What if a being like Superman arrived on Earth?

[The Unknown Army]

Superman arrives on Earth as a baby and is raised by loving parents in rural Kansas who instil in him strong moral values. Truth, justice, and the American way. The fact that he is a big blue boy scout and not a rapist and murderer is not ungrounded from reality. It would not be more realistic for Superman to be a psychopath like Homelander. Homelander isn't a fucked up weirdo because that's realistic for someone with superhuman powers, he's a fucked up weirdo because he was raised in a lab by a pharma company founded by a literal Nazi.

I'm talking Earth's reaction to something that isn't capable of casually destroying a planet.

[Ifreann]

I bet many people would follow him. He'd do many great acts such as healing the sick. However, people would get scared that he's stronger than world leaders and put him to death. Fortunately, just 3 days later--

Superman can't heal the sick.

---

Superman arrives on Earth as a baby and is raised by loving parents in rural Kansas who instil in him strong moral values. Truth, justice, and the American way. The fact that he is a big blue boy scout and not a rapist and murderer is not ungrounded from reality. It would not be more realistic for Superman to be a psychopath like Homelander. Homelander isn't a fucked up weirdo because that's realistic for someone with superhuman powers, he's a fucked up weirdo because he was raised in a lab by a pharma company founded by a literal Nazi.

I'm talking Earth's reaction to something that isn't capable of casually destroying a planet.

Homelander wasn't the first superhuman in that setting, he doesn't really work as an example of how the world would react to the appearance of superpowered person.

[The Unknown Army]

Homelander wasn't the first superhuman in that setting, he doesn't really work as an example of how the world would react to the appearance of superpowered person.

I am not referring to that setting neither, I mean OP's hypothetical scenario but with a less powerful non-alien entity.

[Rakhalia]

The original post is a brilliant fucking window into the mind of an American liberal who's so desperate for the US to go back to brunch that they fantasise about justice league superheroes - which were really only exaggerated Americana - coming to save them. It's like the people who compared the war in Ukraine to Harry Potter, lmao.

[Ors Might]

I personally would be rather concerned about so much power being held by one person. At least we can eat the rich.

[Punished UMN]

The world would panic and rightly so. A literal god has just shown himself to the world.

Shit would hit the fan everywhere

Why would people panic and would shit hit the fan? I'd welcome it.

Because it would completely alter the political balance of human existence, Superman or Goku or whatever other superpowerful dude from fiction is on the level of an eldritch being. It's like asking why the atom bomb might make people nervous, or why the outcome of the Opium War made China nervous in the 1800's. It changes absolutely everything, the entire slate of power relations would be wiped clean.

[Heloin]

SMBC answered this years ago.

[Shermania]

At last. A worthy opponent.

[Ifreann]

Why would people panic and would shit hit the fan? I'd welcome it.

Because it would completely alter the political balance of human existence, Superman or Goku or whatever other superpowerful dude from fiction is on the level of an eldritch being. It's like asking why the atom bomb might make people nervous, or why the outcome of the Opium War made China nervous in the 1800's. It changes absolutely everything, the entire slate of power relations would be wiped clean.

The atom bomb certainly did make rather a lot of people rather nervous for a couple decades, but I don't think it caused the kind of global mass panic that Therm seems to be envisioning. I could be wrong, of course, but I've never heard of riots breaking out in neutral cities when they heard that the United States had developed a super weapon that could flatten entire cities with a single bomb.

Also, I don't think that the appearance of Superman would necessarily be immediately taken as that kind of huge shift in the balance of power. Like, Supes didn't drop in on G. Gordon Godfrey and give a detailed breakdown on his powers, he just fought crime around Metropolis and built up a reputation over time. I think we can imagine that if the like were to happen in Current Year(Year Of The Year Edition), it would take a while for people to stop writing it off as a TikTok meme and accept that this one guy does seem to actually have super powers, and at least a little longer for us to establish a popular understanding of the specifics of his powers. And only then would there begin to be serious discourse about how this one guy could just do literally anything he wanted and precious little could be done to resist him. By which time he would probably have done quite a bit of very conspicuous good. Many a cat would have been saved from trees.

[Punished UMN]

Because it would completely alter the political balance of human existence, Superman or Goku or whatever other superpowerful dude from fiction is on the level of an eldritch being. It's like asking why the atom bomb might make people nervous, or why the outcome of the Opium War made China nervous in the 1800's. It changes absolutely everything, the entire slate of power relations would be wiped clean.

The atom bomb certainly did make rather a lot of people rather nervous for a couple decades, but I don't think it caused the kind of global mass panic that Therm seems to be envisioning. I could be wrong, of course, but I've never heard of riots breaking out in neutral cities when they heard that the United States had developed a super weapon that could flatten entire cities with a single bomb.

