RDU Neil Posted January 10, 2005 Report Share Posted January 10, 2005 Re: An odd question I'm 19. Five world leaders owe their lives to my lack of superpowers. I wouldn't feel obligated. I'd feel empowered. As much as I hate to say it, I agree with WhammeWhamme. (And I'm 37...) And it's not just teenagers. Any human being who suddenly had the powers and abilities to truly change things, would at least flirt with imposing their vision on the world. Teenagers would just be more likely to do so, because they have less maturity and ability to have a pluralist view of the world. Because it "feels" right to them... it must be right, and they can't understand how others don't agree with them. This gets tempered with age, but it doesn't go away. You also have to look at it from the "destiny, God's gift" concept. If you truly had super powers that put you so far above humanity, even the most humble and wise would have to at least ask themselves, "Was I given these powers for a purpose? Is there a higher order I serve? Why me?" All that aside, I believe that any human being... Gandhi or otherwise... if given truly amazing super powers, would act in their own self interest... and with such power above and beyond the rest... would effectively be able to impose their self interest, even if that wasn't the intent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDU Neil Posted January 10, 2005 Report Share Posted January 10, 2005 Re: An odd question As much as I hate to say it, I agree with WhammeWhamme. And it's not just teenagers. Any human being who suddenly had the powers and abilities to truly change things, would at least flirt with imposing their vision on the world. Teenagers would just be more likely to do so, because they have less maturity and ability to have a pluralist view of the world. Because it "feels" right to them... it must be right, and they can't understand how others don't agree with them. This gets tempered with age, but it doesn't go away. You also have to look at it from the "destiny, God's gift" concept. If you truly had super powers that put you so far above humanity, even the most humble and wise would have to at least ask themselves, "Was I given these powers for a purpose? Is there a higher order I serve? Why me?" All that aside, I believe that any human being... Gandhi or otherwise... if given truly amazing super powers, would act in their own self interest... and with such power above and beyond the rest... would effectively be able to impose their self interest, even if that wasn't the intent. Flip side of this, I think... after frustrations and horrors that would come about as superhuman messed about in the world... what you'd find is a lot of the truly powerful "moving beyond." By this I mean... I'm pretty content to read a book and take care of my house and yard... walk the dog... hang out with my friends... etc. I only work because it pays the bills... I'd rather spend time writing or playing tennis or gaming or whatever. If I were truly superhuman, and didn't need to eat... didn't need to worry about transportation, or cold or aging, or death... I see two things happening. If I still could indulge in basic human pleasures (eating, sex, companionship, mental and physical engagement... a good shit) then I'd probably end up spending most of my time indulging myself. We've seen, time and again in human society, that advancement and wealth and freedom from the rigors of living hand to mouth only goes so far in truly advancing an individual or society. To be truly freed from the cares of humanity... well, I don't believe very many people would suddenly become poets and scientists and world changers. They'd become super couch potatoes. Maybe cloud-potatoes... as they have even LESS reason to actually put forth effort. Eventually, though, I think that other things would begin to interest me. Going to the stars... exploring the oceans... maybe just "being." Once you have super powers, you aren't human any longer. The more power you have, the less human you are. Eventually, you may find yourself completely disengaged from the trivialities of humanity... the same way you no longer play with the blocks that so enraptured you as a toddler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zornwil Posted January 10, 2005 Report Share Posted January 10, 2005 Re: An odd question As a young person, absolutely. Even now I'd sort of do that, but on a smaller, personal scale, simple vigilanteism is good enough for me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supreme Serpent Posted January 10, 2005 Report Share Posted January 10, 2005 Re: An odd question Great thread, great replies so far! Kudos to all involved. Keeping it quick: Depends on powers, how prevalent superpowers are/supertech is, etc. In general, I think I'd have gone one of two ways. One - work with the system as much as possible to help enforce the general "American Way" and save lives. Mitigate natural disasters, save people from burning buildings, go after high-firepower criminals that would perforate normal cops, etc. and keep others from imposing "bad" things on the world - stop the various conquering nuts. Or, two: become Rampaging Instrument of Vengeance - find and kill various despots, drug lords, etc. and their henchman down a few rungs and tell the rest to change, or I'll repeat process. Get people to rush to the Hague to beg for indictment before I got around to them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st barbara Posted January 10, 2005 Report Share Posted January 10, 2005 Re: An odd question To "Supreme Serpent " Oh dear doesn't option 2 sound like so much fun ! Of course one person's idea of "bad" isn't necessarily the same as another persons, is it ? How would many of the people on the board react if I were to say that, if I was to be given superpowers I would try to persuade "Dubbya" to change his policies, by force if necessary ? I would expect that they would be outraged and ,if they had super powers of their own. would do everything im their power to stop me ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
