Telepathy is the induction of mental states from one mind to another. The term was coined in 1882 by the classical scholar
Fredric W. H. MyersFrederic William Henry Myers was a classical scholar, poet, philosopher, and past president of the Society for Psychical Research.-Early life:...
, a founder of the
Society for Psychical ResearchThe Society for Psychical Research is a non-profit organisation in the United Kingdom. Its stated purpose is to understand "events and abilities commonly described as psychic or paranormal by promoting and supporting important research in this area" and to "examine allegedly paranormal phenomena...
, and has remained more popular than the more-correct expression
thought-transference. Many studies seeking to detect, understand, and utilize telepathy have been done within this field. Claims of telepathy as a real phenomenon are at odds with the scientific consensus. According to the prevailing view among scientists, telepathy lacks replicable results from well-controlled experiments.
Telepathy is a common theme in modern fiction and science fiction, with many
superheroA superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
es and
supervillainA supervillain or supervillainess is a variant of the villain character type, commonly found in comic books, action movies and science fiction in various media.They are sometimes used as foils to superheroes and other fictional heroes...
s having telepathic abilities. In more recent times,
neuroimagingNeuroimaging includes the use of various techniques to either directly or indirectly image the structure, function/pharmacology of the brain...
has allowed researchers to actually perform early forms of
mind readingThought identification refers to the empirically verified use of technology to, in some sense, read people's minds. Recent research using Neuroimaging has provided some early demonstrations of the technology's potential to recognize high-order patterns in the brain...
.
Origins of the concept
According to Roger Luckhurst, the origin of the concept of telepathy (not telepathy itself) in the Western civilization can be tracked to the late 19th century. In his view, science did not frequently concern itself with "the mind" prior to this. As the physical sciences made significant advances, scientific concepts were applied to mental phenomena (e.g.,
animal magnetismAnimal magnetism , in modern usage, refers to a person's sexual attractiveness or raw charisma. As postulated by Franz Mesmer in the 18th century, the term referred to a supposed magnetic fluid or ethereal medium believed to reside in the bodies of animate beings...
), with the hope that this would help understand
paranormalParanormal is a general term that designates experiences that lie outside "the range of normal experience or scientific explanation" or that indicates phenomena understood to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure...
phenomena. The modern concept of telepathy emerged in this historical context.
The notion of telepathy is not dissimilar to two psychological concepts: delusions of thought insertion/removal and psychological symbiosis. This similarity might explain how some people have come up with the idea of telepathy. Thought insertion/removal is a symptom of
psychosisPsychosis means abnormal condition of the mind, and is a generic psychiatric term for a mental state often described as involving a "loss of contact with reality"...
, particularly of
schizophreniaSchizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...
or
schizoaffective disorderSchizoaffective disorder is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a mental disorder characterized by recurring episodes of elevated or depressed mood, or of simultaneously elevated and depressed mood, that alternate with, or occur together with, distortions in perception.Schizoaffective disorder...
. Psychiatric patients who experience this symptom falsely believe that some of their thoughts are not their own and that others (e.g., other people, aliens, or conspiring intelligence agencies) are putting thoughts into their minds (thought insertion). Some patients feel as if thoughts are being taken out of their minds or deleted (thought removal). Along with other symptoms of psychosis, delusions of thought insertion may be reduced by antipsychotic medication.
Psychological symbiosis, on the other hand, is a less well established concept. It is an idea found in the writings of early psychoanalysts, such as
Melanie KleinMelanie Reizes Klein was an Austrian-born British psychoanalyst who devised novel therapeutic techniques for children that had an impact on child psychology and contemporary psychoanalysis...
