What's the closest thing you have to a superpower?

Soldato
Joined
25 Aug 2006
Posts
6,368
Serious answer,

I seem to have an insanely good sense of direction. And if I've been to a place once, however long ago, wherever in the world, I can find it again without any map, GPS or google maps. I have it memorized.

I am your Nemesis!

I have been living in the same area for 20 years - i do not know most of the place names and aside from the main city etc, i still use a satnav to get around the county.

My proudest moment was when i was working on an overseas base. I had been there 3 months and dropped my oppo off at the airhead as they were heading home for some R&R - i got lost on the way back. The base was 4 miles by 2 miles.

My nickname became "satnav" for the rest of the tour.
 
Soldato
Joined
28 Apr 2011
Posts
14,796
Location
Barnet, London
I have a great sense of time and know what time it is to the nearest five minutes without looking at a clock.

I generally have a very good sense sense of the passage of time, so if someone asks what the time is I will guess before checking. I'm usually accurate to within less than 10mins if I've baselined the time within the past few hours. This isn't really based on external factors like the amount of daylight or any sort of counting systems, it is just an innate feel for how much time has passed (although sometimes it might be influenced by stuff like someone playing a CD, and I'll think "it feels like about 25mins since that CD ended", and then add on the approx duration I think the CD was. The thought process will typically be roughly what hour it is, does it feel like it is before or after that hour, and by how much.

I suspect this is quite a common thing. I can often do similar. Also, like when watching a TV show and I wonder how far in I am, I am often within 60 seconds of my guess. On the flip side, I'm terrible at months/years. How long is it since I last saw someone, or a co-worker left out store? I would likely be many months wrong.
 
Soldato
Joined
2 May 2011
Posts
11,878
Location
Woking
Have you heard of super recognises?

Turns out I seem to be one. I read a newspaper article about it and decided to give the test a go :

https://www.superrecognisers.com/

I was top <10% in every test.

It sas something I was conscious of for years, which is why the article piqued my interest.

Hah that was cool. I got 9/14, but I got a bit distracted. What an odd skill.

I generally have a very good sense sense of the passage of time, so if someone asks what the time is I will guess before checking. I'm usually accurate to within less than 10mins if I've baselined the time within the past few hours. This isn't really based on external factors like the amount of daylight or any sort of counting systems, it is just an innate feel for how much time has passed (although sometimes it might be influenced by stuff like someone playing a CD, and I'll think "it feels like about 25mins since that CD ended", and then add on the approx duration I think the CD was. The thought process will typically be roughly what hour it is, does it feel like it is before or after that hour, and by how much.

Me too. I always know when an oven timer is going to go off. I can generally tell you what the time is within 10 minutes, but I've always assued that it was because I look at my phone so often and subconciously absorb what time it is. But that doesn't explain the oven timer thing. I can also could to 60 seconds with a very small margin of error, but I think that's practice.
 
Soldato
Joined
20 Feb 2004
Posts
21,319
Location
Hondon de las Nieves, Spain
I'm a wasp magnet. Put 100 people in a garden and its my face the little female genital parts will buzz in.

That's very similar to me, stick me in a foreign country these days and i will attract any mosquito within a 50 mile radius and leave those around me completely unharmed.

You could call me a hero really yet i don't get the recognition i deserve. I just get laughed at :(
 
Associate
Joined
7 Dec 2010
Posts
46
Crap superpowers: very good memory, very dextrous with either hand
Kryptonite: No sense of direction, very good memory is only useful for storing useless crap that is good in pub quizzes
 
Man of Honour
Joined
29 Mar 2003
Posts
56,808
Location
Stoke on Trent
My family & friends will tell you I'm a human GPS, drop me off anywhere and I'll know which way to go.
If we're on holiday I can look at a Google Satellite of the area and it stays in my brain.

Just seen that @Semple has the same super power.
Fight.
 
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