Also, I don't think that the appearance of Superman would necessarily be immediately taken as that kind of huge shift in the balance of power. Like, Supes didn't drop in on G. Gordon Godfrey and give a detailed breakdown on his powers, he just fought crime around Metropolis and built up a reputation over time. I think we can imagine that if the like were to happen in Current Year(Year Of The Year Edition), it would take a while for people to stop writing it off as a TikTok meme and accept that this one guy does seem to actually have super powers, and at least a little longer for us to establish a popular understanding of the specifics of his powers. And only then would there begin to be serious discourse about how this one guy could just do literally anything he wanted and precious little could be done to resist him. By which time he would probably have done quite a bit of very conspicuous good. Many a cat would have been saved from trees.

The difference with the atomic bomb is that that no one individual had exclusive control of nuclear power. In a superman/goku/whatever scenario, you have one dude for whom killing every other person on the planet would be a trivial matter, I think that would be a scary prospect regardless of if you think the guy in question is a nice guy or not. For a random individual, flouting social rules and authority is relatively meaningless, but for someone like that, it would have serious and irrevocable consequences for society.

[Ifreann]

The atom bomb certainly did make rather a lot of people rather nervous for a couple decades, but I don't think it caused the kind of global mass panic that Therm seems to be envisioning. I could be wrong, of course, but I've never heard of riots breaking out in neutral cities when they heard that the United States had developed a super weapon that could flatten entire cities with a single bomb.

Also, I don't think that the appearance of Superman would necessarily be immediately taken as that kind of huge shift in the balance of power. Like, Supes didn't drop in on G. Gordon Godfrey and give a detailed breakdown on his powers, he just fought crime around Metropolis and built up a reputation over time. I think we can imagine that if the like were to happen in Current Year(Year Of The Year Edition), it would take a while for people to stop writing it off as a TikTok meme and accept that this one guy does seem to actually have super powers, and at least a little longer for us to establish a popular understanding of the specifics of his powers. And only then would there begin to be serious discourse about how this one guy could just do literally anything he wanted and precious little could be done to resist him. By which time he would probably have done quite a bit of very conspicuous good. Many a cat would have been saved from trees.

The difference with the atomic bomb is that that no one individual had exclusive control of nuclear power. In a superman/goku/whatever scenario, you have one dude for whom killing every other person on the planet would be a trivial matter, I think that would be a scary prospect regardless of if you think the guy in question is a nice guy or not. For a random individual, flouting social rules and authority is relatively meaningless, but for someone like that, it would have serious and irrevocable consequences for society.

A scary prospect, but not immediately. It would take time for people to get that this man whomst is super is totally invulnerable, and it doesn't really make sense to say that people would have known about Superman for weeks or months and then when they realised that he could do anything and literally no one can stop him they would then all at once freak out and start rioting.

[Picairn]

I'd unironically become very worried if Superman or the whole Justice League comes down to Earth. A group of incredibly powerful superheroes that are untouchable, and has a habit of destroying the surroundings whenever a fight with the villains comes up. Insurance premiums would go through the roof.

Further, if any of them serves the state they reside in then said state has just gained a very powerful geopolitical tool. Imagine Superman doing all sorts of bidding for the US government, from smashing the Russian Army in Ukraine to overthrowing Iran and dismantling the Chinese Communist Party. It would be chaos.

[Fifth Jellian Republic]

I don’t think there is a single superhero that can stop an all out nuclear attack, which means that MAD is still in effect, which means at its most bare bones, the large power status quo will not violently change

[Kerwa]

I'd unironically become very worried if Superman or the whole Justice League comes down to Earth. A group of incredibly powerful superheroes that are untouchable, and has a habit of destroying the surroundings whenever a fight with the villains comes up. Insurance premiums would go through the roof.

Further, if any of them serves the state they reside in then said state has just gained a very powerful geopolitical tool. Imagine Superman doing all sorts of bidding for the US government, from smashing the Russian Army in Ukraine to overthrowing Iran and dismantling the Chinese Communist Party. It would be chaos.

Most of them seem lame tbh. It’s only Superman that’s the real problem because of his Nazi sympathies. (I blame being raised as a white supremacist in rural Kansas, but it is what it is).

But I don’t see the need to try and stop the rest of the justice league, they don’t seem to have much in them. If anything I’d probably seduce Wonder Woman after I’d killed Superman. I think she’d be a fun date.

Actually I might seduce her before I killed him and get her to help me. Have her put kryptonite in his Nazi cornflakes or some such.

[San Lumen]

I'd unironically become very worried if Superman or the whole Justice League comes down to Earth. A group of incredibly powerful superheroes that are untouchable, and has a habit of destroying the surroundings whenever a fight with the villains comes up. Insurance premiums would go through the roof.

Further, if any of them serves the state they reside in then said state has just gained a very powerful geopolitical tool. Imagine Superman doing all sorts of bidding for the US government, from smashing the Russian Army in Ukraine to overthrowing Iran and dismantling the Chinese Communist Party. It would be chaos.

Most of them seem lame tbh. It’s only Superman that’s the real problem because of his Nazi sympathies. (I blame being raised as a white supremacist in rural Kansas, but it is what it is).

But I don’t see the need to try and stop the rest of the justice league, they don’t seem to have much in them. If anything I’d probably seduce Wonder Woman after I’d killed Superman. I think she’d be a fun date.

