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What technology/spell/magic item from sci-fi/fantasy worlds you would NEVER use if they existed?

mlnevesemlnevese Member, Moderator Posts: 10,214
edited August 2018 in Off-Topic
You know sometimes we're reading a story/watching a movie or series and then we see something that makes us go "That would be cool if it was real". But there are some things that, after giving some thought you conclude that there's no way you'd ever use in real life.

Let me give an example... Star Trek teleportation. It's cool, isn't it? You just disappear from point A and reappear in point B in no time. Well except for the fact it's not you, it's a copy. The original "you" was disintegrated by the machine that instantly created an exact copy somewhere else. Even the series acknowledges this in that episode where Commander Riker's teleportation flow is deflected in a planet's atmosphere and in the end there are two Rikers, one aboard the Enterprise and another one on the planet's surface. Seriously I'm not in such a hurry to get anywhere to accept being murdered and duplicated. I'll go by shuttle if nobody has any problem with that :)
Post edited by mlnevese on
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Comments

  • deltagodeltago Member Posts: 7,811
    Divination.

    Being pleasantly surprised is umm pleasant.

    Knowing how and why you will die or be brutally hurt while also knowing there is nothing you can do to prevent it is a downer. You’ll either spend your entire life going crazy attempting to alter it, or just count the seconds knowing what you do to that point will be meaningless.
  • mlnevesemlnevese Member, Moderator Posts: 10,214
    edited August 2018
    deltago said:

    Divination.

    Being pleasantly surprised is umm pleasant.

    Knowing how and why you will die or be brutally hurt while also knowing there is nothing you can do to prevent it is a downer. You’ll either spend your entire life going crazy attempting to alter it, or just count the seconds knowing what you do to that point will be meaningless.

    This reminds me of a short story I read about an omniscient being that purposefully limited his knowledge so that he could be surprised... Eternal boredom frightened him. As usual I don't remember title or author....

    Fireballs.

    They're good for blowing stuff up, but in a world without inherently and provably Chaotic Evil orcs roaming the countryside, that's not all that useful.

    Yeap. Not much use outside a war scenario.
    ThacoBell said:

    Any technology/magic that is powered by a person's lifeforce.

    I always asked myself why a short-lived species would ever cast haste or wish with their side effect of aging the caster... I would probably look for an alternative.
  • deltagodeltago Member Posts: 7,811
    sarevok57 said:

    the bathrooms from the movie demolition man with sylvester stallone, i dont know what those sea shells mean, and i dont want to find out....

    http://www.joblo.com/newsimages1/3shellsbig.jpg

    you're welcome, or not.
  • mlnevesemlnevese Member, Moderator Posts: 10,214
    deltago said:

    sarevok57 said:

    the bathrooms from the movie demolition man with sylvester stallone, i dont know what those sea shells mean, and i dont want to find out....

    http://www.joblo.com/newsimages1/3shellsbig.jpg

    you're welcome, or not.
    Ignorance was bliss.
  • Grond0Grond0 Member Posts: 7,457
    mlnevese said:

    Let me give an example... Star Trek teleportation. It's cool, isn't it? You just disappear from point A and reappear in point B in no time. Well except for the fact it's not you, it's a copy. The original "you" was disintegrated by the machine that instantly created an exact copy somewhere else. Even the series acknowledges this in that episode where Commander Riker's teleportation flow is deflected in a planet's atmosphere and in the end there are two Rikers, one aboard the Enterprise and another one on the planet's surface. Seriously I'm not in such a hurry to get anywhere to accept being murdered and duplicated. I'll go by shuttle if nobody has any problem with that :)

    No need to be so (Mc)coy about the suicide boxes ...
  • sarevok57sarevok57 Member Posts: 6,002
    deltago said:

    sarevok57 said:

    the bathrooms from the movie demolition man with sylvester stallone, i dont know what those sea shells mean, and i dont want to find out....

    http://www.joblo.com/newsimages1/3shellsbig.jpg

    you're welcome, or not.
    hahahahhahahahahhahahahha, although im pretty sure in the movie they were smaller and didn't look like they could be taken out of whatever they were stuck to, but still a great post hahahaha
  • mlnevesemlnevese Member, Moderator Posts: 10,214
    Grond0 said:

    mlnevese said:

