Top 10 Super Powers

1. Invincibility and immortality – but only under my control!

I would want to be immortal, invulnerable and invincible, what kind of superhero would I be if I wasn’t? But I can easily imagine situations were this would be a burden: for example, when finally all of humanity is dead and the Sun has died it would be a long and terrible existence just drifting in the vacuum of space alone.

Plus, let’s be honest, nobody really wants to live forever, we just don’t want to die either. But it would be nice to keep the option open. And so yes, I would choose immortality, but I would want to be able to toggle it on and off at will: on when I’m crossing the road; off when I’m watching Coronation street (and so drinking cyanide).

2. The ability to be able to read and alter the thoughts of others.

Now this would be a good one! Why fight crime when you could just nip in and take away what makes a criminal? Why struggle for a promotion when you could just pop in and make the boss see how good you are? This ability would be disastrous in the wrong hands! Which is why, of course, I would only ask it for myself.

3. To be able to turn invisible at will.

Taking off a pair of spectacles may work for Superman, but if anonymity is what is needed today then there is only one way: invisibility! Of course, the ability would have to extend to include clothing and accessories (we’ve all seen “Memoirs of an Invisible Man” and know only too well how inconvenient invisibility can be), and I would want complete control over this power… sometimes being seen is an important part of human-human interaction.

4. To be able to become fluent in a language after only hearing four words of it spoken.

It would be wonderful, to say the least, to be able to communicate with everyone you want (or merely to eavesdrop on the bus). That’s it. The ‘four word’ part is just to provide a trigger: at the moment I don’t even know of every language in the world, much less be able to speak them; but I don’t want to be able to list them, only to be fluent in them. How do you learn something you don’t even know exists? With a four word trigger!

5. To be able to remember everything and to have perfect recall.

Yes, this would be very useful. It is the ‘to be able’ part that is important though… forgetting boredom is a key survival instinct!

6. To be able to forget anything I wanted.

How many times have you wished you could have forgotten something… a bad film, an embarrassing moment, the fact that Santa isn’t real? If you lived forever, as hinted in the first point, then the only way to be able to remain interested in life would be to be able to rediscover certain things. Imagine, for example, you were able to ‘forget’ what chocolate tasted like, and then eat a chocolate fudge cake! Oh the joy…!

7. To be able to not feel pain at will.

Turns out that pain is pretty important for survival! But wouldn’t it be nice to be able to turn it off? Now that would be the best hangover cure!

Plus: broke your toe? You know because it hurts… now that you know, it can stop hurting, right? So why doesn’t it? Ah, because you do not have Power Number 7!

8. To be able to see future events, at will.

I am thinking only of the lottery. I wouldn’t want to see anything else, what would be the point of living? Or are you the type of person who watches spoilers and reads the last page of a book before you start?

9. To be able to control my aging

Immortality would be pretty unpleasant if you spent it feeling your age! No, the only way the whole thing could work would be if you could control your aging process.

10. Safety Power

Basically, there’s always something you forget. Number 10 would be a blank space that you could fill in as needed. It could well save your… reputation as a Superhero (I would say life, but that’s already covered)!