Super-humanism

Super-humanism as is defined as "the ability of humans to go above and beyond the general expectations and realities of human kind". This can be accomplished through natural ability, self-actualization or technological aids. Historical outlook's on super humanism are viewed as finding the ideal human in physical, mental as well as spiritual form, and has influenced politics, policy, philosophers, scientists and movements. Well documented historical applications of this philosophy can be found in the events of Nazi Germany during World War II. Modern depictions of this have evolved and are shown through the comic book ideal of heroes like Superman, or through technologically aided people or cyborgs. Other people simply have natural gifts for incredible abilities, or are in super situations that require acts above and beyond general human capabilities.

In philosophy

File:Nietzsche - Ainsi parlait Zarathoustra.djvu

The philosopher behind the belief of super-humanism believed in the importance of creating a greater meaning in life through individual betterment.

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) was a philosopher who challenged Christianity, the traditional ideas of purity, God, afterlife and other things such as morality. Nietzsche was a believer in creating the perfect human, or at least a definition of one. He believed in achieving this perfection through the enhancement of individual and cultural health, creativity, and power, and that to be a successful human one would focus on the realities of our world, rather than the beyond world, or afterlife. Nietzsche was often categorized as an existentialist philosopher of his time, and had his hand in the arts, writing, psychologic and social revolution. His later writings gave birth to the philosophy of Übermenschlich or Übermensch, which translates relatively into super-human or super-humanism.

Übermensch

Main article: Übermensch

Nietzsche explores the idea of a super-human, in his writing Last Spoke Zarathustra. This writing reveals his thinking as he discusses the reality of humans existing as just that, and their potential to be more, through risks taken to advance humanity. This belief focuses not on a man who is bettering oneself but instead establishes values which create a meaning to life greater than one person, and positively influencing the lives of others with an overarching goal of humanity. These goals help one overcome life's feeling of meaninglessness.

Naziism

This idea of bettering one's self, for humanity, developed within the philosophy of Nazi Germany. The Nazi philosophy of the master race, revolved around the concept of creating a perfect race, often referred to as the Aryan race. This was projected onto the people as a way of purifying their society, to create a Germanic master race, in which Übermensch became a core philosophy. By creating a philosophy that defined the superior and the inferior human, people began to classify those around them as such. Nietzsche and the Nazis believed in the greatness of humans because of the "polish blood in their veins," and were henceforth able to classify and separate the "inferior." Some Nazi experimentation even included trying to chemically purify and enhance their soldiers.

In culture

Art

Nicholas Treadwell is a British artist who wrote the book super-humanism that was published in 1979 and was followed by super-humanism 2 in 1982.

In the author's own words, the movement is, "the first people's art movement – a movement, first and foremost, inspired by life, as opposed to inspired by art. It is a movement of art by the people, for the people, and about the people. It is about tolerance and human understanding. Initially, a super-humanist work will move you to feel – to laugh, to cry, to shudder, to be overwhelmed with compassion. They do not include any aesthetic gesture to distract from the vivid nature of the image. A super-humanist work will take a down to earth subject, and use original technical means to exaggerate it, achieving an over-the-top impact of it's humanist theme." Treadwell used this art movement to emphasize the connection between mundane nature of humans, and the superior characteristics that exist in that simplicity.

Anarchy

It is suggested that there is a relationship between the fall of a society and the perfection of man kind. Many economic, social and environmental factors, which all contribute to the sustainability of a society, are built upon the need for a solution to a problem. Super-humanism requires the ability to overcome these problems, either through physical, mental or emotional triumphs of purity and self-actualization. Through the elimination of these problems, many economies and social structures would be collapsed. Also, through advancement in areas such as Transhumanism, some believe that people humans will advance to a point of education and readiness that war will break out between one another, or tyrannies will reign, due to the high levels of advancements being achieved hence correlating with a need for power, eventually leading to an ultimate state of anarchy.

In fiction

See also: List of superhuman features and abilities in fiction

Many super-humans in fiction have gained super-human abilities through artificial means, access to technology or extreme circumstances, which allowed them to develop super-human abilities.

