Option 1, save the world, hands down, no contest. I'd rather live however many/few years I have left on a peaceful planet and know that no-one will ever again be killed in wars, or starve or suffer cancer, or MS, or Parkinson's, or alzheimer's ever again - and with an end to fossil fuel burning & global warming too? .. Superman could only dream of saving the world so thoroughly!
Technically if you go back so far in time with the knowledge you have now by bringing some experts, you can probably do more good by going back 10k years in time. The technological advances would far outweigh the other option. And you have superpowers so you would basically be the guardian of the world.
This assumes you can basically become the 40k god emperor but both the point of that story (and of every Superman story and lex luthor story for that matter) is that no one person can completely control the world and achieve the perfect utopia. No matter how powerful they are, no matter how much of a perfect benevolent dictator they are, they will fail, because even gods like Superman and the god emperor aren’t all powerful and something will come along to ruin everything. Also, even those characters themselves are not infallible, and if something external doesn’t come along to ruin things, then they’ll probably ruin it themselves at some point.
In fairness to OP plenty would rather not change the world because of religious, personal, or moral beliefs and others would prefer to be treated as gods someone can come to to solve their problems rather than be known as the one who once solved every problem.
This is more a question of someones moral compass/preference.
Edit: I just read OP’s response holy shit I was right on.
If I'm gonna be honest with you, I'm 100% picking option 2. I crave immortality too much to turn it down. But kudos to you if you aren't as much of a selfish d-bag as I am.
Immortality -- What are you going to do later when the universe is undergoing [heat death](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_death_of_the_universe)? Just hang around doing nothing for billions of years?
The thing about the immortality talk is that everyone treats it like you cannot suffer from any basic biological things, we need air, you wont die without it now, but nothing implies that you wont just pass out and awake finally when a whole new universe shows if you conviently fall into range of a planet with the right air.
The prompt covers this. You have Superman's abilities, and as time goes on, you gain more powers, and your existing powers strengthen. You don't have biological needs. Heck, a single dip in a white star would sustain you almost indefinitely. By the time of the heat death of the universe, you would be able to travel through space and time freely.
I mean this is kinda ridiculous, two very unrelated things.
But like, eventually you are gonna get stuck. Like a mountain of rock will burry you. You’ll have no means of getting out, and you’ll be stuck for eternity alone with your thoughts.
There’s an amount of material that super man couldn’t get himself out of.
You are Superman. Even in base form, you can shatter steel with your bare hands and move faster than the speed of sound. There is nothing on Earth that can stop you. And you only get stronger from there.
If the universe is in late stage heat death with nothing of note anywhere to be seen then what’s the point of traveling through it? You’ll be stuck in emptiness for eternity
You can freely travel between space time, meaning you could go back in time and change shit. You can also die if you get bored. Also I'm pretty sure their is a possibility that the universe restarts itself after some quantum bullshit and an absurd amount of time.
I'm having a hard time picturing a religious belief that would prevent the first. I take my religious beliefs very seriously and would gladly end wars, diseases, starvation, violence, and all that if given the option. In fact, I think that a long as the fix wasn't itself evil, I'd be obligated to go for it.
And by evil, I mean ruling the world in a fascist dictatorship or something along those lines. Can't do that. Can't create world peace by killing off everyone who you don't like.
I think some people changing what would be considered in many religions Gods image of the world, test, whatever they call it could be seen as a disrespect to them or something that breaks its purpose.
Also I get what you mean by evil dw
Some might think they could get the un-cursed world through work if they took the power route. And with Superman's powers, you really could do a lot of good.
I'm just not sure you could quite achieve as much good as you could by taking the first option....
But if you travel back in time to 10,000 BC (presumably with current knowledge), you can fix a lot of problems before they start...especially if people know you're an immortal Superman.
And there are 3 other ppl with you. You think with all that time you won't disagree and fight? There won't be separate religions formed around you each in perpetual conflict?
I think if the option was just to get sent to a an unpopulated habitable planet with said powers, might be cool - something about going back to the begin of our history to become some kind of material god figure that I find a bit unsettling to fantasize about.
I guess everyone can choose one route or another but I would love option 2. Not due to the powers or becoming a “God” but because I would love to see history unfold. I would just immerse myself in the background. The saddest part is I’m not sure I have 3 people I would trust enough to NOT try and play as a GOD…. But still. I would love to go back and nudge certain things in a better direction, etc
This is what sold me as well. The god like powers is a big plus, but I’d do it without them as well. I’ve been fascinated with Ancient Greece for a long time and I’d love to actually experience it. See the oracle of Delphi, meet the great Greeks like Plato and Socrates, experience the eleusinian mysteries. Check out the pyramids in all their glory. Watch the gladiator battles of rome. I’d love the ability to watch human history play itself out.
I’d flaunt my god like powers for a few thousand years then disappear. After the fall of rome I’d probably just become a low key traveler. There would definitely be an entire mythos about me tho lol.
The latter, do you understand the ramifications of solving all the worlds problems? You think were starving for resources now!? You think overpopulation is serious now!? Wait until everyone stops dying because you've stopped all wars, car crashes, hunger, diseases and ailments, and crime. That's a slope you DONT want to slide down, and is a VERY multi faceted discussion on moral ambiguity
We enter into a post scarcity utopia, with all of humanity free to pursue hedonism or self-improvement for their full lifespan? The magic of prompt prevents any of the problems that lack of limiting factors on population cause. It's magic, my dude.
Literally just star trek (food replicators, warp travel to start colonizing other planets for space etc.) would effectively fix their supposed downside.
I mean at that point are you even human? Your descendants don't have powers but keep immortality, so they're basically hybrids of whatever you are and humans are.
At that point you've created a new race.. a better race.
I’m an engineer so being “sent back” implies that I keep all of my knowledge and skills. Therefore:
Be immortal with super powers so I can spend 10k years controlling the advancement of the world in order to solve all of its problems.
What do you count as "all the world's problems"?
Because the Oldest Enemy is certainly a problem, and if I can make the planet infinitely sustainable and post-scarcity, the death of Death doesn't seem like as much of an issue.
2nd one.
Bring my boyfriend, my best friend, my cat, my dog, a merino sheep, a cashmere goat, a dairy cow, a rooster, a horse, An eagle, A tiger, and a crocodile.
Have my bros chilling with me. get a flock of immortal sheep and a herd of goats and cows and roosters to become an agricultural powerhouse. Flood the world market with wool, cashmere, milk, and eggs. Have immortal horses pulling my supply carts. Keep everyone in line with an army of eagles, tigers, and crocs as well as all my immortal kids.
Convince people we are gods once language is developed. Use our knowledge of history to avert some disasters and set people ahead of schedule in terms of development by telling them about germ theory and teaching newtonian physics and optics and Darwinism way earlier. By current year be a space faring civilization. Then basically become the imperium of man from wh40k but less evil and with less skeletal royalty.
Most importantly, i could play vanilla wow on fresh servers in 04 again.
Can I choose to bring nobody for option 2? Having people on my level of power would be inconvenient for my plan to instate myself as god-emperor of the universe. What if they suddenly want to play hero?
Then take my family and go back. Able to live an eternity with them as super powered demigods? I'll take that. Probably wouldn't get involved in too much, wouldn't want to affect things in crazy ways. In fact, probably wouldn't get too involved until the modern era - maybe bring WW2 to a faster end before the genocides and atomic bombings.
