Extraodinary and Rare Human Abilities!?

amlptj · Jul 27, 2011

Hi everyone.

So I was a little confused where i should post this but i guess since it is a question maybe everyone can help me out.

So my characters have extreame human abilities, I'm not talking about powers, like x-ray vision and reading people's minds, I'm talking about being able to detect when peopl are lying (1% of the population can do this naturally) speed, agiltiy, the most amazing memory, able to spot the slightest detail, stragity planning/masterminding, genius smarts and wisdom, stength, and minipulation.

All humans have those things but some can push the limites of those human abilites setting a new standard. So here is where my question comes, Think you can help me come up with any others? Extraodinary and rare human abilites that push the limit just before they are called super human?

I try to keep all my characters abilities stongly in the real world and held by science. So know of any new ones i can add to the list above me?

PrincessofPersia · Jul 27, 2011

Not sure if it fits your story, but I can visualise anything in 3-dimensions both inside and outside after seeing it once. For example, I had to replace the window on my car 3 years ago, and I had never done it before. My step-dad is a car guy, so I watched him do it. Now, 3 years later, I can still see the door separate from the car in 3-dimensions, take it apart and put it back together, all to scale, in my head. And I can do that with pretty much anything. Not sure what you'd call that.

amlptj · Jul 27, 2011

WOW that is utterly amazing! You pretty much or the living breathing version of my one character. She can do that kind of stuff... like see a desk filled with objects for 10 seconds leave a room have someone mess up the whole desk and then could go back and put everything in there exact location just from memory!

Kitty Pryde · Jul 27, 2011

Extreme resistance to cold (or heat. but probably not both in the same person). I saw a real life dude on tv with abnormally high tolerance to the cold. And I read about a fictional one in sci-fi novel

What else? Super-empathy powers.

There are people who can't feel pain IRL, but it turns out to be a really dangerous condition (because they don't learn to avoid harm so they are constantly injuring themselves and need to be watched very carefully, at least as kids). You could change it up a little I suppose.

People who never need to sleep

amlptj · Jul 27, 2011

I was actually thinking of that last one! Wasnt sure how well it would fly though, but not that you bring it up i really like it, thanks! Oh i know the one with not being able to feel pain is horrible... watched a special for it, broke my heart.

Mutive · Jul 27, 2011

A photographic memory. Exceptional hearing (i.e. teens can practically hear dog whistles, but you could have someone who had even better) or eye sight (i.e. 20/10).

The ability to do complex mathematical calculations in their head.

High speed or endurance...

Al Stevens · Jul 27, 2011

Calendar savants.
The ability to mentally put time into slow motion without slowing perception giving one more time to ponder and react.
Mind control via hypnosis.

Kitty Pryde · Jul 27, 2011

I know somebody who only sleeps 2 or 3 hours a night (and does lots of stuff during the day like have a busy job and walk her dog and go to the gym and be a party girl and whatnot). And a guy who sleeps like three hours a night or not at all, who managed to get a double bachelor's plus a masters degree in two very hard subjects at a very tough school, in only three years (most people would take six), while also being the biggest club kid at the university. Whenever he was standing still he would just bounce up and down. Some people just don't need much rest. Also known kids who would sleep almost never without the help of medication. I'd buy a non-sleeping character as vaguely realistic in a sci-fi story.

Al Stevens · Jul 27, 2011

I learned to make it on two hours of sleep a night when I was in school. The secret? You do everything you always did. You just do it tired.

fireluxlou · Jul 27, 2011

amlptj said:
WOW that is utterly amazing! You pretty much or the living breathing version of my one character. She can do that kind of stuff... like see a desk filled with objects for 10 seconds leave a room have someone mess up the whole desk and then could go back and put everything in there exact location just from memory!

I think they call that http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperthymesia.

waylander · Jul 27, 2011

sense of smell good enough to track someone?

ironmikezero · Jul 27, 2011

The more you research, the more examples you'll find of people capable of amazing things - savants in every field of endeavor; mathematics, music, etc... However, it is not unusual for some other skill to be decidedly lacking; social ineptitude, extreme introversion, etc... Remember to balance your characters - no one is perfect and everyone has some flaw. That will only make them more interesting.

Nianne · Jul 27, 2011

An incredible sense of music, being able to mimic any sound by whistling, or mimic any accent instantly, or pick up a random instrument and repeat a song after just hearing it once?

What about tactile senses? Someone with a sense of touch sensitive enough that they can... predict the weather based on humidity and barometric changes? Or an unusual ability to detect magnetic fields? You'd always know which way is north, but doesn't technology give off magnetic fields all around us? What if you could sense those?

A super-effective immune system? So you never got sick or had an infection no matter what crazy stuff you were subjected to?

What about someone who could just barely see into the ultraviolet spectrum? What would that be like?

RemusShepherd · Jul 27, 2011

amlptj said:
All humans have those things but some can push the limites of those human abilites setting a new standard. So here is where my question comes, Think you can help me come up with any others? Extraodinary and rare human abilites that push the limit just before they are called super human?

When working in WMD detection, I heard rumors of agents in the intelligence services who were selected for their eyesight. Often they were tetrachromats, or they had receptors in the UV or IR part of the spectrum, giving them very acute night vision as well as other benefits.

