Here is an example of an individual from fiction who has elevated them self to become a so called post-human.
Jonathan Osterman was born in Germany sometime during the year 1929. His Father was noted watch maker whom Jon planned to follow in his footsteps. One of Osterman's earliest memories came in 1938 when his Father presented him with a complicated clock to teach him about weight and power.
At the beginning of the second world war Jon's family decided to flee Germany before the Nazi's could take Jon's Jewish mother. Jon was hidden inside a box for market goods until they reached a ship destined for America , unfortunately the carriage they were in was stopped by Nazi's. Jon's mother ran away in an attempt to distract the guards from searching the wagon resulting in her death. Jon's father killed the Nazi soldiers then escaped with Jon to Brooklyn where he could continue his profession as a watch maker.
When the U.S dropped the bomb's on Hiroshima and Nagasaki , Jon was 16 and eager to understand Nuclear physics. The day after the bombs dropped Jon was studying the pocket-watch his father had gave him until his Father confronted him about the undeniable benefits of Relativity theory to Modern science , Jon's Father threw the clocks out of the window then urged Jon to take a career as a Nuclear physicist.
Jon attended Princeton university from 1948-1958 during this time he heard a lecture from Albert Einstein which interested him some what since Einstein was one of the reasons he wanted to become a physicist. His life at university wasn't particularly interesting since he didn't interact well with other people due to him always working day in and day out.
In 1959 his body was disintegrated by an intrinsic filed removable resulting in him becoming a disembodied consciousness. When his body finally reappeared it look like the picture above a blue glowing man of pure energy with the symbol of the hydrogen atom imprinted on his forehead.
So what makes Doctor Manhattan a post-human?
His abilities of course.
His powers are immense to the point of being almost god-like. He can regenerate from any damage in infinitesimal fractions of time , he can even regenerate from a single subatomic particle such as a proton , he can control atomic and sub-atomic particles to such a degree that he can create life and reverse entropy. He is immune to all diseases , does not need to eat , sleep , drink , is effectively immortal , his quantum senses allow him to see the past , present and future all at the same time , he can create multiple copies of himself , teleport over huge distances , move planet sized objects with his mind , project devastating energy blasts , phase through objects , walk on stars as easily as one might walk on a planet , grow to become giant sized , shrink to become sub-atomic , disintegrate people by removing their intrinsic field and much more. Basicly he is the very definition of omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, omnipowers (all powers and abilities at the infinite level), a God if you will.
Take into account that Manhattan is still pretty primitive when it comes to post-humans since he still has many notable weaknesses , such as his inability to accurately see into the future.
Other noted powers:
Powers
- Nigh-Omnipotence: Jon'as "intrinsic field" was removed due to an accident that sent his atoms flying, leaving him with barely enough control over his DNA structure. Over time he was able to re-evaluate his physiology and become Doctor Manhattan, a quantum being of nearly unlimited power.
- Bio-Fission: Able to split and replicate his being, this ability was used on himself. He became many different completely sentient versions of himself, each a divided consciousness of Doctor Manhattan.
- Bio-Fusion: Likewise with his Bio-Fission ability, Jon can bring his sentient copies back into his body without any adverse side effects.
- Chronokinesis: Limited only to his perception of time, Jon can clearly see his future and past from a third person perspective. Likewise, he can grant others with the "atemporal" vision.
- Precognition: A product of his chronokinesis, Jon can see his own future in a theoretical sense, however this power was blocked by tachyons.
- Time-Travel: Jon can travel throughout the timeline at will.[6]
- Cosmic Awareness: Jon possesses understanding of the workings of the universe on a cosmic scale, and has the ability to oversee other universes as he wishes.[1]
- Dimensional Travel: Jonathan is able to travel to other realities.[7]
- Electrokinesis: Jon can generate sparks of electrical energy from his body, as well as from the objects he telekinetically levitates.[7]
- Enhanced Senses: Jon's senses are far more acute than any normal human. He has percieved events so tiny and so fast they can hardly be said to have occurred at all.[8] He has also been able to sense the heartbeat of a child inside of an unnoticeably pregnant woman.[7]
- Energy Construct Creation: It is unknown whether some of the creations he made was the manipulation of matter, molecules or entirely creative quantum energy constructs. He stated he wished to create his own life after manipulating matter on Mars as a sort of test.
- Energy Projection: Jon doesn't need to touch or hold things in order to change their elemental structure, he doesn't even need to be solely conscious of his projections.
- Flight: Manhattan is not restrained by basic physical laws and could levitate.
