How unrealistic are super powers?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the concept of superpowers, particularly in the context of their realism and potential existence in the universe. Participants explore various abilities attributed to fictional characters and compare them to real-life adaptations found in nature, while also considering the implications of quantum mechanics and technological advancements.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants suggest that while traditional superpowers like flying or invisibility seem unrealistic, the strange nature of the universe might allow for life forms with extraordinary abilities.
  • One participant references a Wikipedia article on superhumans, arguing that some proposed powers, like shooting lasers from eyes, are particularly unrealistic due to energy requirements.
  • Another participant lists various real-world animal adaptations that resemble superpowers, such as flight, camouflage, and unique defensive mechanisms.
  • Questions arise about the feasibility of invisibility, with some suggesting that creatures might use echolocation instead of sight if they could turn invisible.
  • There is a discussion about the nature of telekinesis and telepathy, with some arguing that telekinesis is not possible without a long-range force and others speculating about future technological advancements that could enable telepathy.
  • One participant mentions the concept of an invisibility cloak, discussing its mechanisms and limitations, including the potential for blindness if no light enters the eyes.
  • Concerns are raised about the ethical implications of developing technologies that could enable telepathy, with suggestions that quantum entanglement might be necessary for secure communication.
  • Some participants challenge the definition of "super power," questioning whether it must be inherently unrealistic to qualify as such.
  • Acoustic levitation is mentioned as a potential mechanism for telekinesis, though its classification remains debated.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a range of opinions on the realism of superpowers, with no consensus reached. While some find parallels between fictional powers and real-life adaptations, others argue against the feasibility of certain abilities, leading to ongoing debate.

Contextual Notes

The discussion includes various assumptions about the definitions of superpowers and the mechanisms by which they might operate, which remain unresolved. The exploration of quantum mechanics and technological advancements introduces additional complexity to the conversation.

MathJakob
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Obviously I'm not talking about humans running around at super speed, turning invisible or flying or any such nonsense. Although when you think about how strange and quirky the universe is on the quantum level, is it really outrageous to suggest that there could be life out there in the universe which does have "super powers" such as being able to turn invisible or fire lazers from their eyeballs... How about being able to interact with electrical things with their mind!

I know this all seems stupid and a pretty stupid thread but when the universe is full of crazy things, is this stuff really that stupid to think about? It could be possible that there is life out there that has what we would class as a super power?
 
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Try this on for size: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stan_Lee's_Superhumans
Not really super though...
EDIT:BTW shooting lasers from eyes is pretty unrealistic compared to others you mention. Shooting Laser would require a lot of energy, but that's not my main argument; using eyes to shoot LASER is unrealistic as having another organ would make a bit more sense.
 
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Just take a look around and list all the 'super' powers that life on this Earth has. Birds can fly, flying insects, spiders spin webs, a certain lizard can shoot blood out of its eye, insects use camouflage, a chameleon that can change color, carnivorous plants, stinky shunks, fish breathing through gill in water, exoskeletons, quilled pocupines, sonar from bats, bees that can see UV rays, and the list goes on. So right here on Earth there is a wide variety of adaptations that animals ( and plants ) do use to better their chances of survival that we know about.
 
How do you turn invisible without also being blind?
 
Vanadium 50 said:
How do you turn invisible without also being blind?

Maybe the creatures who can turn invisible use echo location instead of sight? Also maybe they do turn invisible but only their eyes remain
 
Many animals can "turn invisible" by changing their colourings to match the surroundings. Many abilities that animals have resemble fictional superpowers but there isn't anything magic about that, taking the conversation down the line of quantum weirdness is detractive IMO.
 
Ryan_m_b said:
Many animals can "turn invisible" by changing their colourings to match the surroundings. Many abilities that animals have resemble fictional superpowers but there isn't anything magic about that, taking the conversation down the line of quantum weirdness is detractive IMO.

Changing colour to match your surroundings is nothing like a super power. Sure a cricket can jump crazy high and far but it isn't possible for a larger animal to have to same ability otherwise you'd break your skeleton when you landed...

One super power that I'm thinking off mainly would be telekinesis and telepathy. We can already control a rats tail using just our thoughts but that requires computers, wires ect.
 
Telekinesis? Nope not possible. You have to use a long range force- ie gravity or Electromagnetic force. To use gravity you would need a crazy amount of energy whereas for electromagnetic force would just electrocute you...
And then there is the lack of direction control...just attracting something towards you- not the best evolutionary tool. As for invisibility as Ryan said and MathJakob disagreed that it would be done by changing colours like animals...well here are a few alternatives within bounds of available technology:http://www.howstuffworks.com/invisibility-cloak.htm
As for telepathy, well it is slightly feasible, I mean we can do it with mobile phones...Something interesting I found a while back:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_pseudo-telepathy

EDIT: Wait a second I just remembered that sound waves can be used for telekinesis...http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/16/scientists-use-sound-to-move-and-mix-liquids/
 
Yeh I read about the harry potter invisibility cloak but it works by bending light around the cloak right? but As Vanadium rightly said you'd go blind because no light would enter your eyes, unless of course you leave the eyes un cloaked.

