My Brain Trusts Me, Possible Applications

[moonfly7]

The title sucks because it doesn't really encompass what I mean, but it was all I could come up with. I've been thinking on an interesting superpower concept for some time now: basically a normal human whose brain doesn't stop them from overriding automatic responses, like the production of dopamine, the assigning of memories to long term, or the heart beating. The body still does these things automatically, but basically the person with this ability could also control them manually like you would your arm, or as a better example like when you consciously breathe.

For an example, this ability is basically what Intra in the Superpowereds book series does, accept Intra could do crazy stuff like infuse carbon into his bones, seemed to be able to rewrite his DNA, and create a flow of blood between his arms to create a water saw. The reason this is different, and why I wanted to discuss the possible uses of this power here, is that stuff like infusing your bones with hyper dense minerals and controlling your blood like a muscle isn't something the human body can actually do, and I want this to be at least a little more grounded in fact.

I'm basically looking for ideas on cool things you could do with this and some advice for if some of this works the way I think it does.

Here's what I have for possible uses right now:

• Suppression of emotions by not allowing the brain to produce chemicals
• staying calm in intense situations by stopping the creation of adrenaline
• activating an adrenaline surge of any strength at will, probably while still maintaining your senses
• pushing through normal human strength limiters(depending on how far you pushed into "Hysterical Strength" you'd risk just ripping your body apart, so caution is advised)
• creating micro tears in muscle's at will without exercising thanks to precise control(not sure if just being in complete control of you brain allows this, if not I'd love to hear what might make this possible, but since this is superpowers were talking about I feel like body control would allow you to tear your muscles without lifting)
• Faster healing through conscious direction of the process(this wouldn't be nearly as fast as a healing factor and would probably be really tiring since you'd have to consciously be repairing wounds)
• Control of white blood cells and antibody's for fighting off infections(this, like the one above it, might require medical knowledge to be useful)
• Sorting memories directly into long term
• Deleting memories permanently
• Not getting distracted(Since you can control exactly where your though process goes on a chemical level)
• Selectively feeling pain by turning off nerve endings
• Projectile vomiting at will
• Increased perception and reaction time by speeding up the thought process(doable? Dangerous? it sounds possible, by speeding up electrical signals, but "Thinking Faster" also sounds really stupid so I'm not sure. It's gotta be dangerous if it is doable though, or our bodies would let us use it willynilly.)
• Pump heart fast enough to explode body(one time use, for obvious reasons)
• Firing high pressure blasts of blood? (I'm not sure about this one but I thought I'd mention it, if it is possible you'd be really risking bleeding to death)
• enhancing hearing, sight, touch, smell, and taste temporarily.

There is definitely more I've thought of that I'm forgetting, and plenty I haven't thought of that I'm hoping you can come up with. I look forward to soem creative ideas honestly, I feel like this is kind of a gold mine that you can't really reach the end of concept wise. In part because we still aren't 100% on what actually happens with a lot of our body anyways, so anytime you create an idea that would be able to answer that you're walking on interesting ground.

[Fyraltari]

You mean this?

[moonfly7]

You mean this?

Yes. Exactly this, although I think explaining it "My Brain Trusts Me" is funnier.
this link still doesn't provide me with all possible applications given the "at least slightly more realistic" options so I still won't any suggestions you can give me, but damn if that link doesn't help. Thanks for finding and sharing this.

[Kareeah_Indaga]

My first thought was to use it to pump endorphins so you exist in a constant state of happiness. Probably not going to make you very psychologically healthy, long term, so another ‘use with caution’ aspect.

[moonfly7]

My first thought was to use it to pump endorphins so you exist in a constant state of happiness. Probably not going to make you very psychologically healthy, long term, so another ‘use with caution’ aspect.

Yeah, kinda falls under any emotion control or suppression really. It's great for short term use but it's not something you can use without extreme self control. Heh, accidental pun.

[Vahnavoi]

You might want to consider the "user interface", so to speak: how does the wielder access knowledge beyond conscious thought and how does this present itself to them?

Let's use something simple like changing size of your pupils. The brain likely doesn't measure pupil size in millimeters (or any other invented unit of measurement) and they can't see their own eyes, so to consciously do something like "shrink diameter of my pupils by 1 mm" requires something to bridge that gap. One way to do it would be to watch themselves from a mirror with a measure attached while adjusting their eyes, until they get a hang of how it feels to adjust them by the desired amount.

Because even getting a minor thing such as this right would take a lot of effort, if you want to stay grounded in reality, you probably shouldn't treat the power as sort of "limited wish" that allows the user to crap out new solutions to problems they've never seen before. Focus on tricks where you can easily figure how someone would empirically test and practice them.

