talk to them about it. At least let them know. But it would be my wife, my two best friends, one is married so I would also pick her. Then I would give my wife a choice of course. I think I know who she would pick. It would be great, I guess you could avoid airports, can I bring luggage? Guess I don’t need it, at that speed you could fly home and change. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2026, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-powers-but-you-have-to-choose-five-people-to-get-them-as-well/1029343/13 "2026-04-18T14:27:39Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I’m not sure I understand this thread… It looks like it’s supposed to be a gotcha, but as presented, I’m not just ending up as a superhero; I have a whole superteam, too. Is it supposed to be hard to find five people we’d trust with superpowers, or something? I think the OP was expecting us to choose celebrities or something. ---
**Author:** ![Cmyers1980](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyers1980/32/11814_2.png) [@Cmyers1980](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cmyers1980)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2026, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-powers-but-you-have-to-choose-five-people-to-get-them-as-well/1029343/14 "2026-04-18T15:13:58Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Is it supposed to be hard to find five people we’d trust with superpowers, or something? No. It’s just a fantastical scenario to provoke discussion. There’s no catch or right answer. It could have easily been any number of opinion based scenarios or prompts and I’ve made similar threads. ---
**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2026, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-powers-but-you-have-to-choose-five-people-to-get-them-as-well/1029343/15 "2026-04-18T15:22:19Z")
I’d pick five people known to be both evil and stupid, thus creating five supervillains, whom I’d immediately defeat very publicly, before they know the full extent of their powers, cementing my reputation as a superhero. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2026, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-powers-but-you-have-to-choose-five-people-to-get-them-as-well/1029343/16 "2026-04-18T19:36:20Z")
Defeat…how? ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2026, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-powers-but-you-have-to-choose-five-people-to-get-them-as-well/1029343/17 "2026-04-18T19:40:26Z")
Yeah. Evil and stupid are doing just fine these days. Credit for thinking out of the box, though. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2026, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-powers-but-you-have-to-choose-five-people-to-get-them-as-well/1029343/18 "2026-04-18T19:57:48Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > I guess you could avoid airports, can I bring luggage? Guess I don’t need it, at that speed you could fly home and change. At a small fraction of that speed, you’d shred your clothes to bits. Better bring luggage! ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2026, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-powers-but-you-have-to-choose-five-people-to-get-them-as-well/1029343/19 "2026-04-18T20:05:31Z")
Myself, my daughter, my two best friends, and Elizabeth Warren (mostly for the longevity.) ---
**Author:** ![We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/We_re_wolves_not_werewolves)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2026, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-powers-but-you-have-to-choose-five-people-to-get-them-as-well/1029343/20 "2026-04-18T20:10:46Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > AOC, cuz a leftist superhero would be interesting, and the conservative backlash would be entertaining. I imagine it’d be like the [Soviet Superman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superman:_Red_Son_(film)). > > Ronda Rousey so she can kick some more ass. Maybe I’d finally pay to watch a fight. Like her vs 1000 random UFC fighters, in the Colosseum. > > Greta Thunberg, Amazingly, I would be hard pressed to think of three people I would LEAST want to also have these powers! I think that makes the OP a really fun question [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-get-powers-but-you-have-to-choose-five-people-to-get-them-as-well/1029343.md?page=2)