Do you have a "small superpower"?

jmucchiello · Sep 20, 2011

I can decide to wake up at a specific time in the morning and will do so within about 15 minutes early to 10 later without an alarm clock. In fact, this is so reliable, I don't have an alarm clock or device acting as an alarm clock (such as a smart phone).

Awake, my nigh-absolute time sense also only works subconsciously. When I'm not paying attention to a clock if asked what time is it I will verbally respond with a value within 5-10 minutes of accurate. Typical response is "It must be quarter to five by now." And then I check if I'm right. If I attempt to think about it, my error interval expands.
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When I was younger I had a more "useful" ability but my error rate has climbed in recent years. I use to have the uncanny ability to walk into a room with a television on and after 1-2 seconds state the name of the movie (or program) being watched, even if I had never seen the movie or show before. This obviously only worked with movies and shows with some level of advertising.

My climbing error rate I attribute to the vast number of channels available now and my lack of interest in movies in general. In my youth I paid more attention to what movies were out or coming to TV. These days I just care less. That and my aging memory. Last time I had a chance to exercise this ability the name of the movie would not come to me. I could see the trailer but not the name of the movie in my head.

pathfinderq1 · Sep 21, 2011

Sometimes small, sometimes not so small...

Very nearly absolute direction- especially in vehicles. Once I have been someplace once, I can always get back- and I have extremely good navigational skills when homing in on new locations. Plus, I grew up in the country, so I can use a compass and read a map- skills which amaze the GPS-dependent among my friends/co-workers. Works great on vacations- can always get back to the hotel, even in countries where I can't read the road signs. But the rental car people hate me- I never want to pay extra for the GPS unit...

RainOfSteel · Sep 21, 2011

Cor Azer said:
Tangent: My brother and I always fantasized about building some sort short range device to overpower radio signals so we could offer such enlightening advice.

I've been thinking about how much it would cost to mount fore and after cameras on my vehicle to record each day's round trip to work. I could then run a Daily Death Race segment for a video log on YouTube with voice-over commentary. [Yeah, this is a total pipe dream, but nice.]

FoxWander · Sep 23, 2011

Bullgrit said:
I have remarkable situational and body-position awareness. I can move through a crowd of people like a ghost. It gets humorously frustrating sometimes when I'm with someone and we want to cross a crowded area, and they stutter and hesitate trying to find a way through. I zip right on across, then turn and look back at the other person weaving and bumping around the crowd like they're in a pinball machine.

Bullgrit

I can do this crowd-ghosting also. It annoys my wife because I wind up accidentally ditching her when we go to the mall or an amusement park. I snake thru the crowd like it's not there and she gets cut off.

I also have a really good sense of smell. I've actually been able to track people I know thru buildings a few times. And I can smell something burning way before anyone else does. Of course, I'll also get a headache if walk by the bed and bath store at the mall or the store aisle that has all the scented candles. So it's troublesome small superpower.

tecnowraith · Sep 23, 2011

Believe it or not I a couple of them. When I call someone on the phone, I can sense when they are just about leave or coming home, like literally just walk in the door or when they finish doing something important.

I can also remember which movie an actor or actress they have been in 2 sec, sorta like a small video library or an index of star to the movie or tv in my head.

Zelda Themelin · Sep 23, 2011

I can and often will translate what animals or people are wanting or feeling, when target of their need is cluelessly watching to wrong direction or ignoring them.
(I also have ability to ignore it when I am the targe myselft.)

I can watch youtube for weeks without going insane (much).

I can change my taste for music at weekly basis.

I can mentally resist feeling cold, but it makes me feel annoingly hot when I get someplace not cold. My friend has that ability as well, so I assume it's rather common.

I am really good at guessing plots of stories, but I guess actually useful stuff almost always wrong.

I have amazing no sense of direction. I have been known to get lost in store (as not finding door out), when it was 10 m from we just covered by passing people.

I think I might have anti-belief aura. Ever since child no supposed ghosties appered when you said three times names in front of mirror or o. boards didn't work.

Weird crazy people thinking I am somehow connected to their weird crazy stuff as somekind of semi-supernatural person. Why don't they pick on some friend of theirs who want to be that. No. I didn't dress weird, no they don't know I play rpg:s. My friends sometimes wonder where do I find these people, and so do I.

Supermarket store doors often fail to open for me. Causes me to walk around them stupidly trying to hit the right angle frustrated and then some other person walks in and I get in when door open nicely for them in first try. Why, it's not like I am character form Mage the Ascension with high arete (or what was it called again). Maybe I am just wrong height or something.

I can spend 3 years in school with same people without learning to remember anyone's name. My heigtened ability to ignore in work as I remember rpg names just fine. I have also totally forgotten person who spent prior day with, let him sleep at my place and next morning at entrance of rope con he says hello and I sai "who are you? do you know me?" That was awkard.

Mmh, If I would have to stat myself you think I might get flaw points from those, or are they just traits?

Fast Learner · Sep 23, 2011

Zelda Themelin said:
Supermarket store doors often fail to open for me.

I have a similar anti-superpower: automatic faucets completely ignore me. In a busy public restroom I can watch dozens of people walk up to the various sinks and poof, instant water flow when then move their hands near. Me, no matter where I put my hands, no matter what sink I use, nothing.

It takes more than a dozen attempts to find a spot where the water will come on, usually some place where only a tiny bit of a finger is actually under the faucet. Allows me to grab a quick spurt of water before it shuts off again, so I have to repeat the whole thing several times to actually rinse my hands (adding soap to the mix and rinsing it off would literally take a total of 10 minutes).

I really have no idea what the heck is happening, why they don't see my hands. Very strange.

Zelda Themelin · Sep 23, 2011

Fast Learner said:
I really have no idea what the heck is happening, why they don't see my hands. Very strange.

Thank you, now I know, that I am not alone.

Mmh I did litte research

"The vast majority of the automatic doors, such as the ones on the big box
stores (Lowe's, Home Depot, Wal-Mart, etc.), function via an infrared sensor.
The infrared sensor puts out a field in a narrow area directly in front of
the door. When you walk within the field, you reflect infrared rays back to
the sensor, and that triggers the door to open."

"The water foundtains at my college are IR I think. They don't work when
I'm wearing my black leather coat, have to hold my hand up to it then. lol"

So dressing in black might cause these problems. Then again it's not really factor in my case.
But issue seems to relate somehow infra red.

jonesy · Sep 23, 2011

Fast Learner said:
I really have no idea what the heck is happening, why they don't see my hands. Very strange.

I had a neighbour with a similar problem. The house I was living in got a new elevator and it used a motion detector as the call button. She couldn't use it, because no matter what she did it wouldn't register her hand.

Edit: it might have been IR, not motion.

Dannyalcatraz · Sep 23, 2011

Count me as another for whom sensors are hit or miss. And another-probably related thing: you see those toys that do things like light up when held in your hands? They don't for me.