I think they should make it look like an awesome motorcycle, with flames painted on it and a kick-ass logo with a skull, spinners, and a lot of chrome--I mean a LOT of fucking chrome! And that shit should have hydraulics too, just a crazy lift kit...an INSANE lift kit!
I'm saying that humans are simply not equipped to be gods. That kind of power could warp even the best of us. It's way too dangerous to ever be handled safely by such a flawed race.
Not to mention the fact that "incorruptible" can be a horrid thing if your moral ideology is flawed at its heart. There are many religious zealots and die-hard terrorists who are incorruptible. Most of us certainly wouldn't look on it as a good thing if one of them got superpowers. Many a noble hero has valiantly faced death for causes that were horrific at their core.
Getting involved in a war would be even more of a thorny mess for superheroes. Whose side do you believe in a war? Governments lie all the time, and use propaganda to deceive their people. Taking sides means picking a truth to believe in, and often you'll find out later you picked the wrong one. In one decade you're helping Saddam and Osama Bin Laden, the next you're fighting against them. At one point you're fighting against the Indonesian government because Eisenhower tells you they're godless commies out to threaten the world, a few years later you find out that was just a bunch of CIA horseshit and you were actually fighting the good guys.
There was an interesting take on this in a short story I read many years ago. Übermensch! by Kim Newman tells the story of an alternate history Superman whose rocket landed in 1920's Germany instead of Kansas. It's a harsh new look at the Man of Steel and how easily our environment can influence who we are, who we become, and what we decide is right or wrong.
Actually, it's a little-known secret that the companies being sued (and their insurers) often benefit too, and sometimes even quietly "encourage" a given firm to pursue a class action suit. For the price of one easy settlement, they're permanently indemnified from being stung with thousands of individual suits (since the VAST majority of plaintiffs, even if they do hear about the suit, will not go to the trouble to opt-out of it).
Lawyer gets paid crazy amount of cash. Company gets indemnity against future lawsuits. Consumer gets a crappy coupon for $5 off their next purchase.
"Noble" isn't a quality that you're born with and keep forever. It's a temporary quality that can and does change. There are no born heroes in the real world. There are people that do heroic things, for good reasons, at a given time. Just because a firefighter risks his life to save a bunch of schoolkids doesn't mean he isn't going to be arrested for beating his wife a few years later, nor does that arrest make his heroic action in saving those kids any less noble.
For the average person, there are consequences for negative actions. For Superman, there are no real consequences. No one is going to take him to jail for beating his wife, he can drive a car down the sidewalk and no one of is going to dare criticize him for it to his face, people will applaud him everywhere he goes (because they know what might happen if they don't), there is no one either willing or capable of threatening him. Of course, he wouldn't start out acting badly. He would start out as a good guy. But the more he becomes used to the fact that he is all-powerful, the more dangerous he becomes. Someone cuts him off in traffic, a boss comes down on him at work, someone doesn't say "thank you" after he saves them--these are the frustrations that will wear at him. The temptation to go beyond the boundaries that have always constrained him as a human will become greater every day, especially since he knows damn well he can do anything he wants.
You're way more optimistic than me. I've never once seen a politician who "stuck to their virtues" or who acted in any way but in their own self-interest. I've seen a lot of them who were very good at projecting the illusion of being virtuous, but the truth always came out in the end. AFAIC, politicians and CEO's are just a bunch of sociopaths with ties instead of knives.
here's also the oddity that so many of what are supposed to be strong male characters are portrayed very effeminately.
Every time I see a male Japanese game character, I can't help but think of Xandir from Drawn Together. He's a Link-esque videogame character who starts out the series proclaiming that he's on a "Never-ending quest to save my girlfriend!" only to quickly admit later that he's actually gay (much to the surprise of absolutely no one).
Power is very corrupting (the more power, the more powerful the temptation to corruption). How many leaders start out as truly noble freedom fighters, believing in democracy and the people; only to end up as oppressive, paranoid dictators after they finally achieve power?
The only thing you could offer to the 17th century would be an improvement in their medical technology (if you could get anyone to listen to you, which is unlikely). Telling them about the importance of cleanliness, sterilization, and maybe guiding them on penicillin would be major improvements. About anything else you could offer would require infrastructure that they don't have. What good would it do to tell them about internal combustion engines when they don't have the right grade of metals to build one? What good to tell them of the airplane when they don't have internal combustion engines needed to power one?
For the vast majority of people, the most heroic thing they could do if ever presented with Superman-like powers would be to immediately reject them. A real human presented with such powers would likely be a much greater threat to the rest of humanity than a help. Sure, he might start out rescuing cats from trees and people from burning buildings, but how long before he has a mood swing or a temper tantrum? How long before he succumbs to narcissism and the kind of arrogance and paranoia that god-like powers would bring. How long before he comes to resent humanity for not loving him enough, or worshiping him at the level he has come to believe is sufficient?
And all that's not even factoring in the reality that this is a human being with sexual desires, greed, etc. How would this real life Clark Kent react the first time a girl turned him down for a date, or he didn't have money to pay his credit card bill? You can get into some VERY dark territory there.