[Fyraltari]

An obvious use of that power would be to ignore feeling of fatigue, hunger, thirst or pain when focusing on a particular task. Of course, there's a reason those feelings exist (as well as all the limitations on our body) so your character should be mindful of what they're doing.

Another interesting idea would be that they could be aware of their own thought process at a neurological level. We don't really understand how all that works but that could make them the most introspective person in the world, able to examine their own decision process so thoroughly they could free themselves of any cognitive bias whatsoever (by shutting temporarily down the unneeded mecanisms) and enter a borderline alien mode of thinking.

An interesting drawback would be consider how much focus is needed to control their own biology, can they modify their hormone levels while doing something that requires skill and precision or while they are intoxicated? And can they mess it up?

That character could also probably shake off any addiction at will.

They could also gain some form of poison immunity by stopping their digestion process entirely (although the... ejection afterwards promise to be less than pleasant).

Also, complete control over their own orgasms.

I'm also guessing they could artificially tie dopamine release to an activity to get them motivated to, say, learn a new language. They could probably speed up any learning process considerably.

[moonfly7]

An obvious use of that power would be to ignore feeling of fatigue, hunger, thirst or pain when focusing on a particular task. Of course, there's a reason those feelings exist (as well as all the limitations on our body) so your character should be mindful of what they're doing.

Another interesting idea would be that they could be aware of their own thought process at a neurological level. We don't really understand how all that works but that could make them the most introspective person in the world, able to examine their own decision process so thoroughly they could free themselves of any cognitive bias whatsoever (by shutting temporarily down the unneeded mecanisms) and enter a borderline alien mode of thinking.

An interesting drawback would be consider how much focus is needed to control their own biology, can they modify their hormone levels while doing something that requires skill and precision or while they are intoxicated? And can they mess it up?

That character could also probably shake off any addiction at will.

They could also gain some form of poison immunity by stopping their digestion process entirely (although the... ejection afterwards promise to be less than pleasant).

Also, complete control over their own orgasms.

I'm also guessing they could artificially tie dopamine release to an activity to get them motivated to, say, learn a new language. They could probably speed up any learning process considerably.

I'd already considered the htought process thing, taking a stepback and viewing everything clinically would totaly be possible, literally just turn off or block out all emotions and biases. I almost put immune to poisons but I didn't know if that actually worked or not, but yeah, your right, even if you had to do something extreme it would be hard to poison them. The addiction thing is a good point, they could probably also flush stuff like alchohol stright out of their system at will. As for using their powers and complex skills, it depends. ANything complicate like guiding anti bodies? probably not.

Wait. Wait no they could! I just realised, true Multitasking, which has been proven to be impossible to do by multiple experiments(IE do to do so in a way that actually helps you conserve time or do both tasks well) would be possiblefor you if you had this power. you could split your focus 100%, and the issue with memory tasks being most affected by multitasking wouldn't even apply to someone who files everything to long term.

[Fyraltari]

I almost put immune to poisons but I didn't know if that actually worked or not, but yeah, your right, even if you had to do something extreme it would be hard to poison them. The addiction thing is a good point, they could probably also flush stuff like alchohol stright out of their system at will.

I don't think so? I don't think the brain can control what is digested and what isn't from what's ingested. Either you digest everything that can be or you digest nothing.

[moonfly7]

I don't think so? I don't think the brain can control what is digested and what isn't from what's ingested. Either you digest everything that can be or you digest nothing.

Thats what I meant by "Extreme". as in stopping the digestive process and throwing up copiously.

[JeenLeen]

Have you read the Dune books and the Bene Gesserit's internal control of their bodies? I reckon you could do most if not all of that, maybe more.

With regards to superstrength (minor levels) via turning off the automatic "do not break your own bones or tear tendons"-control our brain usually enforces, it would be good if it had a secondary power of knowing your body's limits. E.g., not only can you control how much extra oomph you give yourself, but you are aware of how much you are risking long-term harm by doing it and thus can choose it appropriately.
Similarly, with turning off pain via nerve endings, don't just turn off the nerves. That leaves you ignorant of how in-danger/injured you are. Instead, stop the interpretation of it as "pain" and instead of mere data about your body's current status. This might also let you tolerate blinding lights and deafening noise (though I'm not sure about it); at least, it should let you ignore the body's reactions to losing the sense (sudden floundering, holding ears in pain), even if you still temporarily lose your sense of hearing or sight.

[PoeticallyPsyco]

I've got a character with a relatively low-level version of this; he uses it for absolute control over his reactions and emotional tells, down to preventing microexpressions.

This makes him seriously creepy to be around for people who can read microexpressions (mostly through perception magic in-setting) or use magic to read his actual emotions. However, it also makes him a surprisingly comfortable companion for people on the autism spectrum, as he doesn't send out any of the mixed messages that can make figuring out what people are feeling difficult for them.

