Virtual 'superhero' simulator makes people more altruistic in the real world, study shows

Monday, February 04, 2013 by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger Editor of NaturalNews.com (See all articles...) Tags: superhero, virtual world, altruism

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(NaturalNews) If you allow people to experience the power of being a superhero inside a virtual simulator, they will tend to become more altruistic in the real world. That's the conclusion of a fascinating new study conducted at Stanford.

This was a randomized study with a control group, and it allowed people to experience the sensations of flying like Superman in order to deliver a desperately-needed insulin injection to a diabetic child in the virtual simulation. After experiencing the simulation, those who were given the "Superman" experience (in contrast to the control group which could only ride on a helicopter instead of flying like a superhero) tended to be considerably more altruistic in the real world.

This is yet more evidence that virtual experiences impact a person's behavior and attitudes in the real world. It also shows something interesting about human nature: If everyday people felt more powerful, they would tend to use that power to help the innocent.

Even superheroes cannot alter the nature of Man

Imagine if you had superpowers right now: How would you use them? If you could fly, bend steel with your bare hands, shake off bullets and move at super speeds, what would you do with that ability?

Most people, it seems, would attempt to use those powers in the betterment of society. Perhaps they would, at first, try to stop crime, but soon it would become apparent that the real sources of evil in our world are found at the top of large corporations and governments. It wouldn't take long before a superhero interested in altruism started "cleaning house" in the government as well as corporations. That's the way to stop evil and protect the innocent: cut off the head of the beast.

It turns out that trying to make a better world -- even with superpowers -- is a complex thing. Governments are the way they are because people tolerate them. Even if you cleaned house at the very top of government, it would only be a matter of time before the same corruption, criminality and centralization of power re-emerged (just as we're seeing happen in America right now).

In the corporate world, much the same is also true. A superhero could easily take out the worst offenders in Big Pharma, for example, but someone else would just take their place because some men will always seek power and profit, and they are always willing to harm other human beings in order to increase their own selfish gain.

The more you think about it, the more you realize that changing society for the better -- even with super powers -- is more difficult than it first seems precisely because society reflects the beliefs and tendencies of the People. Even if you can bend steel and leap over tall buildings, you still can't alter human nature. And because you can't alter human nature, society will inevitably lapse back into a reflection of the darkness and greed found in people's hearts and minds.

Surprisingly, even a superhero with Superman powers has very little capacity to reshape human civilization over the long run, because civilizations inevitably repeat the same patterns (and mistakes) over and over again, throughout history. Until human consciousness changes, there will be no lasting changes in society.

Raising consciousness / awareness is the answer

And that's the point of all this: The real "superhero" in human history is someone who could manage to raise the level of consciousness in a lasting way. What our world needs today is not a Superman but a spiritual teacher who can help teach us the truth about our interconnectedness and our divine purpose for being alive.

We need real enlightenment -- an "explosion" of consciousness, you might say. We need a way to clear away the cobwebs in the minds of the masses and let people see the truth!

Is a day of enlightenment really coming to our world? I doubt it. The real moment of enlightenment seems to arrive at the moment you pass on from this world to the next. As those who have survived near-death experiences often relate, the "real world" experienced after death is so expansive, loving and vast that it makes this human life seem like a shallow dream by comparison.