I think telepathy will certainly progress into something more than moving a rats tail and having a bunch of eletrodes strapped to us with computers ect. Unfortunately we probably won't be around to see it but I think eventually we could develop "wireless" telepathy. Your thoughts are transmitted through your brain to a tiny computer which has a wire going from the computer to your brain to detect the thoughts which then sends the thought over to the correct machine.
 
  • #10
Woops pressed post twice...
 
  • #11
MathJakob said:
Yeh I read about the harry potter invisibility cloak but it works by bending light around the cloak right? but As Vanadium rightly said you'd go blind because no light would enter your eyes, unless of course you leave the eyes un cloaked.
Pretty much, it uses either heated carbon nanotubes or metamaterials but there is also augmented reality technology which uses projectors and cameras; just like the Bond car in 'Die Another Day' the link I gave goes into detail about it. Oh as far as I know the cloaks only work for certain frequencies so real world military application is pretty much screwed..

I think telepathy will certainly progress into something more than moving a rats tail and having a bunch of electrodes strapped to us with computers etc. Unfortunately we probably won't be around to see it but I think eventually we could develop "wireless" telepathy. Your thoughts are transmitted through your brain to a tiny computer which has a wire going from the computer to your brain to detect the thoughts which then sends the thought over to the correct machine.
Will have a lot of ethical objections...But disregarding them, the computer will necessarily have to use quantum entanglement or everyone's lives could easily be hacked. Interesting ideas, will have to think about it a bit more...
 
  • #12
MathJakob said:
Yeh I read about the harry potter invisibility cloak but it works by bending light around the cloak right? but As Vanadium rightly said you'd go blind because no light would enter your eyes, unless of course you leave the eyes un cloaked.

I think telepathy will certainly progress into something more than moving a rats tail and having a bunch of eletrodes strapped to us with computers ect. Unfortunately we probably won't be around to see it but I think eventually we could develop "wireless" telepathy. Your thoughts are transmitted through your brain to a tiny computer which has a wire going from the computer to your brain to detect the thoughts which then sends the thought over to the correct machine.

It doesn't have to be 100% reflective. we already have one way mirrors for interrogation rooms. You do a mix that's predominately reflective with some transmission.
 
  • #13
MathJakob said:
Changing colour to match your surroundings is nothing like a super power. Sure a cricket can jump crazy high and far but it isn't possible for a larger animal to have to same ability otherwise you'd break your skeleton when you landed...

I don't understand at all, are you suggesting that for something to be a "super power" it has to be unrealistic? In that case nothing you would define as a super power is possible.

MathJakob said:
One super power that I'm thinking off mainly would be telekinesis and telepathy. We can already control a rats tail using just our thoughts but that requires computers, wires ect.

I don't know of any mechanism by which telekinesis would work. For telepathy I suppose it's not impossible to imagine that an organism could evolve some form of biological radio and communicate that way. But that's hugely speculative.
 
  • #14
I have a feeling you have not defined what "super power" means. Try to define it unambiguously, then the discussion will make sense.
 
  • #15
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  • #16
That's some interesting technology but I'm not sure why you would class an entity capable of levitating small particles above an appendage with sound waves as a superpower but not camouflage.

I agree with Borek that it would be good if you gave the definition of superpower that you are using.
 
  • #17
Ryan_m_b said:
That's some interesting technology but I'm not sure why you would class an entity capable of levitating small particles above an appendage with sound waves as a superpower but not camouflage.

I agree with Borek that it would be good if you gave the definition of superpower that you are using.

You are confusing me with the OP...And I wasn't saying that it was a superpower just that telekinesis might be feasible.
EDIT:I also mentioned light waves...
 
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  • #18
Basically, these all fall under Batman's main superpower: super rich guy with access to top notch engineers and the aptitude to use the technology effectively.
 
  • #19
The Bat was a superb engineer himself (held advanced degrees in Physics, chemistry, Biology, computer science, physics, criminal psychology) but most of his equipments were made by wayne tech which would then be modified by Bat to his own tastes...
I just found this trolling through the web: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_Batman's_education
 
  • #20
He sounds like he's basically as a super as you can get without being supernatural about it.
 
  • #21
Pythagorean said:
He sounds like he's basically as a super as you can get without being supernatural about it.

Bat rocks!
Coming back to topic (well, sort of); finally remembered what Hollow beam laser levitation is called here's another article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tractor_beam#2010s
 
  • #22
Ok you're right I have not been clear about what I think a super power would be. In my eyes a super power is the ability to do something without technology which would otherwise be impossible. For example everyone knows person can't fly, but if one day you could fly, that would be a super power.

