spetznaz
Senior Fanboy Killer
Nice thread.
Agelessness. Nice, but the issue is that one is still susceptible to physical trauma and disease. There are many people who never achieve their give years due to accidents, disease, etc, thus it is very possible that one may have an eternity ahead of them but get killed by tetanus from a rusty nail, choking on a pretzel, a piano falling on their head, COVID, etc .... It looks like a great power, but the holder would end up being so paranoid and risk-averse (since they know a mistake could take away what would otherwise be immortality). I’ve seen this happen with people with enough money to buy an expensive car, but not enough money to fix the car if it has an accident. They are almost afraid to drive it. This gift would have someone afraid to step outside the home during a pandemic, or civil strife, or whatever ....
Chronomacy: Another nice power, and one with some interesting applications (eg in a way you can pause time, move behind enemy lines and seem to appear behind an enemy troop where you apparently appear and disappear killing all the enemy). The problem though is that you cannot affect physical matter. So, even though it can still appear like you are affecting it or that you’re super fast (kind of like how Zoom appears fast when he’s only mucking about with time), it is still limited. It is akin to a magic TRICK that is VERY realistic, but still has limits. Eg, if you’re on a boat, and it starts to sink, there’s really nothing you can do if you can’t swim (or you can swim but it’s too far from land). Sure, you can stop time - but the moment you get tired and reopen time you drown ....
Pansophy. The first power of real significance (and number 2 power on this list with telepathy). It can create great wealth (inventing new technology), help humanity (new medicines), revolutionarize the world (eg new sources of energy), edify humanity (eg details of how the pyramids were built). Very many applications, and a guaranteed Nobel prize across several disciplines.
Peak Human Condition. An interesting one - but not as good as some of the others. Any of us can get to ‘peak human’ through hard work, and while my ‘peak’ may be different from your ‘peak’ I wouldn’t waste my choice on this one. Even if the peak was of everybody.
Reincarnation. The most useless of the bunch. Without memories it might as well not exist.
Telepathy. The third most important power here. Immensely powerful with very real-world applications. Someone can become anything with this power, and the only reason it’s number 3 behind Pansophy is because Pansophy can create NEW things while telepathy simply enables one to take advantage/influence/know others. But it’s VERY powerful.
Teleporter. The number one power (even though it is not as beneficial as Pansophy ...). Number one because of the number of uses it has. Students stuck in a cave in Thailand ....teleport in and take them out. NASA is unable to get to Mars without spending billions of dollars coming up with new technology ....snap, human exploration of Mars (or wherever else) as you take astronauts/cosmonauts whatever there. You want to visit your friend in Brisbane Australia ....you can have breakfast every day with her, plus visit your other friend in Montevideo Uruguay before noon. Goodness, the applications would be tremendous (law enforcement - smuggler dude wakes up in jail; military - who needs stealth planes when you can take a small grenade and put it under the pillow of the next wannabe Osama; crime - Fort Knox becomes your personal piggy bank .....). I did say it is weaker than Pansophy simply because with Pansophy could do other amazing good (eg new medicines), but in terms of coolest power it is definitely teleportation