susandwyer Posted January 11, 2005 Report Share Posted January 11, 2005 Re: An odd question Nope, I'd be a Super Villan. I know how the world should be run and I'd make sure it ran the way I wanted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDU Neil Posted January 11, 2005 Report Share Posted January 11, 2005 Re: An odd question Uh... only 27 posts, and you have at least 300 points of Rep? I'm getting an avatar with large breasts for myself. Sheesh... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enforcer84 Posted January 11, 2005 Report Share Posted January 11, 2005 Re: An odd question Only five? /crumudgeon on It's the lack of a good education I tell you. /crumudgeon off Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bucky Posted January 11, 2005 Report Share Posted January 11, 2005 Re: An odd question Eventually' date=' you may find yourself completely disengaged from the trivialities of humanity... the same way you no longer play with the blocks that so enraptured you as a toddler.[/quote'] I think that would be the general direction AFTER a lot of screwing around with the political systems. First, the super is going to want to flex his muscles, decide that maybe the whole "divine right" thingy may have been a good idea, that because they can, they should seize control. "With great power comes great responsibility" they may tell themselves, but it ends up the same thing. A dictatorship, where the supe dictates and the rest of humanity goes along, or else. This will result in a backlash, as people really don't like being dictated to. Plus again, Hayek's information problem inherent in any such authoritarian and/or totalitarian system insures that no matter what the supe does, it does not work as expected, or please as many folks as he had hoped for. And then there is the paperwork and the constant flow of people with problems requesting/demanding you solve in ways THEY want, whether the solutions are good ideas or not. So eventually, the supe will probably step down from political power, or regulate himself to things like disaster relief, taking care of the worst of humanities thugs and crooks, and the like. Do the things mere mortals could not. Lets face it, helping others feels good, but I think even this will be fleeting. "Why did you not stop the earthquake that killed my family? I don't care that you were off fighting Tyrannos for control of the world. You did not save my family." Or, as Mr. Incredible said, "I just cleaned up this place 5 minutes ago." The more I think about it, the more sense a secret identity makes. I know it is popular to decry selfishness in humans, but I see that factor as a feature rather than a bug. First off, nobody lives your life but you, and nobody will suffer the consequences regarding the choices you make more than you will. You simply can not know what the other person wants, feels or dreams, not in the same manner that he does. We may wince whenever we see a guy getting kicked in the nuts, but empathy is diluted pain, not what the guy is feeling. So if your supe becomes a couch/cloud potato, fine. As a matter of fact, I would prefer that to some do gooder deciding how my life should be lived, with the power to coerce his own decision. Besides, it has been my experience that those who complain about the selfishness in others are generally upset that those others don't feel or think (or rather display the thoughts and feelings) that the complainers think is important. "You are selfish because you don't care about me, my life, my issues, as much as you ought." Altruism is the philosophy of food, not humans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
susandwyer Posted January 12, 2005 Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 Re: An odd question Uh... only 27 posts, and you have at least 300 points of Rep? I'm getting an avatar with large breasts for myself. Sheesh... More that 300 actually. But that is really me! (Large breasts take you a long way!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKJAM! Posted January 12, 2005 Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 Re: An odd question Well, myself at that age.... I was raised in a fairly conservative environment and was pretty patriotic. With the right powers and a good day when they turned on, you'd have seen the next coming of Captain America. Four-color and working for the good of America as I saw it (and possibly as the government saw it. The Carter years and all that.) But I was also absolutely miserable as a teenager due to living in a small town where I didn't fit in and there was no escape from my bullying peers. The wrong powers, and a really bad day, and I would have pulled a Carrie. At the power level posted, my home town might well have been a smoking crater or worse by the end of my initial rampage. (That might make a good opening scenario in some darker campaigns--the wimpy, perpetually bullied misfit at school suddenly "blossoms" or whatever they call it in the Seeds campaign, getting a ludicrous amount of power, and deciding it's time to get revenge on everyone who's ever pushed him around. I'm thinking, say, reality-manipulation powers. "You kept calling me spineless? Let's see how *you* like life as an invertebrate!" By the time the player characters arrive on the scene, the former victim has long passed the line of "poetic justice" and is well into "hurting other people because I can.") Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Champsguy Posted January 12, 2005 Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 Re: An odd question Okay. We'll take me, now. I get powers tonight. 