[Trafalgar]

You mean this?

I laughed out loud when I saw this. "Master of My domain" is a famous Seinfeld reference. I could not keep a straight face at a TTRPG if one of the characters was a 7th level "Master of His/Her Domain".

[JeenLeen]

I remember a web serial novel. I forget the name of it (I think something like The ??? Adventure of Dr. ???, but the main character was a female super with the codename Flicker, with superspeed. That obeyed general laws of physics--e.g., if she went too fast, her motions compressed the air enough to cause nuclear explosions, and her grabbing someone at normal super-speeds would snap their body in half.

One interesting aspect is her mind. She starts to move faster than her brain can make/interpret chemicals, so she (in a sense) loses any emotions when in superspeed. (Don't remember the in-universe rationale, but she can still use her senses, even if it's hard to see details when you're moving 1000s mph, but her emotions deaden.) This leads to somewhat alien thought processes when superfast.

Bringing this up as someone mentioned turning off chemicals to impact emotion. If you can find the book -- and it was a good read, even if not my favorite -- you might enjoy the implications.

[Monster Manuel]

There's been a number of suggestions about abilities you could get in the immediate, but have you considered if there's anything fun you could do with this type of control long-term?

You could will yourself to brief, adrenaline-fueled bursts of extreme strength, followed by potential injury, but could you also will yourself to increased permanent muscle growth over the course of a few months or years? Could you build up an immunity to iocane powder without, you know, poisoning yourself repeatedly? Just tell your cells to ignore all those signals that trigger aging?

They say you have to do something 1000 times before you are an expert...could you do something once, and just have your body and mind build the relevant neural pathways over 1000 days?

[warty goblin]

Ya'll are missing the most obvious application: no need to fake an orgasm ever again.

[Cheesegear]

basically a normal human whose brain doesn't stop them from overriding automatic responses

First, you should probably look up body systems, and see what the brain does, and more importantly doesn't, do.
'Cause what you go on to talk about is complete and conscious physiological control. Or perhaps more accurately, concious control over the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. Which is a whole different thing. Which actually would give your brain control over everything. Straight up the side-effect of such a power is that the brain is overloaded with information constantly, and the person in question should require a constant amount of stimulants to keep their brain from melting. I would suggest an immediate need for suppressants (e.g; alcohol) to turn this power off.

Suppression of emotions by not allowing the brain to produce chemicals

Hormones. Sure. But this would supress a lot of emotions. Not just the ones you don't want. Research mood stabilisers and 'flat affect'.

staying calm in intense situations by stopping the creation of adrenaline

See previous.

activating an adrenaline surge of any strength at will, probably while still maintaining your senses

All benefit, no side effect? Sounds like terrible writing. Especially with something as known as biology and physiology.

pushing through normal human strength limiters(depending on how far you pushed into "Hysterical Strength" you'd risk just ripping your body apart, so caution is advised)

This is how exercise works, sure.

creating micro tears in muscle's at will without exercising thanks to precise control (not sure if just being in complete control of you brain allows this, if not I'd love to hear what might make this possible, but since this is superpowers were talking about I feel like body control would allow you to tear your muscles without lifting)

Again, this is simply how exercise works. Research isometics. Activating muscle fibres without moving joints is absolutely a thing that exists. But I don't know how the brain could make it happen with no force involved.

Faster healing through conscious direction of the process(this wouldn't be nearly as fast as a healing factor and would probably be really tiring since you'd have to consciously be repairing wounds)

Not something the brain really controls. Has more to do with nutrition.

Control of white blood cells and antibody's for fighting off infections(this, like the one above it, might require medical knowledge to be useful)

Heavy current research into whether the brain has any role in the lymphatic system. But also see nutrition.

Sorting memories directly into long term
Deleting memories permanently
Not getting distracted (Since you can control exactly where your though process goes on a chemical level)

Sure. Something, something, amphetamines.

Selectively feeling pain by turning off nerve endings

With deleterious side effects, I hope.

Projectile vomiting at will

Ruining your teeth enamel is fun since it doesn't come back.

Increased perception and reaction time by speeding up the thought process

See amphetamines, and their side effects.

Pump heart fast enough to explode body
Firing high pressure blasts of blood?

Your body can certainly 'shoot' blood, if your blood pressure is high enough. Blood spatter is a thing. But again, having blood pressure that high should have deleterious side effects, even before hemorrhaging starts.

enhancing hearing, sight, touch, smell, and taste temporarily.

Hearing, sight, smell and taste have anatomical components (e.g. hairs), too.

There is definitely more I've thought of that I'm forgetting, and plenty I haven't thought of that I'm hoping you can come up with.

Look up body systems; Specifically sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.
Look up drugs and their methods of action. A lot of them do what you want. Except just make their effects super, I guess.