. It entails the belief that in the early psychological experience of the child (during earliest infancy), the child is unable to tell the difference between his or her own mind, on one hand, and his or her experience of the mother/parent, on the other hand. This state of mind is called psychological symbiosis; with development, it ends, but, purportedly, aspects of it can still be detected in the psychological functioning of the adult. Putatively, the experience of either thought insertion/removal or unconscious memories of psychological symbiosis may have led to the invention of "telepathy" as a notion and the belief that telepathy exists. Psychiatrists and clinical psychologists believe and empirical findings support the idea that people with
schizotypal personality disorderSchizotypal personality disorder, or simply schizotypal disorder, is a personality disorder that is characterized by a need for social isolation, anxiety in social situations, odd behavior and thinking, and often unconventional beliefs.-Genetic:...
are particularly likely to believe in telepathy.
In parapsychology
Within the field of
parapsychologyThe term parapsychology was coined in or around 1889 by philosopher Max Dessoir, and originates from para meaning "alongside", and psychology. The term was adopted by J.B. Rhine in the 1930s as a replacement for the term psychical research...
, telepathy is considered to be a form of
extra-sensory perceptionExtrasensory perception involves reception of information not gained through the recognized physical senses but sensed with the mind. The term was coined by Frederic Myers, and adopted by Duke University psychologist J. B. Rhine to denote psychic abilities such as telepathy, clairaudience, and...
(ESP) or anomalous cognition in which information is transferred through Psi. It is often categorized similarly to
precognitionIn parapsychology, precognition , also called future sight, and second sight, is a type of extrasensory perception that would involve the acquisition or effect of future information that cannot be deduced from presently available and normally acquired sense-based information or laws of physics...
and
clairvoyanceThe term clairvoyance is used to refer to the ability to gain information about an object, person, location or physical event through means other than the known human senses, a form of extra-sensory perception...
. Various experiments have been used to test for telepathic abilities. Among the most well known are the use of
Zener cardZener cards are cards used to conduct experiments for extra-sensory perception , most often clairvoyance. Perceptual psychologist Karl Zener designed the cards in the early 1930s for experiments conducted with his colleague, parapsychologist J. B. Rhine....
s and the
Ganzfeld experimentA ganzfeld experiment is a technique used in the field of parapsychology to test individuals for extrasensory perception . It uses homogeneous and unpatterned sensory stimulation to produce an effect similar to sensory deprivation. The deprivation of patterned sensory input is said to be conducive...
.
Zener cards are cards marked with five distinctive symbols. When using them, one individual is designated the "sender" and another the "receiver". The sender must select a random card and visualize the symbol on it, while the receiver must attempt to determine that symbol using Psi. Statistically, the receiver has a 20% chance of randomly guessing the correct symbol, so in order to demonstrate telepathy, they must repeatedly score a success rate that is significantly higher than 20%. If not conducted properly, this method can be vulnerable to
sensory leakageSensory leakage is a term used to refer to information that transferred to a person by conventional means during an experiment into Psi....
and
card countingCard counting is a casino card game strategy used primarily in the blackjack family of casino games to determine whether the next hand is likely to give a probable advantage to the player or to the dealer. Card counters, also known as advantage players, attempt to decrease the inherent casino house...
.
When using the
Ganzfeld experimentA ganzfeld experiment is a technique used in the field of parapsychology to test individuals for extrasensory perception . It uses homogeneous and unpatterned sensory stimulation to produce an effect similar to sensory deprivation. The deprivation of patterned sensory input is said to be conducive...
to test for telepathy, one individual is designated the receiver and is placed inside a controlled environment where they are
deprived of sensory inputSensory deprivation or perceptual isolation is the deliberate reduction or removal of stimuli from one or more of the senses. Simple devices such as blindfolds or hoods and earmuffs can cut off sight and hearing respectively, while more complex devices can also cut off the sense of smell, touch,...
, and another is designated the sender and is placed in a separate location. The receiver is then required to receive information from the sender. The exact nature of the information may vary between experiments.
