An experiment in self discovery.

[inexorabletruth]

Let's say a superior (not supreme, I don't want to deal with religion issues) being comes to you and says that you will live to the age of 75, and drop dead at 11:59 pm on your 75th birthday. However, he's willing to make a deal with you. For 10 years off the end of your life, he will grant you the talent to be good enough at something to be famous for it.

It could be anything natural... like stamp collecting. You could be so good at stamp collecting that you would go down in history as one of the greatest stamp collectors of all time.

And you can take as many abilities as you have decades to give, but you can't go past your current age to age limit range. For instance, if you are 35, then you can get up to 3 abilities, (4 would put you past the night of your 75th birthday) but if you're 34, then you can have 4 of them.

What abilities, if any, do you take?

Just so we're clear, the deal would be legit. You definitely get the ability, but being good enough to be famous does not necessarily mean that you will actually become famous. It just means you would have a talent worthy of being noted for posterity. And we're talking about abilities, not wishes. The ability to live forever is not really an ability, nor is the ability to get more abilities. Those belong to the wish department. We're talking skill sets, physical, academic, artistic, etc. The ability to be a great football player, or rocket scientist, or painter. These all work.

GO!

[Comet]

I wouldn't take anything.

Not only do I want to live as long as I possibly can, I wouldn't want to become famous due to an ability someone else gave me with a snap of a finger. Feels like cheating and wouldn't probably be very fulfilling in the long run.

[Cobra_Ikari]

I'd do it in a heartbeat. I'm reading this as you dying on your 65th birthday for 1 ability, 55th for 2, and so on.

I don't really want to live to old age, but more importantly, I feel that if you picked the right field (anything related to science or medicine comes to mind), it'd be worth it to lose 10 years of your life. To be famous in one of those fields would involve doing something that would benefit mankind enormously after you're gone.

[DeadManSleeping]

Knowing exactly when I'd die would preclude any possibility of death before then. I think I would abuse the hell out of that.

Basically, I think I'd take either one or two decades so I could get whatever abilities I needed to become basically a superhero.

[Murska]

Yup. I'd take an ability or two. It's worth it for all the things I could achieve with the right skills.

Then again, I'd have to think a lot about what abilities I take, as I wouldn't want to become a great scientist only to figure out that I was already capable of becoming a great scientist.

[Winthur]

I become a StarCraft master.

That's all I ever really wanted in my life.

Hey, I can't go to Korea or play with White-Ra on my own strength, after all.

[Telonius]

For 10 years off the end of your life, he will grant you the talent to be good enough at something to be famous for it.

Terrible deal. I already have that.

Now if he were to grant me a marketing department, I might consider it.

[willpell]

Given that I am in terrible health and am certain to get worse with passing years, I'd probably be willing to give up 3 decades, and might even part with 4 (I'm 31 so that would leave me 4 years, and frankly with all current state of the world that might still be longer than it's worth living anymore). I'd have to think about what abilities to ask for though, given that there is virtually no limit to what I could wish for - it'd be a question of prioritization. There are a lot of things that I would love the be able to magically do, but wouldn't want to do through talent, even if the talent was magicall granted, because it would still involve work and take too much of the fun out of using it. And other things that simply wouldn't be useful enough. Still, a fun thought-experiment, and I'll definitely be working on it.

[THAC0]

...No. Not even remotely appealing to me.

[Pie Guy]

Not for me. Although, I would also abuse the hell out of predetermined death.

[ForzaFiori]

I'd definitely take one. Either become an uber bassist or archeologist. That way, I figure I'll either have a platinum album, or some new discovery that might rewrite the past. Heck, I could deal with dying at 55 (it's about where most males in my family do anyway), and get both.

[Anxe]

I'd take one decade away. I'm studying to become a biochemist right now. Having the sureity that I'd discover something important enough for my name to be remembered after I died would be worth 10 years of my life. It'd probably be giving hundreds of people decades to their lives, so its very utilitarian. Additionally, none of my children would still be relying on me at age 65, so I wouldn't have to worry about that.

