If you choose to wake up with any superpower tomorrow, what would it be?

[Weapon77]

It will only last for one week, no more, no less

[Sonorous]

This might be a bit of a buzz kill... But...

I'd have the ability to delete all life forms in the universe for eternity. So that life could not & would not ever spring about ever again. It would be to prevent the possibility of suffering from ever happening again.

[Weapon77]

Interesting! That's certainly an OP ability, so I'm not sure it should count, but let's just pretend for a bit. While I see your reasoning, you also would have eliminated all possibility for beauty to ever exist again (not to mention the beautiful things deserving of life you would have instantly erased with no memory of them). Isn't the removal of those things worse than having suffering exist? Or at the very least, isn't removing their memory forever what true tragedy is? Wouldn't a better power (if we're choose God-level abilities) be to force every living thing to remember all the stories, including the suffering, of every creature that came before? Then no one would ever be forgotten, and the cruel among us would feel the suffering they inflict.

[Sonorous]

I personally think there is nothing worse than the perception of suffering. But the thing is, all beings need it if we're to maintain ourselves. So things couldn't continue without it. Meaning that we would all have to go. All forms of life since life inevitably becomes complex & requires suffering at a certain point.

And when it comes to beauty, I believe it's ultimately subjectively determined. Without an entity viewing it, it wouldn't have meaning. Good or bad.

And to have every creature remember suffering would be a pain I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.

My goal would be for the universe to be fully objective. So that no subjective perception of it remains.

[Weapon77]

Exactly my point. It seems a travesty to have stars and galaxies out with NO ONE to appreciate them. No one to appreciate the mathematics of the universe... depressing. Seems better to have something exist than nothing. Bu fair enough.

Hmmm it seems you have lumped all kinds of suffering together, but you realize that some kinds of suffering are objectively good, right? The suffering we experience while pushing our bodies hard during exercise is entirely good. Removing that would be the real tragedy. And the suffering of experiencing guilt when we've done something wrong is meant to keep us from doing it again. Neither of these are the same as the suffering of a child having cancer. Can't lump them all together.

Regardless, remembering suffering would keep evil people from doing evil, so why wouldn't you wish it on your worst enemy? You need t o make some worse enemies lmao I wish Hitler could experience the pain of everyone he hurt, then maybe he'd learn why he was wrong.

But forget all of that. What is your entire reasoning for wanting this? It's because you love and have compassion for other life forms who want to live. If you really care about them, let them choose if they want to live or not, don't choose for them. Otherwise, you become more monstrous than the people who hurt them, right?

Anyway, couldn't your power just be to remove all evil for all eternity? That's much better than eliminating all life, and it's similarly OP-ed.

[Sonorous]

I'm an odd one. I can agree with you on all of that because I understand that it is coming from a subjective perspective in reality. I understand that cancer pain is worse than the pain from working out. But it won't change my overall perception of objective reality. Or at least the objective reality that we're forced/capable to/of interact (ing) with.

And I don't know if I'm lumping it together like how you think I am. I see good & bad being on a spectrum. And something can vary in placement depending on where it is in the spectrum. But the reason why I'd want to get rid of all perception is due to my belief that suffering is necessary to embody meaning in life. So, I believe we wouldn't be here if we couldn't embody meaning.

I have these viewpoints because life has an overwhelming amount of suffering. And if someone feels that life is beautiful, then it's their perception & I can't say it's invalid. But it's a truth that most of complex life has suffered in excruciatingly painful ways (that we'd likely prefer to avoid) & have likely died in equally or more painful ones.

[Sonorous]

• "but you realize that some kinds of suffering are objectively good, right?"

^ I do not believe anything can be objectively good. I believe any perceived good will always be defined by a subjective viewpoint. Yeah, I believe that suffering is objective. But it can't be good or bad unless paired with a subjective viewpoint. Because meaning is subjective. And pain is a form of embodied meaning.

Gonna give a weird example: Imagine there's a being not like us when it comes to pain. It laughs instead of crying when it feels pain. But the pain is perceived exactly like how our pain is. Unless we were the being, we wouldn't know it was in pain when it laughed. Unless it told us. So we'd need a reference point due to the universe not having objective meaning. Only relative.

[Sonorous]

• What is your entire reasoning for wanting this?

