'Hey Bill Nye, Can I Have Superpowers?' #TuesdaysWithBill | Big Think

My name is Jordan and my question is can I have superpowers. Thank you.

Jordan, Jordan, Jordan. Can you have superpowers? You’re asking an excellent question. I think it depends what you mean. So for me as a guy of your age, I very much wanted to be able to fly like Superman. But I tried several experiments. I was completely unable to do so, even if I put on a cape.

And I look at your video; I see you’re wearing a super guy outfit and you look super. But without a cape, I don’t know how well that’s going to work. The cape seems to be key for Superman. But even so, we had a lot of stories when I was a kid that so-and-so thought he had superpowers, and he jumped off the roof and he got killed. He jumped off the roof and he broke his leg.

And so don’t jump off the roof. You probably don’t have superpowers. But then when you think about the Justice League of America, think about Superman, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, and in there is Batman. Now Batman doesn’t have superpowers. He’s a human. Yet he made it into the Justice League as a superhero because he’s so smart.

He took care of himself. He’s quite a gymnast, quite an athlete, and he made all these cool devices. The bat boomerang. The baterang. The utility belt, which is full of all his super clever bat stuff. So I believe that Batman was as close as you’re going to get to having superpowers. Really smart. Trained himself athletically. Really good athlete. He is a complete guy as humans go.

So strive for that. And if you can find a way to fly for real, just jumping off your feet and flying without jumping off the roof, let us know. By the way, I’ve met the Swiss skydiver who kind of is the guy who developed the wing suit. He jumps out of planes just wearing a wing, like wearing a cape like Batman has or Superman has. And he’s had some success.

But a lot of people that have tried that, they haven’t had success. So careful. Another guy I always admired is Spiderman. He can almost fly using technology. That is to say, Peter Parker was so clever. He developed his web fluid that allowed him to squirt it onto buildings and then swing between them. Amazing. Almost flying.

And the other thing he has that I think we all wish we had is his spider sense. He says his spider sense is tingling when he senses danger. And I submit to you, Jordan, that we all have kind of a spider sense. That we all have a sense of when someone else is not being honest with us.

We all have a sense when someone else is being honest with us, and it's facial expressions. It’s the way they stand, the way their voice changes or doesn’t change gives you a sense of whether or not you can trust that person. And I think we all want that in spades. That is to say, we all want that spider sense turned up as high as it will go.

And I think you can develop that spider sense. When you interact with people, think about what they’re really telling you. Think about what’s really true and find people you trust and embrace that or give them a hug. Take care of yourself, do well in school, and if you can, pursue physical athleticism – gymnastics, wrestling, I recommend bicycling.

And carry on, Jordan. You can do this, man. And just one last thing. You handle it your way, but I think you should have a cape. I think you should have a cape...