Poll: Would having real-life superheros be good or bad for the world?

[eternal-chaplain]

Ah, and so we are called back to the 'Civil War' story arc of the Marvel universe, sort of. The way I see it is when you have super powers, you pretty much become super-butler. If I woke up with super strength & speed, I'd just keep getting pestered to help people move their furniture, or give them piggie-back rides to work. I think we can all agree it goes downhill after that, because once they start getting tired of being everyone's ***** (provided they're not already evil), they start using their powers to fuck with people who abuse them with no thanks. Like putting their couch on the roof. Or giving them a piggie-back ride thirty miles in the wrong direction and leaving them there.

 

[Heronblade]

Let's switch the question around. Say if there was one guy who was the epitome of Superman's old ideals. He believed his purpose was to use his vast powers to aid humanity... Would any of you trust him? Would our ideals of what humanity is eventually convince us that he had ulterior motives and could not be trusted?

Trust him? Probably not, at least to begin with. We might end up having to do so simply because we can't afford to make an enemy there.

The problem that may be even worse in that sense is not necessarily dependent on his motivation. Even if such an individual had a pure and unmitigated desire to do good for as much of humanity as possible, that does not necessarily come with the knowledge or wisdom required to act without causing more harm than good. Knowing what, when, and where to do something, the potential consequences of an action, and whether or not it should be made public are all things that must be considered.

 

[Johnny Impact]

Let's switch the question around. Say if there was one guy who was the epitome of Superman's old ideals. He believed his purpose was to use his vast powers to aid humanity... Would any of you trust him? Would our ideals of what humanity is eventually convince us that he had ulterior motives and could not be trusted?

Actually they used to play this one regularly in the comics -- turn the public against Superman. Even when they like him, he occasionally laments to close friends that they also fear him. People hesitate to shake his hand because they think he'll crush it. Superman is always set apart from humanity.

Some folks would never trust our noble superdude no matter what. I think after he cleaned up a few dozen natural disasters, saved a few dozen sinking ships, and foiled a few dozen global conspiracies, he would inspire as much trust as anyone can.

 

[frizzlebyte]

...the gaining of said powers would not directly affect a person's psyche or personality.

*Snipped to emphasize my topic.*

I posit that it absolutely would affect the person's psyche to have powers like that.

It need not be in the same sense as "smoking causes cancer," but a person would change, definitely. I'm a really benevolent person who does things all the time for people with absolutely no expectations of getting anything in return, but if I had powers like that, you can bet I'd turn into something really different.

Sure, I'd do good with my powers, like saving people from buildings, cars, etc., but I'd also go into people's homes without their knowledge, pull pranks like putting their car on top of their house, all kinds of things. People would get sick of me pretty quickly.

Would I actually *harm* anyone, though? Probably not directly, no.

But that kind of power would definitely change me, and I hold that it would change most anyone.

 

[Souplex]

My presence is indeed a good thing.
Err...
I'm not Captain Awesome!

 

[Fijiman]

It might be cool at first, but it would eventually become bad. I imagine that some of them would develop some sort of superiority complex and try to take over, therefor becoming super villains. The various superpowers of the world would also be competing to get the most superheros under their control which would not end well. Not to mention the amount of destruction caused in an average week by superheros. So again, while it would be cool at first it would be bad in the long run.

 

[Loonyyy]

Bad. Super-powers mean super-heroes and super-villains. And having thousands or millions killed by some super-powered jerkass doesn't sound good if you're unlucky enough to be normal.

 

[MiriaJiyuu]

I say bad, people seem to be rather selfish and I imagine them having powers of any kind would only amplify that trait.

 

[gigastar]

It will probably be a bad thing.

However, it will almost certainly be fun.

 

[2733]

my guess is that real life physics would come crashing down on the super citizens after SWAT blasts the first would be super villain out of the sky like a big evil skeet clay. Once the dust settles the shear number of "supers" would keep any I AM GOD thoughts at bay, leaving us with guys crushing steel in bars to pick up chicks and a bunch of youtube videos of people flying into walls.

 

[bz316]

The true danger is not humans gaining power. Scientific knowledge has granted humanity great power without any kind of outside interference. The real trick is gaining power, and also gaining the wisdom to use it properly.

 

[TheRussian]

My guess is that OP never read Watchmen. But to answer the question: it would be bad. Also OP should read Watchmen. Cause Watchmen is awesome.

 

[Kal-Adam]

Vigilantism rarely turns out to be a good thing. Also, where theirs superheros, theirs supervillians.

 

[vasiD]

It would be terrible if just anyone could get super powers. Now if it's something like the gods testing and rewarding the valor (of the genuine type, not the kind you get just for killing a lot of people on the opposite side of an issue) and purity of spirit, then it might be great.

Or better yet just a Superman would be nice, an alien so that we can't copy his powers, but with such a pure heart all he wants to do is protect humanity, and some how he doesn't get sick of us nuking things...

However if this did happen I believe it would end up a lot like Red Son with this Superman ruling the world.