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SURVEY SAYS: Super Powers
More than 22% of responding readers selected ‘teleporting,’ and 11.25% selecting ‘flying.’ Ten percent indicated they’d like the ability to become invisible, while 8.75% selected ‘commanding objects/animals/people with your thoughts,’ 5% chose ‘hearing people’s thoughts,’ and 3.75% each chose ‘making objects/people disappear’ and ‘communicating with animals like you do humans.” Slightly more than 1% of respondents wanted the ability to turn objects or people into other objects or people.
“Other” was the option selected by the most readers (33.75%), and responses included:
- unlimited strength
- time travel
- all of those listed
- To be compassionate in every situation
- The ability to heal people; physically, mentally
- Guaranteeing my children will be happy and healthy long after I’m gone.
- Ability to rapidly heal from any injury/disease/aging
- Similar to changing into any shape or form, I would like to get to and maintain a healthy weight and fitness level, without trying!
- Bringing people back from the dead
- Independently wealthy.
- To remove all evils and sins from all human.
- The ability to see into the future
- Twinkle my nose and do all sorts of wonderful things!
- The ability to not hear certain people talk. Or better yet to mute other people.
- Ability to understand tax codes, DOL notices and other alien languages and to take that knowledge and use it for the betterment of mankind.
- Invulnerability
- I want to BE a superpower
Freedom to do whatever they want wherever they want, and to have more time with family and friends were themes among the reader responses when asked why they chose the super power they selected.
Those who chose to give a reason said:
I
could take a nap and nobody would know. 🙂
So
I could explain to my cat Cocoa, that it is Saturday and I do not need to get
up at 5:30 am!
could
move or lift anything
I
chose commanding people with your thoughts so that I can get my kids to do what
I ask them to do.
The
ability to appreciate someone fully before expressing one's self might make our
world a better place to live ie. the Golden Rule Love thy neighbor as thyself.
Would
love to see cool places around the world without having to deal with
traditional travel methods.
I
chose flying, although I didn't think through the whole landing part.
Enough
power to be life changing, not enough to be evil.
By
becoming invisible you have achieved the ability to "be a fly on the
wall".
I
could stop a crime, just by commanding the criminal to stop.
Because
when you can hear people's thoughts, artifice is gone (Pouf!) and you know
their true thoughts and feelings.
Live
by the beach, work downtown, take the kids to Venice for pizza dinner, and
Northern Lights to relax before bed. -Or just an additional 1-2 hours a day to
spend with my family and friends.
Each
would be soooo useful in certain situations! I could send the annoying,
back-stabbing ones to another place and let them annoy and back-stab somewhere
else for a change....I would have bouth IBM, Apple and Microsoft when they were
really young....and held on for the recovery! Travel without the torture....the
possibilities are endless!
With
this power, there would be no wars, no anger and no hurts.
Too
many people in this world are hurting; to take away a person's pain would be an
unbelievable gift.
Having
the ability to make objects/people disappear would be extremely useful in all
aspects of life. Having the same conversation for the umpteenth time about why
a whiny employee is actually not underpaid? Poof, s/he disappears! Tired of
cleaning up the house? Poof, make that clutter disappear!
Family
is the only thing that matters is the only legacy for most of us.
Reduces
time wasted in driving or walking between places!
Mind
control is pretty cool yo
My
kids live on the other side of the country. I would love to teleport so we
could get together more frequently.
I
did not choose any super power because I feel that any one power would only
involve exposing other areas of weakness.
We
share the planet with a vast variety of creatures that we assume we have the
right to control. I'd like to hear their side of the story and become more
"humane" and thoughtful in our use of resources, and no I am not a
vegetarian or animal rights activist. I do believe in kindness and in
preserving and protecting the natural world.
Because
it's very lucrative if used correctly
I'd
like to have dinner in Paris tonight...
to
get somewhere quickly
Go
where you want to go, when you want to go.
Best
way to travel!
I've
always dreamed of flying. Literally, I dream I can fly sometimes and it's
awesome.
My
life would be just like the movie Groundhog's Day. I would keep at it until I
got it just right!
Beats
being stuck in traffic.
Diet
and exercise are a struggle and it would be great not to have to dedicate time
and energy to them. Wouldn't it be great to automatically just "be"
fit?
so
I could be with my children who live far away whenever I want. They might not
like that but I would love it!
I
could go anywhere, anytime, even if just for a meal. I could also take a weekend
trip to say, Rome, and not have to worry about wasting time in airports or on
planes.
Great
for moving that slow driver in front of you!
I
would love to be able to influence people without them knowing that I am doing
it. What fun that would be.
I
know no one has bad thoughts about me but it would be nice to know who my
friends really are.
I
would love to be able to spend more time with my mother. It would also ease
many peoples pain.
Then
I could see/hear what people are really doing and what's really going on behind
the scenes--i.e., kids, coworkers, bosses...
would
like to be a fly on the wall and listen
It's
a no brainer.
If
you've got your health, you've got everything.
Teleporting
would save so much on time and gas
That
is the only way to have real peace.
It
would have come in very handy for last night's Powerball drawing!
When
I was young I wanted to be Samantha Stevens and be able to do all those fun
things with a twinkle of my nose or snap of my fingers!
The
first choice you listed was first because everyone thinks that would be
amazing.