^ Not exactly. I just understand what it feels like. So it's really just the wish for the avoidance of all pain fueled by my love for myself. But other beings are like me, so it fits... And since we don't have much free will, if any, I see the removal of the possibility of perception as a good thing. It would allow me to not have to embody & perceive my limits/constraints/suffering.

[Sonorous]

• Otherwise, you become more monstrous than the people who hurt them, right?

^ There would be nothing left to perceive me that way... 🤣 Not even me.

• Anyway, couldn't your power just be to remove all evil for all eternity?

^ I've thought about that & I don't know if it's as foolproof as this one is. I don't know if it can be sustained. So I'm not willing to take any risk. I'd just prefer if there was "nothing." Whatever that isn't 🤣

[Weapon77]

We actually have several people with mental illnesses where they laugh when they are in pain. We have very specific ways of being able to know this without being the being or asking. The way face muscles contract is one way. I know it isn't the kind of thing you meant, but your example reminded me of that, and you seem like the kind of person who likes to learn interesting things.

[Weapon77]

More easily sustained? lol Bro, we're talking hypotheticals. No one actually has the power to remove all life or all evil, so in the hypothetical, we have to assume it is foolproof, in which case removing all evil has to be better, surely you can agree, right? The main reason we have to assume they are both foolproof is because if you don't consider removing all evil foolproof, then we have to also assume that removing all life and possibility for future life ALSO isn't foolproof and some sort of life might form again in a thousand years, billion years, etc. Plus, there is no conceivable way of removing all possibility for life to form since we don't know how it did to begin with, nor is there a way to remove all current life since we don't even have the ability to check the entire universe, let alone our own galaxy yet. To be fair, there might be no way to remove all evil, but I have seen some actually compelling arguments for how it couod be done.

In any case, it's fun talking with people who think about abstract concepts. I do think you need to make sure you go out and enjoy life a bit more though! Do what brings you joy, remove or repair other people's suffering, eat some good food. Ultimately, we aren't God, so we have to enjoy what we can. So maybr share a more fun superpower you'd like just to lighten things up?

For the record, I don't mind the bit of a downer 😂 It's an intriguing topic

[Sonorous]

Ahh yeah, I think I've heard of that before but I could be wrong. Is that the "Pseudobulbar Affect?" The condition the Joker had in the recent joker movie?

Okay okay, fair enough. You got me. ✋🤣✋ I'd really rather that since we're talking about hypotheticals. Because although life is an absolute nightmare in some ways. I'm talkin so bad & sad that it makes you just wanna cry & die. So brutal that it can suck most if not all the good out of you to where you just wanna turn into thanos & snap everything out of existence... It's pretty dope in a lot other ways! So I can definitely not say that I hate it all. Just that I wish we were without extreme pain. So yeah, you're right on that.

Thanks! Though, I don't think my view of suffering would ever change though. I can be having the time of my life & still believe what I believe. It's like a core belief at this point. A pretty dangerous one since I don't think we're capable of understanding the answer we seek. Buuuut I'm not the type to do anything extremely bad because of it so I'm good.

And if I had to choose a normal superpower for one week, I'd probably want to have the very OP superpower ever of having "luck" just as that one girl had in the Deadpool movie. Pretty much everything worked out okay for her & whoever she wanted to protect. So, it seemed like it worked based on what her aim was. To the point where even physical obstacles would find a way to be biased towards her. 🤣 I could change the world for the better with that kind of power!

[Weapon77]

Yes! The Joker has it in that movie, which is interesting because the comic book Joker does not have it.

Oooh interesting choice! Domino is one of my favorites from the DP comics if you ever want to read them.

[Sonorous]

Oh I'm not really a comic book type. I prefer the movies! But sometimes I do listen to those youtube videos where they sum up the development of a comic character

[Weapon77]

Fair enough. But I gotta warn you that the Deadpool movies really aren't very good, especailly compared to the comics. They throw in a lot of unnecessary perverted stuff for one thing. And the movies haven't even begun to deal with the most interesting female characters in DP. Typhoid Mary and Banshee are awesome. They also butcher Weasel and a number of other characters.

But hey, maybe under Marvel they'll be better! Ryan Reynolds' performance is good for the record

[Sonorous]

I'm pretty fucked up myself so I don't mind the perverted stuff 🤣, but I do prefer more dramatic Rated R movies. The ones that are longer & really get you thinking & feeling. Something like the "Watchmen" movie.

