"Increase the percentage of this power's ability to alter percentages by 1%"
"Increase the percentage of this power's ability to alter percentages by 1%"
Can I increase the humanity's average IQ?
Then I abuse that power every day.Can I increase the humanity's average IQ?
Sure. Yes.
"Increase the percentage of this power's ability to alter percentages by 1%"The first response and we're already into "wish for more wishes" territory. Why am I not surprised. :P
I'd probably include things like "Purify 1% of the Earth's fresh water,"that'd probably just purify five microliters in a bucket filled with dirty water though.
"Reduce the number of harmful bacteria in the world by 1%"
This would work fine. But it wouldn't stop them from reproducing, and it's altogether likely that the temporarily reduced bacteria would simply replenish themselves, eliminating the effective benefit of the command. Where you could do something like:
"Decrease the total number of different species of harmful bacteria in the world by 1%"
Which, if there were 2000 different species of harmful bacteria, would result in the genocide of 20 of them. Though you wouldn't have any control over which 20
"Increase the percentage of this power's ability to alter percentages by 1%"Thread's over, folks. This is the clear winner.
Decrease entropy by 1%.
Decrease entropy by 1%.
Seriously is this thread secretly the doom the universe thread?
Decrease entropy by 1%.
Seriously is this thread secretly the doom the universe thread?
How so?
"Increase the percentage of this power's ability to alter percentages by 1%"Thread's over, folks. This is the clear winner.
You have no idea how much patience one man can have so that, one day, he could literally stand in front
of a crowd and declare "Gravity shall now cease to exist on Earth!" and have it be so.
By the way want money?
I want 1% of the USA's Wealth
Want Power?
I want the ability to control 1% of the world's interests.
Also, it would reach 2% in 52 days, not 70. 3% at 69 days. 4% at 78 days. 5% at 83 days. 6% in 87 days.
And I don't mean relative to each other- I mean relative to the start date. You forget that by increasing the power by 1%, the next day I'd increase it by 1.01%, and so on. By 99 days, you're already at 20%.
Government finds you have these powers. The odds of your survival drop as they dissect you.How would it even find out that? Unless you tell everyone, that is. And even than government has a good chance of thinking that you're just another charlatan.
I would decrease the force exerted by gravity by 1%. All gravity.
Then I abuse that power every day.Can I increase the humanity's average IQ?
Sure. Yes.
30 days => 135% the intelligence.
365 days of using that power => 3778% the intelligence.
Nothing can go wrong with more intelligence for everyone! Just after one month, there already should be a pretty noticeable effect. After three months, average people exceed Hawking level. After one year, the science will be going at the speed of light.
For bonus points, it should also affect myself. I could use some extra brain-muscle.
"Increase the percentage of this power's ability to alter percentages by 1%"Thread's over, folks. This is the clear winner.
Not yet. While it's true that an increase in utility is a good long run investment, you could die (from whatever causes) before really gettin a chance to use it.
Perhaps spamming "decrease the chance I die from whatever cause this century by 1%" until you are sufficiently unkillable before increasing utility is a good idea.
Well, what are the odds that you'll die in the next 4 months? Not very high? Then you're fine.
These wouldn't work for reasons explicitly described in the opening post. In fact, I gave almost that exact example.
BTW, "Reduce the average temperature of Earth by 1%" would probably bring us back to the level we had before we started mass-polluting things. (Maybe "decrease the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by 1% would also do a good job, idk)
Theres so many great things you could do with this power.
How about "Decrease the speed of light by 1%"?
"Decrease the temperature required for fusion to occur by 1%"?
What would happen if you said "Decrease the distance between point A and point B by 1%"?
So yes, while theoretically you could start with $10,000 in a bank account and use it every single day for 463 days to become a millionaire, but it's probably not realistic to think that someone would sit around with for 15 months diligently not benefiting from their superpower while the money accrues.
Whereas other uses more immediately see results. Using it to brute force getting rich might be difficult, but a single use every few years would keep you forever young, and the occasional carefully worded command to free 1% of all women enslaved by human traffickers, or eliminate 1% of genetic defects in the world could see tremendous effect.
By the way decreasing the carbon dioxide in the air by 1% would... kill all live on earth just about.Why would it? It's hardly much in the first place.
By the way decreasing the carbon dioxide in the air by 1% would... kill all live on earth just about.Why would it? It's hardly much in the first place.
