Dr. Martin Hash Podcast

Everyone wants to be a superhero. An important aspect of superheros is that they are unique; most people don’t have superpowers.It's not just being strong or able to jump tall buildings in a single bound that's attractive; it's that other people can’t.It's the recognition, even the adulation that they are seeking, not any particular superior physical trait. Consider how many superheroes have ridiculous, essentially useless, powers: turning into ice or fire, shooting laser beams out of their eyes, stretchiness. A gun works just as well to capture criminals and you don't have to wear googles or flexible underpants.

When children imagine themselves, it isn't what they can do but what makes them different from someone else, especially in their teens as they approach adulthood. Obviously, this need to be exceptional is evolutionary, and must have a component of attracting the attention of the opposite sex; or to gain control, which also provides better mating opportunities. The more pragmatic youth imagine themselves to be Ironman or Batman because those superheroes seems within the realm of scientific plausibility; but just as many more ephemeral-thinking children are attracted to Superman from the planet Krypton or Green Lantern who wears a ring from another universe, because there’s no way those powers are possible on earth.