[Outdated, please look at pinned post] Casual Conversation @lemmy.world

1y ago

You are granted one of the following super powers: which one do you choose?

LIMITATIONS:

Flight -- Cannot fly faster than 48 kph/30 mph.
Speed -- Cannot move faster than the speed of sound or run on penetrable surfaces (e.g., water). Super speed is not restricted to running.
Telekinesis -- Cannot lift more than 2,270 kilograms/5,000 pounds. Cannot use power on your own body.
Invisibility -- Must be conscious to remain invisible. Your clothes become invisible when you do.

129 comments

lower right - the ability to use public transportation.
- This is it. The hero we need, but not the one we deserve
- As some that lived where I had to drive everywhere I wanted to go for all my life, then moving to NYC for 5 years and relying on public transportation, I'm not sure which is better, they're both really fucking annoying.
  Driving: this traffic sucks
  PT: It takes me an hour to go 4 miles every day, assuming the subway is on time and nothing decides to divert itself, or any of the 10 other things that happen on a weekly basis.
- What if God was one of us?

Telekinesis is a lot more versatile than people make it out to be. Yeah sure I lift heavy things with mind but also I can
nuclear fusion and fission (depending on the amount of force I can inact and its precision)
pull air from a room or someone
use pinpoint force to shatter and break things
fly by lifting something below me (if you want to allow that)
compress gasses into a liquid or liquids into a solid, possibly also weather control
heat objects by rapidly moving their molecules (if you allow that sort of precision) therefore allowing for combustion as well
call lightning by manipulating ions in the atmosphere
possible light manipulation and production if you moved electrons up and down energy levels or rapidly heat certain materials
hell you could do fire bending if you compress the oxygen and add some sort of powdered fuel then heat it
create magnetic fields by compressing and aligning electrons in a substance
fucking compress air to make the sharpest blade known to man and use it as a wind shear or just throw telekinesis sharpened metal at people idk
you could fuck people up if there is even enough dust in the air, just use telekinesis to hold the dust in place. Guarantee you they can't beat 22,246N of force, so suddenly all those tiny particles cannot be moved by them.
Most of these ideas can also be used for strictly non combative purposes but I think if combat when I think of superpowers. With enough understanding of the world around you very subtle manipulations that require very little amounts of force/energy when done rapidly in combination with each other can have drastic effects.
Telekinesis is an absurd power if you don't put enough limitations on it
22,246N is a lot of force if you use it right. Granted I have not done the math on this because I don't feel like it but I guarantee that some of these would be possible and even 1 would be absurd. I would give a no to nuclear fusion though, probably not that.
- You forgot the best part: grab something when you're too lazy to get up and get it or after you just sat down and realized that you need something across the room.
  
  You're so right
- Jesus. You said angry. /s
  And here I was just going to use telekinesis to manipulate the ball in a game of roulette.
  
  I'm a physics major and my passion for it started from overanalyzing superpowers. I was always super frustrated by how underutilized telekinesis was.
  There was this book when I was a kid called quantum league that looking back was just pretty ok and not super scientifically perfect but it placed the idea of using telekinesis in an atomic sense. I don't think it ever got a sequel because I remember being frustrated that it clearly left on a cliff hanger and I'd check every year only to be disappointed.
  I just checked and it still doesn't have a sequel
- Use telekinesis to make a carpet fly, bend the light waves around it to cloak it and ride it. There, you are fast as hell, flying and pretty much invisible.
  
  It would probably take a lot of concentration but it wouldn't be impossible. Good luck seeing where you are going without the photons though. I'm certain you could let some in but it would be very difficult to stop them from bouncing back out at that point.
- I suspect this would be a one item at a time. I know hard to define what one item really is but I am thinking of some notion of a limited amount of mental capacity to focus on the object you are manipulating. So I suspect there would be a difference between applying a force to a cube at a single point vs trying to apply thousands or millions of tiny little forces on many objects
- Quantum physics forbid any of these perks. You'll be limited to macroscopic matter manipulation.
  