Carbon dioxide makes up a very small percentage of the overall atmosphere. Removing 1% of .04% of the atmosphere would not reduce global atmospheric pressure by much.By the way decreasing the carbon dioxide in the air by 1% would... kill all live on earth just about.Why would it? It's hardly much in the first place.
Atmospheric Pressure.
You'd only be taking away 0.004% of the atmosphere. I don't think it'd be that catastrophic.Atmospheric Pressure.By the way decreasing the carbon dioxide in the air by 1% would... kill all live on earth just about.Why would it? It's hardly much in the first place.
Give me 1% of the universe's knowledge per day with the ability to understand and use it.
Give me 1% of the universe's knowledge per day with the ability to understand and use it.Does this work? "Knowledge" is only arguably quantifiable. It's more like a quality, i.e. "You know this thing," where more knowledge would be "You know thing thing, and these other things about this thing."
Give me 1% of the universe's knowledge per day with the ability to understand and use it.
You can't do that because you don't own a percent of the universe's knowledge.
You need to find a way around it... like I did.
You can't do it because you don't have "the universe's knowledge" in any quantity.Give me 1% of the universe's knowledge per day with the ability to understand and use it.
You can't do that because you don't own a percent of the universe's knowledge.
You need to find a way around it... like I did.
Do you need 1% of whatever in order to make the wish? No one here owns gravity, entropy, or 1% of the world's wealth to begin with.
Hmm. According to wikipedia the 'crude death rate' in 2014 is 7,89 per 1000 people, or 0.789% of people dying (not accounting age and where you live etc). In two weeks you can decrease this to 0.685 (if I'm calculating this correctly).
Hmm. Not great.
However, this would also imply you have a 99.211% of surviving. So, how about we instead word it as 'increase my chance of surviving this year by 1%'.
99.211% *1.01 = 99.211% + 0.992% = 100,203%
And now you're immortal for a year, and can safely start increasing your power.
((manipulating numbers for fun and profit. also pretty sure I made a mistake somewhere in there))
You can't do it because you don't have "the universe's knowledge" in any quantity.Give me 1% of the universe's knowledge per day with the ability to understand and use it.
You can't do that because you don't own a percent of the universe's knowledge.
You need to find a way around it... like I did.
Do you need 1% of whatever in order to make the wish? No one here owns gravity, entropy, or 1% of the world's wealth to begin with.
Increasing your own knowledge would work just fine though.
Okay.Then I abuse that power every day.Can I increase the humanity's average IQ?
Sure. Yes.
30 days => 135% the intelligence.
365 days of using that power => 3778% the intelligence.
Nothing can go wrong with more intelligence for everyone! Just after one month, there already should be a pretty noticeable effect. After three months, average people exceed Hawking level. After one year, the science will be going at the speed of light.
For bonus points, it should also affect myself. I could use some extra brain-muscle.
ah, but you missed something, it raises the AVERAGE IQ. It may do that by spiking ONE PERSON randomly to well above genius. you don't see any change in yourself or those around you, but random people around the world are getting their heads exploded.
I take that chance every day. It's not like gaining a superpower miraculously increases your odds of dying.
Hmm. According to wikipedia the 'crude death rate' in 2014 is 7,89 per 1000 people, or 0.789% of people dying (not accounting age and where you live etc). In two weeks you can decrease this to 0.685 (if I'm calculating this correctly).
Hmm. Not great.
However, this would also imply you have a 99.211% of surviving. So, how about we instead word it as 'increase my chance of surviving this year by 1%'.
99.211% *1.01 = 99.211% + 0.992% = 100,203%
And now you're immortal for a year, and can safely start increasing your power.
((manipulating numbers for fun and profit. also pretty sure I made a mistake somewhere in there))
The only problem is assuming you have an averagized "chance" of surviving for a year. It's more likely that either specific people are going to die or not die (in a deterministic universe) or if it's non-deterministic then specific people have a very high chance of dying, and others have very low or no chance of dying. You can't really be sure what your real chance of dying is.
Well, the issue here is the repercussions of increasing the average rate of survival of humans over 1 year- you're not the only immortal.
QuoteWell, the issue here is the repercussions of increasing the average rate of survival of humans over 1 year- you're not the only immortal.
Who said anything about increasing the odds of other people? That could be done, of course, but would be something you'd have to do carefully to avoid causing disaster by accident.
For your first few days, you just increase your own odds. Then, once you can safely use your powers, you can decide on what to do next.
Well, it then becomes a matter of raising... well, odds.
What would be the consequence of having a 102% chance of surviving for a year?
