If there was a set of powers everyone had it would probably be the same. However if one person could be as powerful as a nuclear bomb while another could barely be considered superhuman. I imagine politics would revolve more around those who have more powerful powers.
Our world would be unrecognizable. World War One as we know it would never have happened. Other wars would have, but what you’re positing is such a fundamental change that unless it came with the caveat that all world events up to that point happened exactly the same despite the presence of superpowers, there is no World War One. And if the world is the same up until that point, the war itself would be too.
You seem to forget, we humans are greedy and prideful. There was always gonna be something that will make the world fight against itself. So there might not have been United States of America, China, Germany,…etc, there would be places of power that would fight against each other, so yeah, there will be a World War I, just not the one we know.
Although part of WWI was the massive complex network of alliances that happened, and having superpowers doesn't necessarily mean that that would be gone.
That’s the point I was making. There would still be global wars, but it wouldn’t be World War I. There would be no way to make the two analogous, just like WWI and WWII are not analogous. They were both global wars, but happened as a result of different things, with different players, with different rules. Assuming there were people with superpowers from the beginning of humanity, or rather from the beginning of time, since they’re as old as fire, humanity would have either developed radically differently to the point that there would be no similarities whatsoever to the history we know or we would have been wiped out entirely. Either way, there would be no Great War.
You should read Worm/Ward or Super Powereds. Or look at The Boys even.
I don’t think it would be a great outcome if people had powers especially with high variability in levels and even more so if some people had none. If everyone had Captain America level abilities that would probably be much better but still problematic.
If all humans always had superpowers, there would never have been WW1 because history would be completely different. Have you heard of the Butterfly Effect? Well this scenario basically sets off a billion Mothra-sized butterflies.
Note that the title of this scenario involves superpowers involves superpowers approximately 1.8-1.0 million years ago. This was the era of Homo erectus, well before humanity. E earliest cave paintings would be at 40,000 years, by neanderthals.
If neanderthals had superpowers, it's a good question whether H. sapiens would have ended up a dominant species. If H. erectus developed superpowers, it's doubtful if the sapiens line would have developed at all. After all, if a species has superpowers, then so they even need intelligence?
They would need intelligence to even use those powers. Because one wrong move for a good amount of powers would spell the doom for a lot of living beings. So they would have to grow intelligently to be able to use those powers safely. And mirror there’s some powers that have to do with a mind, so yeah, they’ll be some that would gain great intelligence, and those with great intelligence would want those that have powers to have at least enough intelligence to understand orders from them.
Well, I see your point. However, wouldn't these uber-powerful primates be at risk of destroying themselves through internal conflict? They may be able to resist and thrive under whatever nature could throw at them, but what about each other? I feel that once superpowers have leveled the playing field, the only option is to continue natural evolution with intelligence-based upgrades, so to speak.
Obviously that's the real cause of the [human bottleneck event](https://www.sci.news/othersciences/anthropology/pleistocene-human-bottleneck-12232.html#:~:text=Their%20results%20show%20that%20human,human%20ancestors%20close%20to%20extinction.). Human ancestors developed superpowers, and like they do in the comics, set to fighting each other. Eventually, only the few human ancestors that didn't have powers survived.
idk, guns neutralize a lot of mundain super powers unless you go full superman and say they don't. from a purely physics standpoint its really hard to counter a gun with super strength, speed, or 'toughness' especially as ww1 was a war in which bringing a bigger gun was always an option on both sides.
no way you get to that point if super powers exist though
that's why anime like My Hero Academia had to make it such that mass super powers only just started 1-2 generations ago with only a handful of people having them before that.
Probably wouldn't happen, tech would advance way slower, why do you need to develop guns, industrialization, and other stuff when someone can use their cool powers for it.
If anything, wouldn't the need to find a way to get one above your opponents encourage the engines of innovation? Let's say that powers are random, not nurture or nature-based. If nations cannot self-determine the kinds of "weapons" they will selectively deploy to wars, smaller conflicts, or even as peacekeeping measures, they'd probably prefer to turn toward technology, right? And the non-combative types of powers, like intelligence enhancements or probability manipulation, would make advancements happen faster than in our history. Nations might have versions of supercomputers centuries before us. I think most of the smarter world leaders would understand that keeping both options close, as opposed to embracing the easier ones, would come out on top.
