This week’s hypothetical

Standard

You are approached by a team of comic-book style Super Scientists (iow, men and women who can do Impossible Things with custom-built machinery), one of whom is your sister. They tell you that they have a special process that can grant a human being superpowers. The subject would not be harmed by the process and would not be changed in any way except that they would have powers.

However, there are limitations: they can not grant super-intelligence, since the process causes megalomania and death rays. They can not grant immunity to illness because of the complexities of the biological processes inside the body. They can not grant fast healing because it causes cancer. They can not grant immortality. But superstrength, superspeed, flight, invisibility, lightning control, elasticity… all those are on the table.

There is another limitation: They can not grant superpowers to anyone over the age of ten.

You (the fictional “you” for the purpose of this hypothetical) have a ten-year-old at home. This child is a candidate to receive superpowers, mainly because you and your sister are so close. You know your sister would never offer to use the process on your child unless it had been carefully tested because she loves you and your family very much.

However, your child is an average kid, emotionally. Somewhat lazy, immature, defiant… the whole deal. They aren’t a mature and responsible adult.

What would you do? Discuss it with your spouse? With your child? Is there a power you would consider? Your sister explains that they are going to be going public with this discovery, so you can put it off if you want, but if you change your mind later, you’ll have to pay to have the process done, and the price tag is going to be prohibitive.

Would you want to have an immature person with superpowers at home?

4 thoughts on “This week’s hypothetical

  1. LabRat001

    HHHhhhhmmmmm the whole teenage boy with invisibility thing just sprang to mind :)

    If they can pull off invulnerability without negative side effects I’d give that to my kid in a heartbeat.

    Breath underwater perhaps. With regular lungs I mean, I’m not giving the child gills.

    Nothing violent I don’t want the consequences of a tantrum.

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