[Weapon77]

You might really enjoy The Northman then. Lots of other movies like what you mean, but that's a recent one I've seen like that. It's great, based off the legend that inspired Hamlet

[Sonorous]

Ahhh I've never heard of it but now after looking it up, def gonna watch it! Thanks for the rec!

[RedStealthOperative]

If it only lasted a week, then forget these guys who want the lottery revealed to them. I just want the ability to produce millions of Benjamins out of thin air in a matter of seconds. I know I'd be set for life after that! :D

[Weapon77]

Fair enough lol Or maybe just something like crapping gold would work better since it could increase in value and you could save it up all week?

[RedStealthOperative]

Lol True!

[Jooying]

Future foresee. So I can see future lottery number and stock to buy.

[Weapon77]

Smart!

[Anonymous]

Time traveler. That idea has always caught my attention

[Weapon77]

Nice! What would you use it for?

[Opinion Owner]

I would use it to go back in time when I was little and see my grandma and grandpa again. And go into the future to see what it would look like, because I won’t get to see that. 😄

[Weapon77]

Fair enough!

[WhiteSteve]

I’m afraid I may misuse the expression since I haven’t seen the movies, but isn’t there a “Thanos snap” or something, that just wiped out half the people in the world? If it’s what I think it is, two simultaneous Thanos snaps, please✌️

https://www.youtube.com/embed/NuNJtzHLGoM

[Weapon77]

Similar to what another person said! That's definitely OP, but let's consider it for the sake of the hypothetical. The way math works, you would have only removed half of the half that remain, so you'd leave 1/4 of all life remaining. That seems awfully unjust to the good people you remove and the good people you leave to have to deal with the remaining bad people. Also, in the movies at least, the snap destroys the gauntlet, stones, and Thanos's arm after the forst snap, meaning no second snap could happen. I suppose we could bypass that rule in this hypothetical though lol

Is removing 3/4 of all people what you intend, or were you going for removing all life for some reason? Sounds villanous

[WhiteSteve]

That’s why I was going for the *simultaneous* two snaps, haha. Might work, it might not😂

[WhiteSteve]

Just fed up with humanity, that’s all. Just so thoroughly and irrecoverably unimpressed.

[WhiteSteve]

Ironically, that last comment earned me the “Social Butterfly” badge from GAG😂😂😂

[Weapon77]

I feel ya there! Also, that's hilarious!

Apparently, a lot of people feel that way, so I'll definitely have to give a few characters this motivation. But I wonder why so many choose to get rid of everyone instead of just themselves, ya know? Isn't it incredibly selfish to just decide for everyone else that they don't get to live? In any case, why choose that power instead of a similarly God-level one like making all humans grow roots like plants so we can't hurt each other anymore?

[Weapon77]

P. S. My comment just got ME the Social Butterfly badge lmao

[WhiteSteve]

Ayyyyyy, Badge Bros!👊😂

Yeah, it’s definitely selfish on my end, lmao, I think it’s kind of like “why should I leave? They’re the ones who suck.” Haha, that’s of course all subjective, but I feel convicted in it just the same. I’m only half-serious anyway. I think I need to stop coming on GAG, I just encounter the worst kinds of people here (never used to be like this!) and they just sour me on life, lmfao

[Weapon77]

Trust me, I'm a psychologist. Never go online any media when you are disappointed by humans. Go to the mall, bookstore, art gallery, music store, or maybe a petstore to reset. The AWFUL people online are the loudest because they are losers who have nothing more to contribute. Most people are perfectly fine.

But yeah, I feel you! Why should you have to leave if they're the ones who suck? I'm the same. I figure I'll just so much better than them that I'm untouchable 🤷‍♂️

[WhiteSteve]

I try to stay in the gym working out, in the rink playing hockey, and in the wilderness bass fishing. Keeps the humanity in my life to a minimum, haha. But yeah, good advice, the internet is a goddamn cesspool.

