The Nature of Superman's Powers and his Control of Them

This post derives from a question on the imdb boards, and it also relates to Superman’s powers as they are manifested in the world around him. More specifically, I want to briefly examine the everyday physics of Superman.

The question regards the extent of Superman’s powers and the degree to which he has control over them. In some iterations of the character, Superman is always walking on egg-shells; he always has restrain and focus his powers to ensure that he doesn’t harm the people around him or destroy personal property, let alone call unwanted attention to himself. I understand this logic in the narratives it appears in, but I don’t like the types of Superman it allows for. That is, I don’t think Superman should be a character who is always holding back; it just isn’t very exciting. It means that he is a negative character (in the denotative sense) because he has to negate his full spectrum of abilities rather than exert himself. Restraint just isn’t that exciting. It's more intense and dramatic if he has to fully exert himself and really try (in a positive sense).

I would propose that Superman, ideally, has basically normal, human interactions with physics and the material world. What this would mean is that he would not have to TRY to hold himself back most of the time. He would not have to try to walk at a normal speed rather than “walking” at 60 mph, he would not have to try to not crush people when he shakes their hands, etc. Instead, all his powers are “extra-human” capacities that he can use whenever he needs to, but they do not define his everyday interactions. I think his positivistic powers (such as flight, super-strength, heat vision) should be like a muscle, he can use them when he wants to, but they are not “working” when he is in a relaxed state. This system would work best, of course, in the type of world I have previously articulated where his powers are generally toned down (he can lift a house or a tank with some effort, but can’t toss around planets).

This way, he would have to occasionally demonstrate some restraint of his powers during the course of a day, but he wouldn't always have to consciously, proactively focus - - every single second - - on not breaking or destroying things while doing simple, everyday tasks. In turn, I think this would allow him to be a more confident, engaged Clark Kent at the Daily Planet in that he doesn't have to worry (as much) about being competent at his job and therefore being noticed in and around the office a lot because he is not constantly masking his abilities. He is just not using his powers.