Huh, increasing forested area of Earth by 1% counteracts almost five and a half years of deforestation. It would probably be regarded as a disaster though - trees sprouting in fields, residences and whatnot.
Huh, increasing forested area of Earth by 1% counteracts almost five and a half years of deforestation. It would probably be regarded as a disaster though - trees sprouting in fields, residences and whatnot.
I saw that episode of Doctor Who.
You know for all the IQ ones it could just make the test easier? If anything that's the only way I could see it working, since the tests are supposed to be moderated to have an average of around 100, right?Indeed; they already recalibrate it rather regularly due to the Flynn effect (that is, the fact that IQ scores are already apparently increasing at a rate of around 3 points per decade). That leaves aside the question of just how effectively IQ measures something as ill-understood as "intelligence." Rather than this, I would suggest altering neural plasticity and/or neural interconnectivity. If nothing else, it would be useful to determining the effects of these on intelligence as well.
Hey, Lord of Buckets, what would happen in cases like this, where odds increase above the possible value (like having more than a 100% chance of not dying)? Does it revert to 100% or what?
Decrease 1% of the world's cash into my pocket.
Increase the value of 1/0 by 1%.
Can I just make up an arbitrary scale to get the results I want?
Haven't watched/played those, although I suspect it was one of episodes of Darkwing Duck with Bushroot(?) as villain that planted this idea in my head a couple of decades ago. Nature's revenge seems to be a popular theme/fear.I saw that episode of Doctor Who.And Sam and Max
Decrease the probability of my death by 1%.I would go with the probability of me dying within the next 50 years.
Starting at a 100% probability that I will die, I have to survive 100 odd days before I am now unconditionally immortal. Well, not quite; death never winds up as a non-0 probability, but the longer you leave the power on the smaller and smaller the probability gets.
Kind of like a death note.
I want a Death Note. Not saying I have a list, but... yea I have a list.
Increase pi by one percent. Then watch reality burn.Even better: increase e by one percent!
Spend a few months on increasing your morality, duh. Wait, the best choice would be to decrease the amount of time it takes for you to be able to reuse the 1%/Day power. Eventually, you will be nigh-omnipotent.Kind of like a death note.
I want a Death Note. Not saying I have a list, but... yea I have a list.
Would be cool except for the inevitable "absolute power corrupts absolutely".
Well if it works with probabilities, could we not pull an 'Infinite Improbability Drive' stunt and make it more probable that somebody will discover/create a certain thing?Well, the rules cover that one - if the chance for that is zero in the beginning, it stays zero after multiplication with 1.01.
So we can't do anything that's already impossible, got it.Well if it works with probabilities, could we not pull an 'Infinite Improbability Drive' stunt and make it more probable that somebody will discover/create a certain thing?Well, the rules cover that one - if the chance for that is zero in the beginning, it stays zero after multiplication with 1.01.
Kind of like a death note.
I want a Death Note. Not saying I have a list, but... yea I have a list.
Would be cool except for the inevitable "absolute power corrupts absolutely".
But there's plenty of things that aren't impossible, but could do with being higher. So within a couple of months you could effectively double the progress being made in a certain scientific field, or more realistically if those increments were spread out as every 5th day in a year or whatever.Well if it works with probabilities, could we not pull an 'Infinite Improbability Drive' stunt and make it more probable that somebody will discover/create a certain thing?Well, the rules cover that one - if the chance for that is zero in the beginning, it stays zero after multiplication with 1.01.
I wouldn't want this power. All the selfish things that can be done with it are tempting enough that I'd probably do it, and either regret it later or worse, turn into a person who doesn't regret it. After a while you'd figure out a way to kill people instantly, like with one of the chemistry examples mentioned, and with enough time (like an eternity) it's inevitable that you'd start to rationalize it for more and more trivial things. That's the most obvious example to me of why this would only end badly. Even if you set out to use the power for the right reasons, most people (probably including myself) would have a difficult time not giving themselves all the power they can think of at some point, out of fear or a desire to protect the power that grows out of just having it. A life of immortality, infinite wealth, and infinite power is not only a pointless and unpleasant life, it's also going to end up making the lives of others worse.
By contrast, I'd love this power for all of those reasons. Mostly because the ability to alter reality at a whim (which, if you change the cooldown of once a day to once a millisecond, would be basically what this is) would basically have you transcend wealth, power, and mortality. You'd be a god at that point, really.
Could distance work with this power? In a "Reduce the distance between this specific chair and Hong Kong by 1%," kind of way? Because the mental image I'm getting of a chair violently making its way 1% of the way to Hong Kong is hilarious to me.