  Id love to hear your reasoning for why quantum forbids these. Sure knowing the exact location of a electron an enacting a force upon it would be difficult but as long as you don't care about its velocity in that moment it isn't impossible. In fact you could get the probability to be quite high. Hell it even acts as a particle when you're looking at it.
  Furthermore there are plenty of workarounds for causing these effects without direct manipulation of the electron or any quantum level physics for that matter. You just need to find a way to create the natural conditions required macroscopically which is typically possible.
  With the exception of photon manipulation
- Pretty much everything you mentioned falls under the OP “hella kinesis”.
  Telekinesis is being able to levitate cookies and small cats.
- Two of the other powers are in some ways worse than not having powers. Flying slower than you can drive a car is pretty pointless unless in extremely nice situations. Then running near the speed of soud could cause you permanent damage to the ears or eyes just from pushing through the air.
  Invisibility is fine but mostly useful for nefarious purposes. But theoretically you could get a form or invisibility through telekinesis if you can control photons. You probably wouldn't be able to see or hold it as long without suffocating but it's something.
  
  Yeah but they said the speed thing isn't limited to just running so you could probably piss at nearly the speed of sound which is pretty cool except for the possible urethral obliteration. Assuming that doesn't happen then it'd be pretty cool

Let's see...
Flight - Seems pretty useless to me if you can't go over 30, you couldn't easily fly to other countries for example.
Speed - Reminds me of all the times I missed my train by literally two seconds but bumping into people while running inhumanly fast would be even worse IMO
Invisibility - I don't know what I'd do while invisible. Spy on others? Pull shitty pranks? Not really. I guess crimes but I'm not that kind of person.
Telekinesis - Pretty overpowered compared to the rest, being able to lift/manipulate up to two tons with your mind sounds incredibly useful

Invisibility - bank robbing, free movies, tasting expensive food right in the kitchen, hiding from people I know in the grocery store that I don't want to talk to, ect.
- hiding from people I know in the grocery store that I don't want to talk to, ect.
  I thought I was sure I wanted telekinesis, but you make a compelling point.
  
  You can grab the moisture in the air and arrange it so that you become effectively invisible to those around you.

Telekinesis would be the most useful, but flight is the most fun.
Question about Telekinesis: can you use it on something that you are standing on or strapped onto?
- Yes you can. Try not to fall off though lol
  
  Doesn't that make flight totally pointless as an option then? You could just do it on something you're strapped into or inside of like a body harness or a replica iron man suit
  
  I'll telekinetically hoist myself up by my underwear. The ultimate wedgie, but Two powers for the price of one!
  
  Buy an inexpensive snowboard
  
  That's the deciding factor for me then.
  I'm gonna die falling off my snowboard, but it'll be worth it.

I stand on a man hole cover and use telekinesis on it to fly myself through the air. Boosh.
- Static Shock is back!
- Mighty

everyone is forgetting that the invisible picture shows you get to ride a cool train
- *living in a society with functioning public transit not included

I don't know how anyone can watch the Quicksilver segments from the X-men movies and not be hot for speed.
- I'm a Lazy fatass, I don't wanna run all the time. I'll take telekinesis
  
  I mean, okay, relatable, but people with superspeed rarely seem to be suffering for using it? I suppose w could be talking about bounded speed, where you get access to superspeed but have to train for it...
  
  But OP said it isn't isolated to just running.
  You could eat super fast, too. Maybe even shit super fast and shoot people with it. A hot dog eating contest could make you a living LMG.

How about the power of flight? That's levitation, Homes...
- How bout the power to kill a yak from 200 yards away... With mind bullets! That's telekinesis...
  
