Telekinesis is the best super power, someone prove me wrong.

[ZamielVanWeber]

Anyway, to me mind control is disgusting and unethical, anyone who thinks that's a great super power to have should really consider their moral compass.

Moral compass is considered. Moral compass is functioning adequately. Conclusion: Mind Control is an amazing power to have. Subtle and effective, although I would highly recommend adopting an a-typical moral system or simply embracing amorality entirely.

[Amazon]

Not really. There are plenty of good actions that can be done via mind control (for starters, you could cure addiction, "convince" people out of suicide, and probably rid the world of evil by making your way around like ghandi). However, yes, there are plenty of evil ways to use mind control, but what sets the good/evil applicability away from any other superpower?

No, just no. You can't force someone to be good. That's just wrong.

Addiction, suicide and evil are just symptoms of deep psycological problems, if you take that away you won't solve the real problem, you will just cripple people doing unauthorized mental lobotomies with your powers.

However, yes, there are plenty of evil ways to use mind control, but what sets the good/evil applicability away from any other superpower?

No, there are only evil ways to use mind control since they go against freedom and consent.

[ZamielVanWeber]

No, there are only evil ways to use mind cotnrol sicne they go againts freedom and consent.

Jailing a criminal is done without the consent of the criminal and restricts their freedoms. Issues are not easily boiled down to sound bites.

[Strigon]

No, there are only evil ways to use mind cotnrol sicne they go againts freedom and consent.

A statement which is only true if we take freedom to be the highest moral imperative, above not only the individual's life, but the lives of everyone around them as well. Certainly, there are some who believe this, but many who do not.
If there were someone who was about to commit mass murder, and I mind controlled them to not do that, and convinced them that they want to go home and rethink their life, I would sleep very well that night.

[Amazon]

A statement which is only true if we take freedom to be the highest moral imperative, above not only the individual's life, but the lives of everyone around them as well. Certainly, there are some who believe this, but many who do not.
If there were someone who was about to commit mass murder, and I mind controlled them to not do that, and convinced them that they want to go home and rethink their life, I would sleep very well that night.

And where do we draw the line?

[ZamielVanWeber]

And where do we draw the line?

I just said moral problems cannot be distilled down to sound bites. For a more formal answer look up the Sorites Paradox.

[Elanasaurus]

I think Xuc Xac's moral compass is fine. He was just saying "Mind Control beats Telekinesis" because "Mind Control User beats Telekinesis User".

Maybe a rule for Mind Control would be to use it in such a way that lives are saved as a direct(immediate?) result, or to stop someone from doing evil to someone else. So maybe it wouldn't be used against addiction.

[Strigon]

And where do we draw the line?

I don't know. Nor, frankly, do I care; we don't have to know exactly where the line is to identify that a person's right to not be killed horribly is more important than a person's right to want to kill people horribly.

[Xuc Xac]

I think Xuc Xac's moral compass is fine. He was just saying "Mind Control beats Telekinesis" because "Mind Control User beats Telekinesis User".

*stares intensely at Elanasaurus while whispering* Good. Good. Now tell them how handsome I am...

[Goaty14]

No, just no. You can't force someone to be good. That's just wrong.

You're mischaracterizing my imaginary super-hero-y self. I wouldn't force anybody to be good, I'd just force them to not be evil. If a random citizen goes through their entire life as is without spite, but also without doing good deeds, that's A-OK. Please enlighten me as to how removing mortal taint from society is "wrong".

Addiction, suicide and evil are just symptoms of deep psycological problems, if you take that away you won't solve the real problem, you will just cripple people (by) doing unauthorized mental lobotomies with your powers.

Sure, stopping a single person from committing suicide/murder/whatever won't stop the root of the effect (however, stopping others from causing the root, such as bullying, may stop it in a minority of cases). I'll admit that such a superpower might not be perfect or as far-reaching as a utopia-like environment would have it, but the effects would be entirely positive, no?

No, there are only evil ways to use mind control since they go against freedom and consent.