You think this would make me not use the power for things such as this.Could distance work with this power? In a "Reduce the distance between this specific chair and Hong Kong by 1%," kind of way? Because the mental image I'm getting of a chair violently making its way 1% of the way to Hong Kong is hilarious to me.
Probably would be the chair going .5% of the way, with Hong Kong going the other .5%.
Oooh, new assasination method! "Decrease distance between X and Alpha Centauri by 1%."
Oh god I am just visualizing people suddenly being forcefully propelled towards Alpha Centauri, regardless of where it is. This includes directly downwards, at which point they are simply dragged along the ground at an increasing velocity.
I'd decrease the lifespans of everybody involved with the MPAA and/or RIAA
And increase the lifespans of everybody who isn't either a stockholder in a major corporation, an objectivist, a religious fundamentalist, or a personal injury lawyer.
I'd be very tempted to try to increase my chances of discovering the origin of this superpower within the month by 1% a few times until I figure it out or get bored trying.
I tend to be the sort to wonder how things even happen.
Oooh, new assasination method! "Decrease distance between X and Alpha Centauri by 1%."
Oh god I am just visualizing people suddenly being forcefully propelled towards Alpha Centauri, regardless of where it is. This includes directly downwards, at which point they are simply dragged along the ground at an increasing velocity.
My power would be "Increase the energy output of oxidizing or burning carbon by 1% per day".
Eventually, burning pure elemental carbon will yield enough energy to synthesize pure elemental carbon purely out of the energy released (e=mc2) by burning the same amount of carbon. We wind up with C+O2+(X Energy units) -> CO2+(X+Y Energy Units), and (X+Y Energy Units) -> C, or C+O2 -> CO2+C+(Ever Increasing amount of energy). This leads to the perfect machine, leads to nuclear power being replaced with far more efficient self-perpetuating coal power, and causes some people to spontaneously combust.
And eventually the energy output is enough that we can spend the energy to separate the oxygen from the carbon again and still have a net profit.
I'm not sure this would count as "modifying an existing quality," and if so I suspect it'd still be violating the spirit of the question. Similar to how you (probably) couldn't "decrease my mortality" to increase lifespan or "reduce my lack of wealth" to gain money.I'd be very tempted to try to increase my chances of discovering the origin of this superpower within the month by 1% a few times until I figure it out or get bored trying.
I tend to be the sort to wonder how things even happen.
That is impossible as you have no chance.
What you DO is DECREASE the chance you won't discover the origin of the super power by 1%. Since that is 100%.
My power would be "Increase the energy output of oxidizing or burning carbon by 1% per day".I'm far too lazy to figure out how long this would take, but I do have to wonder if it wouldn't be more efficient to "increase the size of this pile of nuclear fuel by 1%," "increase the yield of this nuclear reactor by 1%," and occasionally "decrease the size of this pile of nuclear waste."
Eventually, burning pure elemental carbon will yield enough energy to synthesize pure elemental carbon purely out of the energy released (e=mc2) by burning the same amount of carbon. We wind up with C+O2+(X Energy units) -> CO2+(X+Y Energy Units), and (X+Y Energy Units) -> C, or C+O2 -> CO2+C+(Ever Increasing amount of energy). This leads to the perfect machine, leads to nuclear power being replaced with far more efficient self-perpetuating coal power, and causes some people to spontaneously combust.
And eventually the energy output is enough that we can spend the energy to separate the oxygen from the carbon again and still have a net profit.
I think the better approach is to help boost the solutions rather than attacking the problem. For instance, taking 1% chunks out of HIV will help people, but will never eliminate the problem as your "1% less" gets less effective every time. Making the drugs 1% more effective, or 1% more available, or increasing the research speed for new drugs against viruses in general by 1% every day for a year or so though would dramatically boost elimination efforts, and would keep getting better every time you used it. If you got drug research up to, say, 10,000% of what it is now while also doing similar things to vaccine and drug effectiveness that means you'd also likely be free to address other problems, as new pathogens would likely be stamped out very rapidly by the incredibly quick drug responses. I think this is the most efficient and sustainable way to fight the world's ills.
Increase the speed of light by 1%, and increase energy output by... Some random high mass element rarely found on earth by 1% until you get extreme amounts?
That way quick interstellar travel becomes feasible!
You assume I don't have a chance to begin with. How do you know?I'd be very tempted to try to increase my chances of discovering the origin of this superpower within the month by 1% a few times until I figure it out or get bored trying.