Superhero	Powers	How powers were obtained
Batman	Genius-level intellect Peak human physical and mental condition Master martial artist and hand-to-hand combatant High-tech equipment and weapons	Martial arts training Physical conditioning Massive wealth Access to technology
Hawkeye	Master archery marksman Expert tactician and martial artist Uses a variety of arrows with various technological abilities	Fencing, acrobatics, marksman, physical training from childhood in the circus
Iron Man	Genius-level intellect Hand-to-hand combat master From powered armored suit: super-human strength and durability Supersonic flight Regenerative life support (sometimes powered by solar power)	Genius-level intellect Massive wealth Access to technology
Incredible Hulk/ Bruce Banner	Bruce Banner: Genius-level intellect Hulk: super-human strength, stamina, durability, endurance, and longevity Ability to quickly regenerate wounds	Genius-level intellect Exposure to massive dose of gamma radiation
Green Goblin	Genius-level intellect Use of technology Goblin Glider Pumpkin Bombs Ghost Bombs "Bag of Tricks	Genius-level intellect Access to wealth and technology "Goblin Formula" body augmenting chemicals
Captain America	Enhanced physical condition Vastly increased strength, endurance, agility, speed, reflexes, durability, and healing Master martial artist and hand-to-hand combatant Wields vibranium-steel alloy shield Master militaty tactician and field commander	"Vita-Ray" super soldier serum Military field experience

Superman is a class example of someone who goes above and beyond the basic capabilities of a human.

Real life

Stan Lee's super-humans was a television show devoted to finding people around the world who exhibit abilities that exceed normal human capabilities. The most flexible man in the world, is an example of a super-human who travels the world finding physical and mental feats that expand the realm of what humans can do.

Human Body: Pushing the Limits is a Discovery Channel show that explores what happens to people's strength, sight, brainpower, and sensing abilities when placed under extreme stress. These circumstances can lead to short-term super-human abilities, which allow people to excel in advanced, or impossible tasks.

Many acts performed by elite athletes are seen as super-human. Elite athletes perform at a level that is perceived as unattainable by normal standards of performance. These are the result of a mixture of genetics, physical training, and mental conditioning. For example, the highest VO2 max test results ever recorded were from Norwegian cross-country skier, Bjorn Daehlie, who scored a 96 ml/kg/min. The average range for VO2 Max is between 35-40 milliliters of oxygen per kilogram of body weight per minute (ml/kg/min) for men and 27-31 ml/kg/min for women. Another man, Dean Karnazes ran 50 marathons in 50 days in all 50 states in 2006. On February 4, 2015 actor and power lifter Hafthor Bjornsson broke a 1000 year old record by carrying a 1,433 pound log on his back for 5 steps

Outside of athletics, many people have performed super-human feats. The Blue Angels flight acrobatics team regularly pulls maneuvers equal to 4-6 times the force of gravity(g), with some turns as high as 8g. One man, Greg Poe, is a pilot who was able withstand turns of 12g.

There are also many stories of people lifting extremely heavy objects under extreme stress, known as Hysterical Strength. These situations are created when abnormal tasks are completed due to the brains heightened need for achievement.

Science

One modern day method of achieving above average abilities include performance-enhancing drugs; these include substances such as painkillers, blood boosters, stimulants, and anabolic steroids, but can also encompass substances that aren't fully recognized as enhancers such as caffeine, protein supplements, and vitamins. While drugs as a form of achieving super-human capabilities is a well known concept in fiction, such as films like Limitless and the Marvel character Nuke, in real life the current substances that are known and available don't produce such fantastical abilities. The results from these drugs are minimal, and often short term. However, they can still produce detrimental side effects, including many adverse psychological and physiological effects.

Transhumanism is a philosophy, modern-day movement, and practice that seeks to improve humanity through means such as evolution and cybernetics (see also human enhancement). Fictionalized accounts of this can include the characters from the X-men franchise (mutants who are seen as "the next step in human evolution"), and also cyborgs such as those found in the Ghost in the Shell franchise. A widespread school of thought, is that transhumanism can include all methods of improving humanity with the goal of ending issues and flaws that have existed for as long as humanity has, but also faces the issues of how far should it go, such as if or when it achieves a state where what exists is no longer human.

Religion

God

As a major defining factor of the super-humanism philosophy, humans are expected to possess traits that are considered to be those of high moral grounds, dignity and intrinsic values. Many people who believe in super-humanism, value the importance of independent responsibility in making the world a better, and more moral place. This often means being in, or establishing some sort of spirituality which allows one to follow guidelines and grounds of a moral structure, and achieve a certain level of clarity and purity in their self and their path to righteousness and betterment. Super-humanism is often referred to as a combination between religion and philosophy, which suggests that there should be a correlation between the actions of man, and the patterns of the earth, in which this unity established with God, nature and man can allow for super human feats to become possible.