Beneficial/"good" powers which are disastrous on a mass scale.

[Ragitsu]

Imagine "Life Support (Diminished Eating - Character does not need to Eat or Drink)" permanently bestowed upon every organism on this planet.

 

Humans would be bad enough, but can you imagine acres-long bacterial mats oozing out of storm drains, monstrously large clouds of gnats/deer flies that make the Biblical plagues look like an average day in Okeechobee, and armies of boars rolling across the North American plains?

 

By the way, this assumes that predators/omnivores still feel an instinctual compulsion to prey upon...well...prey. This would somewhat mitigate the explosion in growth of most species. However, take that away, and every type of consumer booms in population at the same time as they grow offspring without sustenance (screw you, laws of thermodynamics!).

 

---

 

What other seemingly innocuous or benevolent Powers are dangerous when applied broadly in scope?

[JohnnyAppleseed098]

Healing; Resurrection. 

 

Think About It, Every Person Who Ever Dies Comes Back To Life, Probably Endless War and Fighting. No One Dying, Everyone Suffering. 

 

 

As Words Die, OH WAIT!!!! The Words Were REVIVED. 

[Ragitsu]

Healing; Resurrection. 

 

Think About It, Every Person Who Ever Dies Comes Back To Life, Probably Endless War and Fighting. No One Dying, Everyone Suffering. 

 

 

As Words Die, OH WAIT!!!! The Words Were REVIVED. 

 

Eternal intra-family feuds...yaaaaaaaaaay!

[Logan D. Hurricanes]

4d6 Aid to INT. Can you imagine the devastation if everyone on the planet suddenly became much smarter? Chaos. Pure chaos.

[Ragitsu]

4d6 Aid to INT. Can you imagine the devastation if everyone on the planet suddenly became much smarter? Chaos. Pure chaos.

 

Details, my good man: details!

[DasBroot]

Details, my good man: details!

 

This is actually the driving force of one of my settings most prominent recurring supervillians. 

 

He postulates that with increased intellect 'low brow' crime rates would drop and 'white collar' crimes would remain the same or slightly increase.  That more intelligent people gravitate towards crimes, if they're criminally minded in the first place, that offer the most reward for the least risk.  He also postulates that a person not already a criminal probably won't become one just because he's a genius now.

 

He postulates that the blue collar working class will, for the most part, grow rebellious for a time as job satisfaction drops.  It's not that a person of average intelligence is dumb, per se - it's that a genius level IQ person will only enjoy such a job if they truly enjoy such a job on all levels. Anyone borderline will want something 'more'.   He speculates that over time the working class will cease to exist due to automation and that by sheer necessity wealth will become more evenly distributed by all (glut of doctors, more competition in the stock market speculation, etc).  He has no delusions that Utopia will occur where money is a thing of the past.

 

The characters, for their part, think he's mad - a smarter street thug will still be a street thug, a serial killer will just get better at evading police (but the police will get better at catching them), etc - that crime won't stop as people realize it's 'stupid' to commit crimes.

 

That's a fundamental miscommunication between the heroes and the villain - he doesn't expect some golden age of crime free enlightenment.  He doesn't care.  He wants more people of intelligence working on the big problems - that's it - that the world can only gain from more geniuses. 

 

He's mostly a villain because a statement in one clash (paraphrased from Babylon 5) "I'm going to unleash an avalanche of reason. Why on earth would I give the unenlightened pebbles a vote?" indicated that he's not allowing people to opt out of getting smarter (which, in his mind, only a truly stupid person would do - but the world is full of them).

[Logan D. Hurricanes]

Details, my good man: details!

 

DasBroot has a great start there. But on a much more fundamental level, have you ever seen a room full of geniuses come to an agreement? On anything?

 

In the extreme, increased intelligence on that scale would likely lead to an increase in arrogance, narcissism, megalomania, depression, and a decrease in empathy.

 

On the other hand, that society would have the most fantastic products of art, science, and philosophy one could even imagine.

[BoloOfEarth]

In the extreme, increased intelligence on that scale would likely lead to an increase in arrogance, narcissism, megalomania, depression, and a decrease in empathy.

 

I beg to differ.  We already have a body of people that exhibit pretty much all of those traits, and you can scarcely say the US Congress has "increased intelligence."

[Ragitsu]

How about sky-high (+50) PER to every being on the planet?

