This is really more backstory related than something I'd use in the plot, but there are two pivotal incidents in the setting I'm working on, and I'm trying to get a feel for how they would turn out. Incident 1: A rather large, clearly artificial structure of unknown origins is discovered buried deep underground, likely by a mining company or something. It is made out of a very durable material not found in nature, has the appearance of a monument or temple of some kind, and there are no indications as to who built it or how it got there. Question: Realistically, what would happen next? Like, who would they contact about something like this? how public would it all be? How would people react to finding out about it? Scenario 2: All of a sudden, random people all over the world discover that they've acquired superhuman powers, more specifically various psychic abilities. The only pattern shared by the affected is that they are predominantly above average in intelligence, creativity or both*. There is no obvious scientific explanation to how these powers work, and indeed they seem to bypass conventional physics. They are pretty intuitive to use, easy to demonstrate and there are far too many of these psychics for it to be covered up. So, news about them get out pretty quickly. Question: Again, realistically, how would society react to this? Turns out magic is real, now what? Like, I know the tropes - Men In Black, X-Men and so on. I'm just wondering, if these thing really happened and I'm not just trying to make social commentary or set up a secret conspiracy plot, what are the most realistic developments? *Note: This is a correlation, not causation: Plenty of very smart and creative people don't get super powers.
Incident 1 reminds me of Quatermass and the Pit because that shows some procedural discussions, maybe about which authorities were responsible to excavate, but it was only a TV show with no book so might not be detailed. Perhaps worth 5min if it's on YouTube Incident 2 maybe they would commercialize it. Companies try to hire them. Many become famous on YouTube. The Boys might be a reference for this, but could take it the opposite way (anyone remember the name of that Russian Sci fi story where the aliens turn all the beer green?) and (once the scientists give up trying to replicate it) a few people doing magic doesn't have any noticeable statistical impact on the vast forces of the stock market, and it doesn't feed the hungry, change the outcomes of any elections, or reduce the crime rate. They even stop reading about superheroes and go back to early 20th c surrealism.
Scenario 1 would rely on how that nation handles things. I can only speculate. The feds might make a vague statement of something peculiar found, but would likely not disclose the location as rubberneckers are keen on swamping sites. If nothing comes of it, however, it may well become a tourist attraction in the future. The movies (I know you want to avoid tropes but this seems plausible) sometimes feature international teams of varying specialties sent to gather as much data as possible. Very first tests likely would be detecting radiation levels (I think some miners have to do that anyway?). For scenario 2, that's all going to depend on the prevailing events. Negative ones will have 1000x the effect of positive ones. When someone uses his mind to impale another with a pool cue, that will be the talk of the town, not the rescued kitty (and how do you know who actually did it if others are present?). One interesting outcome is it may decrease violent crime, since no one knows if that otherwise incipient victim is packing a mind-cannon. There may be an attempt at forming a national registry to limited success. I would also expect something of an 'arms race' when it comes to military and police enforcement. Every SWAT/seal team may want for psychics, or perhaps a special psychic response team. The question of 'how would people react to this' runs through both scenarios, and the truth is they will react about 500 different ways. That's going to more be a tool to help define certain characters/groups. For example, your religious individuals will see either as god-given or devil-given in one way or another, since that's their framework of understanding abstract things. In fact, the emergence of either of those things will start its own theology in time. A myriad of conspiracy theories will form, and an army of skeptics will come to meet them. Some people will be too busy in their own lives to care that much either way, while some will get out there and wave a sign or other. A good number of psychics, especially if they do lean smart, would quickly learn it's in their favour to keep it a secret, or risk alienating their personal relationships forever. Bitter social outcasts would do the opposite, since they finally have some kind of social relevance. Ultimately, most of the speculative elements are up to your imagination, since a multitude are plausible enough.
I'm only slightly familiar with that series but weren't the supers created by a company and deliberately marketed as heroes? Oh, they do figure that out, sort of. They just don't have much to go on in the beginning. I should clarify, we're still talking about millions of people, most likely. I haven't decided on the exact demographic but they're not supposed to be extremely rare. I mean, theoretically it could, since some people now have telepathy. Also, some politicians may have ended up with psychic powers. (Which I suppose might be a good or a bad thing.) I haven't even decided where the thing would be buried, really. Anyway, I imagine there's some institution or organization they're supposed to contact if they make a significant archeological discovery. Then I guess it depends on what happens once those people realize that they're possibly dealing with an alien artifact. I do know there are protocols in place for contact with extraterrestrials. I should probably look up if there's anything particular you're supposed to do if you happen to find an ancient flying saucer or something like that. Heck, they may find that some of the people who already work for them are now psychic. Man, can you imagine if the Pope suddenly gained psychic powers? Something about that strikes me as equally hilarious and terrifying. "Jedi" is now a legitimate religious denomination. Yeah, I was basically thinking: A bit of panic and worry simply because society has no idea how do deal with these people, but also a dramatically increased sense of wonder and awe. Also, a lot of very excited scientists who now have an entirely new field to study. But then, I'm kind of an optimist.
Hi there. The scenarios are interesting. I suppose it depends where you want to go with the story fictionally, but in reality here is what would happen in my opinion. The first scenario reminds me of the Utah monolith. In 2020 a monolith was found in a remote area in Utah, USA. The first thing that would happen is people would go to it, to see it. There really wasn't any "official" intervention. After a short time, it became a story and more and more people came to see it. The area wasn't easy to access, as in its not like there was a parking lot or restrooms there. So I could see people flocking to see what this was and sort of damaging property in doing so. Then, it was stolen. I can see that happening in your scenario although it depends on how big the thing is. Only after it was stolen did authorities become involved and they eventually found it and recovered it. The people who took it posted about it on social media. That's how I think the events would unfold in your case. For the second scenario, we see this often in movies and shows. It is fun to watch people use their powers for good or even evil in a work of fiction right? But I feel like the reality of that, would be a very dark thing. I think these people would be criticized, maybe ostracized by the general public. Remember back in school? Consider the handful of the absolute smartest kids. Now what was the perception of them GENERALLY speaking, by their peers? We all know the answer to that. Now imagine a child with some kind of a power? It would be much worse. I think we can always count on negative reactions to what people in general don't understand. People don't like change and they don't know how to act around those that are much different from them. So there are many ways you could go with this. There is the old double-edged sword of how great it is to have special abilities, yet the downside that comes with that is how you are perceived by those who don't know you. How about the fact that if these abilities effect in a sort of random way, well what if some of those people are jerks? They will use their powers to benefit themselves, or amuse themselves. We have seen those storylines before as well. Will unscrupulous people use these gifted people in a way that would abuse their powers. Again, there are many ways to go fictionally. But in the reality, in the social media world, media moves faster than reality in a way. What I mean by that is I think these type of people will be judged very quickly, and probably harshly. There are many examples of this throughout history.
Typically, they would contact archeologists -- who would most likely announce the stunning discovery to the world. Just Google for reports of finds of fossils, shipwrecks, or pyramids. How would people react? "Yawn - Hey, Maude, is supper ready yet? The ball game starts in 20 minutes, ya know." 25% would say it's impossible, so it has to be a parlor trick; 25% would say "I told you so"; and 50% would ignore it.
