As a generally geeky person futurist, I am highly interested in the subject of superpowers. I believe that our descendants, or our future selves if you like, will be possessed of amazing abilities. They will casually, as a matter of course, and without giving it a second thought, do things that would absolutely astound us if we saw someone do them today.
Does that strike you as unlikely?
Perhaps, but let’s listen in on a conversation between a futurist and a skeptic discussing the very same scenario — 500 years or so ago.
Futurist: People in the future will be possessed of amazing abilities. They will casually, as a matter of course, and without giving it a second thought, do things that would asbolutely astound us if we saw someone do them today.
Skeptic: Nonsense. People don’t change that much.
Futurist: Oh don’t they? Let me ask you something. If you have something you need to say to someone 1000 miles away, how long does it take to deliver that message?
Skeptic: It might arrive in a month.
Futurist:If you’re lucky. And if your friend responds immediately, how long until you get your answer?
Skeptic: Another month.
Futurist:If you’re lucky. So what if I told you that, in the future, two friends 1000 miles apart will be able to converse with each other the same as you and I are doing right now?
Skeptic: I’d say that’s nonsense.
Futurist: Very well. Suppose you want to go see your friend who lives 1000 miles away? How long will it take to make that trip?
Skeptic: That would probably take another month or so.
Futurist:If you’re lucky! What if I told you that people in the future will be able to make a 1000-mile journey — and journeys much longer than that — in less than a day?
Skeptic: More nonsense! You’re saying that people in the future will be all be sorcerers!
We do things every day that would look like witchcraft to our ancestors. What I’m doing right now would seem uncanny to them — creating words made out of light in a magic window that then shows those words to as many others who care to look at them in their own magic windows. I can also use my magic window to play music and to see pictures, moving pictures, of people and objects far, far away. Tomorrow I’m going to fly through the air faster than any bird as I return from Boston to Denver.
There is no question that our descendants will do things that will be equally astounding to us. Will they be possessed of the kinds of powers listed in this wonderfully detailed map of superpowers provided by Fast Company?
I think the only reasonable answer to that question is…yes, of course they will.
There are so many superpowers listed here that maker had to use members not only of the Legion of Superheroes but the lesser-known Legion of Substitute Heroes in order to complete the map. I’m quite pleased that I am old nerdy well-read enough to recognize most of the superheroes named on the map.
This map of superpowers makes me look at my own superpower map somewhat differently. I write frequently about Zapoint’s ongoing efforts to create skills maps for entire organizations — online interactive tools that enable managers to see and analyze the skill sets that are available within their organizations. Perhaps this chart of superpowers can help remind us how extraordinary the skillsets available to most organizations really are. After all, to someone from a century or two back, the skills listed in one of our modern day skills maps might look almost as outlandish as these superpowers look to us.
Cross-posted from the Transparency Revolution.