I tend to be the sort to wonder how things even happen.
That is impossible as you have no chance.
What you DO is DECREASE the chance you won't discover the origin of the super power by 1%. Since that is 100%.
I'm not sure this would count as "modifying an existing quality," and if so I suspect it'd still be violating the spirit of the question. Similar to how you (probably) couldn't "decrease my mortality" to increase lifespan or "reduce my lack of wealth" to gain money.I'd be very tempted to try to increase my chances of discovering the origin of this superpower within the month by 1% a few times until I figure it out or get bored trying.
I tend to be the sort to wonder how things even happen.
That is impossible as you have no chance.
What you DO is DECREASE the chance you won't discover the origin of the super power by 1%. Since that is 100%.
If given the chance, the first thing I'd do is wish for 1% of the world's total money as of 11:59:59 a.m., 19th of December of the year 2014 AD.Doesn't work that way. Try again.
If given the chance, the first thing I'd do is wish for 1% of the world's total money as of 11:59:59 a.m., 19th of December of the year 2014 AD.Doesn't work that way. Try again.
Decrease entropy by 1%.
Seriously is this thread secretly the doom the universe thread?
[/quote
It is now
Joke answer- increase the amount of hydrogen in the sun by 1%
Real answer- increase amount of world total food production per farm by one percent
That would add quite a bit of food into the basket right?
Decrease entropy by 1%.
Seriously is this thread secretly the doom the universe thread?
[/quote
It is now
Joke answer- increase the amount of hydrogen in the sun by 1%
Real answer- increase amount of world total food production per farm by one percent
That would add quite a bit of food into the basket right?
It's true, based on simple calorie calculations at least. It's a problem of distribution.Decrease entropy by 1%.
Seriously is this thread secretly the doom the universe thread?
[/quote
It is now
Joke answer- increase the amount of hydrogen in the sun by 1%
Real answer- increase amount of world total food production per farm by one percent
That would add quite a bit of food into the basket right?
You are aware we make enough food RIGHT NOW to feed the world right?
Decrease entropy by 1%.
Seriously is this thread secretly the doom the universe thread?
[/quote
It is now
Joke answer- increase the amount of hydrogen in the sun by 1%
Real answer- increase amount of world total food production per farm by one percent
That would add quite a bit of food into the basket right?
You are aware we make enough food RIGHT NOW to feed the world right?
Decrease food prices!
QuoteDecrease food prices!
You are aware this would cause a famine right?
I'd decrease the lifespans of everybody involved with the MPAA and/or RIAA
And increase the lifespans of everybody who isn't either a stockholder in a major corporation, an objectivist, a religious fundamentalist, or a personal injury lawyer.
... what's wrong with personal injury lawyers? They sue insurance companies that refuse to pay their clients because they put their profits above fulfilling their obligations or human suffering. They don't make money unless their client gets what they're owed + enough to pay them.
In most places where there is famine, it's not so much that people cannot afford food, it's that there simply isn't much (or any) food around.QuoteDecrease food prices!
You are aware this would cause a famine right?
This suggestion was predicated on your claim that there was more than enough to go around (with the accompanying implication that what starvation there is arises from poverty). Decrease the price and the surplus actually gets eaten by the people who need it but couldn't previously afford it.
In most places where there is famine, it's not so much that people cannot afford food, it's that there simply isn't much (or any) food around.QuoteDecrease food prices!
You are aware this would cause a famine right?
This suggestion was predicated on your claim that there was more than enough to go around (with the accompanying implication that what starvation there is arises from poverty). Decrease the price and the surplus actually gets eaten by the people who need it but couldn't previously afford it.
It's a problem of distribution.This simple sentence. There's enough food, there's enough wealth, there's not enough distribution. And if there's not enough, it means it's quantified. Which means we can use the 1% superpower on it.
When I say there's a problem with food distribution, I don't mean that all over the world there's a bunch of rich people that own all the food and don't let other people have any, I mean that a few countries produce so much food that their citizenry struggle against obesity, while there are other countries that, for various reasons, do not produce enough food to feed their people. Food is a difficult thing to export, due to its perishable nature.In most places where there is famine, it's not so much that people cannot afford food, it's that there simply isn't much (or any) food around.QuoteDecrease food prices!
You are aware this would cause a famine right?
This suggestion was predicated on your claim that there was more than enough to go around (with the accompanying implication that what starvation there is arises from poverty). Decrease the price and the surplus actually gets eaten by the people who need it but couldn't previously afford it.
