A very serious review of superpowers

The best and worst skills in my imagination

Photo courtesy of Klaus Nielsen/Pexels

We’re breaking down some of the most popular superpowers. What are your favorites?

I am sure we have all been asked at some point: what superpower, if you could have any, would you choose? I take this question very seriously, and I believe we are due for a serious review of all superpower options. What superpowers would be the most useful, fun, weird, or awful to have? 

I'll start with a classic: the ability to read minds. Many have expressed that they would not enjoy this ability—and understandably so. They cite how absolutely horrific it might be to know what everyone was thinking about you all the time. I see that fear, I recognize it, and I think it is valid. Still, consider: if someone genuinely offered you the ability to read minds, would you refuse? I absolutely could not. Even if it destroys me mentally, I would need to satisfy my otherwise insatiable curiosity. Therefore, this superpower earns the designation as useful and really cool, although potentially incredibly damaging. 

The next superpower we simply must examine is the ability to fly. This is a top tier superpower choice. It is a little bit humiliating for the human race that one of our main superpower options is one that many animals enjoy for free. Still, this remains a wonderful choice of superpower; imagine the freedom of the open skies, weaving in and out of the trees, joining a flock of birds and doing flips. Also, you could skip over annoying traffic and get to any destination pretty quickly. Nonetheless, the downsides of this ability include that weather would often mean a need to bundle up or protect yourself from the wind, rain, or snow. I designate this superior as awesome, relatively useful, occasionally mildly inconvenient, but overall sick. 

Another notable superpower that enters the conversation is the ability to teleport. This would be an undeniably useful skill to have, but one I would argue is less fun than other choices. Sure, you can get to your destination immediately, but you have none of the whimsy of flying. Overall, very efficient and helpful as a superpower but ultimately slightly boring. 

We cannot conclude this article without reviewing invisibility. This would be a useful superpower to spy in on any interesting conversations, or to scare your roommates for fun. You could learn a lot of useful and fun information, maybe even acquire some blackmail material. This superpower has some of the benefits of reading minds without the potential overwhelming damage. Ultimately, it's a little less helpful than other superpowers, but remains awesome and a cool way to spy without compromising your mental sanity (maybe). 

Finally, we must cover my favorite, and the one I always end up answering with: the ability to immediately become fluent in any language. As someone currently struggling through learning French, I can personally attest to the usefulness of this skill. Being able to learn all of the languages of the world would eliminate any potential communication barriers, and would also just be a really cool party trick to pull out. In my completely unbiased opinion, I give this superpower the designation of very useful, really cool, and the best ever. 

Your favorite superpower is based entirely on your priorities, so it makes sense that everyone has a different answer! Mine is still definitely correct, but I am open to hearing any defense you might have to offer for your choice.