    Let me give an example... Star Trek teleportation. It's cool, isn't it? You just disappear from point A and reappear in point B in no time. Well except for the fact it's not you, it's a copy. The original "you" was disintegrated by the machine that instantly created an exact copy somewhere else. Even the series acknowledges this in that episode where Commander Riker's teleportation flow is deflected in a planet's atmosphere and in the end there are two Rikers, one aboard the Enterprise and another one on the planet's surface. Seriously I'm not in such a hurry to get anywhere to accept being murdered and duplicated. I'll go by shuttle if nobody has any problem with that :)

    No need to be so (Mc)coy about the suicide boxes ...
    McCoy was right! :)
  • StummvonBordwehrStummvonBordwehr Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 1,385
    Playing cards with the deck of many things... sure it would add some excitement to any given poker tournament - but still :#
  • LadyRhianLadyRhian Member Posts: 14,694
    Clone Spell. Read the small print.
  • jjstraka34jjstraka34 Member Posts: 9,850
    I already don't use electronic book readers, so I guess that would be my answer.
  • OlvynChuruOlvynChuru Member Posts: 3,079
    Cursed items.
  • KamigoroshiKamigoroshi Member Posts: 5,870
    edited August 2018
    Boo.
    Useless, quickslot wasting placeholder. Can't even serve as a proper emergency ration. Feh...

    Also, Twitter.
    Don't use it now and would never use it in a sci-fi setting either. And I'm sure something like that will appear in a sci-fi setting.
  • SharGuidesMyHandSharGuidesMyHand Member Posts: 2,582

    Anything in "Prometheus."
  • Balrog99Balrog99 Member Posts: 7,371
    edited August 2018
    Food synthesizer a'la Star Trek. What exactly do they make that food with? Think about it... :s
  • mlnevesemlnevese Member, Moderator Posts: 10,214
    Balrog99 said:

    Food synthesizer a'la Star Trek. What exactly do they make that food with? Think about it... :s

    It's modified teleporter technology isn't it? They have the patterns stored and just assemble the foods and drinks from the stored patterns. In this case I wouldn't mind it's just a copy :)
  • SethDavisSethDavis Member Posts: 1,812
    Balrog99 said:

    Food synthesizer a'la Star Trek. What exactly do they make that food with? Think about it... :s

    the same thing the actual universe has been using since forever :P
  • Balrog99Balrog99 Member Posts: 7,371
    They have to get the atoms and molecules from somewhere and I never see them dump waste. Just sayin'...
  • voidofopinionvoidofopinion Member, Moderator Posts: 1,248
    edited August 2018
    Replicator technology is also a closely guarded secret in line with Klingon stealth technology.

    It's what gives humans their advantage in the universe.

    Personally, I'm avoiding anything that says "summon [evil sounding name here]" as we all know exactly how that ends.
  • JoenSoJoenSo Member Posts: 910
    Balrog99 said:

    Food synthesizer a'la Star Trek. What exactly do they make that food with? Think about it... :s

    Soylent green?
  • deltagodeltago Member Posts: 7,811
    They are putting chips in the roads here for self driving vehicles.

    This is a technology I’d rather humanity lived without.
  • Dev6Dev6 Member Posts: 721
    JoenSo said:

    Balrog99 said:

    Food synthesizer a'la Star Trek. What exactly do they make that food with? Think about it... :s

    Soylent green?
    IS PEEEEEOOOOOPPPLLLEEEEEEEEEEE
  • mlnevesemlnevese Member, Moderator Posts: 10,214
    edited August 2018
    deltago said:

    They are putting chips in the roads here for self driving vehicles.

    This is a technology I’d rather humanity lived without.

    I hate driving so let me be the first to welcome our new robotic master drivers :)
  • ThacoBellThacoBell Member Posts: 12,235
    mlnevese said:

    deltago said:

    They are putting chips in the roads here for self driving vehicles.

    This is a technology I’d rather humanity lived without.

    I hate driving so let me be the first to welcome our new robotic master drivers :)
    I hate it too, but I'm really good at it. Considering the prevalence of bugs and glitches in programming, I don't think I trust a computer to be solely responsible for controlling a hurlting 2 ton death machine.
  • Permidion_StarkPermidion_Stark Member Posts: 4,861
    Raise Dead. It never turns out well.
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