Which side of the debate are you arguing for? I can't tell.
OK.
Decrease spoilage then.
------------------------------
On an unrelated note, I'd also increase the world's supplies of gold and diamonds. I want to see them become worthless.
Decrease entropy by 1%.
Seriously is this thread secretly the doom the universe thread?
[/quote
It is now
Joke answer- increase the amount of hydrogen in the sun by 1%
Real answer- increase amount of world total food production per farm by one percent
That would add quite a bit of food into the basket right?
You are aware we make enough food RIGHT NOW to feed the world right?
Make all earth on earth 1% more fertile?Increase the GDP of all countries by 1%?
Make all food spoil 1% slower?
In real terms, of course.Make all earth on earth 1% more fertile?Increase the GDP of all countries by 1%?
Make all food spoil 1% slower?
the corn that we mostly grow for corn syrupPeople grow corn specifically for a shitty waste product?
I meant by-product. I'm not sure is waste product is a synonym, if not then oops.No, it's not that either. Waste and by-products get thrown out.
At first I thought I'd wish for a decrease of the worl Gini coefficient by 1% by day but then I figured that if I decrease the 1000th root of the Gini coefficient, I get a much more dramatic effect.Or you fuck up mathematics. One or the other.
I recall being told that corn syrup, at least originally, was just a way to get something from what would otherwise be waste, rather than setting out with the intention of producing it.I meant by-product. I'm not sure is waste product is a synonym, if not then oops.No, it's not that either. Waste and by-products get thrown out.
They grow fake-corn specifically to make 'filler' with no nutritional values at all just to pad out how big a meal looks, similar to padding out an essay by adding extra long words.
That's not how food works.Decrease entropy by 1%.
Seriously is this thread secretly the doom the universe thread?
[/quote
It is now
Joke answer- increase the amount of hydrogen in the sun by 1%
Real answer- increase amount of world total food production per farm by one percent
That would add quite a bit of food into the basket right?
You are aware we make enough food RIGHT NOW to feed the world right?
Yes but the richer nations eat it all, if more food existed it would be cheaper and therefore be easier for the poor to get
I think what people don't realize when they hear the phrase "We already produce enough food to feed the world" is that much of what we grow nowadays, while technically "food," is nothing more than a step in the industrial chain. For example, the corn that we mostly grow for corn syrup isn't exactly edible, but is still "corn" and therefore counted on those little statistical charts that easily make modern countries look like giant douches.
Kill 1% of all sapient life in the universe? If exactly 1% of the human race doesn't drop dead, you've just proved the existence of aliens. And murdered a bunch of people, but hey, SCIENCE!Or there is enough other sapients out there that you wipe out the entire human race, yourself included. :P
Well, now we genetically modify corn strands specifically so that they can be refined into the stuff.That's a common way things go. Petroleum was originally a waste product too, as it was too volatile for 19th century lamps and stuff. The combustion engine was an attempt to give it a commerical use. Later, people started converting other useful stuff into the same product artificially. It just means the concept of "waste product" can change, new uses are thought up and the economics changes as a result.
Increase time since the big bang by 1%. Enjoy new hovercar and/or post-apocalyptic wasteland.That would be at least a few million years. Also you would probably be affected.
Increase time since the big bang by 1%. Enjoy new hovercar and/or post-apocalyptic wasteland.
Increase time since the big bang by 1%. Enjoy new hovercar and/or post-apocalyptic wasteland.
That wouldn't work. It would immediately shift to some future point, but all the people alive would have memories consistent with time not shifting (people would remember who invented the hovercars etc).
Sticking with the 1% money increase value per day starting at 1000 still seems sanest to me. In four years you could pretty much do anything you wanted. In 6 years you'd be making 28 billion dollars per day. Just got to make sure you specify value, so you don't cause inflation, and you'd probably be good. I could probably solve all the worlds problems with 28 billion per day.Inflation, mate.
Sticking with the 1% money increase value per day starting at 1000 still seems sanest to me. In four years you could pretty much do anything you wanted. In 6 years you'd be making 28 billion dollars per day. Just got to make sure you specify value, so you don't cause inflation, and you'd probably be good. I could probably solve all the worlds problems with 28 billion per day.Inflation, mate.