[Weapon77]

All good things! I do the same thing, except different sports instead of hockey, and it helps a lot. And writing helps a lot too. Honestly, I really only need to find a good gal to help deal with the world, but that's proven harder than I thought 😅

[Stoner710]

Mind control all the way imagine if you could control peoples minds to make them do whatever you want it’s way way over powered, this if I could control the strongest man in the world (say superman) there goes all the money in the banks no one would be able to stop him

[Weapon77]

Since it only lasts a week, I wouldn't say it's OP. It takes skill and planning to get things done in only a week!

[Stoner710]

True still it wouldn’t be hard to rob a bank for example without any trouble get all the cash out of the bank by controlling the bank tellers forcing them to forget my face and them in as rich a bill gates. (Of course another this on my agenda would be forcing Biden to step down it doesn’t say I need only one target for mind control you could control multiple people.

[Weapon77]

With the bank thing you gotta remember cameras won't forget your face! But the Purple Man in Jessica Jones does something similar to what you mean, so yes, it's much easier than without the power.

Shoot, whilw you're at it with Biden, make half of our government step down over the course of the week and get new officials elected. Sounds like a good use of a week to me!

[Stoner710]

This is true I never watched Jessica jones been meaning to but been busy with obi wan

And right get entirely new people in office and force them to set term limits

[Weapon77]

Daredevil was fantastic, so I'd recommend trying any of the Marvel series.

haven't started Kenobi yet, but I'm excited for it.

Exactly. Having term limits would really solve most or all of the problems with politicians we currently have.

[Stoner710]

Ima have to check it out I am also watch that mis marvel it’s kinda stupid but it’s marvel so meh

Also add a age limit Maxine Waters is 83 Nancy Pelosi is 82 etc. of course I don’t think that the entire Democrat party has anyone below the age of 75 that is qualified to be in government. But make a age limit like 65 just go with the retirement age if your old enough to retire form the normal work force you shouldn’t be in government. (Unfortunately this means trump doesn’t run but Ron DeSantis is better anyway)

[Weapon77]

Wisdom and age are necessary for those jobs, but I agree that all evidence suggest that people past retirement age can't handle the job as well as a 50 year old can. There's a reason 35 year olds can be president. You need life experience but also a certain amount of physical and mental stamina that older people generally don't have.

And yeah, fine with me. Trump was far from the perfect president. I'm cool with a lot of the younger ones like DeSantis or Yang.

[Stoner710]

This is true this is why Hamilton put in the constitution that you would half to be a minimum of 35 to run for president (he was also 32 at the time and wanted to become the 2nd president).

Right one of my favorite senators is Ted Cruz and he’s 51 one of the dumbest house representatives comes from my state Pramila Jayapal she is terrible worse the AOC in my opinion, and AOC is dumber then a bag of rocks and that’s a insult to the rocks

[Weapon77]

Worse than AOC? Is that possible? Dang. Yeah, we should've all learned by now that no one with a Sociology degree is going to do well

[Stoner710]

Hey that’s not fair I’m almost got my minor in sociology. I’ve studied it greatly history political science philosophy sociology little bit of psychology that’s what I study. Got my degree in history and political science but still took sociology classes shit.

But yes in my opinion Pramila Jayapal is worse than AOC maybe because I have to deal with her in my state of Washington but I’m not east side so we’re conservative over here what the exception of Walla Walla

[Weapon77]

Hold on now, pay attention to what I said lol I was talking about someone like AOC whose MAJOR is sociology--she even has a masters in it... My degree is in psychology, so while I can confirm that sociology is a great minor (like you have), and it can be a good degree for certain careers, it IS NOT a good major for a politician. But someone (perhaps you) could be a good politician as long as sociology isn't their only training since it's a good companion study to really useful fields like history, psychology, and biology.

[Stoner710]

Fair enough yea sociology isn’t exactly the best major to get of course we got people majoring in gender studies and at the same time they can’t define what a is a women. AOC has her degree in economics which you got at Boston University shows how useful Boston University is right

[Weapon77]

Not sure why I thought her degree was sociology. Either way, we economics is another one that is good for an economist, obviously, but a politician has to have higher than a BA (like she has) for it to be really useful. We have to quit elected people who only have bachelors degree and no real life experience. I'm afraid soon we'll start electing influencers and rappers.