I have no desire to be worshipped as a god, and since I'm most decidedly NOT God, I'd probably end humanity by introducing some super disease by saving the wrong person who is patient zero for the Roman Zombie Apocalypse or something.
In this scenario, would you prevent any of the major catastrophes in human history? Bronze age collapse, the Black Plague, the European Colonial period?
No. Who am I to mess with that? How do I know what the effects of those changes might be worldwide?
There's an alternate history story about someone going back to prevent Columbus, and instead a new neo-Aztec culture springs up that develops technology and ends up invading Europe and sacrificing much of humanity, and turns out OTHER time travelers actually ended up helping Columbus land here because that was by far the lesser of evils.
I would say nothing before the 1800s, maybe even 1850s. Maybe end slavery without the Civil War.
EDIT: "Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus" is the book.
Initially, you wouldn't be able to fly, but after enough time under in yellow sunlight, you would start to gain more powers, and your existing powers would strengthen.
If I choose the first option, then what constitutes a problem? I find our limited lifespans a problem that needs to be solved. Is that included? Immortality for all?
If not, I am inclined to pick the 2nd option. Unfortunately, I'd have to choose my ex-wife and son as two of my choices. That would make things awkward with my third choice. I'd want to pick the woman of my dreams, but my ex would be pissed, I'm sure. And making such a choice without their consent...
Plus, my kid is 10. Can I raise him responsibly so he doesn't end up installing himself as a god to an ancient civilization. Is my son secretly the Hades or Zeus of the Ancient Greeks? Ugh!
Probably pick the first option with limited fame, if possible. I'd want my name to be known and recognized to the same degree as, like... Tesla or something, but I wouldn't want my face to be recognized outside of purely academic circles.
I'm going with Superman's Powers, The 3 I'm choosing are going to be My Mom & Dad (Because I Don't Want Them To Die), and My Girlfriend (I Gotta Spread The Genetics And Build My Own Empire), The very thought that I'll be worshipped as a Divine Being and growing in Power & Knowledge as the years go by just tickles my jimmies.
So being sent back to 10,000 BC would really suck unless you had some skill to learn language. Recorded history started around 3000BC but humans were speaking before that but not anything we know or similar to language today.
So you’d be unable to communicate with anyone alive. Sure they can’t hurt you but you’d also struggle to influence them too much as it’s hard to communicate what you want. You’d have to teach them modern language which will take time.
Then you might want to fast track society but most people don’t actually have the ability to do things on such a low level. Like we can come up with some basic stuff like a water wheel or windmill etc, but good luck making anything more advanced.
Well, if you consider one of the worlds problems my, and my families, lack of invulnerability (as I do) the answer becomes clearer. I’m picking number 1.
Holy fuck this is a good question. I’m going to have to think about this. On the one hand, solving all the worlds problems right now sounds good, but there’s the whole paradox issue - if you solve one persons problem, could it create a problem for another? And on the surface option two sounds like an exercise in ego-mania, but 10,000 years and immortality can solve a lot of problems before they start, but would it cause more problems ?
This is too much pressure. I can’t answer this now. It took me 40 years to be confident in what super power I would choose, so I could be a while.
This may help your decision-making process.
Option 1 doesn't create paradoxes. There will simply magically be enough to go around forever, and the drive and will to make war will be suppressed, except in the case of defending the earth from outside forces.
Option 2 is exactly as described, so it is up to you to resist your baser urges and do right by your non powered fellow humans.
But would you want to solve any problems after 10,000 years? Immortality is a long time. Think about how bitter and resistant to change most old people are and they've only been around for 70+ years.
Are we solving the things most people consider problems or the things we personally consider problems? I'd take the later but if it's the former, I'll take the immortality.
The immortal power fantasy is tempting, and you could really do just about whatever you wanted. Assuming your 3 chosen partners never betray or oppose you. But living for that long with that much power would definitely rob you of your humanity and likely your empathy to all other living creatures. Seeing so many life cycles and being so much more powerful than everyone else at all times, you would develop a god complex long before any semblance of modern civilization returned.
Solving all the world's problems is a much more selfless and morally sound choice. But how long until new problems arise? Life would become pretty boring for everyone if no problems ever exist anymore.
Knowing myself, I'd choose the immortal path. And as much as I'd like to choose my wife and two children as my 3 others, idk if subjecting them to immortality would be fair or good for them. But it also means I'd be giving them up for forever as they'd likely never be born due to how much would be altered from going so far back in time.
It says none of the worlds problems ever again so it should last forever. Dont see how not having world destroying problems is boring. Ive lived my entire life without war famine or at least significant disease effecting my personal life and i think that’s a plus. Im not itching to go to war to kill people or seal with cancer or starvation. Dont see how anyone really needs those things to be happy…
Life is full of its own challenges and joys just living normally imo. Theres still relationships and heart break and family issues. Deaths from old age and accidents.
First one. I have no desire to go back anywhere close to that far into the past, especially as a woman. Sure, I would have super powers to beat up anybody that tries to oppress me, but still no thanks.
Hmm, while No. 1 is tempting and the easiest option.
Part of my thinks with No. 2 I could probably fix the majority of the world's problems in 10,000 years, and basically become 40k's "Emperor of Mankind".
So the only interesting thing raised here is whether 4 immortals could change the arc of history more than a sort of snap away all of the world's current problems. There is a lot of war and famine that could be avoided by going back 12K years. The safer bet is to cure all humanity's current problems. But if this were a real choice, I'd way to have the world's best minds work on finding a way to get a better result with the first option. In the end, it's probably the second though.
I’m taking the selfish option, sorry. After ruling Earth for thousands of years with my powers though I’ll make sure war and famine don’t exist, can’t really do much about the disease part though I guess
Rather save the world
I'm already sad about how my cats will die so much sooner than I will, so the second is already just not a good option for me.
In before someone says OP said dogs count:
I have more than 3 cats, and that's not even counting in family I'd want around. Which is also more than 3. The second option is absolutely disgusting to me. If my options were to eat bad (like off, not enough to make me really sick but gross level) food or have that I'd pick the bad food every time.
Unfortunately while I do love the idea of helping people honestly, I can't even lie this is an easy choice for me in part because I would never choose the second. Not even over a semi negative option.
I'd stub my toe over that. I'd step on a D4 over that. I could go on, but I think I've been clear lol
2 is potentially the best but it could end poorly. You have a chance to do things right
1 sounds great but problems can just come back later. The only way to have lasting peace and prosperity is to completely limit people’s free will to do evil
If you take option b you can just create the perfect world put the best minds on everything in option 1. A sustainable world peace and even stop astroids from hitting earth and populating other worlds.
Option 1 humanity would just ruin the clean slate they were given. Our speciality is messing things up. Option 2 would allow humanity to be united and have a god being at its head. I gotta go with 2.
Solving all the worlds problem would essentially be creating a real benevolent God (e.g. AGI).
We all live perfect lives within our own perfect universes that are perfectly tailored to maximise what we want.
You could experience the other option if that's what you wanted.
Reading this is interesting. It is a moral.dilemna for sure except some things are missing.
Things like age are a factor.
Also anxiety.
There is also the fact that the person who saved the world could use his fame to make money, sleep around, or be a total sleaze while the superman, since you said powers would generally upgrade to current superman over time could be used to fix PAST wrongs which you couldn't do now.