- Force Field: Jon is capable of projecting powerful force-fields.[9]
- Immortality: Never seeming to age, Jon never appears any older both physically and mentally after his accident. He stated that the world grew older around him.
- Intangibility: Bullets and blows travel through Jon, as such, he can allow all objects to pass through him without so much as a reaction. He can extend this ability to other people and objects.
- Phasing: Jon is capable of phasing his body through solid matter.[9]
- Invulnerability: Jon possesses incredible durability and is practically invulnerable to any physical harm. His durability has allowed him to walk across the Sun unharmed.[9]
- Molecular Reconstruction: Able to restructure himself after the removal of his intrinsic field, Manhattan is not limited to using this reconstruction power only on himself. He has taken apart most inanimate objects and even taken apart human beings as well as reconstructing Martian sand into large glass structures.
- Disintegration: Jon is capable of using his power to completely disintegrate human beings.[9]
- Regeneration: Jon can regenerate his entire body from total disintegration (down to the sub-atomic level), endlessly, as long as his consciousness survives.[9] That being said, Mister Mxyzptlk has stated that Jonathan is far more powerful than him,[10] so his ability to regenerate may be far more powerful than anticipated.
- Radiation Production: Jon's body emits some level of ultraviolet radiation.[9]
- Thermokinesis: When Jon restructured his body he produced great amounts of heat from his body's ultraviolet radiation. It was great enough to give nearby people sunburns.[9]
- Reality Alteration: Jon states he can create new universes with even the most casual act, as well as destroy them.[11] After the events of Flashpoint, when Barry Allen attempted to revert his universe back to normal, Jon interfered with this process by erasing ten years from that would-be, reverted universe, creating Prime Earth as a side-effect.[1]
- Self-Sustenance: Jon doesn't require food or sleep.[9]
- Size Alteration: Able to grow or shrink incredibly fast without a seeming limit. He displayed great abilities and focus while at these sizes without a loss of control in any fashion.
- Superhuman Strength: While in microscopic size, superhuman heights or in a seemingly normal form, he displayed great physical strength such as hurling tanks about, lifting planetary structures and heaving delicate technological equipment about.
- Telekinesis: Telekinetic in his fabrication of lifting objects he focuses on with his mind, Jon limited himself to only use his mental abilities to multitask as he took apart or reassembled objects and living organisms. He could also make a person's head forcefully explode.[9]
- Teleportation: By warping space around him, Jon can teleport himself and others at will. Jon had teleported huge and small objects, people and animals alike.
Added: When it comes to post-humans in fiction Superman is the entity that most people will recognize as being beyond human.
Starting out as a fairly weak but super powered entity during his early days Superman continued to grow in power amassing a wide assortment of new and exciting abilities.
Throughout the golden age of comics Superman continued to add new powers to his already existing powerset including: x-ray vision , super hearing , shape shifting , mind control , time travel and telepathy.
In the silver age his powers increased to levels of power beyond anything that had gone before easily surpassing his post-crisis version.
His powerset included: super ventriloquism , super mathematics , super kiss , super makeup , super knitting , super weaving , super cooking , super hypnosis and any other power with the prefix "super". To extend this to ridiculous heights lets suppose we invent some powers for Superman: super cloning , super size alteration , super hair gel , super phone , super cactus spray , super trampoline , super wings , super matter manipulation , super reality warping , super stretching , super stamp collecting , super farts , super fridge , super science , super resurrection , super photography , super sculpting , super hop scotch , super cheese , super mind transfer and super gloves.
His powers and abilities as well as his ability to create new powers made him possibly the coolest super hero of the 50's and 60's.
To see how strong he is we need to compare the mass of the Earth to that of a ping-pong ball.
The mass of the Earth is 5.972*10^24kg
The mass of a ping-pong ball is 2.7 grams.
If we convert the mass of the earth to grams to get 5.972*10^27g then divide it by 2.7 we find how many earth sized objects would be required for superman to feel like he is lifting the entire weight of the Earth.
2.211851851852 ×10^27 Earth sized objects which when multiplied by 5.972*10^24 will give us the mass of this super object:
1.320917925926*10^55kg = 1.320917925926*10^52 tonnes.
That's roughly 6.641115766345 ×10^24 times more massive than the sun.
This version of superman could also travel time to no limit giving him power over time and space which is probably the reason why he could move many times faster than light.
Through warping space-time superman could create a sort of catapult to propel him through space and time breaking various barriers such as the time barrier in the process.
Without a doubt this version of superman is one of the most powerful out there with abilities bordering on the ridiculous
