How do you use such an ability to make an honest fortune? I suppose there must be a high entertainment value in such an ability. I don’t think super secret spy would work all that well for me.
Messing with the President seems like a good way to get very dead or very locked in a CIA lab to be studied.
Thanks for remembering the name of the movie. I had even meant to go look up Begley on IMDB, but just didn’t get around to it. I agree that the movie is “uneven” but there are enough hilarious bits in it (my favorite is the BB King and David Alan Grier thing about the black man born with no soul) for me to watch it whenever it cycles back through cable. I must have seen it just long enough ago to have forgotten that’s where Begley’s bit is.
{Hijack}
My Wife watches a lot of Idol. I was in the room when one of the young black male performers was doing his song.
I started tsk’ing, “Poor guy, he appears to be suffering from ‘black man without soul’ syndrome”. My wife looked surprised, thought a minute and then laughed, remembering this obscure line from the old movie.
Mostly I’d be snooping on the famous. I’d spend lots of time in the corner of rooms full of politicians. Best invisible fiction - Memoirs of an Invisible Man by H.F.Saint, Fade by Rober Cormier and The Girl, the Gold Watch and Everything by John D MacDonald.
Question of clarification for the OP: does this ability extend itself to one’s clothes, recently swallowed food, and so on, or does one need to be fully naked in order to take advantage of the invisibility?
If the former, I would likely “haunt” my best friend for a bit (I’d tell her it was me before she got too freaked out, though) and then travel around–sneaking onto planes and trains and whatnot.
If the latter, I would first look into getting LASIK done; I can’t really see without my glasses, and if I’m needing to wander around without shoes I would want to be able to see where I’m going.
Perfectly legitimate questions here. And since I assume such an ability would be just as plausible to one’s entire appearance (or lack of one) as it would to the body all by itself, I would suspect you could even have your tracks and prints be invisible, too. Strange how the movies have tampered with these basic assumptions, though.
I suppose if we try to get very technical about whatever mechanism or potion would let you “drop out of sight” there would have to be some limitation on how far it would extend.
FWIW, I have often wondered about the Star Trek gizmo to move you atom-by-atom from Point A to Point B: what happens to your “spirit” or “soul” or “mind” in that process?
Even with the invisibility applying to one’s clothes, though, I would likely take the opportunity to wander around in public naked–at least, when it’s warm out.
But why would invisibility apply to tracks? Your foot is still there, still displacing the grass or snow. You would have to be careful that your outline was not spotted in heavy rain, snow, or even fog.
As I tried to intimate before, once you buy into the idea that you could become invisible, why would you want to put restrictions on it? It’s like if you assume you could fly, would it start bothering you whether or not your eyes would water from the wind? Once you start permitting the implausible there’s no real point in holding yourself back due to reasons why you shouldn’t have taken the step to start with.
In case it’s not clear: this is mostly for giggles.
There are a number of people I would revisit and punch squarely in the nuts. Or in the tit, for some of them. I’m keeping a list, just in case the technology ever comes to pass. You don’t want to get on my list ::looks eastward::
I would become a private investigator. I would be the best.
From time to time I would pretend to be someone’s guardian angel. I would just love talking to people who would be as truthful about their lives as possible. I mean, who would lie to a guardian angel?
I would definitely go see what Bill Gates is up to. Then I’d visit Micheal Jackson. I’d make my way to the white house eventually.
I would walk a dog. To see if anyone would figure out that and invisible man is walking the dog and that it’s not a trick leash.
If there is an actual locker room or place where women hang out naked, I would go there.
Hmmmm…any idea on how one could easily make money to sustain a life like this? SO FAR I can’t see being invisible as anything more than a novelty. Everyday life would likely be HARDER. I don’t think we’re taking into account how many times people move to the side as to not collide while walking down the street, etc. You’d have to be INCREDIBLY aware to pull this off.
Rob a bank? They’re going to know the serial numbers of the money you stole. Also, given that you’re likely still subject to the laws of physics, it’s going to be all locked up anyway making it impossible. Even if you COULD get away with it, how are you getting OUT of the bank under intense surveillance?
I honestly don’t see anything you could do to make money while invisible, that you couldn’t do anyway. It just may make it much easier to get away with while invisible.
If I could carry a squirt gun and have it be invisible as well as me, I’d make George Bush appear to wet his pants at a public appearance. Or I’d get Bush and Cheney when they’re alone and slap each one so that they think the other guy did it.