The Telepathy Game

June 17, 2012

The Telepathy Game

Suppose telepathy is possible; that is, human minds can communicate using some mechanism not among the known senses.   There have been lots of suggestions for the mechanism of information transmission and reception, from brain waves of some form, to electromagnetic waves, to quantum effects, and more.  Let’s agree to ignore this part of the story, and simply assume some type of telepathic communication exists in some type of people under some types of circumstances.  We are proposing a thought experiment, something the physicists like to run.

What we consider here are those that may be senders, receivers, both senders and receivers, and neither.   All of the first three categories have something to do with person-to-person interactions; the fourth is not.  A small list follows

• Senders: teachers, preachers, leaders, actors, parents.
• Receivers: students, psychologists, doctors, nurses
• Both senders and receivers: diplomats, politicians
• Neither:  pharmacist, brick layer, artist, laborer, machinist, skilled tradesmen in general, chemist, engineer

There is an entire list of professions at http://www.careerdimension.com/SampleOccupations/FullOccupationList.cfm

You are free to examine and categorize.

We have considered only professions where there may be other mechanisms for the communication.  The foremost of these is anything toward an intuitive sense of what is being communicated.  This can include body language, voice tone, facial expressions,  and level of interaction.  For the most part, these are visual and aural, though other senses could be involved.  Yet, other channels are possible.

Could it be that many are attracted to an occupation where their particular “telepathic” communication is favored?  The neither category is both important and revealing.

Could it be that the Zener cards are exactly the wrong way to test for telepathy?   See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telepathy.  Viewing such cards is substantially passive.  Perhaps what is needed is a test that more profoundly excites the brain to higher energy states.   Examples: fear, anger, love, ...  Yet, conclusions have been made upon the basis of the non-evidence produced by these experiments.

What about telepathic communication where no personal immediacy is involved?  Possibly, two people become so much alike in thinking that they are more likely than not to arrive at similar conclusions and guesses.  At a distance, “telepathic” communication between random individuals is simply not understood.  But this is not to count it out.  The mind is a most powerful tool, and we’ve only scratched the surface of determining its power and depth.