Of course, actually increasing the quantity of money probably would probably wouldn't do much either provided that no one knew about it.The market forces can smell the guilt on your breath~
Sticking with the 1% money increase value per day starting at 1000 still seems sanest to me. In four years you could pretty much do anything you wanted. In 6 years you'd be making 28 billion dollars per day. Just got to make sure you specify value, so you don't cause inflation, and you'd probably be good. I could probably solve all the worlds problems with 28 billion per day.Inflation, mate.
That's why he went out of his way to specify "value" rather than "quantity", as in getting more for the same amount.
Of course, actually increasing the quantity of money probably would probably wouldn't do much either provided that no one knew about it.
[On a semi-related note, the only person harmed by counterfeit money is the poor schmuck who both realises that it's not real AND turns it in to the authorities (the same goes for passing off fool's gold as real gold)]
So this is just the "I love exponential relations" thread?
Wouldn't it be logarithmic? Unless you were solely increasing the percentage your power increased by every day.
Pretty sure that would result in a billion year time loop or something.HOW DO WE KEEP FIGURING OUT NEW WAYS TO END THE UNIVERSE?!?!
Wouldn't it be logarithmic? Unless you were solely increasing the percentage your power increased by every day.
An exponential relation has the form
y = ax
By most definitions, the majority of people do not live in poverty. Call it 1/3 worldwide.The vast majority of people worldwide live on less than $10/day. (http://www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-facts-and-stats) There's a lot of poverty to go around.
"Decrease by 1% the probability of {event} NOT happening and this probability resetting each nanosecond"You need to rephrase that.
This means that {event} has a >99.9999% chance of happening each nanosecond.
{event} can be something as extreme as "me becoming omnipotent"
Because there are just so many.Pretty sure that would result in a billion year time loop or something.HOW DO WE KEEP FIGURING OUT NEW WAYS TO END THE UNIVERSE?!?!
The good news is that we now have a definitive way to accelerate the possibility of the discovery of FTL travel within the next 364 days.
It's still a better idea than tampering with the laws of physics.Increase the combined morality of the human race by 1%.
...good luck measuring morality?
Or in that case does time also slow down since (IIRC a science show said that time is caused by light..... Not sure how much I believe it)
I assume he's referring to relativity (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_relativity).I think that's it
Increase armlessness by 1%.Is this to accomplish anything, or just to watch people suddenly have no arms?
Increase armlessness by 1%.Is this to accomplish anything, or just to watch people suddenly have no arms?
Government finds you have these powers. The odds of your survival drop as they dissect you.
How, exactly? "Reduce the size of X country's military by 1%"? I'm guessing the powers that be might figure something's going on.Government finds you have these powers. The odds of your survival drop as they dissect you.
Well destroying them would probably be the first thing I'd do with these powers anyway; the intelligence and military sectors at any rate.
How, exactly? "Reduce the size of X country's military by 1%"? I'm guessing the powers that be might figure something's going on.Government finds you have these powers. The odds of your survival drop as they dissect you.
Well destroying them would probably be the first thing I'd do with these powers anyway; the intelligence and military sectors at any rate.
So your solution is to cause widespread death and destruction? Congratulations, you're a supervillain.
Increase the combined morality of the human race by 1%.
...good luck measuring morality?
Why bother with solar cells, when you can create a perpetual motion machine as I described last page?
So your solution is to cause widespread death and destruction? Congratulations, you're a supervillain.
Solving the dissection thing is just a bonus, its more about these organizations being out of control and needing to be reined in.
So more like a dark superhero from an Alan Moore comic. "V" from V For Vendetta comes to mind.
Anyway, back on topic, could we remove a specific 1%. Like, could we remove the political influence of the richest 1% of the american people?Nope, you could remove 1% of their power, or power of 1% of them, or 1% of all power, or 1% of the people. Not 100% of a 1%.
(...and good luck trying to launch those ICBMs).So... you basically want to turn the entire world into North Korea?
the IS dollarCryxis confirmed for terrorist
You know, increasing HDI could just decrease the standards of HDI... that's the problem with using metrics like that instead of something physical to change.
Wouldn't decreasing the amount of CO2 just thin the atmosphere and cause more harm that good? And eventualy kill plant life from levels being too low and then over oxygenate the whole place?
Doesn't answer the second bit
With no CO2 or just very little won't a lot of plant life die off? Then when plants die we die because there is nothing to tear the carbon off the oxygen for us to use it again
Ok
What eill you switch the 1% to after that?
-snip-I somehow very much doubt that average life expectancy (units?), GDP per capita, AND years spent in education could ever sum up to a number less than 1, anywhere.
CroesoiFinally another friend of the creative pluralization!
