Technology-Enabled Superpowers
Image credit: Google Gemini 2.0 Flash Ever wish you had superpowers? Me? I can fly 3000 miles in about six hours. I can push two tons of steel up a hill with one hand behind my back. I can cast my voice and picture around the world faster than the speed of sound. I can make a glass orb glow so brightly that it can illuminate a room bright enough to read. (Brighter, if I was so inclined, but I am the master of my powers.) How? I command a few pieces of technology. I can buy a plane ticket to New York and be there tonight. I can turn an ignition and drive a car up the hill. I can pull out my phone and Hangout with people in Hyderabad. I can flip a light switch. And I don't have to be bitten by a spider, drink the potion, or expose myself to radiation to do it. 250 years ago the superpowers that were all the rage included crossing oceans without getting (very) wet or propelling a chunk of iron or lead across the commons at half the speed of sound. The very newest superpower was...