We Could Be Heroes
Over the past 30 days I’ve been watching repeatedly the recent Ironman movie as well as Batman Begins and the Dark Knight. As I’ve written in the past, I am very intrigued by the idea of singular super-empowerment: the idea that one person can transform themselves into something greater, for good or for evil, that is significantly more advanced than the “common” person. Both the Ironman and Batman characters utilize technology to achieve this superior advantage, but at the core of this pop-culture idea is a simple human, born just like the rest, with no inherit physical advantages or superpowers. And that is the key – there is a difference between superpowers and super-empowered; one is fictional and the other has already become a reality within our world today.
While I’ve used a David Bowie/Brian Eno lyric to title this post, there is actually another song, also called “Heroes,” that more accurately reflects this idea of moving beyond “common” from a 1986 duo called David & David, here’s a quote from their song “Heroes”;
…and there comes a time when you cannot turn the other cheek
you have got to ride the ferry
past the battered old bodies of dead, dead dreamers
past the tethered and fettered and desk-bound schemers
past the punks and the drunks and the bad guitar players
and the dewy eyed teenage dragon slayers
- you come to this place where you can say I just want to work with you
as we do the things that we know we have to do
ever hopeful and ever blue,
we do the things that we know we have to do
and though we all know deep down in our hearts
that someday this will all fall apart
for right now
let’s just be heroes
The bar is set low – do what you know you have to do despite the likely result, that it may mean nothing in the end. Because, ultimately, most people do not do the things that they know “deep down in our hearts” are the right things. The average person knows that eating healthy and exercise are the right things to do, but the adult obesity rate in many “developed” countries trends beyond 50%. When was the last time you saw a really fat 80 year old? The average person understands the idea of compound interest and the importance of dollar-cost averaging investments for financial security, yet the vast majority spend more time (and money) on their summer vacation than they do on any kind of long-term investment plans. Did you know that the average US adult reads ONE book per year? The “common” person, as frequently outlined by Confucius, are typically those who lack morality and virtues, something that is certainly not a hot commodity these days. This post isn’t about super-enlightenment, but when was the last time you did something really nice, completely unexpected and completely without the possibility for repayment for someone? Anyone? It seems that here on the east coast, when someone does something nice for you, it’s viewed as a possible ploy for future gain or a sign of weakness. Or both.
Somewhere, in the realm of metrics that measures humans (think of psychometric profiling to the 10th power) in a vast number of ways (Intelligence, Fitness, Memory, Health, Speed, Agility, Social Graph, Net Worth, Morality, Languages, Reputation, Cash Flow, etc.), somewhere, there exists an average. The average person has varying degrees of each of these, but when combined we see a profile of what could represent a “common” or median or average person. My idea is that being not just slightly above that average metric, but multiples of that metric should be our individual goal. We should be pushing the bounds of our human capabilities, instead of watching reruns of “Heroes”.
Below I’ve started to outline what I perceive to be the basic means for categorizing these ideas and the related data streams: What I’m referring to as the Super-Empower Centers. I only know that it’s not complete, and would appreciate collaborating with others who were focused on similar attributes for themselves:
Super-Empower Centers (v2)
• Health, Wealth & Fitness
• Education, Knowledge & Intelligence
• Media, Information & Technology
• Politics, Social Engineering & Laws of Influence/Attraction
If you’ve seen something similar to this, I would like to know about it. I am certain I am reinventing a wheel here when one book recommendation could save me significant time and effort. But the other request I have is if anyone else has an interest in these various topics, collectively? With over 400 visitors each month, people are clearly coming to this website for something – not to mention over 1,300 followers on Twitter as well. My current strategy is to take super-empowerment topics like this and create a blog/podcast to further my understanding of the subject, while educating readers/listener at the same time. The only remaining question is if I should even bother to share my journey towards super-empowerment with others. I would like to think there is a likely community here - but I’ve been wrong before. Once.
Please reach me via facebook and Twitter if so.
-pjc