Types
ParapsychologyThe term parapsychology was coined in or around 1889 by philosopher Max Dessoir, and originates from para meaning "alongside", and psychology. The term was adopted by J.B. Rhine in the 1930s as a replacement for the term psychical research...
describes several different forms of telepathy, including latent telepathy and precognitive telepathy.
Latent Telepathy, formerly known as "
deferred telepathy", is described as being the transfer of information, through Psi, with an observable time-lag between transmission and receipt.
Retrocognitive, Precognitive, and Intuitive Telepathy is described as being the transfer of information, through Psi, about the past, future or present state of an individual's mind to another individual.
Emotive Telepathy, also known as remote influence or emotional transfer, is the process of transferring kinesthetic sensations through altered states.
Superconscious Telepathy, involves tapping into the superconscious to access the collective wisdom of the human species for knowledge.
Skepticism and controversy
Although not a recognized scientific discipline, people who study certain types of
paranormalParanormal is a general term that designates experiences that lie outside "the range of normal experience or scientific explanation" or that indicates phenomena understood to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure...
phenomena such as telepathy refer to the field as
parapsychologyThe term parapsychology was coined in or around 1889 by philosopher Max Dessoir, and originates from para meaning "alongside", and psychology. The term was adopted by J.B. Rhine in the 1930s as a replacement for the term psychical research...
. Parapsychologists claim that some instances of telepathy are real.
Skeptics say that instances of apparent telepathy are explained as the result of fraud, self-delusion and/or
self-deceptionSelf-deception is a process of denying or rationalizing away the relevance, significance, or importance of opposing evidence and logical argument...
and that telepathy does not exist as a paranormal power.
Parapsychologists and skeptics agree that many of the instances of more popular psychic phenomena, such as
mediumismMediumship is described as a form of communication with spirits. It is a practice in religious beliefs such as Spiritualism, Spiritism, Espiritismo, Candomblé, Voodoo and Umbanda.- Concept :...
, can be attributed to non-paranormal techniques such as
cold readingCold reading is a series of techniques used by mentalists, psychics, fortune-tellers, illusionists, and con artists to determine or express details about another person, often in order to convince them that the reader knows much more about a subject than they actually do...
.
Magicians such as
Ian RowlandIan Rowland is a writer and entertainer who lives in South Croydon, just outside London, England. He is the author of The Full Facts Book of Cold Reading.He regularly gives lectures where he debunks paranormal phenomena....
and
Derren BrownDerren Victor Brown is a British illusionist, mentalist, painter, writer and sceptic. He is known for his appearances in television specials, stage productions and British television series such as Trick of the Mind and Trick or Treat...
have demonstrated techniques and results similar to those of popular psychics, without paranormal means. They have identified, described, and developed psychological techniques of cold reading and
hot readingHot reading is the use of foreknowledge when giving a psychic reading in stage magic performances, or in other contexts. The reader can gain information about the person receiving the reading through a variety of means, such as background research or overhearing a conversation...
.
A technique which shows statistically significant evidence of telepathy on every occasion has yet to be discovered. This lack of reliable reproducibility has led skeptics to argue that there is no credible scientific evidence for the existence of telepathy at all.Charpak, Georges and Henri Broch. Translated by Bart K. Holland.
Debunked!: ESP, Telekinesis, and Other Pseudoscience. The Johns Hopkins University Press (March 25, 2004), ISBN 0801878675
Skeptics also point to historical cases in which flaws in experimental design and occasional cases of fraud were uncovered.
In popular culture
Telepathy is commonly used in fiction, with a number of
superheroA superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
es and
supervillainA supervillain or supervillainess is a variant of the villain character type, commonly found in comic books, action movies and science fiction in various media.They are sometimes used as foils to superheroes and other fictional heroes...
s, as well as figures in many science fiction novels, etc., use telepathy. Notable fictional telepaths include the
JediThe Jedi are characters in the Star Wars universe and the series's main protagonists. The Jedi use a power called the Force and weapons called lightsabers, which emit a controlled energy flow in the shape of a sword, in order to serve and protect the Republic and the galaxy at large from conflict...
in
Star WarsStar Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
. The mechanics of telepathy in fiction vary widely. Some fictional telepaths are limited to receiving only thoughts that are deliberately sent by other telepaths, or even to receiving thoughts from a specific other person. For example, in
Robert A. HeinleinRobert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre. He set a standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of...
