147) Flying vs. Invisibility

We're paying 10 yuen per hour to share internet access on one desktop computer. My brothers have left me 20 minutes, so this will have to be quick.

I was listening to my back episodes of This American Life via podcast, and heard a really great piece by John Hodgeman. It centered around the seemingly simple choice of the power to fly or the power of invisibility. He recorded people's answers and delved into the psychology behind it. The general consensus was that flying was the power for people who wanted to let it all hang out, the charismatic, ostentatious ones who would kick up their feet and zoom away. Invisibility, on the other hand, was for the creepers, the perverted ones who would use their power to spy on naked people. One power is all about being seen, while the other, quite literally, is about being hidden from view.

One of his surveyees broke it down, saying that people will say that they'd choose flight, but that deep down, they would want invisibility - that we all would gravitate towards the more underhanded, slightly perverse power. Hodgeman said it even better as he wrapped up the act. For him, it's impossible to choose between the two powers because in the end it came down to the person he wants to be versus the person that he actually is.

The concept of digging deep down, being truly honest with one's self and figuring out what we want in our heart of hearts - the good, the bad and the ugly - is so fascinating to me. Much of the time, what we uncover isn't pretty, isn't the socially favorable option or answer. So we bury it so deeply that we sometimes never realize our true nature, or what we really want.

P.S.- There was some confusion over yesterday's riddle. To clarify, the prisoners can't see their own caps, and aren't allowed to reach up and remove them to see. And they only have to identify the color of their own cap, not the other prisoners'.