If I could move things just by thinking about moving it, if I could someone interact with the electromagnetic field ect. I don't want to say a super power is something which defies the laws of physics because the laws of physics are the same for everything in the universe so there could never be a super power.

I just think that a super power is something which should be impossible but for some unknown or known reason, maybe evolutionary reason they have developed a unique ability to do so. It's important though that it has to be done without the use of technology because then it's just an invention and not a super power.
 
  • #23
MathJakob said:
I just think that a super power is something which should be impossible but for some unknown or known reason, maybe evolutionary reason they have developed a unique ability to do so. It's important though that it has to be done without the use of technology because then it's just an invention and not a super power.

If the ability has (or can be) developed then it ceases to be impossible, so your question is essentially " is super power unrealistic given that superpower is impossible?"
A better definition or question would be better...
p.s. ect. is electroconvulsive therapy the [STRIKE]acronym[/STRIKE] abbreviation you are looking for is etc.; just mentioning it because you used it twice.
 
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  • #24
Enigman said:
If the ability has (or can be) developed then it ceases to be impossible, so your question is essentially " is super power unrealistic given that superpower is impossible?"
A better definition or question would be better...
p.s. ect. is electroconvulsive therapy the acronym you are looking for is etc.; just mentioning it because you used it twice.

etc. is an abbreviation, not an acronym. :-p
 
  • #25
Dembadon said:
etc. is an abbreviation, not an acronym. :-p

ooops-:blushing:
 
  • #26
Enigman said:
You are confusing me with the OP...And I wasn't saying that it was a superpower just that telekinesis might be feasible.
EDIT:I also mentioned light waves...
Oops, so I did. Sorry.
MathJakob said:
In my eyes a super power is the ability to do something without technology which would otherwise be impossible. For example everyone knows person can't fly, but if one day you could fly, that would be a super power.
I'm confused. If it is impossible to do without technology then the answer is that it is impossible. But then you go on to suggest evolution which would mean that it wasn't impossible without technology.
 
  • #27
Ryan_m_b said:
Oops, so I did. Sorry.

I'm confused. If it is impossible to do without technology then the answer is that it is impossible. But then you go on to suggest evolution which would mean that it wasn't impossible without technology.
:approve:Just what I said before...
Enigman said:
If the ability has (or can be) developed then it ceases to be impossible, so your question is essentially " is super power unrealistic given that superpower is impossible?"
A better definition or question would be better...
:rolleyes:
 
  • #28
MathJakob said:
Ok you're right I have not been clear about what I think a super power would be. In my eyes a super power is the ability to do something without technology which would otherwise be impossible. For example everyone knows person can't fly, but if one day you could fly, that would be a super power.

If I could move things just by thinking about moving it, if I could someone interact with the electromagnetic field ect. I don't want to say a super power is something which defies the laws of physics because the laws of physics are the same for everything in the universe so there could never be a super power.

I just think that a super power is something which should be impossible but for some unknown or known reason, maybe evolutionary reason they have developed a unique ability to do so. It's important though that it has to be done without the use of technology because then it's just an invention and not a super power.
Basically you're saying a power isn't a super power unless it contradicts the laws of physics. We can't really give the title to any power that can be explained by science.

I'd agree with that based on the origin of the term, which, as far as I know, was the Superman comic.

That being the case the answer to the thread title is: completely unrealistic. By definition, there are no superpowers.

Regardless, if you would like to have the experience of being confronted by an apparent superpower, this is doable, if you're only suggestible enough:



Outside of illusion and hallucination (naturally occurring or induced by drugs or a clever hypnotist) you won't encounter any superpowers.
 
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  • #29
zoobyshoe said:
Outside of illusion and hallucination (naturally occurring or induced by drugs or a clever hypnotist) you won't encounter any superpowers.

Hey, the power of thought is pretty super in itself, when compared to other powers that animals have...squirting blood from eyes? Please, here's a paint gun for you. Humans are never content with what they have...greedy monosynaptic cretins. IMHO technology is the best superpower...Bat can take down Superman anyday, Iron Man if inclined could take down the whole Avengers himself, except perhaps Thor, they are almost a equal match but Iron man could always nuke him out...
 
  • #30
zoobyshoe said:
Basically you're saying a power isn't a super power unless it contradicts the laws of physics. We can't really give the title to any power that can be explained by science.

That being the case the answer to the thread title is: completely unrealistic. By definition, there are no superpowers.

This is basically the answer I was looking for. So it is safe to say that there can be no life in the universe which has a super power, because to posses such a power would mean breaking the laws of physics?

So there is no possible way that for as long as humans are alive we will never be able to evolve an ability to read minds, move objects without touching them, turn invisible or interact with electricity without getting fried lol.
 

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