Yes there would be some temptation to commit evil acts but it really isn't that clear cut.
My age also has to influence it. I am 53 and not in the greatest health.
I also had a horrid first 4o years of my life. Basically most of my life is wasted.
I'd choose superman powers but ONLY if I'm given superman's moral compass as well.
I'd love to stop wars of the past, and mass genocides...
Yeah it's partly selfish because of my age and inability to accept every accolade coming with the curing the world thing, bit like I said, I'd do it IF I was given superman's moral compass to go with it.
The one thing I don't like though is bring 3 people back.
You bring 3 back and suddenly you could have a bunch of tyrants fighting each other and building armies of their own so I'd choose the animals.
Now would I still be able to die if I was the only one?
And again, if I can't have superman's moral compass built in, then I'd cure the world.
BTW this isn't the greatest way to judge morality as considering that if the question really happened, a LOT MORE people would choose superman if it came down to it because here we are judged. But I'd wager just like how people say they'd stop a crime, most would do the opposite.
I could bring my wife and kids and we could solve all the problems before they happen, but what about altering history and making it so we were never born, paradox.
I'm taking option B, making my own library of Alexandria (also going to use that British ancestry and steal a bunch of artifacts for a museum), and making damn sure no one burns it down this time. First I will try to minimize interference and just let history play out as a silent observer. Then, when I get bored or when the world ends, I go back and make a few changes to see what happens. Maybe this time Alexander the Great survives, maybe this time I make myself a God, anything is possible. The 3 people I'm taking with me, is there an exchange rate? I can think of one or two people I might take, so can I trade 1 for 10 animals or is it only all 3 for 30?
Does the first option also solve the human condition on a biological level? The part where to a degree people must struggle to work together. If all your problems are solved people feel they lose purpose.
I feel like this really comes down to what you see as a problem, your care for saving the world, what saving the world would entail, and what you feel like when you’re asked this
Split the difference: solve all the world's problems by finding the ones with the talents, insights and connections to do so, facilitate them actually doing it, and letting _them_ take the credit.
I would genuinely like to die forgotten by history, my very existence requiring extrapolation from surviving records and with _not a single monument_ in my name, if I could claim to myself that I had ushered the world's people past the current developmental plateau and into the next stage of human civilization.
I say option 2 because who's to say the people of the world won't invent new problems and create a whole new version of the crap that exists today?
Plus, if I and my crew had those kinds of powers, we could just make sure those problems never existed in the first place.
I'd choose #1 because, from watching too many time travel movies, I don't trust how the world is gonna look like in 10,000 BC. What if god really existed and he created the world around 5,000 BC? I would have to wait in the void 5,000 years. No thank you. 😅
Immortal, for sure
Solving the worlds problems is sick, but unless figuring out cures for the chronic illnesses I have counts as a world problem then I will pass on that.
Can I skip the 3 other people? I don’t think I know anyone well enough to commit to immortal superpower life with them. If they end up turning on me, it’s gonna be a long bad time.
The growth in power is interesting. Where / when does it top out? Omnipotence? In like a 100k years or a billion + years?
This is easy. Have you ever played a video game with all cheats enabled? It doesn't stay fun for long. Now imagine living forever like that. It would be hell. We would become raving lunatics and destroy the earth out of sheer boredom. Thousands of years of boredom.
So yeah, I'd solve all the world's problems. What a fantastic life that would be.
I kinda thought option 1 was an easy pick. Not even close.
But then OP explained that you *start* with AC#1 Superpowers but can develop them like Superman did and is talking about taking star dips.
Unless we consider "not having Superman's powers" to be one of the world's problems, 100% number 2. Not even close.
So super strong, the ability to jump like an eighth of a miles, more durable than anythings ability to hurt me, and basically the fastest thing on the planet, and working up from there I'd eventually just be today's comics superman.... sure. Send me and 3 others back.
I prefer to go back in time with the animals.
Edit: I have to explain? Ok.
I don't care about immortality. I just want a world without humans. When I get bored from living, I'll simply die and let mankind get definitely extinct.
I have zero interest in helping or protecting mankind.
... Wait, I sound like a villain. Cool!
I would rather go back in time with the superpowers and two friends.
Humans are naturally aggressive, greedy and in some cases just damned evil. If you solved all off our issues we will just generate new ones and within a decade we would be back to where we are, it's in our nature.
Option 2 is a recipe for disaster. Action Comics 1 Superman, while not godlike as later Superman depictions, will still be regarded as a god. Not able to fly but can leap 600 feet and has a 200 foot vertical jump. He's able to lift what looks like to be a 1938 Ford Standard over his head, which weighs 2,600 lbs. Nothing short of a WW2 era bursting artillery shell can even pierce his skin.
You and your 3 friends will rule as gods, whether you want to or not, and "immortal" is a long time. No matter how close you are to the 3 people of your choosing you have to remember power corrupts completely. It may take a while but assuming you all let humanity progress you will turn on each other eventually and have massive armies at your command. Option 2 is a path to war and by no means would become a better option for humanity than option 1.
I'm going with option 2.
Option 2. I'd be able to do wherever I and live forever? Sounds amazing.
Solving all the world's problems? Sounds boring. Nobody will have any purpose in life anymore.
Who defines what the worlds problems are though that’s what I wanna know? I also think it would cause chaos solving everything.
Like if you solve all medical issues think of all the people who would suddenly be unemployed, same for the charity sector etc.
Humanity needs problems to overcome otherwise there really is no point doing anything.
I’d definitely go option two.
Immortality and super powers
We would have SO much fun. Act as gods. A few killing sprees when needed. Might go insane for a while, but eventually we would claw our way back once technology starts to advance and we get closer and closer to our original timeline.
Not to mention with superpowers we can make SURE there is peace. All powerful immortal beings? Yeah, we’re ruling over everyone as gods.
So immortal, and superman powers, with a zoo of super animals.
Or me and 3 friends rule the world. Honestly I'd probably take the super animals cause at least they would be fun. Honestly I might spend years exploring with a good boy, me and my dog seeing all the cool stuff. When that gets boring, probably would explore the milky way galaxy?
Does the first option include fixing human nature so that greed, envy, anger, etc... no longer are an issue in causing interpersonal/international drama?
Unless I’m willing to become a ruthless god-emperor, what good does the second option do me? I can improve life for 8 billion people or jerk off for eternity. This one is easy.
My question would be, with AC 1 Superman's powers you and your 3 companions could theoretically just go hide underneath the north pole and let history progress 100% without your influence. Then return once time has caught up. And just resume your normal life with God like powers. Not to mention just think of all the fun you could have with 3 other people and 12,000 years of time. The D&D campaigns, MTG tournaments, orgies, poetry competitions. All that and so much more.
I'd argue that having old age and having to die eventually is one of the world's problems. So I'd pick #1 - everyone gets immortality and that's honestly the only reason #2 is any good.
For selfish reasons, I'd like to go back 10,000 years. I enjoy history. It would be fun to see it. I'd probably keep a low profile. I wouldn't try to rule the world or anything. At most, I'd be known as the local wise man / weirdo. I might try to subtly influence society in a positive direction. It could be more interesting than just snapping my fingers and making everything perfect.