[Stoner710]

Very likely we will be electing celebrities. Unfortunately elected officials who have go to college tend to be left leaning democratic rather then right leaning republicans

[Weapon77]

Yeah, most people's beliefs are moderate, but most people are also very impressionable, and college basically brainwashes half it's students too far to the left (or makes some people reject it and go too far right into extremism). It'd be nice to have some people think more for themselves. Maybe get the Independent and Libertarian parties just as strong as Dems and Reps.

[Stoner710]

It would be nice for most issue I’m libertarian I’m not going to be voting for democratic right now because they’ve gone so far left and unfortunately we only have 2 strong parties in the country i I think the choice (least right now). Is binary so I vote Republican

[Weapon77]

They definitely went super far to the left... so far that moderates are considered radical right 😂 Whereas the actual right has actually gotten more moderate/leftist over the past decade. Unfortunately, you might be right. I'm hoping we get better options than Biden and Harris at the very least.

[Stoner710]

Right Elon musk is a slightly left of center libertarian now he’s considered far right because he supports free speech on Twitter

[Weapon77]

Exactly! How the hell did it become extremist to want free speech? That's the best to gauge if someone is screwy--when they are against basic human rights like free speech, though, and similar things dealt with in the Bill of Rights.

[Stoner710]

Right of course they want to through away the constitution all together. In a social society like they want to build you cannot have free speech you cannot have the centers this is why they want to get rid of it.

[Bob92220]

I would choose the superpower to know the immediate future, in the sense that I'm able to choose the correct lottery number.

[Weapon77]

Haha you and another person think alike! I'm not shocked!

[Bob92220]

If I was a sickly person, or handicapped in some way, I would have wished for a 100% cure.

[Weapon77]

Makes sense! I'm doing research for a novel, and the fascinating thing I find is that despite how popular superheroes are, when people are asked what powers they'd want, they choose selfish things. doesn't mean people are awul because I know in your case you'd probably use the lottery winnings to care for your family and probably some charity work. But I find it fascinating how few people choose to be bullet proof so they can be a police officer or bodyguard or something heroic.

[MCheetah]

Shapeshifting, for my own personal wishes.
Super-strength if I just wanted to get rich.

[Weapon77]

Would you use the shapeshifting just for fun during that week? Or would you use it for anything that would change your life longterm and last after the week is up?

[MCheetah]

Both. I'd first turn into a hot six foot tall white woman just to see how much easier life would be for me. If I really wanted to make some money, I'd turn into Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, etc, and steal a relatively small amount of money from their bank accounts that they won't miss.

[Weapon77]

Well thought out!

Would you use it to help anyone else in any way? I'm doing research for my novel.

[MCheetah]

I'm definitely help myself, first. But yeah, I'd help out others.
Also, I would NOT steal from people just cause they're rich. I'd do it to the terrible people who also happen to be rich. Hell, I'd probably turn into Klaus Schwab and give away all his money and CEO position and then claim "I'm about to turn crazy" to explain the real version of him when he comes back.

[Weapon77]

That's helpful! Appreciate it.

[menina]

I would like to be able to travel to my past and change some things.

[Weapon77]

Fair enough! Are you not concerned about the risk of the changes messing up other things? Cuz at the end of the week you'd lose the power and not be able to change anything else, you know

[menina]

That's a good question. I'm not concerned because these changes would make my life much better.

[Weapon77]

Gotcha. You don't have to tell me what things, but I'm curious what kind of things. Is it silly stuff like studying more for a college midterm or remembering to get gas that one time you ran out in the middle of the street? Or is it big stuff like making an investment in a different company or saying goodbye to a loved one who has passed?

[menina]

I mean big things like changing schools when I was 15, or eating less when I was a child. Or even not being born.

[Weapon77]

Interesting. That's helpful. Thanks!

[menina]

You're welcome!

[TrillXHippy]

Being invisible since it already seems like I am

[Weapon77]

Nice! What would you do with it?

[TrillXHippy]

Pull pranks on people

[Weapon77]

Fair enough lol

[Guy13]

Wisdom.

[Weapon77]

We can all have that, so it isn't a superpower. But if you mean superhuman levels of wisdom, why would you pick that if it disappears in a week? What would you want to use it for before it's gone?

[Anonymous]

Broke boy.

[Weapon77]

That's a weird superpower to choose. Does it give you the ability to take the money of any boy you meet? Sounds like a supervillain taking candy from a baby... kinda concerning tbh