Carol Dweck points out that intelligence stems primarily from lots of work and pressing on after failing. According to her, fostering stories where protagonists become amazing through training helps people push through the challenges in their lives.

Passing on stories where the hero has superhuman powers (most old myths, Spiderman, Superman etc.), however may not help as they didn't earn their powers. They just got them and started throwing cars, climbing buildings, healing people, whatever. However, I doubt those stories will die, we'll probably just alter them to make more sense knowing what we know. Like focusing on overcoming the difficulties in mastering their gifts.

Perspiration-oriented kids' stories like Meet the Robinsons and its Keep Moving Forward mantra will continue to get made as parents push their children into the Organization Kid's Lifestyle for Success. I won't complain, as I heart Rocky as much as the next kid and we'll probably figure out that 10 kg backpacks hinder more than they help.


"Passing on stories where the hero has superhuman powers (most old myths, Spiderman, Superman etc.), however may not help as they didn't earn their powers. They just got them [...]" That's why there's Batman and Iron Man :)
While both of them went through some difficulties, Batman inherited the wealth that allowed him to get those wonderful toys; Iron Man did, too; and oh wait, he was also smarter than anyone at MIT.... Point being, No Average Joe ever made superhero in US culture. -- Patrick.
You may want to check out "Sky High" -- it intentionally addresses a lot of these. It also points out that one of the ways that people aquire super-powers, is by something absolutely horrendously awful happening to them, but that the person gains super powers in the process. -- We've never talked about this at Saturday House! Please, next time you see me there, bring this up; How we connect with movies is one of my favorite things to think and talk about..! I've got a whole bunch of wiki pages in this genre that I work on. -- Lion