Again, such a superhero would almost certainly be way more of a threat to humanity than a help. Unless there was an alien invasion or giant meteor strike imminent that he could stop, he would be much more likely to cause us way more harm than good.
Pardon me in advance for daring to question the the prevailing hipster wisdom that wind and solar are going to save the world. But why should my tax dollars be going to put solar panels on YOUR roof (or wind turbines in your yard, for that matter), when you're almost certainly going to use 100% of the power generated and reap all the economic benefits for yourself? Are you going to pay back the difference it makes in your electric bill to the government until that loan is repaid? Nope.
If solar and wind are the great things they're cracked up to be, you shouldn't NEED a government incentive. After all, it pays for itself in 50 years, right? So why should I as a taxpayer subsidize you to save you money? The tiny benefit that I might reap in an insignificant carbon emission reduction would pale in comparison to the cost of your handout. And if I wanted to support solar as a taxpayer, I would be a lot better off support building solar power plants (which the government would pay for and also OWN at the end of the day).
And BTW, solar defenders, why not consider actually addressing these points instead of just hitting the mod down button that I know you're reaching for right now?
The problem is that Apple doesn't have anything on its low-end. I can walk out right now and buy a fully functional PC laptop at any price point from $400 and up. Apple Macbooks start at $1000 and quickly jump upwards to $1500 and $2000. It's not so much the features as the weak price spread that creates the perception of Apples as pricey.
Obviously you haven't been to a university lately. Macs are the de facto cool. Owning a PC is the equivalent to showing up to your freshmen dorm wearing bell-bottoms and a "Nickelback Rules!" t-shirt. Technological superiority has nothing to do with it.
Because you're going to need them (along with a lot of $ in campaign contributions for politicians) when the telcos come to sue you, and/or introduce legislation to make your social experiment illegal.
If one controls all your money, and the other only controls the appointment of your director (who's generally just a political figurehead anyway), who are YOU going to be inclined to listen too?
It's just a shame the Soviets themselves were so secretive about their own program. They had a lot to be proud of, and yet kept so much of their program a state secret (or under-publicized). NASA, by contrast, were complete media whores who made it sound like they invented the very concept of rockets. This created the popular misconception that lasts to this day in the U.S. that the Soviets were somehow lagging behind the Americans for the entire space race (when, with the sole exception of the moon landing, was the opposite of the reality).
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I think they should make it look like an awesome motorcycle, with flames painted on it and a kick-ass logo with a skull, spinners, and a lot of chrome--I mean a LOT of fucking chrome! And that shit should have hydraulics too, just a crazy lift kit...an INSANE lift kit!
On second thought, I just watched Terminator 3. I've changed my mind.
And I for one welcome your benevolent and wise leadership, your majesty.
I don't know about that. But I *do* know where I'm going to steal me some awesome robots!
I'm saying that humans are simply not equipped to be gods. That kind of power could warp even the best of us. It's way too dangerous to ever be handled safely by such a flawed race.
Not to mention the fact that "incorruptible" can be a horrid thing if your moral ideology is flawed at its heart. There are many religious zealots and die-hard terrorists who are incorruptible. Most of us certainly wouldn't look on it as a good thing if one of them got superpowers. Many a noble hero has valiantly faced death for causes that were horrific at their core.
Getting involved in a war would be even more of a thorny mess for superheroes. Whose side do you believe in a war? Governments lie all the time, and use propaganda to deceive their people. Taking sides means picking a truth to believe in, and often you'll find out later you picked the wrong one. In one decade you're helping Saddam and Osama Bin Laden, the next you're fighting against them. At one point you're fighting against the Indonesian government because Eisenhower tells you they're godless commies out to threaten the world, a few years later you find out that was just a bunch of CIA horseshit and you were actually fighting the good guys.
There was an interesting take on this in a short story I read many years ago. Übermensch! by Kim Newman tells the story of an alternate history Superman whose rocket landed in 1920's Germany instead of Kansas. It's a harsh new look at the Man of Steel and how easily our environment can influence who we are, who we become, and what we decide is right or wrong.
The reality is that I'm never letting my kid around any priest, or ever trusting the church again. That real enough?
Actually, it's a little-known secret that the companies being sued (and their insurers) often benefit too, and sometimes even quietly "encourage" a given firm to pursue a class action suit. For the price of one easy settlement, they're permanently indemnified from being stung with thousands of individual suits (since the VAST majority of plaintiffs, even if they do hear about the suit, will not go to the trouble to opt-out of it).
Lawyer gets paid crazy amount of cash. Company gets indemnity against future lawsuits. Consumer gets a crappy coupon for $5 off their next purchase.
"Noble" isn't a quality that you're born with and keep forever. It's a temporary quality that can and does change. There are no born heroes in the real world. There are people that do heroic things, for good reasons, at a given time. Just because a firefighter risks his life to save a bunch of schoolkids doesn't mean he isn't going to be arrested for beating his wife a few years later, nor does that arrest make his heroic action in saving those kids any less noble.