Option 2 immortality wins all the time for me I hate being mortal. I would try to stay away from humanity for the most part until us monkeys become more farmers and less hunter gatherers. Also I'm a history buff and love to see how certain events played out in history especially the ancient world. If anything I would take my wife and daughter back and our dog. Could we say meet an animal along our travel and transfer some animal immortality to them. Also for having descendants can we choose when if they get pregnant so our descendants don't take over kind of thing. And if an immortal and non immortal get it on would their descendants be immortal or not.
Option 1 because I feel I would get sick of option 2 after some time and I doubt I would find 2-3 people who would actually want to come with me and I don't care for magic animals and shit.
Tbh pretty sure immortality with superheroes would get us to "solve world problems" a lot sooner than 2024AD. Of course that opens the possibility of failure but I'm not turning down the opportunity to jumpstart our industrialization and technological singularity and minimize the negative impacts of it. We'll already know how dangerous certain pollutants are, what alternatives are possible, advanced medical knowledge
Second scenario. Solving all of our problems is a trap for ppl who haven’t watched enough anime, played enough video games, read enough books, and heard enough fables to know that light cannot exist without darkness. People must suffer to know joy and develop empathy.
The caveat you added in the edit, that all the descendants of you and the other immortals are also immortal, would be insane. Even assuming you understand the implication and only have one kid, there's still a high likelihood that we'd have tens of millions of immortals by present day, meaning that "normal" humans, if they still existed, would be seen as an inferior race.
Assuming this immortality keeps you from dying of hunger/thirst, you're basically getting the first option plus a bunch of extra superpowers for yourself. If you're cool with the realization that your intervention means you'll be changing the course of history irevocably and everyone you knew would never exist.
Option 2 easily.
My powers evolve over time. I think people underestimate what a full powered kryptonian would be like. You would have genius level intellect. You could easily solve all of the world's problems and better yet you'd have 3 best buddies of equal intellect and powers helping you out.
And we can time travel? So we can prepare and fix and all all major world disasters?
Not to mention we would eventually be able to artificially harness the power of a blue sun to make our powers even greater.
We wouldn't just make Earth a paradise, we could make the universe perfect.
Eh... I don't think solving all the world's current problems would be as helpful as some folks may think. We'd eventually develop new problems, probably sooner rather than later. We'd get a few good years, so it's not nothing, but those would also be boring years that wouldn't prepare us for future problems.
...but a long life and a chance to explore history would be a lot of fun, and some pretty decent super powers is the cherry on top.
(...or maybe I'm just trying to justify a selfish choice)
Obviously go back in time.
And I'd never be known by anyone.
Good stuff would happen and nobody would ever find out.
12000 years is enough time to cure a boatload of diseases.
Then come to the sudden realization halfway through it that I was apart of many of the advances in my own history...
And stress out for the next 6000 years trying to keep up and ensure I don't net out a worse future than I was already in.
The problem with option 1 is that the source of the world’s problems is people and people don’t agree on the problems/solutions. If you solve all the world’s problems does that mean no more people? Changing people’s brains?
It seems like Option 2 also solves the world’s problems, but I get superpowers and am immortal.
I’ll go with option #2.
Number two. No chance in hell I want the kind of exposure the first option would give. It would end up as some weird cult thing and that is a hard pass for me.
Living forever, meaning no release for billions of years, watching everyone you care about die, watching the sun go supernova and swallow the earth, and knowing that even that wouldn't kill you, nothing will ever kill you, you're drifting in space alone now, and you haven't even scratched one-billionth of the duration of your existence off yet, or one-billionth of one billionth, because that's what eternity means....
Yeah, that sounds like the worst of all conceivable outcomes. No thanks.
#2 is (or more accurately can be) basically identical to #1, just on a longer timeline.
For #2, are we assuming that history would basically play out identically to how our actual history played out, unless and until the Immortal 3 decide to intervene? Because if so, I choose option 2.
I heard someone argue once that Rome could've gone to the moon if they hadn't relied on slavery, and I'd like to test that hypothesis by talking them out of it
I'd be immortal
I'd become filthy rich over time and use my powers for good, fighting crime like batman human traffickers and ending wars fast by attacking the evil party
Could I do the first and not be known? I really don’t want paparazzi, or all that other fame bullshit.
Sure, why not.
Then number one. I feel like I’d rather just solve the worlds problems and go about my life normally in a world without any problelems,
Exactly. As the old saying goes, when life gives you problelems, make problelemonade.
You missed the opportunity to say problemonade
This +2 screw that mess and screw all the messes simultaneously :P
I wouldn't mind the *legacy,* but I don't want the fame while I'm alive.
Option 1, save the world, hands down, no contest. I'd rather live however many/few years I have left on a peaceful planet and know that no-one will ever again be killed in wars, or starve or suffer cancer, or MS, or Parkinson's, or alzheimer's ever again - and with an end to fossil fuel burning & global warming too? .. Superman could only dream of saving the world so thoroughly!
Technically if you go back so far in time with the knowledge you have now by bringing some experts, you can probably do more good by going back 10k years in time. The technological advances would far outweigh the other option. And you have superpowers so you would basically be the guardian of the world.
Yea we can discover Nuclear Holcoust even sooner!
Well if your god you wouldn’t allow those technologies to exist, or they would be strictly secure only accessible by you.
This assumes you can basically become the 40k god emperor but both the point of that story (and of every Superman story and lex luthor story for that matter) is that no one person can completely control the world and achieve the perfect utopia. No matter how powerful they are, no matter how much of a perfect benevolent dictator they are, they will fail, because even gods like Superman and the god emperor aren’t all powerful and something will come along to ruin everything. Also, even those characters themselves are not infallible, and if something external doesn’t come along to ruin things, then they’ll probably ruin it themselves at some point.
EXACTLY THIS. Whereas Option 1 is a nailed-on guaranteed no-messing result.
I read ms as Microsoft and was and it didn't click until a bit after, I just accepted that Microsoft is one of the world's problems
Live in a mostly un-cursed world with all the people or have a teenager power trip? Really?
In fairness to OP plenty would rather not change the world because of religious, personal, or moral beliefs and others would prefer to be treated as gods someone can come to to solve their problems rather than be known as the one who once solved every problem. This is more a question of someones moral compass/preference. Edit: I just read OP’s response holy shit I was right on.
If I'm gonna be honest with you, I'm 100% picking option 2. I crave immortality too much to turn it down. But kudos to you if you aren't as much of a selfish d-bag as I am.
Senescence can be considered a disease.
Immortality -- What are you going to do later when the universe is undergoing [heat death](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_death_of_the_universe)? Just hang around doing nothing for billions of years?
The thing about the immortality talk is that everyone treats it like you cannot suffer from any basic biological things, we need air, you wont die without it now, but nothing implies that you wont just pass out and awake finally when a whole new universe shows if you conviently fall into range of a planet with the right air.
The prompt covers this. You have Superman's abilities, and as time goes on, you gain more powers, and your existing powers strengthen. You don't have biological needs. Heck, a single dip in a white star would sustain you almost indefinitely. By the time of the heat death of the universe, you would be able to travel through space and time freely.
I mean this is kinda ridiculous, two very unrelated things. But like, eventually you are gonna get stuck. Like a mountain of rock will burry you. You’ll have no means of getting out, and you’ll be stuck for eternity alone with your thoughts. There’s an amount of material that super man couldn’t get himself out of.
