On the car ride home from Vegas, we filled some time by analyzing and ranking various super powers. The powers suggested were Invisibility, Flight, Super Strength, and Short Range Teleportation.
Flight was defined as your basic "Superman" type flying around. Top speed roughly that of a airliner.
Invisibility meant you (and your clothing and things you were carrying) could go invisible at will.
Super Strength should be pretty self explanatory.
Short Range Teleportation: line of sight instant teleportation.
We discussed the various pros and cons of each. Flight was certainly a fan favorite in our car.
At some point, Baditude brought up an NPR segment he'd heard where a guy uses this discussion of super powers as an ice breaker, as well as a kind of personality litmus test. However, he limited the discussion between only Flight and Invisibility. I listened to this segment yesterday and was fascinated.
What's interesting about the question "Which would you choose, Flight or Invisibility?" is that almost everyone will have a pretty quick answer. It's something that pretty much everyone has already thought about to some degree or another. These powers are very different, it's fun to wonder what they may suggest about the person who chooses them.
At first blush, Flight is very mythic and heroic. It's bold and brash, with nothing to hide. People have always been fascinated with flight, and it's easy to see how fun and convenient and liberating it would be. I've always gazed up at birds and wondered what it would feel like to soar around. Who hasn't?
Invisibility, on the other hand, feels much more dark and skulking. Almost by definition, the things you'd do while invisible are not things that would normally be permitted otherwise. Invisibility tends one towards things like spying, sneaking into restricted areas, eavesdropping, and stealing.
As one interviewee on the radio segment said, choosing invisibility means you want to "eavesdrop, steal, and watch celebrities having sex." Another person suggested that deep down in their secret hearts, MOST people would choose invisibility if they really told you the truth. But realizing how bad it might come off, choose flight instead.
In looking at my own daydreams in retrospect, I've certainly wished for both at various times. If asked now, I'd probably say "Flight". But I'd have to say that throughout my life, I've probably daydreamed more about Invisibility than Flight. I'm not particularly proud of this.
Upon further reflection, though, I think it fits in with my personality. I've always been interested in information, and information that I'm not supposed to know is very tempting. I've always liked security concepts like passwords and locks, and how to get around them. I think that is a pretty common theme amongst techno-hacker types, a group I'm only loosely affiliated with. I don't gossip much, but I love hearing "dirt". I frequently wonder what goes on behind closed doors and wish I could be a fly on various walls.
In another vein, I've never liked the feeling that I'm "missing out" on things. If my friends are gathered together and I have to leave early for some reason, I'll frequently ask later "So, what happened after I left?" Invisibility wouldn't really help with this, but it's another indication of Wanting to Know What's Going On.
It doesn't really apply anymore, but as a hormonal teenager, I naturally wondered about girls and stuff. I remember trips to the airport as a teenage boy, driving by "Dirty Dan's" strip club. It looked so forbidden and filthy but enticing all the same. I always wondered what went on in there. (Would Teenage Adam believe me if I told him strip clubs are not nearly as exciting as they sound? Probably not… :)
So it's an interesting question, Flight or Invisibility. I think I'm going to keep it in my back pocket for small talk situations. I've polled some co-workers, and it always leads to a very healthy, interesting discussion. One woman admitted she kind of feels invisible already… that she could go into a room and no one would even know she was there, so flight was a no-brainer. Kind of a revealing answer from such a simple question.
What about you?
Flight was defined as your basic "Superman" type flying around. Top speed roughly that of a airliner.
Invisibility meant you (and your clothing and things you were carrying) could go invisible at will.
Super Strength should be pretty self explanatory.
Short Range Teleportation: line of sight instant teleportation.
We discussed the various pros and cons of each. Flight was certainly a fan favorite in our car.
At some point, Baditude brought up an NPR segment he'd heard where a guy uses this discussion of super powers as an ice breaker, as well as a kind of personality litmus test. However, he limited the discussion between only Flight and Invisibility. I listened to this segment yesterday and was fascinated.
What's interesting about the question "Which would you choose, Flight or Invisibility?" is that almost everyone will have a pretty quick answer. It's something that pretty much everyone has already thought about to some degree or another. These powers are very different, it's fun to wonder what they may suggest about the person who chooses them.
At first blush, Flight is very mythic and heroic. It's bold and brash, with nothing to hide. People have always been fascinated with flight, and it's easy to see how fun and convenient and liberating it would be. I've always gazed up at birds and wondered what it would feel like to soar around. Who hasn't?
Invisibility, on the other hand, feels much more dark and skulking. Almost by definition, the things you'd do while invisible are not things that would normally be permitted otherwise. Invisibility tends one towards things like spying, sneaking into restricted areas, eavesdropping, and stealing.
As one interviewee on the radio segment said, choosing invisibility means you want to "eavesdrop, steal, and watch celebrities having sex." Another person suggested that deep down in their secret hearts, MOST people would choose invisibility if they really told you the truth. But realizing how bad it might come off, choose flight instead.
In looking at my own daydreams in retrospect, I've certainly wished for both at various times. If asked now, I'd probably say "Flight". But I'd have to say that throughout my life, I've probably daydreamed more about Invisibility than Flight. I'm not particularly proud of this.
Upon further reflection, though, I think it fits in with my personality. I've always been interested in information, and information that I'm not supposed to know is very tempting. I've always liked security concepts like passwords and locks, and how to get around them. I think that is a pretty common theme amongst techno-hacker types, a group I'm only loosely affiliated with. I don't gossip much, but I love hearing "dirt". I frequently wonder what goes on behind closed doors and wish I could be a fly on various walls.
In another vein, I've never liked the feeling that I'm "missing out" on things. If my friends are gathered together and I have to leave early for some reason, I'll frequently ask later "So, what happened after I left?" Invisibility wouldn't really help with this, but it's another indication of Wanting to Know What's Going On.
It doesn't really apply anymore, but as a hormonal teenager, I naturally wondered about girls and stuff. I remember trips to the airport as a teenage boy, driving by "Dirty Dan's" strip club. It looked so forbidden and filthy but enticing all the same. I always wondered what went on in there. (Would Teenage Adam believe me if I told him strip clubs are not nearly as exciting as they sound? Probably not… :)
So it's an interesting question, Flight or Invisibility. I think I'm going to keep it in my back pocket for small talk situations. I've polled some co-workers, and it always leads to a very healthy, interesting discussion. One woman admitted she kind of feels invisible already… that she could go into a room and no one would even know she was there, so flight was a no-brainer. Kind of a revealing answer from such a simple question.
What about you?
3 comments:
That is interesting! A link to the NPR segment would've been a natural up there...
I'm a flight guy, for sure. Interestingly, I think I would've been even more of a flight guy as a younger Norm. I felt much more the center of the universe as a younger kid. As far as I was aware, not much was happening that wasn't immediately around me. I think that is changing more as I get older. More often than not I wish I could be two places at once (at work, doing what I should be doing and with the kids seeing all the cool stuff that they are learning/doing).
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?episode=178
My IMMEDIATE reaction was invisibility. Hmmmmm. Maybe I'm not as nice as I think I am.
Your brother.
Oh, and get some sleep. You look tired (cue creepy music).
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