If you had a special ability, what would it be?

[AndyFromMonday]

Time manipulation.

Just thinking of how many things you could do whit that....

Oh and invisibility.

 

[TMAN10112]

Pyrokenises, I already have the "pyro" part of it, now I just need the "kenises" part

 

[DigitalSushi]

Time control. This applies to aging as well. And also, anyone I happen to be in direct physical contact with is also affected by my powers. In addition, I'd also be able to affect the person I'm in physical contact with while not affecting myself.

So I'd have the power to move time (in general, but also being able to move it for everyone except me and the people I'm in contact with) forward, backward and pause; I could stop, speed up, or reverse my aging (giving myself longer, shorter, or unlimited life); and I could stop, speed up or reverse other people's aging so long as I am in direct contact with them (then I could keep my girl young forever, and I could tackle people I dont like and cause them to become so old they turn to dust).

Plus, I could leave my enemies frozen in time forever. Or pause time for everyone but myself occasionally to mess with people's heads.
Oh yeah. Mischief aside, I'd probably spend my life by pausing time and defusing suicide bombers before they explode or going back and preventing 9/11. I could make it so that WWII never happened.

And actually it occurred to me that if I stop my own aging, I cannot get closer to death. So if I got shot while my aging was paused I couldnt die because to die would be to reach the end of my life. If I pause my aging at a point before death, there is no possible way I could die because I haven't gotten any closer to the end of my life. So I could not die. On the other hand, this situation could instead just cause a paradox that destroys the universe. I'll try to refrain from using that power...

You do realise that you can't alter the past or create paradoxes at all, simply because the universe is self correcting? According to the latest research, by altering time it will always revert back to what it would have been anyway. Here in the present, we can alter what will happen in the future, but if we alter it further through the medium of time travel (or a similar method), then the universe will self correect and any changes simply won't happen.

That is only true, if the vary process of time travel doesn't create a tangent timeline, (or escentially a new universe) where the said changes 'could' happen.
To put it in the way steven hawking said that black holes are able to have any and all information in it, never escape, is that in another universe, that black hole doesn't exist, thusly so in 'that' universe the information isn't lost, basically balancing out the equation...
(of course, there are so many theories about black holes, one being that black holes will escentially die slowly spitting out the matter in them (which would technically make them the mystical white hole....)

The problem is, there are so many different branches of Mathematics and Physics, and they all depend on each other and yet different theories seem to cancel each other out. We can't actually prove them all, so who knows if the time travel theory or the black hole/white hole theories are correct? There's currently no way to prove them, so we are forced to rely on speculation. Eventually we will hopefully know for sure, but until then all we have to go on are theories and evidence that is generally far from perfect, whether due to the environment that data was collected from or due to human error...

Well the entire point of science is to explain the world around us through observation and expirementation. It isn't actually supposed to 'prove' anything. (well kinda is, but its some kind of philosphical/logic difference..)
The only way I can explain it is, no theory is 100% correct, so you can't really 'prove anything'. Instead its to try and get it as close as possible through the scientific method.
The issue is obviously, human error, and not being able to observe everything directly. Hell half of physics is observing the un-observable through indirect methods!

WE know black holes exist, they are observable. But you almost have to question the fact that matter/energy is 'lost' in a black hole since they emit massive amounts of radation... Though not nearly as much as a star...

We all seem to be forgetting, that we can't time travel, and that all existing theories are just that, theories, with no proof whatsoever backing them.

Time is relative, and time is a man made invention, all our science till Neil's Bohr championed the quantum jump was based on timed data.

Think about it, the big bang, we can't get our heads round it because of so much happening all at once, its doesn't fit with the timed (classical) model we always think about. Something that Quantum Mechanics and String theory can negate because of the thinking behind it.

Funny that it was Einstein that said "Time is relative", but it applies to his archnemesis Bohr and Heisenberg more than it does to his physics beliefs..

sorry, you guys are talking science right?

 

[Trivun]

I would go for an ability like Peter Petrelli (Heroes) or Rogue (X-Men). I.e. I would love to absorb other people's abilities, so they would keep theirs but I would have the same power. Failing that, Sylar (again, Heroes). Same effect, plus the added sadism...

and you get the most powerful eyebrows in the whole world.

Would you also absorb their negative traits though, like leaving the toilet seat up? and not calling round to see their grans enough?

Only if those traits were actual abilities...

I don't actually see my gran enough anyway, I'm at university, and it doesn't matter if I leave the toilet seat up because I share a bathroom with another guy.

As for the eyebrows, that's the coolest part. I swear that that's where Sylar's abilities are manifested. Forget the head slicing thing, he just looks at people and they die when they see the eyebrows.

 

[Yegargeburble]

Invincibility / immortality sounds fun...all the things I could get away with...

Edit: plus telekinesis. Would make things so much easier for me.

 

[DELTA x WOLF]

X-Ray vision

 

[Trivun]

Time control. This applies to aging as well. And also, anyone I happen to be in direct physical contact with is also affected by my powers. In addition, I'd also be able to affect the person I'm in physical contact with while not affecting myself.