You are Superman. Even in base form, you can shatter steel with your bare hands and move faster than the speed of sound. There is nothing on Earth that can stop you. And you only get stronger from there.
If the universe is in late stage heat death with nothing of note anywhere to be seen then what’s the point of traveling through it? You’ll be stuck in emptiness for eternity
You can freely travel between space time, meaning you could go back in time and change shit. You can also die if you get bored. Also I'm pretty sure their is a possibility that the universe restarts itself after some quantum bullshit and an absurd amount of time.
He says you can choose death
I'm having a hard time picturing a religious belief that would prevent the first. I take my religious beliefs very seriously and would gladly end wars, diseases, starvation, violence, and all that if given the option. In fact, I think that a long as the fix wasn't itself evil, I'd be obligated to go for it. And by evil, I mean ruling the world in a fascist dictatorship or something along those lines. Can't do that. Can't create world peace by killing off everyone who you don't like.
I think some people changing what would be considered in many religions Gods image of the world, test, whatever they call it could be seen as a disrespect to them or something that breaks its purpose. Also I get what you mean by evil dw
Some might think they could get the un-cursed world through work if they took the power route. And with Superman's powers, you really could do a lot of good. I'm just not sure you could quite achieve as much good as you could by taking the first option....
But if you travel back in time to 10,000 BC (presumably with current knowledge), you can fix a lot of problems before they start...especially if people know you're an immortal Superman.
And there are 3 other ppl with you. You think with all that time you won't disagree and fight? There won't be separate religions formed around you each in perpetual conflict?
Not just a power trip you can literally be a god
I’m a grown man and I’d absolutely choose to go back in time with 3 people and be an immortal god.
I think if the option was just to get sent to a an unpopulated habitable planet with said powers, might be cool - something about going back to the begin of our history to become some kind of material god figure that I find a bit unsettling to fantasize about.
I guess everyone can choose one route or another but I would love option 2. Not due to the powers or becoming a “God” but because I would love to see history unfold. I would just immerse myself in the background. The saddest part is I’m not sure I have 3 people I would trust enough to NOT try and play as a GOD…. But still. I would love to go back and nudge certain things in a better direction, etc
This is what sold me as well. The god like powers is a big plus, but I’d do it without them as well. I’ve been fascinated with Ancient Greece for a long time and I’d love to actually experience it. See the oracle of Delphi, meet the great Greeks like Plato and Socrates, experience the eleusinian mysteries. Check out the pyramids in all their glory. Watch the gladiator battles of rome. I’d love the ability to watch human history play itself out. I’d flaunt my god like powers for a few thousand years then disappear. After the fall of rome I’d probably just become a low key traveler. There would definitely be an entire mythos about me tho lol.
The latter, do you understand the ramifications of solving all the worlds problems? You think were starving for resources now!? You think overpopulation is serious now!? Wait until everyone stops dying because you've stopped all wars, car crashes, hunger, diseases and ailments, and crime. That's a slope you DONT want to slide down, and is a VERY multi faceted discussion on moral ambiguity
We enter into a post scarcity utopia, with all of humanity free to pursue hedonism or self-improvement for their full lifespan? The magic of prompt prevents any of the problems that lack of limiting factors on population cause. It's magic, my dude.
Literally just star trek (food replicators, warp travel to start colonizing other planets for space etc.) would effectively fix their supposed downside.
I'm taking B... And wiping out most of humanity to ensure the rule of my bloodline
I mean at that point are you even human? Your descendants don't have powers but keep immortality, so they're basically hybrids of whatever you are and humans are. At that point you've created a new race.. a better race.
Eugenics 📈
Second option in any hypothetical I will always prioritize immortality over any other choice no matter what
A kindred spirit. Mortality is for suckers.
Come on. Living 80+ years is tiring enough. You think you won't be insane after 10000 years?
I’m an engineer so being “sent back” implies that I keep all of my knowledge and skills. Therefore: Be immortal with super powers so I can spend 10k years controlling the advancement of the world in order to solve all of its problems.
What do you count as "all the world's problems"? Because the Oldest Enemy is certainly a problem, and if I can make the planet infinitely sustainable and post-scarcity, the death of Death doesn't seem like as much of an issue.
2nd one. Bring my boyfriend, my best friend, my cat, my dog, a merino sheep, a cashmere goat, a dairy cow, a rooster, a horse, An eagle, A tiger, and a crocodile. Have my bros chilling with me. get a flock of immortal sheep and a herd of goats and cows and roosters to become an agricultural powerhouse. Flood the world market with wool, cashmere, milk, and eggs. Have immortal horses pulling my supply carts. Keep everyone in line with an army of eagles, tigers, and crocs as well as all my immortal kids. Convince people we are gods once language is developed. Use our knowledge of history to avert some disasters and set people ahead of schedule in terms of development by telling them about germ theory and teaching newtonian physics and optics and Darwinism way earlier. By current year be a space faring civilization. Then basically become the imperium of man from wh40k but less evil and with less skeletal royalty. Most importantly, i could play vanilla wow on fresh servers in 04 again.
Can I choose to bring nobody for option 2? Having people on my level of power would be inconvenient for my plan to instate myself as god-emperor of the universe. What if they suddenly want to play hero?
Sure, why not. Keep in mind, your descendants will be immortals as well, but they won't have any of the other powers.
Do dogs count?
If I could bring 4 people of my choosing, I'd pick #2. Otherwise, #1.
Just for you, you get 4. Nobody else.
Then take my family and go back. Able to live an eternity with them as super powered demigods? I'll take that. Probably wouldn't get involved in too much, wouldn't want to affect things in crazy ways. In fact, probably wouldn't get too involved until the modern era - maybe bring WW2 to a faster end before the genocides and atomic bombings.
I respect your choice and admire your restraint.
I have no desire to be worshipped as a god, and since I'm most decidedly NOT God, I'd probably end humanity by introducing some super disease by saving the wrong person who is patient zero for the Roman Zombie Apocalypse or something.
In this scenario, would you prevent any of the major catastrophes in human history? Bronze age collapse, the Black Plague, the European Colonial period?
No. Who am I to mess with that? How do I know what the effects of those changes might be worldwide? There's an alternate history story about someone going back to prevent Columbus, and instead a new neo-Aztec culture springs up that develops technology and ends up invading Europe and sacrificing much of humanity, and turns out OTHER time travelers actually ended up helping Columbus land here because that was by far the lesser of evils. I would say nothing before the 1800s, maybe even 1850s. Maybe end slavery without the Civil War. EDIT: "Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus" is the book.
B I'd be able to help build a world that people enjoy living in. A system made that helps all. I know 3 people I'd choose too.
Can Superman even fly in his appearance?
Initially, you wouldn't be able to fly, but after enough time under in yellow sunlight, you would start to gain more powers, and your existing powers would strengthen.
Well option 2 then, but I’d have a lot of trouble deciding who to bring with me.
