We\u2019re all Wonder Women (or Men) inside, each with our own superpower. But sometimes, we daydream about being more than just a super-dad, super-banjo-strummer, or super-feminist. We want to levitate! Get the bad guys! Or maybe just become invisible to spy on our exes.<\/p>\n
In the spirit of Wonder Women! The Untold Story of American Superheroines<\/em><\/a> (airing 4\/15 on Independent Lens<\/em><\/a>), we’ll share what the superpower of your fantasies could reveal about your personality. \u00a0Before you read further, envision the otherworldly ability you most crave: Reading minds, time traveling, flying, invisibility, or teleporting? Close your eyes and picture your fiercest self.<\/p>\n Okay, now let\u2019s see how you stack up.<\/p>\n A 2011 Marist Poll<\/a> of Americans showed how we cluster according to our fantasies: 28 percent would like to mind read, another 28 percent want to time travel, 16 percent want to fly, 11 percent crave teleportation, and 10 percent desired invisibility.<\/p>\n The remaining 8 percent just weren\u2019t sure.\u00a0Maybe their answer was like Bill Gates’s: “Extending one’s lifetime would be a reasonable thing,” he said<\/a>\u00a0in a Q&A with University of Nebraska students. “Being able to read superfast, yeah, that’d be nice.”<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what your choice might say about you.<\/p>\n MIND READING Mind reading is empathy to the extreme. Delusions of telepathy can be found in certain forms of psychosis, such as the symptom of \u201chearing voices\u201d in schizophrenia, which might be where humans got the idea for this superpower. The X-Men<\/em> series \u201cushered in the era of mind-reading superheroes,\u201d according to The Psychology of Superheroes: An Unauthorized Exploration<\/a><\/em>. Fictional heroes with this strength are often depicted as god-like, benevolent geniuses. They are, after all, omniscient.<\/p>\n TIME TRAVEL
\nPop Culture:<\/strong> Charles Xavier and Jean Grey of X-Men, Yoda and the Jedi in Star Wars<\/p>\n
\nPop Culture:<\/strong> The Time Machine<\/em> by H.G. Wells, Star Trek<\/em>, Dr. Emmett Brown of\u00a0Back to the Future<\/em><\/p>\n