700 - 800 points of Kryptonian style abilities. The first thing I do is call in sick to work tomorrow. Probably for the rest of the week. "I don't know what it is, boss, but I don't feel like myself at all." Chances are, I'd quit by the time a week has gone by (once it becomes apparent the powers aren't going away). I'll first explore the powers. How high can I fly? How strong am I? Am I invulnerable? (note: this is a tricky one to test--I don't really want to try the old "Are you super-strong but not invulnerable? Don't know? Can you pull off your finger?" test). Second, I'll have fun. Just flying will take weeks to get old. My bills probably aren't getting paid at this time. Third, I'm setting myself up to live the good life. This doesn't mean stealing. I'll fly around the oceans and find a lost shipwreck filled with Nazi gold or something. I'm setting myself up for life. Then, and only then, will I start thinking about the world. My first stop will probably be Iraq. I can root out insurgents like nobodies' business. X-ray vision and super-hearing helps you do that. A few days of that and we've got ourselves a pacified country. Next stop: Africa. There are some warlords who need apprehended. Note that I probably won't be killing anybody. Iraqi insurgents, Kim Jong Il, and African warlords alike can have a nice quick trip to a US military prison, as far as I'm concerned. I'd let the democracies do as they wish. It's the crazy dictators that I'm worried about. They're the ones who offend mine eyes, and they're the ones who'll wind up in jail faster than you can say "violation of state sovereignty". Certainly, there'll be people who will be unhappy with my decisions. Just as certainly, I'm not going to listen to them. Will other dictators arise in their place? Of course they will. They always do. But, just as I disarmed and arrested the Iraqi insurgents, I'll do the same to the North Korean insurgents, or whoever decides its a good idea to start blowing up people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bucky Posted January 12, 2005 Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 Re: An odd question Will other dictators arise in their place? Of course they will. They always do. But' date=' just as I disarmed and arrested the Iraqi insurgents, I'll do the same to the North Korean insurgents, or whoever decides its a good idea to start blowing up people.[/quote'] I really liked this answer as well as the one right above it. I have one question, how "open" would you be about doing all this? In other words, are we talking mask or no mask? Would you let the world know how those insurgents and dictators ended up where they could be prosecuted? Or would you keep that a secret? If I were to do the same, I would keep it secret. Iraqi Insurgents end up behind bars, with weird stories of masked avengers ripping the building open, etc. Baby Kim finds himself in Kansas with this lunatic explaination. That sort of thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDU Neil Posted January 12, 2005 Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 Re: An odd question More that 300 actually. But that is really me! (Large breasts take you a long way!) Hmmm... pretty sure that if I posted a picture of myself with large breasts I'd never get Rep again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedball Posted January 12, 2005 Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 Re: An odd question Neil, I couldn't disagree with you more--and I'm repping you just to prove it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKJAM! Posted January 13, 2005 Report Share Posted January 13, 2005 Re: An odd question Remind me in a week or so to post "Apothesis", inspired by my comment above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fbdaury Posted January 13, 2005 Report Share Posted January 13, 2005 Re: An odd question When I was 19-20 I don't think I would have done to much to change the world- my first feat of power would be to return life to my father upon returning from Japan for his funeral. After that I would basically spend years hiding from everyone that found out about that power and figuring out what to do next. If I got the power today, that would be a very different story- there would be lots of powerful groups getting my tow firmly up their asses. And I would do it openly too, because, well because they're gonna find out who you are anyways- why waste time hiding... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKJAM! Posted January 16, 2005 Report Share Posted January 16, 2005 Re: An odd question Apothesis is now posted over in the Master & Mega-Villains thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeyMitchell Posted January 16, 2005 Report Share Posted January 16, 2005 Re: An odd question More that 300 actually. But that is really me! (Large breasts take you a long way!) [sung] "Wish they all could be California girls..." :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Powerhouse Posted January 16, 2005 Report Share Posted January 16, 2005 Re: An odd question Part of my answer depends on the rest of the world: does it have supers or is it just me and my small circle? Then again, at 700-800 pts you might be able to overwhelm the competition... though then you got Doctor D. to worry about who is both powerful and smart, not to mention FAR more experienced that myself and crew. Assuming that we're it, yes we'd probably try to change the world at that age. Typical youthful optimism and arrogance along with the desire to make the world a better place. About 10 years ago, I was 20 and I think I'd have been flash frying drug fields in Columbia or slagging artillary emplacements that would have shelling Kosov. Of course, the world is SO big that could I even find the targets to do the slagging? Ok I got that *one* cocaine field but there are probably a hundred more I can't find... not to mention the opimum fields in Asia. Well-intentioned perhaps but woefully naive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanderer Posted January 16, 2005 Report Share Posted January 16, 2005 Re: An odd question Hmm, any likely scenario of me getting cosmic-level superpowers can only be summarized in the words “One-Man Authority†(even if the comic didn’t exist when I was a teen. Back then, the only proactive revolutionary supers were villains, which might have been a reason why I was a strong fan of Magneto and Dr. Doom), either now or back then. Even more so if a late teen or an early twenty-something, when my political geek-y idealism hadn’t (slightly) been tempered by life experience. Having been an avid comic book and