Flight or Invisibility?

[Dorian Gray]

Suppose that you could have one of two super powers: Flight, or Invisibility.

You could only choose one or the other. You would be the only one in the entire world who had the super power. The power would not confer any other auxiliary powers. You would be a human being in every way, with all the vulnerabilities that implies, except where the specific power of flight or invisibility was concerned. You could fly with anything you could have lifted before having the power of flight, OR you could turn anything invisible along with you as long as it touched your bare skin.

OK, that was just to answer the inevitable questions.

Now, if you could choose one and only one of the two powers, which one would you choose - flight or invisibility?

[Brown]

Someone posted this query quite a while ago.

My answer now is the same as it was then.

I'd choose flight. If I were invisible, I'd be blind.

[Abdul Alhazred]

Originally posted by Brown
I'd choose flight. If I were invisible, I'd be blind.

It depends on the method of invisibility. If you had "the power to cloud mens' minds" like the Shadow, you would be effectively invisible without being blind.

[Yahweh]

I'm sure I could do much more evil with power of invisibility...

[neutrino_cannon]

Flight would be in my mind, far better, depending of course upon the maximum velocity I could achieve.

Of course, it stretches the imagination to the point of pain as to how that would work. Also, fear of heights could be an issue.

As pointed out, true invisability would require you not interact with electromagnetic waves, thus redering you blind. I would circumvent this by being transparent, and hopefully non-distortional in visable spectrums, but able to see in ultra violet and infra red.

Heck, it'd bee plenty cool just to see in IR and UV. X-ray would be nice too, but there's not much ambient x-ray energy due to our atmosphere, so it would be quite dark.

[espritch]

Invisibility of couse. There are technological alternatives for flying. Currently, there are none for invisibility.

[Some Friggin Guy]

This is not a bad question, but a similar one I have often pondered is this:

Again, assuming the same rules for invisibility (though, also assume you are able to see normally while invisible, regardless of what science tells us) and similar rules (being able to extend the bility through bare-skin touch and the ability to breath normally) to intangibility, which would people prefer?

[Ladewig]

Invisibility is much easier to keep secret. Once it became known that you could fly, all the fundamentalist kooks would try to kill you, all the new age kooks would try to worship you, and the government - well, let's just say that they would take a strong interest in you.

[ASRomatifoso]

You could be like the hero of "The Fortress of Solitude" and have both powers at separate points in your life and not really do much with either one of them. Personally, I would choose invisibility. Better though, would be able to stop time, like in "The Fermata."

[Dorian Gray]

I'd choose flight. If I were invisible, I'd be blind. No, you wouldn't. I said the ability wouldn't change anything else about yourself. You are affecting the ability of others to see/detect you, not yours to detect them. This could be accomplished in many ways, none of which involve what you claimed. For example, you could affect every individual's ability to detect you by tapping into their selective memory. I don't think that I have to prove that selective memory exists, do I? (Psst - Rush Limbaugh) Also, you could cause a blind spot to constantly appear before everyone's eyes where you are concerned, which would be filled in by the minds of every person.

Invisibility of couse. There are technological alternatives for flying. Currently, there are none for invisibility. Sleight-of-hand? Hiding? Camoflage? Darkness?

There are a lot of incredible powers to have - most of these I got from the Xanth series (remember that?) and from X-Men.

Transforming any creature into another creature
Communicate with any living thing
Communicate with any inanimate object
Read minds
Flight
Invisibility
Time travel
Super strength
Mind Control
Fast Healing
Teleportation
Mastery of fire
Mastery of ice
Ability to absorb energy and release it at will
Mastery of electricity
Mastery of waves

The best ones are the communication ones and mastery of waves

[roger]

I can't think of a practical or even fun way to use invisibility. I pretty much go through life unnoticed anyways.

On the other hand, I can think of a host of practical and fun applications for flying. Getting rid of the 30 minute rush hour commute to work in the morning (takes 5 minutes w/ no traffic) is on the top of my practical list.

[Dancing David]

Flight!

But I would prefer to be able to transform into other animals.

[Marc]

definitly flight


already have invisibility and am trying to get rid of it!

[Upchurch]

Originally posted by Dorian Gray

Time travelTime travel, in a heart beat.

[triadboy]

Invisibility. I currently have the power to calm jittery squirrels. If I could add invisibility to that power - I would be invincible!

[jan]

Almost every time it is cold outside and I have to go out, I have to think about how nice it would be if I could teleport myself from one warm house to the other.

It is more of an associative connection between "cold" and "teleportation" than a real wish.

I think many of the items on the larger list posted by Dorian Gray are either a bit immoral to use (Mindreading or Mindcontrol), or quite useless (how often do you need "Mastery of Fire" or "Mastery of Ice"?).

I would say Invisibility is on the immoral, Flight is on the useless side.

[sorgoth]

Originally posted by Marc
definitly flight


already have invisibility and am trying to get rid of it!

Ha, I know what you mean. I agree.

However, IF super healing would also involve not feeling pain, then I would definitely take that. As long as it didn't hurt, I would LOVE to get shot by a machine gun!

Also, if it was really super WOW healing, then I'd just off mountains. Just cause.

