[ExI] Superheroes without superpowers

[spike at rainier66.com]

-----Original Message-----
From: spike at rainier66.com <spike at rainier66.com> 
:

 

On 2021-10-07 22:27, Anton Sherwood via extropy-chat wrote:

> The Spirit comes to mind.

 

>>:How about the Black Widow?

 

-- 

*\\*  Anton Sherwood  *\\*   <http://www.bendwavy.org> www.bendwavy.org

 

 

_______________________________________________

 

 

>:Anton, your exception proves the point:This particular instance is
exaggerated, because she has that chiseled outta

marble physique and of course that whole sexy Russian thing going.  She is

Natalia Alianovna "Natasha" Romanova; Russian: Наталья Альяновна "Наташа"

Романова so of course she was able to seduce the superhero Hawkeye the

archer: spike

 

Anton do let me anticipate your objection, that the archer Hawkeye didn't
have superpowers.

 

If that thought occurred to you, I would say on the contrary sir, he did.
Note the chiseled physique, and recognize that it is impossible to be put
together like that without steroids.  Such a build is as unlikely as the
ever-popular Barbie, who is of a similarly unlikely build, unachievable in
the flesh, a pinnacle of idealism reached only in plastic with the help of
Mattel Toy Company.

 

The champion bodybuilder of his day, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
introduced the world to steroids for body building.  One can be sure that no
one has seriously competed in that sport without them in about the past
fifty years.

 

If one wishes to argue that steroids are a technology rather than a
superpower, I again argue to the contrary, for the radioactive spider bite
which gave Peter Parker superpower strength is a technology.

 



 

Same with Bruce Bannon, who became the hulk (intermittently (and
inexplicably (but to the delight of clothing merchants))) in a gamma ray
radiation accident, which is clearly a technology.

 

All of this is a good thing however, for that line or reasoning, the
paradigm of technology as a path to superpowers, leads to my earlier
observation that everyone here has Bat powers, in a limited sense.  We don't
have Bruce Wayne't money, but we can buy things that Bruce couldn't have
purchased (or even scarcely imagined) with all his millions.  (Millions,
heh, sounds paltry indeed by today's lofty standards  (that in itself is
telling us something important (that even ordinary people are rich by the
paltry standards of my own tragically misspent childhood (squandered on
comic books and the Bat Channel, ja?))))

 

Conclusion: technology doesn't need to be mysterious for the abilities it
confers upon us to be considered superpowers.  Vaccines give us supernatural
immunity, which is a kind of superpower (assuming they work.)  Superpowers
don't need to come from another planet nor do they need to be as
inexplicable as why Superman flew with one fist extended.  

 

We, the humans of today's planet earth, are inventing and giving ourselves
superpowers.

 

Is this just wicked cool or what?

 

spike 

 

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