

Paper: The Grand Unified Theory of Superman's Powers [pdf] - petewarden
http://www.qwantz.com/fanart/superman.pdf

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sofal
I don't know how they expect to be taken seriously without a related work
section.

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petesalty
You'd need to be Superman to read the Scribd version.

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roundsquare
I've never really understood the anti-scribd sentiment around HN. I've never
had trouble opening/reading them. Is there something I'm missing?

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dunstad
>>We could, for instance, determine whether Superman could accelerate if He
were surrounded by a nearly perfect vacuum.

Hasn't Superman already been observed flying in outer space? One would think a
better vacuum would be hard to come by.

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catone
Huh... I thought the characters on "Big Bang Theory" were fictional.

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jlees
Oh, no. I lived with two of them for several years. Though their joke papers
were never quite this amusing.

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bhseo
Any amusing situations you'd like to share?

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brandnewlow
In the comics, I believe at least one writer has tried to explain this by
hinting that Superman is an unknowing telekenetic. I.E. he can move things
around with his mind, but for some reason has interpreted this power only in
these frankly highly specific ways. When he flies, the theory went, he was
moving his body around with his mind.

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roundsquare
But, why is it that when he flies around planet in the opposite direction it
spins, he's able to make time flows backwards on earth?

I wonder if we can use this theory with some general relativity to explain
it..

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sophacles
I can't think of a better paper to read at 4:20 on a Friday. Thank you.

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obvioustroll
What, again? I remember thinking of this ~35 years ago, when I was 9.

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lionhearted
Surprisingly quite good - gets one thinking about physics some and
inconsistencies in semi-scientific fantasy stories.

Reminds me of an Eliezer Yudkowsky article talking about how fire and
combustion couldn't "not work" in an alternate world that humans could survive
in, because similar processes happen in our body. (Can't find that article
right now unfortunately, it was quite good - it was referencing a fantasy
story where fire didn't exist in a parallel world)

Anyway, paper is worth a read. People with an adept knowledge of physics will
chuckle a little, but probably even better for people like me who haven't
played with physics much - got me thinking about center of mass, density,
inertia, etc. Interesting stuff. Recommended.

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Eliezer
<http://lesswrong.com/lw/hq/universal_fire/>

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gaius
What's with the He and His? Superman is not God!

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JoeAltmaier
He can change matter and energy at will; he can manipulate subatomic energy;
he has numerous strange names. Sounds familiar!

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redcap
I know that's what they're hinting at, I just find it strangely offputting
despite not being Christian.

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JoeAltmaier
You know, I did too. Seemed irrelevant to the article.

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mrfish
Why did he tells us to "Shut Up" in the conclusion. I thought it was well done
up until that point.