's 1956 novel
Time for the StarsTime for the Stars is a science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein published by Scribner's in 1956 as one of the Heinlein juveniles. The basic plot line is derived from a 1911 thought experiment in special relativity, commonly called the twin paradox, proposed by French physicist Paul Langevin...
, certain pairs of twins are able to send telepathic messages to each other. In
A. E. van VogtAlfred Elton van Vogt was a Canadian-born science fiction author regarded by some as one of the most popular and complex science fiction writers of the mid-twentieth century: the "Golden Age" of the genre....
's science fiction novel
SlanSlan is a science fiction novel written by A. E. van Vogt, as well as the name of the fictional race of superbeings featured in the novel. The novel was originally serialized in the magazine Astounding Science Fiction . It was subsequently published in hardcover in 1946 by Arkham House, in an...
, the mutant hero Jommy Cross can read the minds of ordinary humans. Some telepaths can read the thoughts only of those they touch, such as
VulcansVulcans, or sometimes Vulcanians, are an extraterrestrial humanoid species in the Star Trek universe who evolved on the planet Vulcan, and are noted for their attempt to live by reason and logic with no interference from emotion. They were the first extraterrestrial species in the Star Trek...
in the
Star TrekStar Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
media franchise. Star Trek science consultant and writer
André BormanisAndre Bormanis is an American television producer, screenwriter and author of the book Star Trek: Science Logs. Bormanis is most notable for his involvement in the long-running Star Trek franchise, and was the science consultant on Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star...
, has revealed that telepathy within the Star Trek universe works via the "psionic field." According to Bormanis, a psionic field is the "medium" through which unspoken thoughts and feelings are communicated through space. Some
humanoidA humanoid is something that has an appearance resembling a human being. The term first appeared in 1912 to refer to fossils which were morphologically similar to, but not identical with, those of the human skeleton. Although this usage was common in the sciences for much of the 20th century, it...
s can tap into this field through a kind of sense organ located in the brain; in the same manner that
human eyeThe human eye is an organ which reacts to light for several purposes. As a conscious sense organ, the eye allows vision. Rod and cone cells in the retina allow conscious light perception and vision including color differentiation and the perception of depth...
s can sense portions of the
electromagnetic fieldElectromagnetism is one of the four fundamental interactions in nature. The other three are the strong interaction, the weak interaction and gravitation...
, telepaths can sense portions of the psionic field. In the book "Eragon", Eragon can communicate through his mind with almost anyone, including his dragon Saphira, but it is possible to block people from one's mind with a barrier. In the
Harry PotterHarry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...
series by
J. K. RowlingJoanne "Jo" Rowling, OBE , better known as J. K. Rowling, is the British author of the Harry Potter fantasy series...
, telepathy is a magical skill known as Legilimency. In the
John WyndhamJohn Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris was an English science fiction writer who usually used the pen name John Wyndham, although he also used other combinations of his names, such as John Beynon and Lucas Parkes...
novel
The ChrysalidsThe Chrysalids is a science fiction novel by John Wyndham, first published in 1955 by Michael Joseph. It is the least typical of Wyndham's major novels, but regarded by some people as his best...
, the main character and narrator David Strorm is one of a group of nine telepaths. In
Anthony HorowitzAnthony Craig Horowitz is an English novelist and screenwriter. He has written many children's novels, including The Power of Five, Alex Rider and The Diamond Brothers series and has written over fifty books. He has also written extensively for television, adapting many of Agatha Christie's...
