"Syndrome" Syndrome: or the Fallacy of "Special"

[Storm Raven]

Being famous and envied doesn't equate to being happy. Pick up a People magazine next time you're in line at the supermarket if you don't believe me.

Yes, there are unhappy wealthy athletes, movie stars, and rock stars. Many of who are unhappy because of the isolation required for them to dsicipline themselves into achieveing their status. There are also many others (probably many more than the unhappy ones) who are quite happy being rish, famous, and loved by millions. Pretending that wealthy famous people are all miserable inside is just wishful thinking.

I have to ask, are you seriously arguing that Superman goes out on a Friday night to have a few drinks with friends? He doesn't. Clark Kent does that. It's not a coincidence that Superman's home base is called the Fortress of SOLITUDE.

No, he doesn't, because of a literary convention of 1930s era society that the well-off should pretend to be humble and avoid the spotlight. On the other hand, guys like Larry Bird, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, and so on have probably not had to pay for their own drinks for a decade. Which do you think is more likely to actually happen for a guy with Superman-like potential? That he become a thoughtful philosophical hermit who hides his identity? Or that he behave like a rock star?

 

[Jeremy Ackerman-Yost]

Which do you think is more likely to actually happen for a guy with Superman-like potential? That he become a thoughtful philosophical hermit who hides his identity? Or that he behave like a rock star?

Most will behave like rock stars. 1 in a billion or so will be raised by the Kent family and therefore remain grounded.

 

[Storm Raven]

Whatever you wish to call it, it's still a handicap system. Or, as you say, a system to ensure that individual competitors are more evenly matched.

No, its a system to ensure that individual competitors are evenly sized. Their skill doesn't enter into the equation at all.

Because Dash hides his abilities, he's being deceptive. It's pool sharking. The win is meaningless because there is no possible way for him to lose. If the facts were known, he would not be allowed to compete in this competition, he'd get kicked up to a higher league in order to compete with those who are closer to his skills.

He's only pool sharking if he hides his abilities and then later bets everyone a bunch of money that he can beat them and then he reveals his higher skill level. Dash merely doesn't tell everyone that he's fast before he races.

But, he hides his skills. He lies about it. He wins, but, not by enough to actually show his capabilities.

Actually, Dash hides his skills by coming in second. Not by winning. The deception is what the movie lauds as the right thing to do.

I totally agree with your final point though. In this case, if his abilities were known, then something could be done.

What? Banning really fast people from races?

 

[Storm Raven]

I think that there are some baseball examples that would shoot that out of the water. Not only is there the issue of steroids, but lots of the homerun chasers had to deal with issues like the asterix because people didn't want to take the record away from the previous holder.

The asterix was supposed to be tacked on because of the longer season. Later because of suspected performance enhancing drugs. However, no asterix is actually in the record books. But the question here is not that Dash is using drugs. The examples you give don't "shoot that out of the water" at all since they are entirely different thatn the sort of situation we are talking about here.

I'm saying that it is still encouraging Dash to be mediocre. The only thing he is testing his skill aginst is his previous best time.

And? The only thing Bubka was competing against was his previous best height. Why does it matter?

Correct me if I'm wrong ... have any of those people retired at the end of their careers having never even come close to losing?

Explain how it matters. At all.

I'm not saying you need to work hard to be deserving to be allowed to compete.

I'm saying that it isn't competiting if you have no competition. It's only competiting if there is some risk of losing. That is why matter of degree actually matters in this case. In many sports, it's very possible that the "best" won't necessarily win. Races, on the other hands, will come down to a matter of fractions of a second in difference. When Dash is able to beat any human being by a number of seconds, short of Dash injuring himself or tripping and falling ... how would he ever lose a race.

You have yet to explain why this would matter, and why it would be a question of fairness.

They still have men and women in seperate divisions. They still test for performance enhancing drugs. If superhuman abilities existed, they would potentially create a superhuman olympiad, or maybe not ... since superhuman really just means "more than human", there isn't necessarily a grouping that would provide for a real competition. Flash vs. Quicksilver, for example, wouldn't be a competition at all, since Flash can travel at near light speeds, while Quicksilver is closer to the speed of sound.

And? How would it be unfair for Flash to beat Quicksilver? (I note you are mixing comic book universes by the way). He's simply faster. The rules of the race presumably say "competitors must run, and the person who reaches the finish line first wins".

Ultimately, I am saying that if Dash were to go around and "compete" with people that have no chance of beating him ... he is trading "pretend to be mediocre so other people feel good" with "rub it in their face to make yourself feel good". If he really wants to compete he should look for something that is at least in the same speed range as he is. Or, he can participate in different sports where his speed doesn't necessarily equate to him winning. Unless he doesn't want to compete ... he just wants to be acknowledged as being the best. He wants to be treated special just because of his power, not for actually using his power in any way that is productive to anyone other than himself.

Why should he not want to use his speed to benefit himself? Why should he not want to be treated as special for something about him that is special? Why should he be expected to forego setting a dozen world records just so that "normal" people should be allowed to continue to pretend that they are the fastest and continue to have the record books be a sham? How is this not a celebration of mediocrity.

Sure, winning all the time might be boring for Dash, and it might make the sport boring. But that doesn't make it cheating or unfair.

 

[SSquirrel]

Superman outraced the Flash once. Blame Mr Mxyzptlk

 

[GMforPowergamers]

Ok, as for Batman's freinds who don't know he is batman...this is way to simple almost every named gothem PD member (I said almost) but mostly Gordan... Metamorpho (in the newest outsiders he may know) Looker (in newest outsiders she still doesn't know) Joe Public (really for years after bloodlines)

However by saying they can't know you do cut out some great friends... selina Kyle is in love with batman...NOT BRUCE WAYNE, womder woman, superman, heck the whole JLA are mostly friends of Batman...

(exception: clark lois and bruce are shown to be friends...so that might break the need)

 

[resistor]

I hate to necromance this thread, but I finally pinned down what bothered me about this whole discussion: the quote's not originally from The Incredibles!

The earliest I'm aware of it is from Gilbert and Sullivan's The Gondoliers (1889): "If every one is somebody, then no-one's anybody."

 

[Garthanos]

I hate to necromance this thread, but I finally pinned down what bothered me about this whole discussion: the quote's not originally from The Incredibles!

The earliest I'm aware of it is from Gilbert and Sullivan's The Gondoliers (1889): "If every one is somebody, then no-one's anybody."

The reason the quote is villainous is because it comes from the very selfish view that you cannot appreciate what you have unless others are deprived.

 

[Hussar]

Holy thread necromancy of a thread necromancy. Wow! 12 years. That's impressive.

 

[aramis erak]

I've seen older. 15+ years, over on COTI.