The End of the World

Incestuous Democracy: I’d like to ask you a bit of a hypothetical this time. Normally I don’t like to play these kinds of games, but I think you’re uniquely qualified, for a lot of reasons, to answer. How do you think the world’s going to end?

Superman: Let me say, first, that I don’t believe the world will end in 2012. Ted Kord

ID: The inventor and industrialist who goes by the name Blue Beetle

S: once he came up with this complicated mathematic algorithm. Basically, he’d taken the idea, as developed by, Terrence McKenna, of Novelty theory, and found a basic proof using rudimentary quantum mechanics. It didn’t prove, as some people think, that the world would end in 2012, but, as Ted explained, after that point, “things got weird.” Ted, and he’s I think in line with McKenna on this, but he thinks that at that point technology becomes so rapid in its evolution, that the slight derivations in method amount to exponential fragmentation of divergent realities- basically, that the normal, parallel-world model of the multiverse grows with such a speed that the equation starts to have difficulty distinguishing between differences in realities. One of Ted’s “theories,” there, is that at some point interdimensional travel becomes possible across these realities, so what you see is a technological cross-breeding, which is part of the reason for the odd shifts in the equation. Of course, Ted’s been known to get a little silly when he holes up in his lab for too many hours without food or sleep.

ID: Okay, so not in 2012…

S: I’m thinking. It’s something the League, like every other security-minded organization should probably spend more time doing.

ID: In a post-9/11 world?

S: I hate that term. The world post-9/11 isn’t any different. The only thing we learned was that bad people are willing to do bad things in America just as readily as in other parts of the world. The fact that we Americans, and I’m as guilty of this as anyone, were sheltered from the problems of the rest of the planet doesn’t change the fact that it wasn’t the world that changed- it was our ability to perceive the many facets of reality that did.

But it isn’t just that we weren’t able to stop it- though God knows I take that failure very personally- though I take some small comfort from what Ollie told me later, that “while we were stopping a hurricane, humanity got hit by a little rain.” The real issue, I think, is we failed to even imagine it. Even Bruce, who I think could outmaneuver the devil himself, was out-thought that day. And that still scares us all.

But imagination. Hmm. I’m an optimist, but I think I’m an optimistic realist, so you can let that color what I say, or you can join me in my estimation, but I don’t think the world is going to end in a puff of smoke, or a ball of fire. I think that, if we’ve seen anything, it’s that the people on this planet want desperately to survive. And humanity is nothing if not resilient. Even if you take superhumanity out of the equation-which, statistically wouldn’t make sense, as their portion of the population is trending upwards, not down- the species refuses to go quietly into that good night.

So no matter what the threat, whether it’s a planet-killing asteroid or a planet-eating megapredator- I’ve seen the Earth defend itself against the worst threats in the universe; I honestly can’t imagine an outside threat that could pose a genuine danger to the planet as a whole.

And, you know, I’m not one of those people worried about technological hubris, either. Maybe I’m jaded, coming from Krypton, but technology, by and large, can yield a hundred civilian applications for any technology for every military one- the difference is merely that most of our focus and funding tends towards the militaristic because of global instability. I think, as you see things stabilize worldwide, you’ll see the perceived necessity for violence diminish, and the focus on useful rather than vengeful technologies thrive.

I think the end of the world will be quiet. I think humanity’s number will dwindle, because the sun’s power will fade, so the amount of life the planet can sustain will shrink, and humanity will move off-world. So I think the end of the Earth will be witnessed by only a handful of residents. The sun will die, fizzling slowly into darkness, and they’ll sit on their porches watching it go. They’ll go inside, then pick up a book and wait for the end to come, because they figure they’re too old to start over fresh someplace else.

I think my dad was that kind of guy. Most small farmers got out years ago, but he kept his farm going even though he knew he wasn’t earning sweat equity anymore, just barely keeping the place going with his own blood. He was just too old to learn how to live some other way, so he worked himself to death in a field, because that was the way his dad died, and that was the way he wanted to die, too. He saw a nobility in that, working ‘til his heart burst, but working with his hands, “like a man ought to.”

I think that’s how the world ends, with a few stubborn folks who refuse to be moved from their homes. Humanity, though- humanity’s going to keep going for as long as it can find new places to hang its collective (and dispersed) hats. And that makes me smile, the way I know it’d have made pa smile; there’s something gratifying about knowing the world will go on without you, maybe better for your time and maybe not, but that it’ll go on regardless. It’s why I’m glad the world has Kara, now- I hated the thought that I would be the last of my kind; it’s nice to know that something will survive you.

We’ll be trying to bring you a new section of the interview every Monday. Some of the questions have already been prepared by the interviewer, but to ask Superman a question, leave a comment or send an email to DeathofSuperman@gmail.com.