So I'd have the power to move time (in general, but also being able to move it for everyone except me and the people I'm in contact with) forward, backward and pause; I could stop, speed up, or reverse my aging (giving myself longer, shorter, or unlimited life); and I could stop, speed up or reverse other people's aging so long as I am in direct contact with them (then I could keep my girl young forever, and I could tackle people I dont like and cause them to become so old they turn to dust).

Plus, I could leave my enemies frozen in time forever. Or pause time for everyone but myself occasionally to mess with people's heads.
Oh yeah. Mischief aside, I'd probably spend my life by pausing time and defusing suicide bombers before they explode or going back and preventing 9/11. I could make it so that WWII never happened.

And actually it occurred to me that if I stop my own aging, I cannot get closer to death. So if I got shot while my aging was paused I couldnt die because to die would be to reach the end of my life. If I pause my aging at a point before death, there is no possible way I could die because I haven't gotten any closer to the end of my life. So I could not die. On the other hand, this situation could instead just cause a paradox that destroys the universe. I'll try to refrain from using that power...

You do realise that you can't alter the past or create paradoxes at all, simply because the universe is self correcting? According to the latest research, by altering time it will always revert back to what it would have been anyway. Here in the present, we can alter what will happen in the future, but if we alter it further through the medium of time travel (or a similar method), then the universe will self correect and any changes simply won't happen.

That is only true, if the vary process of time travel doesn't create a tangent timeline, (or escentially a new universe) where the said changes 'could' happen.
To put it in the way steven hawking said that black holes are able to have any and all information in it, never escape, is that in another universe, that black hole doesn't exist, thusly so in 'that' universe the information isn't lost, basically balancing out the equation...
(of course, there are so many theories about black holes, one being that black holes will escentially die slowly spitting out the matter in them (which would technically make them the mystical white hole....)

The problem is, there are so many different branches of Mathematics and Physics, and they all depend on each other and yet different theories seem to cancel each other out. We can't actually prove them all, so who knows if the time travel theory or the black hole/white hole theories are correct? There's currently no way to prove them, so we are forced to rely on speculation. Eventually we will hopefully know for sure, but until then all we have to go on are theories and evidence that is generally far from perfect, whether due to the environment that data was collected from or due to human error...

Well the entire point of science is to explain the world around us through observation and expirementation. It isn't actually supposed to 'prove' anything. (well kinda is, but its some kind of philosphical/logic difference..)
The only way I can explain it is, no theory is 100% correct, so you can't really 'prove anything'. Instead its to try and get it as close as possible through the scientific method.
The issue is obviously, human error, and not being able to observe everything directly. Hell half of physics is observing the un-observable through indirect methods!

WE know black holes exist, they are observable. But you almost have to question the fact that matter/energy is 'lost' in a black hole since they emit massive amounts of radation... Though not nearly as much as a star...

We all seem to be forgetting, that we can't time travel, and that all existing theories are just that, theories, with no proof whatsoever backing them.

You're right that we can't time travel. However, something that has been around for a long time is Einstein's Theory of General Relativity. Basically, the idea is that if we can travel faster than the speed of light, then we will be moving so fast that we travel in time. It has been observed and proved that at speeds close to the speed of light, by the General Theory, time slows down. This has been proved. However, we can't prove the theory for speeds faster than light, simply because it is currently impossible to travel faster than light.

 

[Latinidiot]

I would have the power to create, manipulate and 'delete'. Example: you're walking, and you get surrounded by some homosexual giants with biceps the size of my waist. and then, you conjure six cloud like swords out of thin air and swing em around at the same time with your mind, waving shiny death all over the place. and then, when you're finished killing people you just let them magically disappear and walk through the nearest wall, because it you decide to let it melt away



beat that

 

[KiLlErCoRn]

way to many to pick from, telekineis, mind reading, flight, invincibilty (but i want my aging to stop at 26 so i dont get old, and i hope invincibilty stops ur bones from breaking because it would suck to have no bones), 100% polymourph (what Da_schwarz said) or teleportation. any of them and i would be happy

 

[Sewblon]

The ability to embody Nylarthotep, And plunge man into the dark ages with the power of rock and roll.

 

[Razorbliss]

I want the superpowers of the christian god, or the ability to cast flare..out my eyes


Or a realy neat cardtrick...

 

[DigitalSushi]

You're right that we can't time travel. However, something that has been around for a long time is Einstein's Theory of General Relativity. Basically, the idea is that if we can travel faster than the speed of light, then we will be moving so fast that we travel in time. It has been observed and proved that at speeds close to the speed of light, by the General Theory, time slows down. This has been proved. However, we can't prove the theory for speeds faster than light, simply because it is currently impossible to travel faster than light.

please see my previous comment regarding "time is relative". But the speed of light is actually a variable, I know you mean its top speed known to us, but its speed changes.