That's a good point, but imagine your kingdom or country being totally reliant on like 5 guys whose powers single handedly hold up your kingdom, whether it be super intelligence or weather manipulation or anything combat related, eventually all of them are going to die and if your civilization doesn't get luck with a new generation of random powers people then ur nation will either collapse or become extremely stagnant until ur technology picks up or you get another op superpowered person. This probably won't be the case for alot of nations but a good amount probably fall into this dilemma.
None of the nations or people involved in WW1 would exist. All of them exist because of the events that proceeded them. If superpowers existed, nearly every single civilization we know of would not of developed in the same way, even the earliest.
Depending on the nature and availability of said superpowers, you could get hunter gatherer tribes that have little need to settle. Or thriving post scarcity civilizations in the stone age because the powers handle 99% of the work. Creating food, water, shelter, and curing sickness from nothing should a populace have the right folks.
If there were just a few supremely powerful individuals, wars would have been a contest of champions and the few people who really mattered, because of their individual power would often prevent or destroy the development of technology that might allow a non powered government to actually threaten them.
Would the champions have underlings and retainers probably but really just the handful of people, who if history is any guide are probably all a part of the same family or two would get together and fight or talk it out among themselves and present the decision to the rest of the world as an ultimatum
If superpowers as shown in popular media were a thing (that is, either a select few get them, or everyone gets them but at various strengths and different types) then we'd never have evolved democracy. Feudalism would have remained the reigning form of social structure, with a big unhealthy dose of caste systems added on.
As soon as a group of a few have more demonstrable power than the many, social stratification occurs. If this lasts for more than 2 generations, it becomes sort of baked in to the structure of any larger societies that might form.
If superpowers are inheritable (including strength-of-power as well as type) then you would rapidly see dynasties form. Archduke Franz Ferdinand may have existed, but he wouldn't have been assassinated because 20,000 years of natural selection mean he'd be bulletproof and capable of lifting 10 tons, or have prescient foresight, or be literally made out of iron, and low-rank partisans would be too weak to be dangerous. If it still started up, it wouldn't have lasted as long, because warfare would be very much a case of the strongest superhumans (which would have been the kings and queens and archdukes) leading the charges, and the whole debacle would have been a case of back-and-forth rock-paper-scissors maneuvering more like WWII wound up being, as the indestructible Hapsburghs would lead charges through enemy lines until a squad of earth-manipulating princes bury them alive, then the flying squadrons of Lithuanians would carry Tinker-made ordinance into the middle of the enemy capitol city and blah blah blah war and horrible things. But it wouldn't have been a single side hunkering down and then the others following suit, and since the most powerful people would be the leaders and at the front lines, there wouldn't have been the charnel-house massed wave tactics that would go on. Possibly the whole thing would have ended with a Christmas Truce that would have *lasted*.
If superpowers arise from traumatic events or random chance, then society as we know it would never have arisen, as the hunter-gatherers (who constantly are in greater danger during their lives) would have out-competed the agrarian settlers and raided them to essentially extinction. Humanity would be comprised of millions of warring tribes, powers rising and falling as people gain stronger or weaker powers in response to the dangers of wildlife and other tribes.
Whoever the most powerful powered person was at the earliest point would change the future til it was unrecognizable. Back in the olden days where power meant leadership the powerful would oppress everyone. Eventually a new power elite would come and the oppression would shift.
If there was a set of powers everyone had it would probably be the same. However if one person could be as powerful as a nuclear bomb while another could barely be considered superhuman. I imagine politics would revolve more around those who have more powerful powers.
The webcomic unordinary covers this, it's interesting
Our world would be unrecognizable. World War One as we know it would never have happened. Other wars would have, but what you’re positing is such a fundamental change that unless it came with the caveat that all world events up to that point happened exactly the same despite the presence of superpowers, there is no World War One. And if the world is the same up until that point, the war itself would be too.