's Power of Five series twins Jamie and Scott Tyler were born with telepathic powers that enable them to read people's minds and, ultimately, control them. They always know each other's thoughts, which earns them money doing tricks at a circus in
RenoReno is the fourth most populous city in Nevada, US.Reno may also refer to:-Places:Italy*The Reno River, in Northern ItalyCanada*Reno No...
,
NevadaNevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
, USA.
Some writers view telepathy as the evolutionary destiny of humanity. In Tony Vigorito's novel,
Just a Couple of DaysJust a Couple of Days is the debut novel by author Tony Vigorito. Initially published by a small press in 2001, it has since achieved significant underground success and won Independent Publisher's Best Visionary Fiction Award. It was re-released by Harcourt / Harvest Books in April 2007...
, telepathy emerges across the entire human species as a result of the Pied Piper Virus, which inadvertently eliminates humanity's symbolic capacity. In this instance, telepathy is seen as a latent ability that emerges only when the distractions of language are bypassed.
Some fictional telepaths possess
mind controlMind control refers to a process in which a group or individual "systematically uses unethically manipulative methods to persuade others to conform to the wishes of the manipulator, often to the detriment of the person being manipulated"...
abilities, which can include "pushing" thoughts, feelings, or hallucinatory visions into the mind of another person, causing pain, paralysis, or unconsciousness, altering or erasing memories, or completely taking over another person's mind and body (similar to
spiritual possessionSpirit possession is a paranormal or supernatural event in which it is said that spirits, gods, demons, animas, extraterrestrials, or other disincarnate or extraterrestrial entities take control of a human body, resulting in noticeable changes in health and behaviour...
). Examples of this type of telepath include Professor Xavier,
PsylockePsylocke is a fictional character depicted in comic books published by Marvel Comics, most notably those comics featuring the superhero team the X-Men. The character has also appeared in licensed adaptations. Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Herb Trimpe, she first appeared in the UK...
,
Jean GreyJean Grey-Summers is a fictional comic book superheroine appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. She has been known under the aliases Marvel Girl, Phoenix, and Dark Phoenix and is best known as one of five original members of the X-Men, for her relationship with Cyclops, and for her...
,
Emma FrostEmma Grace Frost is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #129 , and was created by writer Chris Claremont and artist/co-writer John Byrne....
, and numerous other characters in the
Marvel UniverseThe Marvel Universe is the shared fictional universe where most comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Entertainment take place, including those featuring Marvel's most familiar characters, such as Spider-Man, the Hulk, the X-Men, and the Avengers.The Marvel Universe is further...
, along with
Matt ParkmanMatthew "Matt" Parkman, Sr., is a fictional character of the NBC science fiction serial drama Heroes, played by Greg Grunberg. Matt is a police officer, who works for the LAPD and NYPD in Seasons One and Two respectively...
from the television series
HeroesHeroes is an American science fiction television drama series created by Tim Kring that appeared on NBC for four seasons from September 25, 2006 through February 8, 2010. The series tells the stories of ordinary people who discover superhuman abilities, and how these abilities take effect in the...
.
The radio crimefighter
The ShadowThe Shadow is a collection of serialized dramas, originally in pulp magazines, then on 1930s radio and then in a wide variety of media, that follow the exploits of the title character, a crime-fighting vigilante in the pulps, which carried over to the airwaves as a "wealthy, young man about town"...
had "the power to cloud men's minds," which he used to mask his presence from others.
The film
ScannersScanners is a 1981 science-fiction horror film written and directed by David Cronenberg and starring Jennifer O'Neill, Stephen Lack, Michael Ironside, and Patrick McGoohan...
concerns around people born with this kind of telepathy as well as those with telekinetic abilities.
The Urdu novel "
DevtaDevta is a serialized fantasy story written in the Urdu language by Mohiuddin Nawab. It was published monthly for 33 years in the Pakistani magazine Suspense Digest, which is available in Pakistan, India and various parts of world where Urdu is spoken...