[Mx.Silver]

Yes, although the real question is what field of science and/or technology the ability would be in. A field of research with medical applications would probably be one of the best, since the terms of the wish would entail that'd you end-up finding a cure for a disease or other negative condition. Psychology or neuroscience have similar potential here as well.
Robotics might be useful as well, especially anything related to nanotechnology, given the possible uses for it. Engineering or environmental sciences also hold strong potential as well, given the current the energy and environmental problems.
Philosophy and Economics also have potential to affect positive social change. Of course, the problem there is that there's not much guarantee that your ideas will be followed. From an ethical standpoint therefore they probably aren't as a good a bet.

[CoffeeIncluded]

So if I took the deal I wouldn't live past 65? Or 75? I'm going to be a veterinarian. If I did something that would make me remembered forever in this field, it would involve saving animal lives, and potentially human ones too. Cut short my life to save others? It scares the living crap out of me and I'm pretty sure that when time really starts running out every other thought will be, "I don't want to die," but...I think I'd do it. But I'd like to discover the talent on my own more.

[inexorabletruth]

Let me reiterate. The deal does not guarantee fame. It only guarantees that you will be good enough at that field that you could be famous for it.

Let's say you wanted to be a talented architect and a talented engineer, but you used that talent to build a secret underground bomb shelter/lair that was so well hidden no one but you ever found it in your lifetime.

Or that you chose to become a brilliant writer, but never presented any of your works to a publisher, so they just got stored away in the attic, or tossed in a shredder, never to be discovered. The choice is yours whether or not you become famous for the ability you have, and will require effort on your part to become so.

And also, this does not mean that this is the only way you could become famous for the ability you've chosen. Technically speaking, regardless of how healthy your self-esteem may be right now, all of us possess the potential to be so good at something we could be famous for it. This just offers you the skill sets right now, and it could be in any category you want, rather than based on your current physical or mental limitations. For instance, an asthmatic with bad knees could request superior athletic skills and be good enough at that to join a professional team if he/she so chose. Or an individual with a learning disability could acquire the skills to become a brain surgeon in the hopes of discovering a way to treat learning disabilities. The athlete may still be an asthmatic with bad knees, and the very sport he becomes famous in may be the very thing that kills him because of it, but at least he died doing something he always wanted to do. Similar situation with the learning disabled neurosurgeon.

And all of you are correct. 1 ability cuts your down to 65. 2 abilities cut you down to 55. I am 32. I could burn the candle bright and take four abilities if I wanted, but I'd be dead in three years... oh but what a three years it would be.

[GeekGirl]

I wouldn't take anything.

Not only do I want to live as long as I possibly can, I wouldn't want to become famous due to an ability someone else gave me with a snap of a finger. Feels like cheating and wouldn't probably be very fulfilling in the long run.

Pretty much sums up my feelings on the matter.

[Crow]

Hell yeah, I do it.

But I pick a talent that I have no background in, or time to develop on my own right now. I wouldn't focus so much on making myself famous, but setting up my loved ones to be extremely comfortable when I pass.

[Icewalker]

Tempting. But I feel that any ten years I would lose are ten years I could spend mastering such a skill.

[AtlanteanTroll]

Hmmm. I could take 5 abilities and still live for 8 years. Hell to the yeah.

1: Master drawing.
2: Master the drums.
3: Master singing.
4: Master Japanese.
5: Master my need to eat/diet/metabolism.

[Traab]

Master working the stock market. Basically, id be good enough at it to be famous. (Since im assuming there wont be a devils deal where im famous for sucking so badly at it) I would be happy to live till im 65, rich and happy till the day I die.

[factotum]

I don't know if I would be able to get past the existential bombshell that is knowing that everyone's entire life is predestined--because, let's be honest, that's the only possible way any being would be able to tell me the exact date and time of my death! How would he know I'm not going to blunder in front of a bus tomorrow unless he knows exactly what each and every one of us will do at any particular moment?

[Grinner]

I don't know if I would be able to get past the existential bombshell that is knowing that everyone's entire life is predestined--because, let's be honest, that's the only possible way any being would be able to tell me the exact date and time of my death! How would he know I'm not going to blunder in front of a bus tomorrow unless he knows exactly what each and every one of us will do at any particular moment?