  How bout the power... To move you
  guitar lick plays

Flight > Speed. Just get yourself a wing suit and you have free horizontal velocity, and a path over basically any obstacle.
Telekinesis doesn’t seem to have a range or speed limit. This minor oversight has disastrous consequences.
Invisibility is just invisibility, but it has a niche. I could think of a few uses, most of them unethical.
I might pick flight, though. It might encourage me to actually go outside.
- Or for invisibility asocial(autistic) niche. I would love to walk around, not being scared of misscomunication.

well, since terminal velocity of a falling person is around 150mph, does that mean I can gain speed falling, then turn on my flying powers to slow down/maneuver? If so, then flight.
If not, then telekinesis.
- Also with telekinesis you cant lift yourself, but couldn't you lift a car you're sitting in, or even a board you're sitting on and effectively fly?
  
  What about a carpet?
  
  Remember static shock?
- That's an interesting loophole, so long as you don't run into anything.

Telekinesis. Build a platform, stand on platform, lift platform.
Now I get flight along with it, and without the speed limit.
- You push it too fast and fall off the platform in the air at high speed.
  
  Use telekinesis to compress the air in front of you and slow your fall.
- Can not lift yourself. The platform will plummet once you step on it.
  
  Who died and made you king of how imaginary superpowers work?

Telekinesis. It's not even a context
Telekinesis (especially at the "multiple tons" level) is an extremely flexible tool, a weapon, and a defense. There's an endless amount of creative stuff you can do with it.
It can also still be used somewhat discreetly which is important.
Flight would probably be the most fun, though.
- Agreed on all points.
  But let's face it, we're really going to use it primarily to fetch a drink and some chips without getting up.

I think telekinesis is the way to go.
You can only fly so high before the cold or lack of oxygen get you.
Poo is technically not part of me, so you'd see shit floating around when the rest of me is invisible.
Speed is only good until you need to turn, and i see no mention of an adamantium skeletal system.
Moving all kinds of shit with my mind? I'll be over here not jerking off with this empty velvet glove
- Bro that poo example was just fucking weird.
- Poo most definitely I a part of you. Hair is too. Get over it.

Telekinesis, for sure.
Even if you can't use it on your own body, it'll work against the ground. And 5,000 pounds of thrust will get you going pretty fast. So that covers both flight and speed.
Or does telekinesis make me gain 5,000 pounds? If so, then maybe flight. lol
- Most depections of telekinesis do not exert an opposing force on the user, in other words the force is exerted in an arbitrary vector from an arbitrary point in space. That means you could compress a hole in the ground under you but not levitate at all because the force doesn't act on your body. If it did act on your body lifting 5000 lb would crush your bones to dust.
  As other people have pointed out a better option is the "magic carpet ride" or more desirable "flying motocycle" angle, where you Exert force on an object and it moves you as it normally would when pushed or pulled by any other force. I personally like the "infinite parasailing/paragliding" angle as it is possible to do without immediately being noticeable as strange by the public, and it requires less mental effort since you are still using lift for upforce.

That's Telekinesis Kyle!

Telekinesis, obviously, so I can get the stuff I want without disturbing the cat.
[The cat has approved this concept, and wishes to know when it'll be implemented.]
- Use the telekinesis to fly. Two for one!

Telekinesis. Definitely. That way I don’t have to get out of the bed where I forget to close the blinds

I'd defs take telekinesis, I can't lift myself but I can always just lift my clothes or something; and if I can lift 2270kg I could probs throw smaller things (ie my clothes (with me in them)) pretty quick.

With telekinesis, I could technically both fly and have super speed by telekinetically launching myself places. So I'd go with that.
- This is explicitly forbidden. Breaking fictional things is always trivial. Doing so is virtually never interesting.
- You might want to read the post.
  
  Nothing stops him from picking up his own clothes

Telekinesis, imagine what fun sex could be with a consenting partner. Probably a limit on distance, but until there..
Also, inner mechanisms of locks and vaults.

This is a good selection of powers, and much more interesting (to me) than the usual array this is done with. For me, it's very difficult to choose between Flight, Telekinesis and Invisibility... I think telekinesis is probably the most useful. The only way I would choose speed is if both:
It is controllable, i.e. you can switch it off
It affects how fast you're able to think

Another question: Does the use of these super powers tire you out?
I can run 5km in 20 mins. Will running 5km in 2 seconds make me as tired, or no effort from my end? The same goes with the other powers, will I be tired from a whole day of sitting invisible in a women's locker room, or from ripping people's clothes off with my mind? Will that tiredness mean I need to eat more, or the potential that I accidentally become visible again mid-robbery?