" is based on the character of Farhad Ali Taimur, a telepath involved in the fight of good and evil.
Technological enabled mental connections (occasionally seen as a form of 'telepathy' as in the following section, but not usually described using this word) are also present in science fiction, often involving the usage of neural implants of some description. For example,
Robert SilverbergRobert Silverberg is an American author, best known for writing science fiction. He is a multiple nominee of the Hugo Award and a winner of the Nebula Award.-Early years:...
's 1971 story
Tower of GlassTower of Glass is a science fiction novel by Robert Silverberg, published in 1970. It was nominated for the Nebula Award in 1970, and for both the Hugo and Locus awards in 1971.-Plot summary:...
features a technology called a "shunt room" where participants wearing "shunt helmets" are able to probe one another's thoughts, feelings and memories. Another example is the Conjoiners in the
Revelation SpaceRevelation Space is a 2000 science fiction space opera novel by Welsh author Alastair Reynolds. It was the first novel set in the Revelation Space universe, although the then-unnamed universe had already been established by several published short stories....
series by
Alastair ReynoldsAlastair Preston Reynolds is a British science fiction author. He specialises in dark hard science fiction and space opera. He spent his early years in Cornwall, moved back to Wales before going to Newcastle, where he read physics and astronomy. Afterwards, he earned a PhD from St Andrews, Scotland...
. Conjoiners rely on their technological telepathy (referred to by them as "Transenlightenment") to the extent that they no longer actually speak. Certain Conjoiners are able to read, attack and control the minds of other Conjoiners and machines (though not standard humans) using digital attacks, often having similar effects to other telepaths in fiction. More generally, the concept of technological mental connections quite often features in science fiction stories featuring
group mindsA group mind, hive mind or group ego in science fiction is a single consciousness occupying many bodies. Its use in literature goes back at least as far as Olaf Stapledon's science fiction novel Last and First Men ....
, such as the
BorgThe Borg are a fictional pseudo-race of cybernetic organisms depicted in the Star Trek universe associated with Star Trek.Whereas cybernetics are used by other races in the science fiction world to repair bodily damage and birth defects, the Borg use enforced cybernetic enhancement as a means of...
in
Star TrekStar Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
.
See also a composite list of fictional characters with telepathy.
Technologically enabled telepathy
Recent BCI toys like those developed by
NeuroSkyNeuroSky, Inc. is a manufacturer of Brain-Computer Interface technologies for consumer product applications. It was founded in 2004 and is a Silicon Valley based company. The company claims that their mission is to make BCI technology available to any industry...
have brought real life telepathy to the general public. The MindFlex made by
MattelMattel, Inc. is the world's largest toy company based on revenue. The products it produces include Fisher Price, Barbie dolls, Hot Wheels and Matchbox toys, Masters of the Universe, American Girl dolls, board games, and, in the early 1980s, video game consoles. The company's name is derived from...
in collaboration with NeuroSky was even ranked in Time Magazines top 100 toys of all time . In this game the player floats a ball by concentrating on it; an electroencephalogram is used to judge the persons level of concentration through direct measurement of the electrical activity in their brain, this headset then communicates with a platform controlling the speed of a fan and thus the ball.
In 2011 a Guinness Book of World Records category was created for BCI based telepathy. The NeuroSky
MindWaveNeuroSky, Inc. is a manufacturer of Brain-Computer Interface technologies for consumer product applications. It was founded in 2004 and is a Silicon Valley based company. The company claims that their mission is to make BCI technology available to any industry...
was awarded it for the, “Heaviest machine moved using a brain control interface”.
Futurists think that brain-computer interfaces may make telepathy possible. There has already been progress in connecting brains with machines, and a man-machine-man bridge is considered very possible. And if man-machine-man bridges can be made, then such a link can be achieved over great distances using Internet.