[dmjalund]

How about sky-high (+50) PER to every being on the planet?

[ghost-angel]

There's a difference between increases intelligence, and knowledge...

 

Flight, 12m ... just like walking, only on air. Now imagine crowds, riots, inebriated people, all up in the air....

[Ragitsu]

There's a difference between increases intelligence, and knowledge...

 

Flight, 12m ... just like walking, only on air. Now imagine crowds, riots, inebriated people, all up in the air....

 

Holy crap...can you imagine hundreds of people, per day, buzzing over your house at various volumes and possibly crashing into your property due to drunkenness, sleepiness, etc?

[Asperion]

Here's a power that would really suck for humanity to gain: telepathy.

 

With all the thoughts that are racing around in my head that I would not like for others to find out about. I believe that I am not unusual in this. At the same time while we always hear about the good guys who are trying to enforce the law and proper status quo of society, that will not be the case for most people. Most individuals will attempt to simply use it for their own best interests, be it in a job or family or any other way that suit them best. Then again there will be those who are going to take this to the extreme and create something that would best be known as "psychic rape" where they are forcing their way into the other against their will.

[Badger]

Imagine "Life Support (Diminished Eating - Character does not need to Eat or Drink)" permanently bestowed upon every organism on this planet.

 

Humans would be bad enough, but can you imagine acres-long bacterial mats oozing out of storm drains, monstrously large clouds of gnats/deer flies that make the Biblical plagues look like an average day in Okeechobee, and armies of boars rolling across the North American plains?

 

By the way, this assumes that predators/omnivores still feel an instinctual compulsion to prey upon...well...prey. This would somewhat mitigate the explosion in growth of most species. However, take that away, and every type of consumer booms in population at the same time as they grow offspring without sustenance (screw you, laws of thermodynamics!).

 

---

 

What other seemingly innocuous or benevolent Powers are dangerous when applied broadly in scope?

 

I am now inspired at some point to create a villain that is giant oozing bacterial mat.  Likely a hive mind.

[Badger]

Here's a power that would really suck for humanity to gain: telepathy.

 

With all the thoughts that are racing around in my head that I would not like for others to find out about. I believe that I am not unusual in this. At the same time while we always hear about the good guys who are trying to enforce the law and proper status quo of society, that will not be the case for most people. Most individuals will attempt to simply use it for their own best interests, be it in a job or family or any other way that suit them best. Then again there will be those who are going to take this to the extreme and create something that would best be known as "psychic rape" where they are forcing their way into the other against their will.

 

THat is one reason I loathe mentalists.  Even with benevolent ones, it is hard not to see a power like telepathy as being mind rape.

[DasBroot]

THat is one reason I loathe mentalists.  Even with benevolent ones, it is hard not to see a power like telepathy as being mind rape.

 

In my setting mentalists are common enough that psychic evidence gathered from a suspect is not admissible in the court of law (in the US) due to the 5th Amendment - but psychic evidence gathered from a victim who consents to having their mind read is - and any non-consensual telepathic intrusion itself is an assault (usually proven, ironically enough, by the victim having their own mind read since you usually get to know the identity of your attacker when mind powers are used against you).

 

There are also a ton of other laws in place that make the team mentalist always be on their toes such as the laws on using mental powersl: It's ok to use mental powers, even mind control or mental illusions, to stop an attacker from attacking you or someone else.  It's not ok for... well... anything else.  So commanding a thug to 'stop attacking' is fine but telling him to attack his allies will get YOU arrested on a variety of slavery/compel to criminal activity charges, assault, etc..  Even Mind Scans are supposed to be cleared by the mentalist department of the police (though in practice they'll really only detect you if you do a city/world/whatever wide scan).

[Nothere]

Well it depends on how its used. I allowed a telepath into a game figurine they'd use it on bad guys during dramatically appropriate moments.

 

Crook "I'll never tell you where the bomb is."

Telepath " I already know."

 

But instead they would go up to every crook in the city, and read there minds for everything back till they were like 5.

 

Of course were talking about everyone having it. Who wants to go to a bar and know what everyone things of your prospects?

[BoloOfEarth]

On the flip side of that coin, Nothere, how about going to a bar and knowing up front how petty, self-centered, moronic, or obnoxious that rather attractive person across the bar really is?  Or realizing, "hey, he/she may not look like much, but he/she has the soul of an angel."