Sci-Fi fan even back then, I surely had a “What If I Get To Be Superman†Power Fantasy Agenda. If I may remember it clearly… I would have surely felt my destiny-bestowed right and responsibility to make a better world by enforcing my personal vision of How Things Should Be upon it. Let’s see: First I would have taken a week or so explorating the powers and making sure they aren’t going away. Subsequently I would have enjoyed a few weeks rush of fully enjoying the empowerment of my newfound abilities and using them for personal enjoyment and gain (flying around the world, walking on the Moon and Mars, turning garbage into diamonds and generally getting filthy rich, indulging some power revenge fantasy, mind-controlling actresses and models into liking my profile and generally becoming irresistible to women). Subsequently I would have donned the vigilante mantle have set to reshaping the world according to my agenda. Judge, Jury and Executioner for the whole human race. I would have helped the democratic revolution that overthrew Communism in Eastern Europe to proceed more smoothly, quickly, and fully. I would have wrecked the nuclear arsenals and armed forces of Russia and China I would have ensured the Tienanmen democratic uprising in China would be successful I would have toppled a whole suit of Third World dictatorships, starting from Iran, Cuba, North Korea, Burma, Iraq, various African warlords, making object lessons of tyrants and sycophants. I would have used my powers to end the famine in Somalia, then spread to bring humanitarian relief in other disaster areas. I would have used my powers to terraform these areas to have much better agricultural yield and large reserves of raw materials. I would have expunged HIV and other transmissible diseases from Earth I would have ensured Al-Quaeda and other Islamic terrorist movements never have been born by exterminating a whole generation of violent Moslem religious fanatics in a bloodbath purge of epic proportions. I would have settled the Israelo-Palestinian conflict by terraforming the Jordan desert into fertile land, then moving the whole Palestinian population into it, and creating an impassable wall with Israel. I would have enforced a world-wide environmentalist agenda by declaring biologically-rich wilderness areas, such as the Amazon and other tropical rainforests, and endangered species (such as dolphins, chimpanzees and whales) forbidden to development and exploitation, and ruthlessly enforced the ban. Producers of the most polluting and backward technologies would have been “encouraged†to go out of business (say goodbye to Detroit auto industry). I would have bullied governments into enforcing a social welfare agenda (minimum wage, universal health system, near-abolition of copyright, full legalization of victimless crimes [abortion, pornography, prostitution, gambling, etc.]). I would have exterminated organized crime, and flash-fried drug fields all around the world. Since I was slightly more respectful of Western democratic governments way back then as a teen (GWB may thank all the gods his sorry @$$ is safe for me not having superpowers right now), I might have cooperated with them if they’d have been wise enough to not object to my vigilante activism too vociferously. Otherwise, I would have ended in conflict with and toppling major world governments in a months, then facing the sheer complexity and boring bureaucratic details of ruling the world day-to-day, I would have probably entrusted it to hand-picked rulers, and departed to explore the stars, or retreated to a position of wealthy comfort and dedicated to self-improvement, emerging or returning from time to time to check that mankind was still steering into the right direction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nexus Posted January 16, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2005 Re: An odd question Anyway you slice it, the Seeds of Change world is in for alot of trouble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steriaca Posted January 16, 2005 Report Share Posted January 16, 2005 Re: An odd question For me...I hate to admit this, but I have to admit it. I am a lazy son-o'-a-gus. I might use my powers to comute to Japan and back to my belovid Milwaukee, make shure I would never get sick again, but beyond that...I would proably not be looking to make the world a beter place unles something bad makes me think I should do something about it (in other words, if it afects me personly, or something bad seeks me out and forces me to act). Which is proably what others would do also. In spite of saying "I'll do the right thing". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
assault Posted January 16, 2005 Report Share Posted January 16, 2005 Re: An odd question I would have surely felt my destiny-bestowed right and responsibility to make a better world by enforcing my personal vision of How Things Should Be upon it. Let’s see: ... And I would have tried to stop you. There are a remarkable number of things on your list I would have objected to. That is the real secret of this thread. St barbara noticed it a couple of pages ago: if we all had superpowers we would end up at war! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest WhammeWhamme Posted January 16, 2005 Report Share Posted January 16, 2005 Re: An odd question For me...I hate to admit this, but I have to admit it. I am a lazy son-o'-a-gus. I might use my powers to comute to Japan and back to my belovid Milwaukee, make shure I would never get sick again, but beyond that...I would proably not be looking to make the world a beter place unles something bad makes me think I should do something about it (in other words, if it afects me personly, or something bad seeks me out and forces me to act). Which is proably what others would do also. In spite of saying "I'll do the right thing". Who said I'd do "the right thing"? I'd kill people who pissed me off. I'd also probably lie, cheat and steal. (My moral compass points south.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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