Maybe from your chaotic point of view...
Somehow I am to believe that stopping evil from ever existing (mind you, without forcing people under my will, nor giving them the mental capabilities of a robot) is an evil deed because stopping them from pursuing evil acts is restricting their free will?

Specifically, tell me the worst thing that could happen due to everybody being unable to commit evil deeds.

[Peelee]

Then obviously 1) You're not looking hard enough or 2) You're also immortal, having sucked out everybody else's superpowers now that nobody has one.

In a discussion about superpowers, I'm going to assume this isn't the 1/1,000 time you're the only guy with it. Even then, you're doing pretty good in the other 999, right?

Nope, nope, and nope. At least in response to me. I specifically asked about that 1 in 1000 chance.

[gooddragon1]

How about having a segment of your brain that can think like a computer, has limitless storage capacity, and regularly updates its software as you sleep?

+Perfect reflexes for the puzzle and dragons game
+Easily learn almost anything
+No memory degradation over time

[Lvl 2 Expert]

Omipotence is the best superpower, but it would get beaten out if there was a word that said "omnipotence and also omniscience". (Godhood doesn't quite cover it, between all the different forms that concept takes.)

I think that's kind of the problem with the general "which superpower is best" question. It counts as one superpower if you can describe it as a single concept. It's ultimately for a large part a semantics discussion.

We could try different categories based on different aspects of the superpower

When using weight classes based on total energy expenditure telekinesis is pretty sweet. The mechanical energy used is less than what the movement would have cost you if you had walked over there. I ones did some back of an envelope calculations that for instance shape shifting costs the caloric equivalence of an entire December in one sitting per shift. If you have a shifter and a kineticist that can properly use up the same amount of energy per second my money is on the kineticist.

Classed by plausibility telekinesis is probably somewhere middle of the pack, maybe short of that depending on what else you're listing. Super strength comes from muscles, structures we know exist and structures that can provide strength. The mechanism for telekinesis is rather vague. The effect is clear, picking things up is obviously possible, but a good mechanic by which individual objects can be singled out for manipulation from a distance is a little tricky.

And then we could try narrative potential, or stuff like that.

Anyway, omnipotence.

[Manga Shoggoth]

You're mischaracterizing my imaginary super-hero-y self. I wouldn't force anybody to be good, I'd just force them to not be evil.

So, you'd Google them?

[Goaty14]

So, you'd Google them?

I'm not quite sure what you're implying here

[Peelee]

I'm not quite sure what you're implying here

IIRC, Google's mission statement is "don't be evil."

ETA: Huh, apparently it was just in their code of conduct. And, more interestingly, it's been removed. Funny, that.

[Manga Shoggoth]

I'm not quite sure what you're implying here

IIRC, Google's mission statement is "don't be evil."

ETA: Huh, apparently it was just in their code of conduct. And, more interestingly, it's been removed. Funny, that.

Yes, indeed - it is a reference to the 'ol motto. Removed in April 2018, apparently - although I was of the impression it had been removed earlier.

[Thrawn4]

Healing.
While everybody has fun flying or being invincible, I give people a second chance and erase the suffering around me.

[gooddragon1]

Healing.
While everybody has fun flying or being invincible, I give people a second chance and erase the suffering around me.

Hope you're immune to diseases that could instantly debilitate you and that you have a strong stomach for seeing certain things because if you're handing that out for free everyone's going to want in on that action.

Conversely, the computerized mind segment allows surgical precision and quick learning of medical techniques. So you could be a doctor if you wanted to.

[Shamash]

Moving stuff your mind is very rad, but this is my counterpoint:

[gooddragon1]

Moving stuff your mind is very rad, but this is my counterpoint:

Going to need a lot of secondary powers for that one (too much profanity, imo, on the cracked.com article so I won't link it):

Super Speed

Hey Guys, Check This Out!

So let's settle for a lesser super power. How about super speed, like the Flash? Outrun bullet trains, bullets and/or bullets being fired by trains. You can get anywhere you need to be faster on foot than most people can drive.

Oh Snap...