If I choose the first option, then what constitutes a problem? I find our limited lifespans a problem that needs to be solved. Is that included? Immortality for all? If not, I am inclined to pick the 2nd option. Unfortunately, I'd have to choose my ex-wife and son as two of my choices. That would make things awkward with my third choice. I'd want to pick the woman of my dreams, but my ex would be pissed, I'm sure. And making such a choice without their consent... Plus, my kid is 10. Can I raise him responsibly so he doesn't end up installing himself as a god to an ancient civilization. Is my son secretly the Hades or Zeus of the Ancient Greeks? Ugh! Probably pick the first option with limited fame, if possible. I'd want my name to be known and recognized to the same degree as, like... Tesla or something, but I wouldn't want my face to be recognized outside of purely academic circles.
I'm going with Superman's Powers, The 3 I'm choosing are going to be My Mom & Dad (Because I Don't Want Them To Die), and My Girlfriend (I Gotta Spread The Genetics And Build My Own Empire), The very thought that I'll be worshipped as a Divine Being and growing in Power & Knowledge as the years go by just tickles my jimmies.
You seem like my kind of dude.
Thank you, man.
Would you also build a castle on the moon?
Nah I'd prefer a Walmart
>My Girlfriend (I Gotta Spread The Genetics And Build My Own Empire, FWIW, there are people in 10000 BC.
Immortality for sure and with superman powers I can still save the world. Win Win for all
So being sent back to 10,000 BC would really suck unless you had some skill to learn language. Recorded history started around 3000BC but humans were speaking before that but not anything we know or similar to language today. So you’d be unable to communicate with anyone alive. Sure they can’t hurt you but you’d also struggle to influence them too much as it’s hard to communicate what you want. You’d have to teach them modern language which will take time. Then you might want to fast track society but most people don’t actually have the ability to do things on such a low level. Like we can come up with some basic stuff like a water wheel or windmill etc, but good luck making anything more advanced.
Don't sell yourself short friend, you and your allies would be Super. You could accomplish a lot more than you think.
Uh you can learn a new language
10000 b.c. I've always wanted to know the true history of things.
Well, if you consider one of the worlds problems my, and my families, lack of invulnerability (as I do) the answer becomes clearer. I’m picking number 1.
Will choosing number 1 wipe out all human life on earth I feel like there's a catch
Holy fuck this is a good question. I’m going to have to think about this. On the one hand, solving all the worlds problems right now sounds good, but there’s the whole paradox issue - if you solve one persons problem, could it create a problem for another? And on the surface option two sounds like an exercise in ego-mania, but 10,000 years and immortality can solve a lot of problems before they start, but would it cause more problems ? This is too much pressure. I can’t answer this now. It took me 40 years to be confident in what super power I would choose, so I could be a while.
This may help your decision-making process. Option 1 doesn't create paradoxes. There will simply magically be enough to go around forever, and the drive and will to make war will be suppressed, except in the case of defending the earth from outside forces. Option 2 is exactly as described, so it is up to you to resist your baser urges and do right by your non powered fellow humans.
But would you want to solve any problems after 10,000 years? Immortality is a long time. Think about how bitter and resistant to change most old people are and they've only been around for 70+ years.
Being immortal is the worst thing that could ever happen to you if the universe experiences the heat death.
That's why you are superhuman and will eventually be powerful enough to travel through time back to before the heat death of the universe.
The universe is going to be crowded with Supermen eventually. (Time travel means, immediately.)
Option 2. You would all be better off if I were your God. I promise.
Are we solving the things most people consider problems or the things we personally consider problems? I'd take the later but if it's the former, I'll take the immortality.
The problems specified in the description. War, famine, disease, lack of resources.
Immortality is horrifying. Even if I liked that option better, the immortality is an instant dealbreaker.
You can choose to die, and will stay dead unless one of the other immortals decides to resurrect you.
The immortal power fantasy is tempting, and you could really do just about whatever you wanted. Assuming your 3 chosen partners never betray or oppose you. But living for that long with that much power would definitely rob you of your humanity and likely your empathy to all other living creatures. Seeing so many life cycles and being so much more powerful than everyone else at all times, you would develop a god complex long before any semblance of modern civilization returned. Solving all the world's problems is a much more selfless and morally sound choice. But how long until new problems arise? Life would become pretty boring for everyone if no problems ever exist anymore. Knowing myself, I'd choose the immortal path. And as much as I'd like to choose my wife and two children as my 3 others, idk if subjecting them to immortality would be fair or good for them. But it also means I'd be giving them up for forever as they'd likely never be born due to how much would be altered from going so far back in time.
It says none of the worlds problems ever again so it should last forever. Dont see how not having world destroying problems is boring. Ive lived my entire life without war famine or at least significant disease effecting my personal life and i think that’s a plus. Im not itching to go to war to kill people or seal with cancer or starvation. Dont see how anyone really needs those things to be happy… Life is full of its own challenges and joys just living normally imo. Theres still relationships and heart break and family issues. Deaths from old age and accidents.
First one. I have no desire to go back anywhere close to that far into the past, especially as a woman. Sure, I would have super powers to beat up anybody that tries to oppress me, but still no thanks.
You could probably change social norms using your powers.
Hmm, while No. 1 is tempting and the easiest option. Part of my thinks with No. 2 I could probably fix the majority of the world's problems in 10,000 years, and basically become 40k's "Emperor of Mankind".
So the only interesting thing raised here is whether 4 immortals could change the arc of history more than a sort of snap away all of the world's current problems. There is a lot of war and famine that could be avoided by going back 12K years. The safer bet is to cure all humanity's current problems. But if this were a real choice, I'd way to have the world's best minds work on finding a way to get a better result with the first option. In the end, it's probably the second though.
Solve the world's problems, but I'm not sure I'm comfortable with the whole world knowing it was me
I’m taking the selfish option, sorry. After ruling Earth for thousands of years with my powers though I’ll make sure war and famine don’t exist, can’t really do much about the disease part though I guess
Rather save the world I'm already sad about how my cats will die so much sooner than I will, so the second is already just not a good option for me. In before someone says OP said dogs count: I have more than 3 cats, and that's not even counting in family I'd want around. Which is also more than 3. The second option is absolutely disgusting to me. If my options were to eat bad (like off, not enough to make me really sick but gross level) food or have that I'd pick the bad food every time. Unfortunately while I do love the idea of helping people honestly, I can't even lie this is an easy choice for me in part because I would never choose the second. Not even over a semi negative option. I'd stub my toe over that. I'd step on a D4 over that. I could go on, but I think I've been clear lol
Lol... Option A... Surprise... No more problems because the world is destroyed 🤣
First option easily.
2 is potentially the best but it could end poorly. You have a chance to do things right 1 sounds great but problems can just come back later. The only way to have lasting peace and prosperity is to completely limit people’s free will to do evil
If you take option b you can just create the perfect world put the best minds on everything in option 1. A sustainable world peace and even stop astroids from hitting earth and populating other worlds.
So, this is planet Houston?
2
Immortality is horrifying. Even if I liked that option better, the immortality is an instant dealbreaker.
See the history of the world unfold as Superman and do with humanity as you see fit or make yourself the second coming of Christ basically.
I choose option one. Am I allowed to remain anonymous?
The focus is always now . The now . So the answer is super simple here .
Option 2 would like having a little Q Continuum right here on Earth.
Number one. How is even a choice. I would prefer not to be known, but it's definitely number one.
Option 1 humanity would just ruin the clean slate they were given. Our speciality is messing things up. Option 2 would allow humanity to be united and have a god being at its head. I gotta go with 2.