For the average person, there are consequences for negative actions. For Superman, there are no real consequences. No one is going to take him to jail for beating his wife, he can drive a car down the sidewalk and no one of is going to dare criticize him for it to his face, people will applaud him everywhere he goes (because they know what might happen if they don't), there is no one either willing or capable of threatening him. Of course, he wouldn't start out acting badly. He would start out as a good guy. But the more he becomes used to the fact that he is all-powerful, the more dangerous he becomes. Someone cuts him off in traffic, a boss comes down on him at work, someone doesn't say "thank you" after he saves them--these are the frustrations that will wear at him. The temptation to go beyond the boundaries that have always constrained him as a human will become greater every day, especially since he knows damn well he can do anything he wants.
You're way more optimistic than me. I've never once seen a politician who "stuck to their virtues" or who acted in any way but in their own self-interest. I've seen a lot of them who were very good at projecting the illusion of being virtuous, but the truth always came out in the end. AFAIC, politicians and CEO's are just a bunch of sociopaths with ties instead of knives.
Every time I see a male Japanese game character, I can't help but think of Xandir from Drawn Together. He's a Link-esque videogame character who starts out the series proclaiming that he's on a "Never-ending quest to save my girlfriend!" only to quickly admit later that he's actually gay (much to the surprise of absolutely no one).
Power is very corrupting (the more power, the more powerful the temptation to corruption). How many leaders start out as truly noble freedom fighters, believing in democracy and the people; only to end up as oppressive, paranoid dictators after they finally achieve power?
The only thing you could offer to the 17th century would be an improvement in their medical technology (if you could get anyone to listen to you, which is unlikely). Telling them about the importance of cleanliness, sterilization, and maybe guiding them on penicillin would be major improvements. About anything else you could offer would require infrastructure that they don't have. What good would it do to tell them about internal combustion engines when they don't have the right grade of metals to build one? What good to tell them of the airplane when they don't have internal combustion engines needed to power one?
That's what you would start out doing. Are you sure that's where you would finish?
I guess I'll have to turn to one of about 10,000 other spikey-haired-hermaphrodites-on-the-rails-rpgs if I want my Japanese game fix.
For the vast majority of people, the most heroic thing they could do if ever presented with Superman-like powers would be to immediately reject them. A real human presented with such powers would likely be a much greater threat to the rest of humanity than a help. Sure, he might start out rescuing cats from trees and people from burning buildings, but how long before he has a mood swing or a temper tantrum? How long before he succumbs to narcissism and the kind of arrogance and paranoia that god-like powers would bring. How long before he comes to resent humanity for not loving him enough, or worshiping him at the level he has come to believe is sufficient?
And all that's not even factoring in the reality that this is a human being with sexual desires, greed, etc. How would this real life Clark Kent react the first time a girl turned him down for a date, or he didn't have money to pay his credit card bill? You can get into some VERY dark territory there.
Again, such a superhero would almost certainly be way more of a threat to humanity than a help. Unless there was an alien invasion or giant meteor strike imminent that he could stop, he would be much more likely to cause us way more harm than good.
Pardon me in advance for daring to question the the prevailing hipster wisdom that wind and solar are going to save the world. But why should my tax dollars be going to put solar panels on YOUR roof (or wind turbines in your yard, for that matter), when you're almost certainly going to use 100% of the power generated and reap all the economic benefits for yourself? Are you going to pay back the difference it makes in your electric bill to the government until that loan is repaid? Nope.
If solar and wind are the great things they're cracked up to be, you shouldn't NEED a government incentive. After all, it pays for itself in 50 years, right? So why should I as a taxpayer subsidize you to save you money? The tiny benefit that I might reap in an insignificant carbon emission reduction would pale in comparison to the cost of your handout. And if I wanted to support solar as a taxpayer, I would be a lot better off support building solar power plants (which the government would pay for and also OWN at the end of the day).
And BTW, solar defenders, why not consider actually addressing these points instead of just hitting the mod down button that I know you're reaching for right now?
That's a helluva lot closer than the moon, and most people consider that pretty close.
The problem is that Apple doesn't have anything on its low-end. I can walk out right now and buy a fully functional PC laptop at any price point from $400 and up. Apple Macbooks start at $1000 and quickly jump upwards to $1500 and $2000. It's not so much the features as the weak price spread that creates the perception of Apples as pricey.
Obviously you haven't been to a university lately. Macs are the de facto cool. Owning a PC is the equivalent to showing up to your freshmen dorm wearing bell-bottoms and a "Nickelback Rules!" t-shirt. Technological superiority has nothing to do with it.
Because you're going to need them (along with a lot of $ in campaign contributions for politicians) when the telcos come to sue you, and/or introduce legislation to make your social experiment illegal.
If one controls all your money, and the other only controls the appointment of your director (who's generally just a political figurehead anyway), who are YOU going to be inclined to listen too?
It's just a shame the Soviets themselves were so secretive about their own program. They had a lot to be proud of, and yet kept so much of their program a state secret (or under-publicized). NASA, by contrast, were complete media whores who made it sound like they invented the very concept of rockets. This created the popular misconception that lasts to this day in the U.S. that the Soviets were somehow lagging behind the Americans for the entire space race (when, with the sole exception of the moon landing, was the opposite of the reality).