Also their is one thing that is faster than the speed of light, and that is the expansion of the universe, its moving so quickly in some places that the light emiting from it reaches us tells us whats goinng on and the next thing we see is darkness.

Speaking of which!, the speed of dark is faster than light, no matter how fast light travels by the time it gets to its destination it finds that darkness was already there waiting for it patiently.

 

[ParkourMcGhee]

The curse of not being able to die... after that you pretty much have the time to develop wings or super powers, just do a bunch of stuff like exposing yourself to radiation for too long.

 

[Magugag]

One ability? Utter omnipotence. Duh.

 

[Ionami]

The ability to make people blind and deaf.

 

[Nutcase]

Bullet time.

In other words, seriously overclocked brain. It wouldn't make you "smarter", but give you an obscene advantage whenever you need to make a conscious decision quickly. Debating, speed chess, etc.

You could also fake athletic skill (things everyone else has to learn to a reflexive level to perform properly) to some degree by consciously correcting your movement while it's happening. This would not make you the equal of a pro even in a mainly dexterity and coordination based sport like table tennis or IPSC shooting, since the pro doesn't just match the position of the paddle with the ball or sights with the target, but knows where the ball will go when hit in a certain way, can read the opponent's moves, etc.

Obviously videogames that are about speed would be made pointless, so it'd be nice to be able to turn off the ability at will.

 

[Rahnzan]

An apathy ray with unlimited range and armor penetration. There is nothing in this world that will conquer the ability to make you want to do absolutely nothing at all.

That or teleportation, or some kind of super-speed (I'm not just talking legs here..) and enough damage resistance to survive any stunt I would pull off.

 

[SinisterDeath]

We all seem to be forgetting, that we can't time travel, and that all existing theories are just that, theories, with no proof whatsoever backing them.

There are several theories on time travel.
1. You can only 'observe' or 'see' into the past, but not interact. (This one is 100% true.)
2. Time travel devices to send information in the past, can only send information back, as long as the device exists. So escentially I would have to invent it, then send myself information from the future back.

Your asking your self now, how can #1 be true? How can I prove it?

Its simple.
Anyone right now, can see into the past. ITs fairly simple, and we have been doing it for about as long as humanity has existed, and more then likely before.
Its fairly simple process.

Wait till around 21:00 hours, go outside, and tilt your head up to the sky.
See that shiny thing? thats a star. Its several houndred light years away.
You know what that means? Your seeing several houndred years into the past.

ZOMG Time Travel!

pwned?

Are you just stupid? Or do you have a condition.

We're talking about people travelling through time. Looking up at the stars is seeing delayed light, if you were at that star, you won't've travelled time at all. What you will see will be unnoticably different to what we see on earth, but that's due to the light.

Think about it before making retarded comments like that.

And as for your time machine theory, if it was that simple, it would've been done already. But it's not, and you can't, don't be stupid.

Are you stupid? Or do you have a condition.

We ARE tlaking about people travelling through time, but as it has been stated before, YOU CAN'T TRAVEL THROUGH TIME. Becaues the very act of time travel would create a grandfather paradox. Now, the only possible way time travel can exist, is if the very proccess of time travel allows you to see/hear or in another words, Experience the 'past' but not actually change or alter it. THERE IS ONLY WAY TO DO IT. And we do it everytime you look up at the stars. It is 'delayed light' but it is alos seeing into the past. IT is not retarded, nor a condition. it is a simple fact. THAT IS the simpilist form of TIME TRAVEL!

So your going to ask 'so how can we see 200 year sinto our past then. HUH?
Simple by playing with worm holes and furhter advanced 'hubble telescopes'.
Simply speaking, if I look up, and see a star 200 light years away, I AM seeing what has happened 200 years ago, on that star. That is time travel.
So, how do we 'see' or 'experience' earth 200 years ago?
Well, the only way is to 'go' 200 light years away, 'now'. And the 'only' way to do that is to 'bend' the rules of space and time, via worm holes. And that is basically where you take two places in space, bring themtogether, and 'tunnel through'. (so to speak)
This IS the only way to travel faster then the speed of light. The problem is, wormholes, while theoretically possible, only exist for nano-seconds if that, and the time the 'bridge' is made is even smaller, and immediately collapses... Finding a way to create, and keep said path open, won't be an easy task... (let alone getting anything, even information through; is going to be just as challanging.)
Once your 200 light years away from earth, 2009, you'd be able to 'see' earth as it was 200 years ago. It would be impossible to actually go there, and your not actually back in the year 1809, but you ARE seeing it. Imagine it something along the lines of a TV channel that you can turn to, and watch what the earth, or other various things on earth looked like 200+ years ago.

The only way to physically travel back in time, (As a human, and not as information) would require the ability to take a worm hole, and connect it not just between one point in space, and another in space, but one point in space/time with another point in space/time. And even then, its possible that the 'laws of the universe' would prevent you from doing anything that would change anything at all. And more then likely, you wouldn't actually be in the past, you'd probably be in some tangent-space/time alternate universe.