Not necessarily. If a Physical God approaches you with an offer of an exceptional talent and a given lifespan, it's quite possible that it may intervene to preserve your life instead of predetermining it.

[missmvicious]

I'd take one. Tenacity. I am pretty sure the only reason I am not more then I am now is because I am a flake. I figure God's way of keeping the creative people from becoming super people is just by making them to flaky to actually finish things so if I could over come that I would become all the great things that I hope to become. That would be worth my ten years. Also congrats for all the people willing to help the world, I don't think I'd do that. Though even if I was good at it I would be a miserable scientist so no curing cancer for me.

[thubby]

master of mathematics then science.

that'd be about 30 years to solve a lot of problems.

[Cobra_Ikari]

I'd take one. Tenacity. I am pretty sure the only reason I am not more then I am now is because I am a flake. I figure God's way of keeping the creative people from becoming super people is just by making them to flaky to actually finish things so if I could over come that I would become all the great things that I hope to become. That would be worth my ten years. Also congrats for all the people willing to help the world, I don't think I'd do that. Though even if I was good at it I would be a miserable scientist so no curing cancer for me.

So...you want to become a Determinator?

...that just sounds painful, for some reason.

[Mad Mask]

No need to take any years off my life. Since I won't die until the age of 75, I could get worldwide fame as the invulnerable man!

In all seriousness, if I could, I'd actually even refuse the first part of the deal. The average human in Western civilisation already lives longer than 75, and in the future, will in all likelihood have even more increased lifespans. The only attractive part of the deal is immunity from accidents and terminal disease, but I'm willing to take that risk.

As for the second part, I wouldn't want to sacrifice huge portions of my life just to be good at what I could very well achieve on my own. Becoming instantly good at something will not actually mean anything. The success will not be mine, but the superior being's.

[Murska]

I don't know if I would be able to get past the existential bombshell that is knowing that everyone's entire life is predestined--because, let's be honest, that's the only possible way any being would be able to tell me the exact date and time of my death! How would he know I'm not going to blunder in front of a bus tomorrow unless he knows exactly what each and every one of us will do at any particular moment?

I'm already a determinist so that would be nothing new to me.

I don't really think I'd go with the people who think their 75-year lifespan means they're invulnerable to everything. First of all, I don't really like pain or fear so I wouldn't search for situations where I might die anyway, and then the terms of the deal don't mean I couldn't fall into a coma for the rest of my life or lose a couple limbs or have to live in chronic pain.

[Whiffet]

No. I wouldn't take the deal.

Thing is, I don't want fame at all. I don't have to use the ability to become famous? Well, sure, it would be nice to gain the ability to be an amazing doctor or something, but I have no interest in that.

What I do want is to be there. For family. See, I'll have kids one day, and then one day my kids will have kids, and I want to be there to see them. I had my grandparents there when I graduated high school, and if it's possible I want to see my grandkids graduate.

I really hope I live longer than 75, though. Family history shows both my mom's and dad's sides of the family living good long lives. I knew several great-grandparents before they died. The one I knew best celebrated her 90th birthday by riding on a motorcycle. Heh, she was great. The nicest person I ever knew. She loved everyone, and when I was really little she still had the energy to keep up with little kids running around wanting to play with her. Losing her hit me hard.

... awww, I made myself sad.

[factotum]

In all seriousness, if I could, I'd actually even refuse the first part of the deal. The average human in Western civilisation already lives longer than 75, and in the future, will in all likelihood have even more increased lifespans.

If the average lifespan is 75, that still means half the population don't make it that far. My father died at 62, and I have no idea at the moment if I take after his side of the family (who all tended to die young-ish) or my mother's (who last into their 80s and 90s). Being given a guaranteed 75 would actually be OK for me, apart from the whole predestination thing I mentioned above...

[Raistlin1040]

I have no desire to live that long, so I'd take at least one ability, possibly two, and maybe even three. It would depend on how good "good enough to be famous" is. If I picked soccer, for example, I'd want to be good enough to play competetively in a top European league. Sitting on a bench in the MLS would be enough to be "famous", in the sense of people knowing who I am, but that's not really that good of a deal. I'd have to know the extent of the talent before I made any deals.