Assuming current universe rules apply here is my order of preference. First 2 seem useful, do not see much practical use for other 2.
Speed - Assumption is that my brain / eyes can comprehend the increased speed, otherwise this is a useless power. Primary use wouldn't even be running although you could become a top marathon runner. You can do chores and learn much faster essentially allowing you to become better than everyone else and in a sense prolonging your life because you could experience all the same things faster than everyone else.
Invisibility - You can do fun stuff. Seems like all of it would be unethical or illegal though, cannot imagine a use case that is not questionable besides hiding from someone you do not wish to meet.
Telekinesis - You can also do fun stuff, but I have never thought I need to move something without touching it or wish I could move something really heavy. Good pickpocket and powerlifter skill.
Flight - Almost useless in my opinion. It is a high profile power so you would probably get kidnapped and experimented on by someone quite quickly unless you just use this to hover in your room which admittedly would be cool.
- Except if current universe rules apply speed would be useless. You'd die from over heating either from the energy created from moving your body faster or the compression of air molecules as you move through them (think asteroids and space ships re- entering)
  
  It said not faster than speed of sound.
  
  Good point. I definitely wouldn't plan to go as fast as sound, but human body probably would not like even 3x speed increase for a prolonged time. Let's bend rules a bit and say your body could endure all that and you would not get bone, muscle, skin (blisters) problems. Your organs also would need to adapt, otherwise every time you start/stop moving at insane speed, it would be as if you would be in a car crash.
  To not give too much advantage, your food consumption would have to increase to sustain all the energy needs, did not think about that as well.

Super speed and win a lot of olimpic medals with no effort. Apart for the obvious sprint race, there's marathons. Also long jump (with that inertia could easily win). Swimming. Javelin. Also sports like football and basketball (and rugby and American football and maybe hokey) I guess. Smash one olimpic games, play a couple of years of other super paid sports. Retire and take it slow
- Telekinesis: train powers on people's wallets, go "Window shopping" at local museum, go scuba walking, play badminton with cops, win every coin flip (damned be computers). Sell "proven perpetual power source" to musk and make bank before flying away in your car (depends on exact wording).
  Oh yea, and grab remote when too lazy to move over.
- Contact sports woth super speed is not a good idea unless you have very enhanced durability. The likelihood you will end up with brain damage or accidentally badly injure someone else and yourself is way too high. Track and field is clearly the way to go.
  
  I was more thinking of avoiding anyone because I am way too fast to catch! No way I am slamming full (super) speed in people!

Cannot move faster than the speed of sound or run on penetrable surfaces (e.g., water).
Sure do if you run almost the speed of sound.
- If you are being literal every surface is penetrable since an unbreakable object does not exist.

Telekinesis. I just lift a cushion I'm sitting on and I also have flight.

Telekinesis. Lift weights, use their descent to drive generators. Profit and clean energy.
- It said 2270 kg. 1kg dropped 1 m = 9.8 joules. 2270 kg dropped 100 meters ( reasonable large tower ) = 2.2 M joules . 2.2 MJ * 8 hours of lifting and dropping every 30 seconds = 73 KWatts. Which is about the power used by 1 Tesla.