[shemp]

Could I have the power to eat unlimited Krispy Kremes and LOSE weight?

[roger]

Originally posted by shemp
Could I have the power to eat unlimited Krispy Kremes and LOSE weight? Don't be ridiculous. That's such a gross violation of TLOP that you'd fracture the time-space continuum.

[Yahzi]

If you were invisibile all the time, I think you'd go nuts from social starvation.

Flying, on the other hand, would be just fun.

But if I could choose only one power, it would be the ability to always tell if someone was lying or not.

[EdipisReks]

i'd rather have monkies fly out of my butt, a la Wayne's World.

[c4ts]

Originally posted by shemp
Could I have the power to eat unlimited Krispy Kremes and LOSE weight?

ALL things are possible through the LD (Logical Diet). Doing good deeds will make your gravitons reverse their charges causing you to lose that weight you gained.

[shemp]

Originally posted by c4ts


ALL things are possible through the LD (Logical Diet). Doing good deeds will make your gravitons reverse their charges causing you to lose that weight you gained.

Is that why Mother Theresa was so small? Maybe she should have whipped a few children now and then.

[c4ts]

Originally posted by shemp


Is that why Mother Theresa was so small? Maybe she should have whipped a few children now and then.

That's also why she fell up through the ceiling and died.

[jan]

Originally posted by c4ts


ALL things are possible through the LD (Logical Diet). Doing good deeds will make your gravitons reverse their charges causing you to lose that weight you gained.

And you get the ability to fly as a bonus. Just don't leave your house, you may vanish in the sky.

[Iamme]

Invisible...naturally. I have a dirty mind. The answer then becomes obvious. :D

[c4ts]

The ability to blow stuff up by pointing at it.

[fishbob]

Invisibility; then I could walk right past security and give Mr. Cheney a nookclear wedgie. Walk right up to Mr. Wolfowitz and shout "bang" in his ear. Maybe a Wet Willie for Mr. Ashcroft. Nyuk Nyuk.

[Prospero]

Invisibility. It would only be a matter of weeks before everyone's IQ plummetted. I'm speaking statistically, of course, because I'd go on a crusade against stupid people. Ah, the joys of an overwhelming advantage subjectively controlled.

[Jon_in_london]

I would like some form of esp, some precognition. Like to be able to predict events in the near future and to know where certain people and objects are.

For a start, I'd become super-rich very quickly through stock market, betting etc.... but I'd also have no more nasty suprises and be able to do some good by helping people avoid nasty accidents.

[ceo_esq]

Originally posted by Prospero
Invisibility. It would only be a matter of weeks before everyone's IQ plummetted. I'm speaking statistically, of course, because I'd go on a crusade against stupid people. Ah, the joys of an overwhelming advantage subjectively controlled. Wouldn't that cause the average IQ to increase?

[Leif Roar]

Originally posted by ceo_esq
Wouldn't that cause the average IQ to increase?

Well, I believe most of the IQ scales are (in theory at least) meant to be normalized so that the mean score is 100 points. If you remove a substantial portion of people with low IQ you'd increase the average intelligence, but the mean IQ would (after normalizing to the new situation) still be 100 points. So your score would go down, because the scale is readjusted to fit the new situation.

As for the power, I'd definetively go for invisibility. Not only is it harder to emulate using technology and more useful in ordinary circumstances ("Has anyone seen Leif? I've got an assignment for him."), but any sudden failure in the power is not likely to have the same detrimental effects. Plus, I live in Norway. Flying outside of an insulated and heated airplane sounds very, very cold.

[c4ts]

IQ is not always a precise measurement of your intelligence. If your score goes down because the average IQ increased, that doesn't indicate you're getting dumber.

[Beleth]

I could do more good if I could fly (and take stuff with me) than I could if I could become invisible.

[MoeFaux]

Have any of you ever read Nicholson Baker's "The Fermata"? A very wonderful, thoughtful, and extremely sexy book.
The main character has the ability to stop time. THAT'S the superpower I want.
I would drop into "the Fold" as it's called, to sleep, and then restart time to get all my work done. All the things I would be able to do with that extra time. Wow.

My cousin and I would debate the invisibility vs. flying thing all the time. He suggested that mind control would be even better, since you could get people to think you were doing both of those things.
I don't think I'd like mind control. And if I were able to fly, I'd have to keep it secret. And invisibility seems too dangerous.
I think stopping time is something safe and benificial. I'll take that please, if we're passing out powers.

[Marc]

Ever see the old movie "The Girl, The Gold Watch, and Everything"? About a guy who inherits a gold watch that can stop time for about a minute. There was even a sequel "The Girl, The Gold Watch, and Dynamite"

I loved saturday mornings Creature Feature. Get weird movies like that along with all the great Godzilla flicks. :)

[Beleth]

Flight? Bah.
Invisibility? Trivial.
Time travel? Small potatoes.

A controllable penis. Now that would be a great superpower.

[MoeFaux]

Originally posted by Beleth
Flight? Bah.
Invisibility? Trivial.
Time travel? Small potatoes.

A controllable penis. Now that would be a great superpower.

You're not able to conrol yours? There's help for that, you know. :D