Note that tetrachromats are exclusively female. I was never told the gender of the agents who were able to see in the UV and IR.

amlptj · Jul 27, 2011

Oh yes i know, they have there flaws...

I actually have a lot of what everyone mentioned... hum let me explain.

Ally- deciving and detecting -can be such a patholigical liar as to be able to fool a lie detector, she can also form elaborate foolproof plans in her head in a matter of seconds, and can tell when others are lying.

Max- speed and agility (its kind of self explanitory) He is also super stealty, could walk around a creaky floor without a sound

Laura- memory and attention to detail (i discribed her in post 3) She remembers EVERYTHING! Can also profile people (with 97%accuacy) based on the most minute details about them.

Pip- Knowlege and Wisdom- The kids IQ cant even be obtained he's that smart. Knows 25 different languges fluently and that was only for fun. Was teaching his calc 4 teacher new stuff at the age of 7. He can also somewhat predict things to happen, based of complex series of probablity equations in his head.

Tod and Jul- exteme sense of hearing and eyesight, including the ability to see in the dark.

Can you think or know of anything else?

PS. thanks for the sleeping one, i like that one alot! And OHHHHHHHH UV and IR...hum very interesting! Thanks!

lbender · Jul 27, 2011

Watch the movie Phenomenon. The guy there, aside from many of the other things, can also sense minute changes in barometric pressure.

Snitchcat · Jul 27, 2011

How about psychological empathy? That's not the name, but the description is simple: you suffer some form of dizziness according to how ill a certain individual is. For example, the night or so before my cousin died, just before sleeping, I was extremely dizzy twice in a row -- close to passing out both times. And when the BF was really ill, I got that dizziness reaction. The severity of the reaction told me how serious the problem was.

Not rare but what about regular deja-vu? That could be part of being a true clairvoyant?

Hmm. Can't think of any others right now. Hope this rambling makes sense and helps some.

BigWords · Jul 27, 2011

Funny that you should specifically mention x-ray vision, as there's a Russian girl named Natalya Demkina who is believed to have this ability - I use the word believed, as it is hard to determine exactly what is going on there... She might be a fraud, or she might actually be able to see through people.

There are lots of people who have "unusual abilities" - magnetism is a rather common one (once you've seen one person stick an iron to their forehead, you've seen them all), though the guy you really have to research is Daniel Dunglas Home.

druid12000 · Jul 27, 2011

I noticed you mentioned manipulation...how about persuasion. I have known people who had this ability in the extreme and it was facinating to watch.

lastlittlebird · Jul 27, 2011

I know there are blind people who have taught themselves to navigate through listening to echoes, like a bat does.

There are also people who claim to have overcome the sleep thing by resetting their internal clocks into only sleeping 20 minutes every three or four hours.
They only have REM sleep. It's called "polyphasic sleep".
The catch is that they pretty much collapse if they don't take that nap on time. Also, they might be doing long term damage, although I don't think there's proof either way at the moment.

There are also the animal "whisperers" who have taught themselves to be so good at communicating with a particular species it looks like magic.

I find the idea of people who train to overcome a limitation interesting, especially because it feels like something I could do myself (if I wasn't so lazy).

On the less awesome of this scale, I figured out how to stop myself hiccuping... that counts as a superpower, right?

BigWords · Jul 27, 2011

lastlittlebird said:
I know there are blind people who have taught themselves to navigate through listening to echoes, like a bat does.

Or by clicking their tongue and using "sonar", such as Daniel Kitsch.

Skyler · Jul 27, 2011

I know someone whose daughter has an almost mystical sway over animals, both tame and wild. Birds, coons, possums, you name it. They aren't scared of her, and she can somehow convince them to do what she wants.

If I went hiking where there were bears, I'd take her with me.

Also - shooting really, really insanely accurately. That's probably my favorite.

One of my characters was sensitive to mechanical vibrations, to the point where he could identify individual components of a machine by the harmonics. Or detect that he was in an underwater base by the echo pattern on the exterior hull.

kuwisdelu · Jul 27, 2011

Here you go.

debirlfan · Jul 27, 2011

Haven't seen sense of direction mentioned - some people have an incredibly accurate one.

I remember seeing something on tv not long ago (can't remember the details) of people learning to scent track like a bloodhound. Apparently some people can do it, to some extent at least.

The subject of people (women) who could see more colors than normal came up here within the last few months, I believe in a discussion of color blindness.

Not sure if this is anything you could use, but... some time ago they tested race car drivers vs other athletes to see what made them different. It turned out that the drivers matched up pretty well with others in terms of fast reflexes, agility, heat tolerance, etc. The one thing the drivers could do that nobody else could was that they could easily read the label on a spinning record, even at a relatively high rpm. Maybe one of your characters could do something like that?

Drachen Jager · Jul 27, 2011

Like this?

http://videosift.com/video/Superhands-Thai-chef-can-put-his-hands-in-boiling-hot-oil

I can sense when ferrous metals are near my forehead. I haven't had any use for the ability EVER, but I found as a child that I had a certain tingle when a magnetic object is brought within a few inches of the centre of my forehead. My brother tested it with a variety of objects and even had me wear a blindfold to make sure I wasn't cheating.

Extraodinary and Rare Human Abilities!?

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