Let not forget that any of those choices would make you instantly and legaly rich, except maybe for super speed since that is a purely physical trait.
\
\ The speed restriction on flight is way to harsh for it to be useful. You basically have the ability to fly but are still going to be late for work.
\
\ Superspeed is neat, but there are too many unknown factors to this power. Are you immune to damage while running or will hitting a single fly at almost Mach 1 kill you? What about agility, do you have inertia or can you turn or stop on a dime? Do you move normaly while everything else is in slow motion, or do you have to react to things coming at you at Mach 1 in real time? Do you have to consume an insane amount of calories to speed up or is it just magic? Can you still breath normally or will the air rushing past you nostrils make your lungs collapse? This power justbseems to be and accident waiting to happen.
\
\ Invisibility is solid. As side from the obvious pervy things you can do, you could be an insanely good journalist. Exposing corporate or goverment fraud by basically being a fly on the wall in closed door meetings. But since no light is hitting your retinas when you are invisible, you would be essentially blind during invisibility. This curbs this power a lot.
\
\ Telekinesis is the obvious choice. 2 tons is a lot of weight to lift. And there are no restrictions on how many or how small the things you can manipulate can be. You could be the worlds best mechanic. Taking apart an engine by turning all the screws simultaneously, exploding it into all components, replacing the broken one and putting it all together withing seconds. And this is only one of the many things you could do, to make use of your power. Basically any physical labor or craftsmanship you could do better, safer, faster and cheaper than anyone else. Not even counting the self serving advantages.
- As a bonus you could potentially fly with Telekinesis as well, by just standing on a platform and moving it up with your mind.

If there are no monkey's paw-like downsides to any of these, then super speed by a mile.
- Until you trip at the speed of sound and die
  
  Even without tripping.... Imagine all the bugs you'd be picking out of your teeth

How does the telekinesis weight limit work with attached objects? E.g., can I exert unlimited force to detach 5000 pounds of rock from a mountain, or do I lose lifting ability in relation to pulling force? If it's the former, telekinesis hands down.
If not, probably speed. I could clean up at the Olympics one year and secure lucrative endorsement deals for life.
- The latter. The more you lift, the more you struggle to lift. That's a great question though

Invisibility, basically live life like that guys from jumper just without the teleporting. Walk into banks fill up with money, steal art and stuff from rich people, become the world's greatest thief, fly free as you can just walk aboard any plane.

As usual with "would you rather"s, so many people just boil it all down to how they can make the most money, and most not even in creative ways. Y'all need bigger imaginations.
- Not our fault OP weighed the options poorly. Hate the game not the player.
  
  Weighed what options? Even if they were the most pathetic options ever, or op explicitly said "can't be used for money making", most responses would be trying to loophole their way into it anyway. It's how all these threads end up.
  *Also, "player"? You're not getting any real money, dude. You're about as gangster here as Barney Fife. All these comments achieve in actuality is burying any legitimately interesting responses.

Instead of invisibility, can I just have the ability to turn off sound and sight so that I don’t have to hear or see the “it’s show time!” Folks. Fuck those guys.

Speed. Im true fan of flash. Btw what do you mean, you cant run on water? If you can reach speed of sound you can defenitely run on water
- Kinda what I thought, like ok we're suspending our disbelief for superpowers AND breaking the laws of physics?

Firstly, I take issue with your running on water limitation. I realize this is a for-fun conversation and everything but even Sonic the Hedgehog knows that water surfaces are nearly solid when there are adequate forces working on them. Geez. Anyway, I would use all four powers to invisibly float above a major city and telepathically-super-speed-manipulate a masturbatory aid onto myself and rain ejaculate on pedestrians. It would also cut down my commute considerably.

Telekinesis hands down

If Telekinesis can work like Steelpushing in Mistborn, I’d just get that.

Telekinesis.

Do objects in my hand also disappear?
Cuz I would do so much shoplifting
- Hide the item under your clothes.
  They also didn't say how big your clothes can be
- Even if they don't, with what op already specified you could get rich shoplifting designer clothes
- Pretty easy to detect on cameras I guess.
  
  The only thing the cameras would see is merchedise disappearing and may e a door opening and closing.
  
  Impossible to link back to me though, assuming I enter the store invisible.
  They'll just see a wave of crimes where some random object just randomly levitates off a shelf/hook and vanishes.
  I could stay mobile by getting into busses between cities, also in invisible mode.

Do you get required side powers? Speed especially requires enhanced durability and strength to avoid injuring yourself when using your power.
- You'd also need to be able to eat a ton quickly and metabolise it all quickly.

129 comments