Actually I might seduce her before I killed him and get her to help me. Have her put kryptonite in his Nazi cornflakes or some such.

How the heck is Superman a white supremacist?

[Ifreann]

Most of them seem lame tbh. It’s only Superman that’s the real problem because of his Nazi sympathies. (I blame being raised as a white supremacist in rural Kansas, but it is what it is).

But I don’t see the need to try and stop the rest of the justice league, they don’t seem to have much in them. If anything I’d probably seduce Wonder Woman after I’d killed Superman. I think she’d be a fun date.

Actually I might seduce her before I killed him and get her to help me. Have her put kryptonite in his Nazi cornflakes or some such.

How the heck is Superman a white supremacist?

Also Superman would spare Hitler, so he’s basically a Nazi sympathizer. Best just to kill him.

[Dowaesk]

Superman sucks. Lets go Thanos

[Bewaffnete Krafte]

The world would panic and rightly so. A literal god has just shown himself to the world.

Shit would hit the fan everywhere

Why would people panic and would shit hit the fan? I'd welcome it.

An alien being with a human form and godlike powers just appeared from an unknown planet. This would seemingly prove that humans (somehow) populated multiple planets in the far, far past, that aliens exist, and that this other human planet is infinitely more powerful than us.
It would disprove evolution theory, strongly suggest a god or long-lost alien/advanced human species, and much, much more. Science as we know it would be disproven, and collapse immediately. Everything we think we know about the world and the universe would be proven incorrect.

[Ifreann]

Superman sucks. Lets go Thanos

Thanos was better when he was killing people in an effort to seduce Death.

[San Lumen]

Why would people panic and would shit hit the fan? I'd welcome it.

An alien being with a human form and godlike powers just appeared from an unknown planet. This would seemingly prove that humans (somehow) populated multiple planets in the far, far past, that aliens exist, and that this other human planet is infinitely more powerful than us.
It would disprove evolution theory, strongly suggest a god or long-lost alien/advanced human species, and much, much more. Science as we know it would be disproven, and collapse immediately. Everything we think we know about the world and the universe would be proven incorrect.

They didn't just appear. They grew up in Kansas and then moved in NYC in this scenario.

Science as we know it being disproven wouldn't be bad. This idea that our current understanding of science is the only correct one is incredibly arrogant.

[Bewaffnete Krafte]

An alien being with a human form and godlike powers just appeared from an unknown planet. This would seemingly prove that humans (somehow) populated multiple planets in the far, far past, that aliens exist, and that this other human planet is infinitely more powerful than us.
It would disprove evolution theory, strongly suggest a god or long-lost alien/advanced human species, and much, much more. Science as we know it would be disproven, and collapse immediately. Everything we think we know about the world and the universe would be proven incorrect.

They didn't just appear. They grew up in Kansas and then moved in NYC in this scenario.

Science as we know it being disproven wouldn't be bad. This idea that our current understanding of science is the only correct one is incredibly arrogant.[/quote[
I didn't say it would be bad. I said shit would hit the fan. And believe me, it would. In the long term it would be good, but it would cause mass societal panic and (more than likely) a massive turn to religion (not bad but an upset), and then we have the question that if Evolution Theory is wrong, then what are those fossils we find and how do species come about? How did life on earth start? The only logical answer at that point would be God. Also, the scenario is "a being like superman arrived in earth", which suggest he just appeared today, not that he grew up here.

[San Lumen]

They didn't just appear. They grew up in Kansas and then moved in NYC in this scenario.

Science as we know it being disproven wouldn't be bad. This idea that our current understanding of science is the only correct one is incredibly arrogant.[/quote[
I didn't say it would be bad. I said shit would hit the fan. And believe me, it would. In the long term it would be good, but it would cause mass societal panic and (more than likely) a massive turn to religion (not bad but an upset), and then we have the question that if Evolution Theory is wrong, then what are those fossils we find and how do species come about? How did life on earth start? The only logical answer at that point would be God. Also, the scenario is "a being like superman arrived in earth", which suggest he just appeared today, not that he grew up here.

Did you read the op?

[Bewaffnete Krafte]

They didn't just appear. They grew up in Kansas and then moved in NYC in this scenario.

Science as we know it being disproven wouldn't be bad. This idea that our current understanding of science is the only correct one is incredibly arrogant.[/quote[
I didn't say it would be bad. I said shit would hit the fan. And believe me, it would. In the long term it would be good, but it would cause mass societal panic and (more than likely) a massive turn to religion (not bad but an upset), and then we have the question that if Evolution Theory is wrong, then what are those fossils we find and how do species come about? How did life on earth start? The only logical answer at that point would be God. Also, the scenario is "a being like superman arrived in earth", which suggest he just appeared today, not that he grew up here.

Did you read the op?

Definitely. Read it so good. 100%. Although I did read it, (I totally read it) and my point totally makes sense still, ignore it please. Not because I didn't read it. I did. Read it, that is.

[Ifreann]

The existence of Superman would not disprove anything about evolution nor anything we know about the origins of life on Earth.

[Carica]

It’s propaganda time.