23 replies to this topic

[ᗅᗺᗷᗅ]

If you could choose between possessing the superpowers of flight and invisibility, which would you pick and why? Here are the parameters:

FLIGHT: You can fly at any speed up to 100mph, and you can carry anything that you could carry normally on the ground.

INVISIBILITY: You can turn your clothes and small items on your person (i.e. wallet, cell phone, keys, etc.) invisible as well.

[atlashill]

Flight. It's more scenic. Bypass traffic.
Means I'm at the family farm in half the time.

Also, needs a poll.

[Thrash]

Flight. It's more scenic. Bypass traffic.

Agreed. I can't think of any benefit of being invisible, but being able to fly to work and not sit in traffic would be awesome.

[Invicta]

Flight, no question. It's been my biggest dream for as long as I can remember... being able to fly like a bird, to jump off tall objects and just sail... granted 100mph is pretty slow where flight is concerned, but it's definitely better than being invisible. I really can't think of a major benefit to being invisible.

Poll added.

[buddyboyrollin]

I would choose Flight, basically because what has been stated above more scenic less hassle, just get up and fly off.

(EX-Honey I'm going to the Bahamas I'll be home this evening )

[Chancellor Gunn]

I voted Invis. But after thinking about it before posting id choose Flight

[Invicta]

I'll set it so you can change your vote.

[Chancellor Gunn]

Thanks

Changed

[atlashill]

Slight problem with lack of pants:

You can still get caught in something, and it wouldn't be pretty once you deactivated your super power.

Also, you stand greater chance of getting mowed down by Dick Cheney when he's out hunting.

[ᗅᗺᗷᗅ]

The original version of the question actually had the maximum flight speed as 1000mph, but I felt that was WAY too fast. If you could move at 1000mph, you would be essentially invisible to the naked eye, not to mention utterly unstoppable. You could overpower dozens of opponents in the blink of an eye, pluck bullets from the air, etc. So I downgraded it a bit to keep it on what I considered to be a more reasonable scale.

I chose flight too. But I think some of you are not really thinking through the implications of invisibility. For example, an invisible person with even a modicum of hand-to-hand combat skills would be a formidable opponent indeed. And if that person had intensive training, like a black belt, they would be virtually invincible.

In addition, invisibility would be extremely useful for making money. The simplest way, of course, would be to rob banks. But you could also gain all kinds of sensitive information that could potentially be turned to profit. Insider trading, blackmail -- hell, even the combination to Bill Gates' safe! Not to mention that you could find out what people really thought about you. Heh.

Like I said, I picked flight. But it was a tough choice. I really had to think about it.

[Invicta]

See, most of the uses of invisibility aren't legal. Also, if somebody saw you turn invisible, or reappear, you would be outed. So it's not that much better from that perspective. Past being invisible you are limited to your actual physical abilities, which in my case don't include martial arts prowess... and unless you wanted to be outed you couldn't use it as a skill in looking for a legal job. So all things considered flight is better.

But if we want to keep it in the realm of general aviation, for the purpose of usefulness, a more reasonable maximum would be 150ish knots (172.6 mph). I picked that number because the "never exceed" speed for a '78 Skyhawk (a great standard for general aviation) is 158 KCAS (Knots Calibrated Air Speed). A lot of general aviation aircraft are faster, some are slower, but 150 knots is a good average.

[ᗅᗺᗷᗅ]

So what if they're not legal? I can think of lots of illegal uses for flight, too. Besides, unless you plan to file a flight plan with the FAA every time you take off, the very act of using that power could arguably be called illegal.

[atlashill]

So what if they're not legal? I can think of lots of illegal uses for flight, too. Besides, unless you plan to file a flight plan with the FAA every time you take off, the very act of using that power could arguably be called illegal.

Birds don't have to file flight plans.

[ᗅᗺᗷᗅ]

As far as I know laws do not apply to animals. I'd be willing to bet that any human who could fly under his own power would be expected to comply with FAA regulations.

[Invicta]

Contrary to popular belief the FAA doesn't require flight plans for most General Aviation flights. In fact, as long as its not a commercial flight and you're following relevant regulations in most cases they don't need any notice whatsoever. If you are taking off from a public strip you have to communicate with the tower/TRACON, and if you are flying in controlled airspace you have to radio in (which, btw, can legally done with hand-held navcoms). Also, a person flying, since they can't take passengers, would definitely fall under either ultralight or light-sport regulations which means effectively no FAA oversight. So... not a problem.

[ᗅᗺᗷᗅ]

Hang on a minute. The parameters specifically state that you can carry anything you can carry normally. I don't know about you, but I could carry a small person. A child, for example. I could fly around with a kindergartener on my back all day, I'll bet!

[linkkjm]

Invisibilty...Im going through puberty aske me in 10 years

[ᗅᗺᗷᗅ]

Well, just to play devil's advocate here, Sperls, there are other uses for flight. For example, just as being invisible would offer an enormous advantage in a fight, so would flight. And the ability to urinate on people from way up high? Awesome.