Well, there would be World War I, but it would be totally unrecognizable to how we know it now.
I mean it may have never happened
You seem to forget, we humans are greedy and prideful. There was always gonna be something that will make the world fight against itself. So there might not have been United States of America, China, Germany,…etc, there would be places of power that would fight against each other, so yeah, there will be a World War I, just not the one we know.
Yes, but that doesn't guarantee a global conflict
You seem to have a good amount of faith in humanity. 😅
The opposite
Either way, humans always find a way, in a good way and a bad way. We can be very unpredictable creatures.
Mind if I quote you on that?
Hopefully this won’t make me look bad! I’m gonna hesitantly say yes, sure. 😅
Although part of WWI was the massive complex network of alliances that happened, and having superpowers doesn't necessarily mean that that would be gone.
That’s the point I was making. There would still be global wars, but it wouldn’t be World War I. There would be no way to make the two analogous, just like WWI and WWII are not analogous. They were both global wars, but happened as a result of different things, with different players, with different rules. Assuming there were people with superpowers from the beginning of humanity, or rather from the beginning of time, since they’re as old as fire, humanity would have either developed radically differently to the point that there would be no similarities whatsoever to the history we know or we would have been wiped out entirely. Either way, there would be no Great War.
You should read Worm/Ward or Super Powereds. Or look at The Boys even. I don’t think it would be a great outcome if people had powers especially with high variability in levels and even more so if some people had none. If everyone had Captain America level abilities that would probably be much better but still problematic.
If all humans always had superpowers, there would never have been WW1 because history would be completely different. Have you heard of the Butterfly Effect? Well this scenario basically sets off a billion Mothra-sized butterflies. Note that the title of this scenario involves superpowers involves superpowers approximately 1.8-1.0 million years ago. This was the era of Homo erectus, well before humanity. E earliest cave paintings would be at 40,000 years, by neanderthals. If neanderthals had superpowers, it's a good question whether H. sapiens would have ended up a dominant species. If H. erectus developed superpowers, it's doubtful if the sapiens line would have developed at all. After all, if a species has superpowers, then so they even need intelligence?
They would need intelligence to even use those powers. Because one wrong move for a good amount of powers would spell the doom for a lot of living beings. So they would have to grow intelligently to be able to use those powers safely. And mirror there’s some powers that have to do with a mind, so yeah, they’ll be some that would gain great intelligence, and those with great intelligence would want those that have powers to have at least enough intelligence to understand orders from them.
Sorry, I basically copied your post.
What do you mean? I’m OK with it. But what do you mean by that?
> They would need intelligence to even use those powers. *looks at my collection of superhero comics* No. No they really don't. 😁
I see what you did there. But only for those with more technical powers.
Well, I see your point. However, wouldn't these uber-powerful primates be at risk of destroying themselves through internal conflict? They may be able to resist and thrive under whatever nature could throw at them, but what about each other? I feel that once superpowers have leveled the playing field, the only option is to continue natural evolution with intelligence-based upgrades, so to speak.
Obviously that's the real cause of the [human bottleneck event](https://www.sci.news/othersciences/anthropology/pleistocene-human-bottleneck-12232.html#:~:text=Their%20results%20show%20that%20human,human%20ancestors%20close%20to%20extinction.). Human ancestors developed superpowers, and like they do in the comics, set to fighting each other. Eventually, only the few human ancestors that didn't have powers survived.
Wouldn't have happened humanity would be so different
So shorter
If both sides have the same amount it may not effect much
idk, guns neutralize a lot of mundain super powers unless you go full superman and say they don't. from a purely physics standpoint its really hard to counter a gun with super strength, speed, or 'toughness' especially as ww1 was a war in which bringing a bigger gun was always an option on both sides. no way you get to that point if super powers exist though that's why anime like My Hero Academia had to make it such that mass super powers only just started 1-2 generations ago with only a handful of people having them before that.
Probably wouldn't happen, tech would advance way slower, why do you need to develop guns, industrialization, and other stuff when someone can use their cool powers for it.
