And why this might be complicated in the real life
If you could pick any superpower ever owned by a superhero or super villain what power would you choose? I for my part would maybe choose the power to know everything and to be able to do everything. Or I would like the power to read minds. Both is quite awesome isn’t it? But what is with the power to run super fast or the ability to turn invisible. In this article I will talk about some super powers and why they would never work. Not even in a super world so afterwards you know what powers not to choose.
Let’s start with the power to turn invisible, like the power of Violet in the movie “the incredibles”. Wouldn’t it be great to be invisible and to sneak into the teachers office to check the solutions of the test for tomorrow? Or just to be able to hide when you want to be unnoticed or undisturbed. Well I hate to break it to you but this ability is just useless. To be invisible all the light that would normally shine on you needs to be moved around you are through you. Taken this would be possible, though no one has yet figured out a material that bends light or that works like an invisible cloak as in harry potter, there is still the small issue that you would be totally blind. By bending the light around you you would also move the light away from your eyes. A super ability that comes with the handicap that you walk around totally blind doesn’t sound so great.
So what about super speed just like the flash, now that invisibility is off the table? Well one question what do you feel when you hold your hand out of the window while driving? A force that pushes at your hand. It is the air that you are pushing against. This pushing creates pressure. Imagine the unbelievable strong pressure that is pushing against you when you run super fast. Lets say the human body is not exactly build to withstand very strong pressure. It would be quite a short run. There is also the problem that lets say you move faster than sound or light you wont be able to see or hear anything. Again moving in total dark and silence.
Now with super speed and invisibility unavailable is there at least teleportation left, like night crawler in the X men universe? Well teleportation is also very tricky. Teleportation most likely works in the way, that your body is split in all those small atoms it is made of and all of these atoms are transported at a very high speed to the destination you have chosen. At your destination those atoms would reconnect and create you again. But wouldn’t splitting you in atoms mean that you are destroyed in some way or even killed. And the you that arrives at the destination is actually a clone of you, exactly build by the plan of your body atoms while you cease to exists. Or is it the real you that arrives at the destination. This is most of all a ethic question that you can decide about yourself. But does a superpower sound good in your ears that kind of kills you every time you use it?
All of those powers we talked about are flawed in some way, but that is alright and okay, because they just exist in fictional worlds where the laws of physic and ethic don’t work the same way they do in the real world. But if there would be superpowers in our world you know now which powers better not to chose. If you somehow find your way in a fictional world feel free to pick any ability you want. Until then it might be enough to just relive the experience of superpowers in books or movies.