Average Joe to Superhero

Listened to the most fascinating radio show on NPR after yoga class and a full day of champagne powder skiing, that was amazing btw, last evening. The show brings in people working on the most obscure and out of the ordinary projects to talk about what the project is and what developments have come from it. A professor of neuroscience and kinesiology, E. Paul Zehr, has recently written a book called - Becoming Batman: the Possibility of a Superhero. He started off talking about the differences between Batman as opposed to other superheroes in regard to Batman having the human element with no "super-powers" per se. Batman cannot fly, does not have x-ray vision, possess super-human strength, etc etc. He merely possesses the inner rage of seeing his parents get killed before his very eyes at a young age and has been trying to rid the world of scum ever since, Gotham first I might add. 

Mr. Zehr talks in his book, as well as, on the program about how an average person could quite possibly become the next Batman. In a very detailed fashion, Zehr laid out what Batman does possess - inner rage, years of martial arts training, knowledge of many different gadgets, a daredevil like mindset, an excessive amount of peak physical conditioning, ability to work an entire day as a company executive then becoming the superhero saving the world at night, just to name a few. Zehr next went into the training aspect a normal average person would have to incur from a very young age - martial arts training, strict diet, very demanding daily workout, position of high power both in career and social contexts, at least a few hundred million USD's, and a working knowledge of how to stop villains without mortally injuring them. He estimates this training taking anywhere from 15 - 17 years, not to mention the total career time of this ordinary person becoming batman being maxed out somewhere around 3 years. This due to lack of sleep, the physical demand on the body, and staying under the radar. 

The final question is - can anyone become a superhero on the same level as Batman? The answer to that question according to Zehr is absolutely. Personally, I think the training and steps leading up to becoming Batman or something like him, would be close to the equivalent of an Olympic athlete except out of the spotlight with little coaching. So, yes it can be done but that is the only thing one would accomplish in a lifetime. Is it worth it? Hell yes.