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 to catch a piece of lightning and store it in a jar or to swim under water for 20 minutes and live to tell about what you found. Today's superpowers are so much better.

In the last 200 years, we have built several nations with superhuman abilities. And we are starting to  think of Batman as a quaint eccentric who desperately needs a therapist.

Welcome to the New Avengers! We bring liberty and justice for all. And there are a few million of us.

How will you use your superpowers for good, today?

My thanks to Paul Newson for inspiring this post.