When I was a kid I was big into superheroes. I read comics, especially Superman, Batman, and that whole DC crew. I also, as you might imagine, spent a lot of time daydreaming what it would be like to have such amazing abilities.
Ultimately, there were a few particular powers that kept coming back in such imaginings. Probably the A Number One was flight. The whole idea of simply defying gravity and moving so freely always appealed to me immensely. As an adult it still pops up from time to time, such as when I’m stuck in traffic. Eh, let’s leave the car at home and just fly to work. ;-)
Second is time travel. A lot of this probably had to do with reading Ray Bradbury’s “A Sound of Thunder” when I was a kid. I think the complexity of such stories appealed to me and gave me something to think about.
But the third recurring fantasy? That’s the really interesting one to me. I wanted to be… sort of… psychic. I didn’t want clairvoyance, nor did I wanted to be able to read minds. This was something different. I wanted to be able to push thoughts to others. Not mind control, but…
Well, perhaps I should describe it as “reverse psychic”. I wanted to be able to make other people read my mind. I think it falls into the whole “liar” thing in a way. I wanted to make it so that, undeniably, they did know exactly what I was experiencing. To an extent it was also a way to overcome the limitations of the spoken word. How many times have you wanted to share an idea with someone, but it was too big to readily get it across — especially when you have to explain different aspects of it along the way? Think of an engineer trying to explain how to build a bridge, but along the way he first has to explain the concept of math. I’m far beyond “been there, done that”; I’m at “born there, bought a house”. To simply turn to somebody and think here I am and suddenly they just know — it’s still a very appealing idea.
(Incidentally, Superman had a lot to do with my ideas of never lying. Take a look at the original Superman movie. The day is saved by the fact that somebody believes him. He literally survives because somebody knows that he is honest. It always struck me that in the midst of a movie about a guy with godlike powers, that the thing that saves him is something that any of us could have.)
Hi again. Came across your blog last night, and returned to read more. This post struck me as patently ironic. You were born with a super power – extraordinary native intelligence; don’t you see that adding another would only multiply your alienation? ;)
Intelligence makes us freaks. (Well ok I have plenty of other ‘freak’ qualities, the IQ is merely the one that I cannot long suppress…)
It is interesting that you would choose this particular super power in the hope that you might finally be understood. When I meander down that hypothetical trail, though, I can only imagine the effect that power would have on others. I’d put money on it ending with you being burned at the stake!
Sorry. Levity may seem inappropriate given the nature of the site. I’m just a bored lonely insomniac freak.
What can I say — there goes that emo teenager quality of mine — “Oh, if only somebody understood me…” :-p