Super Power: What Choice Would You Make?

Get this: Given a choice of super powers, 28% of Americans would pick the ability to read minds. Yes, according to a recent Marist Poll, people of all ages would like to be able to read your mind. I can see the attraction in a way. If I knew what you were thinking now for example, I would know whether you were glad you opened the link to my blog. I would also know if you liked my writing, and when you stopped reading and why.
As a sales professional think of how much time I could save if I knew what the customer was thinking. “Listen to this guy! He goes on and on. Does he ever take a breath? And speaking of breath, what exactly did he have for lunch today?” Well, you can’t make a sale on every call I guess.
Regardless, I am sure there would be some other advantages in knowing what others are thinking, but what if I couldn’t control it? I mean suppose I had to know what you were thinking whether I was interested or not? Would I have room for my own thoughts or would I be inundated with the mundane thoughts of others? Believe me if they’re anything like mine, every day would feel like hard time at Shawshank. Imagine listening to endless meanderings like “I’m tired and I still have to take out the garbage.” Or, “What day is it anyway?” “Did I take my blood pressure pill? Damn it I have to count my pills again.” No doubt your thoughts are considerably more profound. I sure hope so.
By the way, when it comes to super powers the ability to time travel was just as popular. That’s right 28% of Americans think that would be cool. I like that one. I think it would be great to go back to say, August of 2004 so I could buy as many shares of Google as possible. Then I could pay somebody else to count my pills.
I might also want to take a trip to the future to see how the world turns out. I would be particularly interested in whether the New York Yankees win the pennant in 2048, the hundredth anniversary of my arrival on earth. Not to mention whether I might be in attendance on opening day that year. Probably not but it would be nice to know.
Invisibility didn’t score that high. Only 10% of us think being invisible would be a good super power to have. For my money it beats the heck out of reading people’s minds. For one thing I would rather be able to pick the people I wanted to snoop on and hear what they have to say out loud. Tell me you wouldn’t want to be in your boss’s office when he was discussing your performance with his boss. “I keep telling this guy he’s got to stop eating onions for lunch. Customers are complaining.”
How about keeping an eye on your kids while they’re in school? Well, perhaps not. Most of us would be depressed. Based on what we saw and heard, we probably would be in line at the super power store that very afternoon. We’d be hot to trade our invisibility for time travel so we could go back to when the world was perfect, which according to the “remember when” emails I get, was around 1956.
The ability to fly didn’t score much better than invisibility. Just 16% of us would like to fly. For my money, flying wouldn’t be a great super power to have unless you were invulnerable to cold air and bird strikes. And you would have to be able to fly at a leisurely pace, reasonably low to the ground too. Listen, if it’s 24 degrees out and you’re doing 600 miles an hour at 30,000 feet, I’m guessing frostbite becomes an issue pretty quickly. A flock of migrating geese could give one pause as well.
Every since super heroes like Batman and Superman came to life in comic books, people have dreamt about having a super power. I’m surprised that the pollsters didn’t offer other choices like invulnerability, x-ray vision or the chance to be China. Which super power would you pick? Take your time and please, remember the old saying. Be careful what you wish for…