If
I could turn my hearing off for or mute certain people at will I wouldn't have
to listen to my co-workers in-depth and impassioned not to mention lengthy
discussions about what happened on The Bachelor and General Hospital. Nor would
I have to hear unending brilliant discussions about fantasy football teams and
energy drinks.
That
would open the door to many opportunities.
Good
all-purpose power that would serve me well my whole life.
It
was a tough decision between invisibility and teleportation; both give me the
ability to "disappear" from unnecessary time and life-sapping
meetings.
Because
I could get anywhere quickly!
Because
this job is hard and confusing sometimes. When I come home from work and see my
family, I think that this is what Clark Kent must feel like. Because they have
no idea what I've had to deal with all day!
Might
help do some good. Turn things into food and tools that people ca use. Turn bad
people into ... something else!
Invulnerability
would eliminate a lot of my fears. BTW - you also left super-strength off the
list.
My
first choice is teleporting, but having extreme strength is really appealing
when I'm trying to open a jar of spaghetti sauce.
Speed
and ability to get anywhere
be
able to stop disease & injuries from killing those I love
Flying
seems to be the ultimate freedom.
Animals
have this ability to know when things are changing - like the weather - long
before it hits. They look at you as if they are trying to tell you something
very important, but can't get you to react. I'd love to know what they are
thinking.
I
chose time travel because it would interesting to see my ancestors, historical
figures and learn about history directly.
think
of the money you would save on airline travel. You could take instant vacations
Snow
piling up everywhere, it'd be nice to make that disappear and issues with a
certain family member...In college I used to try to disappear annoying people
and it never worked.. it'd be lovely to be able to do that.
Not
sure becoming invisible is a super power, but it would sure benefit ME! How
awesome would it be to have access to anything you want without restriction?
Sitting in on the President's cabinet meetings would be fantastic.
If
I could BE a superpower, as a person with great leadership skills, I'd be
president of the United States - for somewhat obvious reasons....
You can do lots of things without getting caught if no one can see you.
Verbatim
In general comments, a number of folks admonished that when wishing for super powers, one should be careful what they wish for. Quite a few also expressed that super powers could lead to them being used for evil. Other commenters recognized having super powers is fun to think about and would be fun for a while. One asked whether I was going to confer a super power on one lucky respondent. Editor’s Choice goes to the reader who said: “This was tough. I thought I'd pick invisibility, but the ability to make my step mother go away is just too tempting!!!”
Thanks to all who responded to the survey!
Of course, being able to make bad drivers disappear is a close 2nd...probably a good reason we don't have super powers!!
Would responsibility to use power wisely be overburdensome
We all have super powers. We need to learn how to master the ones we have been given.
Fun to think about, but be careful what you wish for, might not be so cool as a reality. You are conferring a super power on one lucky survey respondent, right?
Be careful what you wish for!
The question is whether a person can resist using the powers for anything other than doing good for our world.
Until my personal Kryptonite brings me crashing back down, I would like to think doing good means something in this world...
God can give us super powers to deal with everyday issues......if we just allow him to work in us.
Super powers would have to come along with an infusion of humility.
If we all had super powers they would not be so super any more.
If everyone has them, are they really "super" anymore? And how to we prevent people from using their power against other people?
I don't have them
Verbatim (cont.)
I
am very glad I can't hear other people's thoughts. As an introvert this seems
like a nightmare -- so much noise and distraction.
I
think that in most cases having a super power would tend to cause some abuse of
power.
I
don't think humans have the humility or strength to avoid the corruption of
super powers.
I
wish I had one!
With
any of these super powers, it would be important that those with super powers
only use them for good. And therein lies the rub...
I
know some people who think they have super powers, but I'm not going to be the
one to bust their bubble.
It's
a pipe dream!
Good
people could have them but bad people no! We already live in a world where bad
people have too much power!
I
wouldn't want anyone else to have them!
The
super power would have to come with an on off switch.
Be
careful what you ask for!
other
choice would be to turn back time, time management
Verbatim (cont.)
Be
careful what you wish for....
While
many people I know appear to already possess "Selective Hearing" I'd
prefer to be able mute on demand.
You
forgot the ability to clone oneself. There are many days during which it
appears that is the only way to get everything on my desk done.
When
I'm stuck in traffic, I dream of being Jane Jetson!
Let's
hope no one ever gets any of these!
It's
better that we are all created equal, even if there are some that feel they are
more equal than others.
It
would be fun to have them all!
For
almost every superpower there is a book or movie telling about the downfalls of
superpowers, and with the most recent movies they tend to end in grisly deaths
or madness (except in the Marvel universe!). So we're all taking a big chance
here, but it'll be fun for a while at least!
Can't
wait
This
was tough, I thought I'd pick invisibility, but the ability to make my step
mother go away is just too tempting!!!
Make
sure you use them for good! We've all seen X-Men and The Incredibles!
Otherwise,
I'd be invisible so I could create mayhem if I felt like it.
My
parents raised 6 kids on one small income. All became unassuming, loving,
giving and productive members of society. They raised 17 more who in turn have
taken up their yokes and will teach theirs the same. Nothing super here, but
special nonetheless and it sure beats the heck out of fantasy.
Super powers are awesome!
NOTE: Responses reflect the opinions of individual readers and not necessarily the stance of Asset International or its affiliates.