You may have noticed after your little impression of the Flash that your whole body's wreathed in fire. It's the friction of your body rubbing against a whole bunch of air molecules. The rest of us mortals aren't bothered by that because we move at the pace of a narcoleptic snail compared to you.

So this is the Flash, but fire burned his costume. The fire also gave him a mustache, somehow.

But, hey, maybe you've got some kind of fireproof suit. But Newton is still going to find a way to mess you up. And if you thought friction was a bear, wait until you hear what inertia is going to do to you. Let's say you hear about a totally awesome party across town and there's a girl there who likes you. Zoom, off you go. But wait, what's that gooey stuff on the ground behind you?

That, my friend, is your internal organs being liquefied from approximately 25 Gs and pushed out through your pores. Not that you'll care because the moment you do your immediate, Flash-like stop, your brain will go slamming into the front of your skull.

OK, so maybe you've got a special suit that is both fireproof and somehow overcomes the forces of inertia. For super speed to be of any use to you, your perception would have to be sped up as well. Otherwise the landscape will go blurring past and you'll wind up pulverizing yourself on the nearest wall like a fly on a windshield.

OK, so fine, let's say you've got super sped-up senses to go with your super speed. Now your problem is that when you're functioning at normal speed, the rest of the world will seem impossibly slow to your super-fast brain. You watched The Matrix, right? Of course you did, don't play that game. Well, imagine what it would be like if you were in bullet time all the time. Thanks to your sped-up perceptions, everything takes place in super slow motion, including the waiting room at the dentist.

[Shamash]

Going to need a lot of secondary powers for that one (too much profanity, imo, on the cracked.com article so I won't link it):

You are assuming that superpowers need follow the rules of physics... Maybe they just don't have to

Still I would gladly accept all those secondary powers! :) Is there a rule that I can't?

Besides I think that ALL super powers need secondary powers don't they?

[gooddragon1]

You are assuming that superpowers need follow the rules of physics... Maybe they just don't have to

Still I would gladly accept all those secondary powers! :) Is there a rule that I can't?

Besides I think that ALL super powers need secondary powers don't they?

Probably, but I'm not entirely sure. I'd say the meta-problem(?) of having people aware of you having the power in question at least requires secondary powers.

[Goaty14]

Yes, indeed - it is a reference to the 'ol motto. Removed in April 2018, apparently - although I was of the impression it had been removed earlier.

Oh yes, though that'd have problems with moral subjectivity so while "don't do evil" would be a catch-all for citizens with the good ideals, "how about you don't do X" done a bunch of times would probably work better.

[Goblin Slayer]

Maybe Google decided to be evil and did not want to seem like hypocrite so they stop pitting that on the memo

[Peelee]

Maybe Google decided to be evil and did not want to seem like hypocrite so they stop pitting that on the memo

I would be very impressed if that line was stopping evil, and removing it permitted evil.

[gooddragon1]

I would be very impressed if that line was stopping evil, and removing it permitted evil.

Reminds me a little of this:
"We don't want players to be able to buy their way to success in RuneScape. If we let players start doing this, it devalues RuneScape for others. We feel your status in real-life shouldn't affect your ability to be successful in RuneScape."

[Elanasaurus]

*stares intensely at Elanasaurus while whispering* Good. Good. Now tell them how handsome I am...

Well, according to your profile, you're a Bugbear, so the most I'm willing to say is that Oona would definitely be attracted to you if she met you.

*ignores the staring by staring intensely at the wall behind Xuc Xac*

[S@tanicoaldo]

Moving stuff your mind is very rad, but this is my counterpoint:

Wow, I didn't watch this movie because it kind of looked like sh** but this scene is awesome! I may have to watch it now :D

[Plus one]

A telekinetic can do a lot of things. They'll also do those things whenever a telepath wants them to. A telepath can mentally dominate the telekinetic (and anyone else with useful powers) and use them like a toolbox.

Electrical impulses in the brain potentially can be read, modified or stopped by someone with electrical control. Electronic locks can be bypassed, EMF shielding or EMP and basic electrical attacks.
So basically this would combine proffesor X, Magneto and Karkash (the Bolt of Kavia). With some minor additions.