Superhuman

Nietzsche

The Übermensch or "Superman" was postulated in the later writings of Friedrich Nietzsche as a type of supreme, ultra-aristocratic achievement which becomes possible in the transcendence of modernity, morals or nihilism.^[1] Nietzsche believed in creating the perfect human, or at least a definition of one, and 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.^[2]

Nietzsche explores the idea of a superhuman in his work Thus Spoke Zarathustra, in which 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.^{[citation needed]}

Transhumanism

In transhumanism and futurology, superhuman abilities are the technological aim either of human enhancement by genetic modification or cybernetic implants or of future superhuman artificial intelligence.

Human enhancement is an attempt to temporarily or permanently overcome the current limitations of the human body through natural or artificial means. Human enhancement may be through the use of technological means to select or alter human characteristics and capacities, whether or not the alteration results in characteristics and capacities that lie beyond the existing human range.

Some bioethicists restrict the term to the non-therapeutic application of specific technologies—neuro-, cyber-, gene- and nano-technologies—to human biology.^{[3][4][page needed]}

According to transhumanist thinkers, a posthuman is a hypothetical future being "whose basic capacities so radically exceed those of present humans as to be no longer unambiguously human by our current standards."^[5]

Fictionalized accounts of transhumanism include the characters from the X-Men franchise and cyborgs such as those found in the Ghost in the Shell franchise.

Artificial intelligence

Superhuman is one of the stages in classification of progress in artificial intelligence where an entity of artificial intelligence performs better than most humans do in a specific task.^{[citation needed]} Examples of where computers have achieved superhuman performance include Backgammon,^[7] Bridge,^{[citation needed]} Chess,^{[citation needed]} Reversi,^{[citation needed]} Scrabble,^[8] Go^[9] and Jeopardy!.^[10]

Anarchist philosophy

It is suggested that there is a relationship between the fall of a society and the perfection of mankind. 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. Superhumanism 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.^{[citation needed]}

Religious connotations

As a major defining factor of the superhumanism philosophy, humans are expected to possess traits that are considered to be those of high moral grounds, dignity and intrinsic values.^{[11][page needed]} Many people who believe in superhumanism 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. Superhumanism 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.^{[citation needed]}

Nazi Germany

The Nietzschean notion of bettering one's self as an individual was expanded within the philosophy of Nazism to apply to whole groups and nations. Nazi racialist thinkers proposed perfecting the Aryan race through controlled breeding and coercive eugenics (including the murder of those deemed unfit) as a way of improving their racial stock and purifying their society.^[12] They intended to create a herrenvolk (race of masters) wherein the Germanic "Übermenschen" would rule over so-called inferior "untermenschen" such as Slavs and West Asians.^[13]

Athletics

Many acts performed by elite athletes are seen as superhuman. Elite athletes perform at a level that is perceived as unattainable by normal standards of performance. These are the result of a mixture of performance enhancing drugs, 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. Another man, Dean Karnazes ran 50 marathons in 50 days in all 50 states in the United States in 2006. On February 4, 2015 actor and power lifter Hafthor Bjornsson broke a 1000-year-old record by carrying a 650 kilogram (1,433 pound) log on his back for 5 steps.^[15]

Outside of athletics, many people have performed superhuman 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 brain's 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 are not fully recognized as enhancers such as caffeine, protein supplements, and vitamins. While drugs as a form of achieving superhuman capabilities is a well known concept in fiction, such as films like Limitless and the Marvel Comics character Nuke, in real life the current substances that are known and available do not produce such fantastical abilities. The results from some of these drugs are minimal, and often short term. However, they can still produce detrimental side effects, including many adverse psychological effects.^[16][17] SARMS and DMAA are safer forms to enhance physical performance.^{[citation needed]} Other forms of enhancement include strengthening the material properties of bone by integrating it with titanium foam.^[18] More studies are needed to assess the long term effects of these emerging technologies.

Technology can also be used to improve on human sensory and communication abilities as has been shown through experimentation with nervous system implants.^[19] In this way humans can take on senses such as ultrasonics for an accurate indication of distance and communicate much more directly between brains.^[20]

Fiction

Speculation about human nature and the possibilities of both human enhancement and future human evolution have made superhumans a popular subject of science fiction. Superhuman abilities are also associated with superhero fiction.

Art

In 1979, the British artist Nicholas Treadwell wrote a book entitled Superhumanism, followed by Superhumanism 2 in 1982. Treadwell defined his movement as "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 superhumanist 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 superhumanist work will take a down to earth subject, and use original technical means to exaggerate it, achieving an over-the-top impact of its 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.

Documentaries

Stan Lee's Superhumans was a television show devoted to finding people around the world who exhibit abilities that exceed normal human capabilities. Daniel Browning Smith, the most flexible man in the world, is an example of a superhuman 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 explains what happens to people's strength, sight, brainpower, and sensing abilities when placed under extreme stress. These circumstances can lead to short-term superhuman abilities, which allow people to excel in advanced, or impossible tasks.

How to Be Superhuman is a podcast series by Red Bull about people who have gone close to the limits of human endurance.^[21] The host Rob Pope, who was described as the "real life Forrest Gump" after running across the United States five times,^[22] interviews people who have achieved "superhuman" feats, such as Mark Beaumont, who cycled around the world in 78 days,^[23] and Diana Nyad, who completed a 110-mile swim from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage at the age of 64.^[24]