General telepathy

Post Reply New Topic

Good afternoon ladies and gentlefolk.

I have been trying to envision the fundamental differences between a society peopled by individuals with general telepathy (Defined by me as being able to hear what someone is currently thinking at a distance of 1.5 meters)

I ask you to consider two scenarios. In scenario one all of humanity find themselves with general telepathy as of right now. This moment. In scenario two humanity develops telepathy in it's infancy, naturally.

What are the societal and social implications?

In the second scenario how would this have affected our anatomy?

In either scenario would telepathy become the default method of communication for the human race? How would this affect cultural diversity? The development of body language?

Considering the possibility of a lack of general telepathy being considered a disability and some are indeed afflicted with this at birth what could be expected for this child? I imagine in the first scenario there will already a support system as language has indeed already been developed. But in the first?

All opinions are appreciated.

The brain cannot transmit a signal (unaided and unamplified) to a distance receiver. The skull bone blocks too much of the elctromagnetic energy produced by the brain.

In short --- NO telepathy.

ruveyn

What I think is super neat is technology is advancing to the point, special headsets will let us communicate telepathically with each other. It will be kind of like communicating with people online, so you only hear the ones you choose, and they, you. It's not too far in the future this kind of technology will be all around. It's the next great wave. Get in early!

I was quite deliberate in not mentioning the means by which telepathy occurs in this hypothetical situation. I intended this to be a discussion of the possible societal impact telepathy may have, not a discussion on whether telepathy is possible.

They would pull away from friends and family knowing what they really think. Small negative details would disturb them and make relationships in a healthy way impossible.

They would become manipulative, naturally knowing what to say. They would be con men, grifters until finding a place of their own. They would seem charming face to face but would be more alien each year they become more exploitative and dismissive of the ignorant herd that does not know of their gift.

They could pretend to do other psychic activities, John Edwards "ghost talking shows" would be a way a telepath could parrot what they want to hear without needing to talk to ghosts, read fortunes, ect...they could gain money from many avenues. Insider trading, high stakes gambling.

Governments, if it was discovered might find it a security risk. It would make those with Telepathy very dangerous if it was real. Luckily it does not exist.

Every last thing about us is physical. God made us out of Mud.

ruveyn

This is the "Politics, Philosophy and Religion" forum, kid - not the "Fantasy and Science-Fiction" forum.

There is no such thing as "telepathy".

So? Can people stop being killjoys and just try to imagine the hypothetical situation and answer the freaking question? Only one person has actually attempted to do it. It's not that hard to imagine if you could just read each other's thoughts.

Anyway, I guess people would learn to better control their thought processes, and learn to avoid people to prevent them from reading their thoughts. Sex would become even more intimate, as you would be forced to read the other persons thoughts there the process.

I did, read my description above I'm not being a killjoy, I answered your question rather realistically.

I think in scenario one everyone would suddenly be freaked out and think they are losing it. People will think they are hearing voices and get paranoid. Close family members will possibly start to kill each other because they suddenly find out what their spouse, siblings really think of them. LOL.

I think a lot of people will try to get away from everyone else, spend lots of time alone until they get over this new ability.

In scenario two - All people would learn very early to stick to groups of like minded people. Conflicting thoughts will be avoided. But perhaps during teenage years conflicting thoughts will be seen as cool and people may seek out friendships with others who have thoughts contrary to their own. As adults we would settle back to like minded friends. Also, in this scenario the family unit may become fragile as families will break up when it is discovered some have different ideas and thoughts etc.

I don't know how it will affect our anatomy. Unless you mean autonomy - I think it will make us more autonomous.

In the long term, evolutionary change may stop us from talking and we would only use telepathy. However if it only works within 15 meters then perhaps telephones will still be available.

Society could become more group paranoid - meaning groups will form and become paranoid of other groups.

Interesting questions. What are you doing? Writing a book?

You were the one person I was referring to.

its amazing how many people do not comprehend the concept of a hypothetical scenario.

There are two kinds of "hypothetical scenario"

Kind 1. A logically, physically -possible- scenario which is not actual.
Kind 2. A scenario which is either not logically possible or physically possible. Such scenarios are a waste of time.

ruveyn

I wouldn't say they are a waste of time. Stephen King has made a shedload of money out of hypothetical scenarios that are, as far as we know, logically and physically impossible.