Invisibility

[sobrique]

One of the tropes in a TV show is that of the invisible man. It's quite a cool one, all things considered. But one thing's always bothered me about it - in order to be invisible, light has to pass straight through you, unhindered. Glass, for example, can be almost invisible - you see glass because of the dirt on it, or the fact that it's reflective.

But the problem is, your eyes. Your eyes absorb light, in order to feed it into your brain, to turn into an image.
So if you're invisible, you must necessarily also be blind. Because otherwise, the light isn't able to pass straight through you. Even with partial transparency, you'd only be able to 'see' in proportion to the amount of light you let through.

... or am I overthinking it?

Comments

[phyrbyrd.livejournal.com]

Oh, hey, here's a thought. What if you yourself weren't invisible, but your power was in making other people's brains ignore you? A psychomanipulative power, as opposed to a physical one?

[mrph.livejournal.com]

I've seen that one used well in various stories - it functions quite differently from 'traditional' invisibility, as it's no use against robots (or, in some cases, telepaths), but works fine against anyone with enhanced senses who wouldn't necessarily be fooled by 'real' invisibility.

Much more of a villain's power. Great for fun sequences with video recordings too - "but why didn't the security guard react when the guy in the costume walked right up to him... he wasn't exactly sneaking....".

[phyrbyrd.livejournal.com]

What good is a superpower if it doesn't have flaws? No flaw, no story. That's why Superman got ridicululous.