We’ve all thought about it once or twice, haven’t we? You looked directly at the heaping, gridlocked traffic stretching miles ahead of you and thought, “What if I was able to fly?” With so many different kinds of superpowers from comics, TV, and movies, it’s natural to wonder what it might be like to have them. But, what if I told you that maybe not every superpower is perfect? In fact, some of the most popular ones probably have a few unforeseen drawbacks. Sure, some of these superpowers may be cool, but we’re pretty sure it’d stink to have them in real life!
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Super Strength
At first, the idea of having super strength sounds amazing. You can lift almost anything, run faster, jump higher, and survive just about any threat coming your way! However, consider the possible downsides for a moment. What if your friend surprised you from behind? You might overreact and accidentally snack him into the sun!
Then, there are all the broken doors and furniture from applying too much force. You’d have to treat everything like its fragile 24/7 so as not to destroy/kill anything. Being super strong would be awesome, but nobody wants to live like the world is made of glass.
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Mind-Reading
People can be really hard to predict sometimes. Wouldn’t it be convenient if you knew what they were thinking? Well, you would know if you could read minds. Using this power will allow you to divine secrets and see through the veil of human deception with very little effort. However, there’s one significant downside: some thoughts are better left private!
What if you discover information you were never meant to know? Could you could forget it, or refrain from acting on it?And what if you couldn’t turn your powers off? Would you be overwhelmed by the loud, incessant thoughts of those lingering within a 25-mile radius? Yeah, maybe you better pass on “mind-reading” and stick with “super cake-eating” instead.
3. Laser Eyes!
Sure, shooting lasers from your eyes would be very useful. You could make a campfire with a single stare or melt just about any obstacle in your way. However, focusing on something specific for an extended period of time is more challenging than one would expect.
What if you were concentrating while ‘lasering’ and suddenly something caught your eye? Your eyes would instinctively move towards the object of your distraction and accidently burn down everything around you!
Also, would it hurt every time you used it? And what if the constant strain was destroying your sight? What good would laser eyes be if you’re blind?
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Spider Sense
Spider-Man’s “Spider Sense” allows him to sense danger moments before it happens. Sounds like a superpower without any downsides, right? Well, I ask you this: what exactly are the limits of the “Spider Sense?” Does it only warn you of life-threatening situations or does it also warn you of smaller, not-so-dangerous things?
If less lethal, almost trivial “threats” activate your Spider Sense, will it go off every time you’re about to stub your toe? What about right before the big drop on a roller-coaster? Or how about when you’re about to take a bite out of something that’s a little too hot? If the answers to any of these questions are “yes,” then it sounds like this power ranges from helpful to extremely annoying.
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Time Travel
Do you like butterfly effects, paradoxes, and the crushing pressure of morality? If you answered “no,” then immediately swipe left when the time travel option appears.
While traveling to the past, present, and future sound like fun, it’s not nearly worth all the downsides. If you travel to the past, you have to be careful not to change anything or risk altering the present (and yes, this includes the worst events in human history that are practically begging someone to beat a dictator with a sharpened selfie stick). Y
Unfortunately, you’d have to let those events happen because changing them could create disastrous consequences for the future (or, the present). Even the possibility of stepping on a bug could lead to a world inhabited by intelligent ants.
Then there’s traveling to the future, which could go one of two ways: First, let’s say you travel there and see how great your life is. After returning to the present, you try to follow the path leading to that future, but in doing so, your life goes somewhere else! Basically, the ‘knowing’ compelled you to alter a natural flow of events, resulting in a different future.
And secondly, let’s say you don’t like the future you see and want to change it. What if, in trying to avoid that future, you end up getting on the path that leads you there? Yeah, confusing, isn’t it? And we haven’t even talked about all the paradoxes you can create by accident! So, what’s the best way to use time travel? By never time traveling at all!
Did I miss one? Which superpower do you think would carry a ton of unfortunate consequences? Let me know in the comments below!
