

Ask HN: Which superpower would you choose, invisibility or flight? - mawhidby

Last week's episode of This American Life was a rebroadcast of one from 2001, titled "Superpowers". A link to that episode can be found here: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/178/superpowers<p>Act One (starts around 06:18) poses the question of which is better: the power of flight or the power of invisibility? The question has been stuck in my head for the whole week, and I've been debating the answer with myself constantly. It's a fun thought experiment, and I think it would be interesting to see the reactions and reasonings of fellow HNers.<p>--------------------------------------------------<p>Here is the scenario, as presented in the podcast by John Hodgman:
"Flight versus invisibility. This question is only for you. Whichever you pick, you'll be the only person in the world to have that particular superpower. You can't have both. Which do you choose?"<p>When choosing your superpower, assume the following: 
(1) Invisibility means the power to become transparent at will, including your clothing, but anything you may pick up is visible. (2) Flight means the power to fly at any altitude within the earth's atmosphere at speeds up to 1000 MPH.<p>Why did you choose your superpower? What would you do with it? Would you use it for good or evil, or both?
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mawhidby
I would choose invisibility, because I believe it offers more chances for
good, evil, privacy, and just plain fun. I would want to keep my invisibility
as big of a secret as possible; I wouldn't want to be known for my power, so
I'd have to be careful when going into and out of invisibility.

Here's some example scenarios I thought up:

Fun:

\- Messing with people's minds (which some may consider evil). For example,
making them think their house is haunted. Slam doors, move furniture, flip
switches, unplug stuff, etc.

\- Instigate confrontations (may also be considered evil). Make someone think
they shoved them, hit them, etc.

\- Going into restricted areas just to see what's there.

\- Listening to what people have to say about me when I'm not there (may end
up being depressing...)

\- People-watching for hours without looking creepy or suspicious

\- Just doing normal things while invisible. See people's reactions while you
drive a car, ride a bike, etc., while invisible. Doing that too often may draw
too much attention to myself, though.

Good:

\- Infiltrating terrorist cells; I'd be able to gain information relatively
safely, maybe find Osama?

\- Security. I can scream and throw shit to scare the hell out of people from
stealing stuff.

\- Crime-fighting. This is a toughie to imagine scenarios where an invisible
man would stop crime, especially if you want to remain unknown. News reports
about an invisible person fighting crime would definitely not be something I'm
looking for. I'd probably have to learn some martial arts so I can actually
kick some ass, and bulk up some. And it's not like you can dodge bullets; if
criminals caught on and were aware of your presence, they would just pray-and-
spray all over the place, and you'd be sure to get hit at some point. If the
criminals aren't armed with firearms, then it could be easier.

Evil:

\- Stealing stuff. Assuming that if I'm able to fit an object into my pocket
or under a shirt/jacket, it will become invisibile, then it's fair game.

\- Infiltrating governments, agencies, etc. for classified information. Maybe
it will be considered good if I give the information to Wikileaks? :P

\- Murder, or any extreme crimes. Any eyewitnesses would be completely
baffled.

Miscellaneous thoughts:

\- Useful for if you are trying to avoid someone, or conversely, if someone is
trying to avoid you.

\- If you've ever wanted to just disappear from the world for a little bit,
you got it!

\- I'd assume that while invisible, you don't just pass through someone or
something, you still have to walk around it. So it would be annoying to
constantly avoid people and objects while you walk around, especially if
you're trying to be secretive about your power, or not alert people to your
presence. No chance for clumsiness!

\- It's always best to have a complimentary power, like super-strength. Just
one superpower doesn't always cut it, especially for fighting crime.

That's all I'll put, it's getting too long.

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mgkimsal
Flight, because it'd be fun.

I fear there's more practical aspects to invisibility though. Flying _while_
invisible would be the best of both worlds, from a 'getting stuff done' (good
or evil) standpoint, but your experiment says we can't have both.

The first poster here illustrated many of the pros of invisibility already - I
won't repeat them all.

But I'd probably still prefer to fly, at least for a bit.