That's why it's a measure, not a sum.Yet not a perfectly direct measure, so it could be possible that whatever process is followed to get the HDI is changed.
six months with this power and you've solved pretty much all of humanity's biggest problems
Decrease number of humans that are not me by 1%. It may be gruesome, but it would be a fairly straightforward way of solving most environmental issues.The jerk-ass genie might interpret that as "decrease percentage of humans that are not me," and suddenly there would be a lot more of you.
Decrease number of humans that are not me by 1%. It may be gruesome, but it would be a fairly straightforward way of solving most environmental issues.The jerk-ass genie might interpret that as "decrease percentage of humans that are not me," and suddenly there would be a lot more of you.
Decrease the number of drug adicts by 1%
No. 100% of humans are addicted to dopamine. When you shoot drugs, you arent usually feeling "good" because of the drug, so much as the drug's influence on dopamine levels. (Some caveats apply-- some drugs simulate dopamine in the brain.)
Decrease the waste created in nuclear reactions by 1%1) Decrease the amount of matter left after fission of a U-235 nucleus by 1%.
Weed is serotonergic? I thought THC acted as a partial agonist on the various cannabinoid receptors...
Increase by 1% the amount of lithium currently available on Earth (rechargeable batteries for everyone!)
Increase the amount of enlightened people in the world by 1%
Sunlight.Somewhere, an assassination plot failed miserably and no one knows why.
Increase the amount of all toxic substances humans must ingest to suffer negative health effects from those toxins by 1% (you must now consume 101% the normal doctor-recommended dose of lead/mercury/alcohol/whatever to kill yourself! Hurray!)
Every substance is toxic in sufficient quantities, though. The dose makes the poison.
Increase the number of human-inhabilted planets by 1%
Within three months that's 2 planets, and past 35 planets in a year.
How would that actually work when there are 1.01 inhabited planets?
I'm not the mysterious power that's granting these, so I don't make the rules.Increase the number of human-inhabilted planets by 1%Now would that mean humans are spontaneously appearing on inhabitable planets, we vastly speed up colonizing planets, or planets with humans are spontaneously appearing?
Within three months that's 2 planets, and past 35 planets in a year.
How would that actually work when there are 1.01 inhabited planets?
Exactly, how can you decrease infinity? ITS INFINITE you can't reduce infinity because 100% of infinity is the same as 1% of infinity, I don't think infinity can even have a percentage. D:
Increase amount of Hydrogen in sun by 1%Wouldn't this eventually result in the early expansion of the sun due to the net influx of mass? There's more hydrogen than helium in the Sun, so the mass added by the increase of hydrogen by 1% would be greater than the mass removed by the decrease of helium by 1%.
Decrease amount of helium in sun by 1%
It shall stay forever young
That actually sounds quite terrifying, especially since there's an enormous amount of domestic chickens in existence.
increase the rate at which mars spins by 1%. why? I think it would be amusing.
Sounds like a great place to grow cacti. Hmmm...That actually sounds quite terrifying, especially since there's an enormous amount of domestic chickens in existence.
increase the rate at which mars spins by 1%. why? I think it would be amusing.
Increase atmospheric pressure of Mars by 1%...using a combination of CFCs, methane, and CO₂.
Increase the amount of matter in the universe by 1 percent?I think it might increase the amount of matter in the universe. :P
What would this do?
That's what worries me. Maybe decreasing it by 1% would be better?Depends. Is the matter spread evenly? Is the matter more likely to appear in places that have high matter concentrations, or low matter concentrations? Or is it just random?Increase the amount of matter in the universe by 1 percent?I think it might increase the amount of matter in the universe. :P
What would this do?
I'm not quite sure what it would do though, I'm going to assume it would be bad.
>Earth is part of the decreased matterThat's what worries me. Maybe decreasing it by 1% would be better?Depends. Is the matter spread evenly? Is the matter more likely to appear in places that have high matter concentrations, or low matter concentrations? Or is it just random?Increase the amount of matter in the universe by 1 percent?I think it might increase the amount of matter in the universe. :P
What would this do?
I'm not quite sure what it would do though, I'm going to assume it would be bad.
I don't know if people have already gone over this, because I'm too lazy to read 20 pages, but instead increasing your abilities effect by a whole bunch, you'd be better off decreasing it's cooldown. That gives you better fine tuning power.True, although getting it to the point where the cooldown is really low would take awhile, but it would be worth it.
You can, however, decrease the lack of magic in the universe by 1%.