Technologically enabled telepathy is also called "
techlepathy," "
synthetic telepathy," or "
psychotronics."
Some people, occasionally referred to by themselves or others as "
transhumanistsTranshumanism, often abbreviated as H+ or h+, is an international intellectual and cultural movement that affirms the possibility and desirability of fundamentally transforming the human condition by developing and making widely available technologies to eliminate aging and to greatly enhance human...
", believe that technologically enabled telepathy is a technology that humans should pursue in order to improve themselves.
Kevin WarwickKevin Warwick is a British scientist and professor of cybernetics at the University of Reading, Reading, Berkshire, United Kingdom...
of the
University of ReadingThe University of Reading is a university in the English town of Reading, Berkshire. The University was established in 1892 as University College, Reading and received its Royal Charter in 1926. It is based on several campuses in, and around, the town of Reading.The University has a long tradition...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
is one of the leading proponents of this view and has based all of his recent
cyberneticsCybernetics is the interdisciplinary study of the structure of regulatory systems. Cybernetics is closely related to information theory, control theory and systems theory, at least in its first-order form...
research around developing technology for directly connecting human nervous systems together with computers and with each other. He believes techno-enabled telepathy will in the future become the primary form of human communication.
See also
- Abhijna
Abhijñā has been translated generally as "knowing," "direct knowing" and "direct knowledge" or, at times more technically, as "higher knowledge" and "supernormal knowledge." In Buddhism, such knowing and knowledge is obtained through virtuous living and meditation...
, the Buddhist "higher knowledges", the third of which is "Mind-penetrating knowledge".
- Alice Bailey
Alice Ann Bailey , known as Alice A. Bailey or AAB to her followers, was an influential writer and theosophist in what she termed "Ageless Wisdom". This included occult teachings, "esoteric" psychology and healing, astrological and other philosophic and religious themes...
- Body language
Body language is a form of non-verbal communication, which consists of body posture, gestures, facial expressions, and eye movements. Humans send and interpret such signals almost entirely subconsciously....
or kinesicsKinesics is the interpretation of body language such as facial expressions and gestures — or, more formally, non-verbal behavior related to movement, either of any part of the body or the body as a whole.-Birdwhistell's work:...
, another form of paralinguistics.
- Extended mind
The Extended Mind is a book in the field of philosophy of mind edited by Richard Menary. It contains several papers by different philosophers....
, the concept that things frequently used by the mind become part of it.
- Lady Wonder
Lady Wonder was a horse that was purported to have psychic abilities. Over 150 thousand people came to consult the horse at the price of three questions for one dollar...
, a horse that appeared to answer questions.
- List of parapsychology topics
- Magnetoencephalography
Magnetoencephalography is a technique for mapping brain activity by recording magnetic fields produced by electrical currents occurring naturally in the brain, using arrays of SQUIDs...
, measuring the magnetic fields produced by electrical activity in the brain.
- Mentalist, claims to manipulate and change spiritual reality.
- Morphic resonance
- Neural oscillation, a concept measured as brain waves.
- Precognition
In parapsychology, precognition , also called future sight, and second sight, is a type of extrasensory perception that would involve the acquisition or effect of future information that cannot be deduced from presently available and normally acquired sense-based information or laws of physics...
, a form of extra-sensory perception involving seeing future events.
- Quantum pseudo-telepathy
Quantum pseudo-telepathy is a phenomenon in quantum game theory resulting in anomalously high success rates in coordination games between separated players. These high success rates would require communication between the players in a purely classical world; however, the game is set up such that...
, apparent telepathy as a result of quantum entanglement.
- Velostat
Velostat is a packaging material impregnated with carbon black to make it electrically conductive. It is used for the protection of items or devices that are prone to damage from electrostatic discharge. It was developed by Custom Materials, now part of 3M....
, a purported insulator.
- Telepathy Simulating Toys and Games
External links