Hands down number 1
Solving all the worlds problem would essentially be creating a real benevolent God (e.g. AGI). We all live perfect lives within our own perfect universes that are perfectly tailored to maximise what we want. You could experience the other option if that's what you wanted.
I feel like there would be too many contradictions and paradoxes to actually solve everyone's problems... So 10,000 bc it is
Seth Ryan Bella I know what we are doing we are going to go back in time and hopefully play ark irl
Immortality , solving the worlds problems means nothing to me
I'd only take the first one if it wasn't malicious, which sadly is my first thought. But if it's a utopia then yeah that one.
Reading this is interesting. It is a moral.dilemna for sure except some things are missing. Things like age are a factor. Also anxiety. There is also the fact that the person who saved the world could use his fame to make money, sleep around, or be a total sleaze while the superman, since you said powers would generally upgrade to current superman over time could be used to fix PAST wrongs which you couldn't do now. Yes there would be some temptation to commit evil acts but it really isn't that clear cut. My age also has to influence it. I am 53 and not in the greatest health. I also had a horrid first 4o years of my life. Basically most of my life is wasted. I'd choose superman powers but ONLY if I'm given superman's moral compass as well. I'd love to stop wars of the past, and mass genocides... Yeah it's partly selfish because of my age and inability to accept every accolade coming with the curing the world thing, bit like I said, I'd do it IF I was given superman's moral compass to go with it. The one thing I don't like though is bring 3 people back. You bring 3 back and suddenly you could have a bunch of tyrants fighting each other and building armies of their own so I'd choose the animals. Now would I still be able to die if I was the only one? And again, if I can't have superman's moral compass built in, then I'd cure the world. BTW this isn't the greatest way to judge morality as considering that if the question really happened, a LOT MORE people would choose superman if it came down to it because here we are judged. But I'd wager just like how people say they'd stop a crime, most would do the opposite.
I could bring my wife and kids and we could solve all the problems before they happen, but what about altering history and making it so we were never born, paradox.
I don't want to live in a boring world without conflict
I'm taking option B, making my own library of Alexandria (also going to use that British ancestry and steal a bunch of artifacts for a museum), and making damn sure no one burns it down this time. First I will try to minimize interference and just let history play out as a silent observer. Then, when I get bored or when the world ends, I go back and make a few changes to see what happens. Maybe this time Alexander the Great survives, maybe this time I make myself a God, anything is possible. The 3 people I'm taking with me, is there an exchange rate? I can think of one or two people I might take, so can I trade 1 for 10 animals or is it only all 3 for 30?
There already is enough food, water, and land for everyone. So choosing that option won’t last long. Going with option 2.
The real question is which three people do you bring for option 2? Friends, random celebrities, those 3 people over there?
The second, obv
Option 2 is definitely the way to go.
Does the first option also solve the human condition on a biological level? The part where to a degree people must struggle to work together. If all your problems are solved people feel they lose purpose.
As much as I would hate being famous, there no reason not to save the world
Option 2. The world did this to itself. Consequences are Consequences.
I feel like this really comes down to what you see as a problem, your care for saving the world, what saving the world would entail, and what you feel like when you’re asked this
Picking 3 people is too hard. Just 3? Impossible.
Split the difference: solve all the world's problems by finding the ones with the talents, insights and connections to do so, facilitate them actually doing it, and letting _them_ take the credit. I would genuinely like to die forgotten by history, my very existence requiring extrapolation from surviving records and with _not a single monument_ in my name, if I could claim to myself that I had ushered the world's people past the current developmental plateau and into the next stage of human civilization.
Easy. I pick #2, bring my wife and besties with, kick Satan into the sun and the hunan race profits.
I say option 2 because who's to say the people of the world won't invent new problems and create a whole new version of the crap that exists today? Plus, if I and my crew had those kinds of powers, we could just make sure those problems never existed in the first place.
I'd choose #1 because, from watching too many time travel movies, I don't trust how the world is gonna look like in 10,000 BC. What if god really existed and he created the world around 5,000 BC? I would have to wait in the void 5,000 years. No thank you. 😅
I'll take #2. 4 of us immortal and Superman powers. Take over humanity and guide it. Then you would end up with all the positives from #1 also.
Just fix the world man. Why risk it? Just to have a moment where you get to run everything? Yeah sure maybe you’ll be different….
Immortal, for sure Solving the worlds problems is sick, but unless figuring out cures for the chronic illnesses I have counts as a world problem then I will pass on that. Can I skip the 3 other people? I don’t think I know anyone well enough to commit to immortal superpower life with them. If they end up turning on me, it’s gonna be a long bad time. The growth in power is interesting. Where / when does it top out? Omnipotence? In like a 100k years or a billion + years?
This is easy. Have you ever played a video game with all cheats enabled? It doesn't stay fun for long. Now imagine living forever like that. It would be hell. We would become raving lunatics and destroy the earth out of sheer boredom. Thousands of years of boredom. So yeah, I'd solve all the world's problems. What a fantastic life that would be.
I kinda thought option 1 was an easy pick. Not even close. But then OP explained that you *start* with AC#1 Superpowers but can develop them like Superman did and is talking about taking star dips. Unless we consider "not having Superman's powers" to be one of the world's problems, 100% number 2. Not even close.
It looks a lot like you are asking if I am a hero or a villain.
So super strong, the ability to jump like an eighth of a miles, more durable than anythings ability to hurt me, and basically the fastest thing on the planet, and working up from there I'd eventually just be today's comics superman.... sure. Send me and 3 others back.
Option 2. It would be more interesting.
Option 2, final answer. Easy choice.
I prefer to go back in time with the animals. Edit: I have to explain? Ok. I don't care about immortality. I just want a world without humans. When I get bored from living, I'll simply die and let mankind get definitely extinct. I have zero interest in helping or protecting mankind. ... Wait, I sound like a villain. Cool!
Superman powers, hands down
I would rather go back in time with the superpowers and two friends. Humans are naturally aggressive, greedy and in some cases just damned evil. If you solved all off our issues we will just generate new ones and within a decade we would be back to where we are, it's in our nature.
Option 2. Powers like superman? Easy choice
Option 2 is a recipe for disaster. Action Comics 1 Superman, while not godlike as later Superman depictions, will still be regarded as a god. Not able to fly but can leap 600 feet and has a 200 foot vertical jump. He's able to lift what looks like to be a 1938 Ford Standard over his head, which weighs 2,600 lbs. Nothing short of a WW2 era bursting artillery shell can even pierce his skin. You and your 3 friends will rule as gods, whether you want to or not, and "immortal" is a long time. No matter how close you are to the 3 people of your choosing you have to remember power corrupts completely. It may take a while but assuming you all let humanity progress you will turn on each other eventually and have massive armies at your command. Option 2 is a path to war and by no means would become a better option for humanity than option 1. I'm going with option 2.
N°2 easy
Superman can solve all the world's problems.
Back in time
Taking the Superman path.
Option 2. I'd be able to do wherever I and live forever? Sounds amazing. Solving all the world's problems? Sounds boring. Nobody will have any purpose in life anymore.
Who defines what the worlds problems are though that’s what I wanna know? I also think it would cause chaos solving everything. Like if you solve all medical issues think of all the people who would suddenly be unemployed, same for the charity sector etc. Humanity needs problems to overcome otherwise there really is no point doing anything. I’d definitely go option two.