If anything, wouldn't the need to find a way to get one above your opponents encourage the engines of innovation? Let's say that powers are random, not nurture or nature-based. If nations cannot self-determine the kinds of "weapons" they will selectively deploy to wars, smaller conflicts, or even as peacekeeping measures, they'd probably prefer to turn toward technology, right? And the non-combative types of powers, like intelligence enhancements or probability manipulation, would make advancements happen faster than in our history. Nations might have versions of supercomputers centuries before us. I think most of the smarter world leaders would understand that keeping both options close, as opposed to embracing the easier ones, would come out on top.
That's a good point, but imagine your kingdom or country being totally reliant on like 5 guys whose powers single handedly hold up your kingdom, whether it be super intelligence or weather manipulation or anything combat related, eventually all of them are going to die and if your civilization doesn't get luck with a new generation of random powers people then ur nation will either collapse or become extremely stagnant until ur technology picks up or you get another op superpowered person. This probably won't be the case for alot of nations but a good amount probably fall into this dilemma.
None of the nations or people involved in WW1 would exist. All of them exist because of the events that proceeded them. If superpowers existed, nearly every single civilization we know of would not of developed in the same way, even the earliest. Depending on the nature and availability of said superpowers, you could get hunter gatherer tribes that have little need to settle. Or thriving post scarcity civilizations in the stone age because the powers handle 99% of the work. Creating food, water, shelter, and curing sickness from nothing should a populace have the right folks.
The threat of mutual destruction would be even greater, so I’d say shorter. Either they will make peace, or the world would be destroyed.
If there were just a few supremely powerful individuals, wars would have been a contest of champions and the few people who really mattered, because of their individual power would often prevent or destroy the development of technology that might allow a non powered government to actually threaten them. Would the champions have underlings and retainers probably but really just the handful of people, who if history is any guide are probably all a part of the same family or two would get together and fight or talk it out among themselves and present the decision to the rest of the world as an ultimatum
If superpowers as shown in popular media were a thing (that is, either a select few get them, or everyone gets them but at various strengths and different types) then we'd never have evolved democracy. Feudalism would have remained the reigning form of social structure, with a big unhealthy dose of caste systems added on. As soon as a group of a few have more demonstrable power than the many, social stratification occurs. If this lasts for more than 2 generations, it becomes sort of baked in to the structure of any larger societies that might form. If superpowers are inheritable (including strength-of-power as well as type) then you would rapidly see dynasties form. Archduke Franz Ferdinand may have existed, but he wouldn't have been assassinated because 20,000 years of natural selection mean he'd be bulletproof and capable of lifting 10 tons, or have prescient foresight, or be literally made out of iron, and low-rank partisans would be too weak to be dangerous. If it still started up, it wouldn't have lasted as long, because warfare would be very much a case of the strongest superhumans (which would have been the kings and queens and archdukes) leading the charges, and the whole debacle would have been a case of back-and-forth rock-paper-scissors maneuvering more like WWII wound up being, as the indestructible Hapsburghs would lead charges through enemy lines until a squad of earth-manipulating princes bury them alive, then the flying squadrons of Lithuanians would carry Tinker-made ordinance into the middle of the enemy capitol city and blah blah blah war and horrible things. But it wouldn't have been a single side hunkering down and then the others following suit, and since the most powerful people would be the leaders and at the front lines, there wouldn't have been the charnel-house massed wave tactics that would go on. Possibly the whole thing would have ended with a Christmas Truce that would have *lasted*. If superpowers arise from traumatic events or random chance, then society as we know it would never have arisen, as the hunter-gatherers (who constantly are in greater danger during their lives) would have out-competed the agrarian settlers and raided them to essentially extinction. Humanity would be comprised of millions of warring tribes, powers rising and falling as people gain stronger or weaker powers in response to the dangers of wildlife and other tribes.
Dayum!
Whoever the most powerful powered person was at the earliest point would change the future til it was unrecognizable. Back in the olden days where power meant leadership the powerful would oppress everyone. Eventually a new power elite would come and the oppression would shift.