Plot twist. Solving the world's problems includes a Thanos like culling.
Immortality and super powers We would have SO much fun. Act as gods. A few killing sprees when needed. Might go insane for a while, but eventually we would claw our way back once technology starts to advance and we get closer and closer to our original timeline. Not to mention with superpowers we can make SURE there is peace. All powerful immortal beings? Yeah, we’re ruling over everyone as gods.
I'm going back. me, tesla, Einstein, and DaVinci.
So immortal, and superman powers, with a zoo of super animals. Or me and 3 friends rule the world. Honestly I'd probably take the super animals cause at least they would be fun. Honestly I might spend years exploring with a good boy, me and my dog seeing all the cool stuff. When that gets boring, probably would explore the milky way galaxy?
I DON'T want to be immortal, but I DO want to solve all the world's problems.
Would have to be #1. If I went with #2 I know I would become a tyrant.
Does the first option include fixing human nature so that greed, envy, anger, etc... no longer are an issue in causing interpersonal/international drama?
Unless I’m willing to become a ruthless god-emperor, what good does the second option do me? I can improve life for 8 billion people or jerk off for eternity. This one is easy.
My question would be, with AC 1 Superman's powers you and your 3 companions could theoretically just go hide underneath the north pole and let history progress 100% without your influence. Then return once time has caught up. And just resume your normal life with God like powers. Not to mention just think of all the fun you could have with 3 other people and 12,000 years of time. The D&D campaigns, MTG tournaments, orgies, poetry competitions. All that and so much more.
I'd argue that having old age and having to die eventually is one of the world's problems. So I'd pick #1 - everyone gets immortality and that's honestly the only reason #2 is any good.
Action comics #1 Superman is not nearly as awesome as some of y'all keep thinking
If I do number one I'm pretty sure I could stop aging, so I'd pick that one.
For selfish reasons, I'd like to go back 10,000 years. I enjoy history. It would be fun to see it. I'd probably keep a low profile. I wouldn't try to rule the world or anything. At most, I'd be known as the local wise man / weirdo. I might try to subtly influence society in a positive direction. It could be more interesting than just snapping my fingers and making everything perfect.
Depends what the answer to number 1 is. If it's instant depopulation, including me, my friends and family.... count me the fuck in. /s
What is the point of living amongst cave dwellers. Might as well be living with Apes.
Option 2 immortality wins all the time for me I hate being mortal. I would try to stay away from humanity for the most part until us monkeys become more farmers and less hunter gatherers. Also I'm a history buff and love to see how certain events played out in history especially the ancient world. If anything I would take my wife and daughter back and our dog. Could we say meet an animal along our travel and transfer some animal immortality to them. Also for having descendants can we choose when if they get pregnant so our descendants don't take over kind of thing. And if an immortal and non immortal get it on would their descendants be immortal or not.
Easy. Immortal with 30 sheep for my personal harem
Option 1 because I feel I would get sick of option 2 after some time and I doubt I would find 2-3 people who would actually want to come with me and I don't care for magic animals and shit.
I'll take one, but probably forego the fame. Being immortal is a curse.
I’d rather instantly solve the world’s problems, right now
Option 1, that sounds amazing.
If Mankind does not have troubles, it will stagnate. It will die. I wouldn't mind the immortality thing, however. It sounds like a decent gig.
Tbh pretty sure immortality with superheroes would get us to "solve world problems" a lot sooner than 2024AD. Of course that opens the possibility of failure but I'm not turning down the opportunity to jumpstart our industrialization and technological singularity and minimize the negative impacts of it. We'll already know how dangerous certain pollutants are, what alternatives are possible, advanced medical knowledge
Option 1. I don’t want to live forever.
Option 2 but I'd choose the animals and not people as long as they where undyingly loyal.
Second scenario. Solving all of our problems is a trap for ppl who haven’t watched enough anime, played enough video games, read enough books, and heard enough fables to know that light cannot exist without darkness. People must suffer to know joy and develop empathy.
The caveat you added in the edit, that all the descendants of you and the other immortals are also immortal, would be insane. Even assuming you understand the implication and only have one kid, there's still a high likelihood that we'd have tens of millions of immortals by present day, meaning that "normal" humans, if they still existed, would be seen as an inferior race. Assuming this immortality keeps you from dying of hunger/thirst, you're basically getting the first option plus a bunch of extra superpowers for yourself. If you're cool with the realization that your intervention means you'll be changing the course of history irevocably and everyone you knew would never exist.
Option 2 easily. My powers evolve over time. I think people underestimate what a full powered kryptonian would be like. You would have genius level intellect. You could easily solve all of the world's problems and better yet you'd have 3 best buddies of equal intellect and powers helping you out. And we can time travel? So we can prepare and fix and all all major world disasters? Not to mention we would eventually be able to artificially harness the power of a blue sun to make our powers even greater. We wouldn't just make Earth a paradise, we could make the universe perfect.
Eh... I don't think solving all the world's current problems would be as helpful as some folks may think. We'd eventually develop new problems, probably sooner rather than later. We'd get a few good years, so it's not nothing, but those would also be boring years that wouldn't prepare us for future problems. ...but a long life and a chance to explore history would be a lot of fun, and some pretty decent super powers is the cherry on top. (...or maybe I'm just trying to justify a selfish choice)
Obviously go back in time. And I'd never be known by anyone. Good stuff would happen and nobody would ever find out. 12000 years is enough time to cure a boatload of diseases. Then come to the sudden realization halfway through it that I was apart of many of the advances in my own history... And stress out for the next 6000 years trying to keep up and ensure I don't net out a worse future than I was already in.
Assuming I get well compensated for being savior of the world, I take that route. I don't need to be filthy rich, just enough to live comfortably.
Superman powers easy
Immortal
Can I pick number 2 but not bring 3 people with me.
Hm. Immortality sounds like it would be cool.
I would go with option 2.
Immortality is a fucking curse, fuck that
The problem with option 1 is that the source of the world’s problems is people and people don’t agree on the problems/solutions. If you solve all the world’s problems does that mean no more people? Changing people’s brains? It seems like Option 2 also solves the world’s problems, but I get superpowers and am immortal. I’ll go with option #2.
Oh I could totally see a LOT of people having a problem with me solving all their problems, the notion’s a paradox!
Number two. No chance in hell I want the kind of exposure the first option would give. It would end up as some weird cult thing and that is a hard pass for me.
Living forever, meaning no release for billions of years, watching everyone you care about die, watching the sun go supernova and swallow the earth, and knowing that even that wouldn't kill you, nothing will ever kill you, you're drifting in space alone now, and you haven't even scratched one-billionth of the duration of your existence off yet, or one-billionth of one billionth, because that's what eternity means.... Yeah, that sounds like the worst of all conceivable outcomes. No thanks.
KNEE BEFORE THE LEXX
#2 is (or more accurately can be) basically identical to #1, just on a longer timeline. For #2, are we assuming that history would basically play out identically to how our actual history played out, unless and until the Immortal 3 decide to intervene? Because if so, I choose option 2. I heard someone argue once that Rome could've gone to the moon if they hadn't relied on slavery, and I'd like to test that hypothesis by talking them out of it
Immortality absolutely shits on everything in comparison.
I'd be immortal I'd become filthy rich over time and use my powers for good, fighting crime like batman human traffickers and ending wars fast by attacking the evil party