SOMETHING IN MIND

Chapter 4: Using and Understanding Science Fiction Nomenclature.
Psionics in Science Fiction by: G.F.WILLMETTS

I psi with my mind's eye...

Previous chapters have examined the limits of space travel where we have barely taken the first steps beyond Earth's atmosphere and think it's a great step forward.

Time travel looks theoretically impossible for anything but a one-way forward trip. The impression from this must surely be that Science Fiction deals largely with the current impossible or to make an allegorical social point than anything to do with real science.

As such, Extra-Sensory Perception (ESP) or Psionics, the next big stalwart of SF, could easily fall into both categories despite there being some belief in its existence by SF and non-SF fans alike.

Despite allegations to the contrary, there has been little conclusive evidence to suggest this is only a minor talent in our reality. ESP appears, at most, to be a quasi-phenomenon with many people wishing or faking its existence and a small minority capable of only rudimentary gifts in that direction.

In Science Fiction, such powers are increased a thousandfold to depict the next stage of Mankind's evolution. The logic being that with the limits of physical development reached, the only thing left is the evolution of senses and abilities that can be directed by the brain alone.

Comparative anatomy shows that Man's brain is far more complex for its size than its forebears to sustain such claims that it must be leading towards greater brain-power.

A fertile ground for any SF author to consider the implications and has had much written about over the years. Such stories have generally focused on either the alienation Psionic powered people have from the ordinary Man to using these abilities to saving the Earth/galaxy/universe.

ESP or Psionic people are generally depicted as being normal other than their gift because it makes it easier for them to relate to the reader. If anything, it's seen too much as a springboard for adventure rather than the consideration of how much it changes the individual Psionic inside.

Where this subject is tackled, it is from the point of view that such powers are likely to corrupt the individual making them mad or tyrannical rather than the burden or handicap they pose in other than a social way.

In many respects, this kind of superiority places the Psionic human at a disadvantage in a normal society. The ability to perceive other people's thoughts would make any person without such an ability automatically inferior and at a disadvantage. The sighted man in a blind society will always have the advantage but doesn't necessarily mean he wants to rule them.

The reason why the term Psionics, derived from the word psychic, is preferred here to the classical term is that it covers all abilities of the mind. Extra-Sensory Perception, ESP, in its most broadest sense, is seen only as using abilities beyond the conventional five physical senses. Telekinesis, or psychokinesis, is seen more as physical manipulation of matter without the use of a physical body.

As this chapter will explain, there is a grey area between both sorts of talents that needs to be addressed that would indicate this is all a manifestation of the same ability rather than have an exact dividing line.

This chapter will look at an approach to Psionic ability and attempt to throw some light on the range of abilities and how they all connect together. It is this author's contention that we've all been victims of dogmas about Psionics over the years that has clouded both stories and the reality of this ability.

Although there will be a lot of supposition here, largely because there is little substantial proof or serious analysis of the relationship between various Psionic abilities, please treat any theories, in this instance, as open to discussion and debate.

This area of Science Fiction is still wide open for any viable interpretation but you need to think as well as absorb information on this subject if you want to use it in your stories when you're drawing your own conclusions.

As an SF author, your main concern is to make any theory plausible that you choose to use. My interpretation is based on what I have read on the subject and been applying to my own Psi-Kicks stories together with the failure of scientists to get repeat experiments under laboratory conditions.

It will also illustrate some of the problems that have to be resolved if you're going to attempt to explain how your character's psionic abilities work within a story context. SF authors tend to accept such abilities are there within their stories but knowledge opens up all possibilities for trying something new.

The brain is the most complex organ of the human body, possessing in excess of 10 billion nerve cell connections. It has sections deliberately set up to analyse information about the world received by the senses combined with a memory comparing new information with old.

The conscious mind makes judgement calls about this information, deciding what can be ignored or implement action. Failure to make 'good' value judgements is more dependent on the individual genetic 'wiring' of each brain as much as ethical upbringing.

Imaginative thought is essentially playing through the actions of an imagined scenario. Creativity is physical interpretation for others to appreciate. This last bit is probably what has stirred your desire to write Science Fiction. Using electroencephalography (EEG), the brain has been noted for yielding 4 main electro-magnetic wave patterns.

Alpha waves indicate the brain's relaxed state. Beta waves indicate sensory motor activities of the brain. Delta waves only appear in deep sleep. Theta wave relates to creative thought. Although EEG records their function, they are only noted as pulse waves the brain generates and little work has really been done with any but Alpha waves.

The presence of Theta waves has no real bearing on any 'quality' creative work an individual is capable of performing, just records that they exist. In short, the brain is continually very active whether we are awake or sleep. Even dreams are seen as a means to process the day's activities and prepare for another day.

Sleep deprivation makes Humans edgy, irritable and border-line psychotic the longer it continues. Drugs mainly cause the brain to hallucinate or become irresponsible and reckless. Medications to help the brain appear to be devoted to making it dull rather than extra-bright.

As the seat of conscious thought, Man is reckless in how he takes care of his brain, subjecting it to all manner of narcotics and violence that even the least intelligent animal would seek to avoid. Intelligence obviously does not go along with commonsense in the superior animal!

On an evolutionary scale, Man is currently the ultimate link and end of the food chain on Earth. He is the ultimate adaptable predator and tool-maker, capable of changing the world to suit his own needs. There is no other terrestrial species sitting on the side-lines waiting to supersede us as there were with mammals in the dinosaurs reign.

Evolution is giving intelligence a chance to show it as a stronger survival trait than anything else tried in the past. A failure here and intelligence as we know it, other than rudimentary ability, isn't likely to surface from any other species on Earth any time soon.

In SF terms, author Daniel Goulaye's novelette Project: Barrier speculates that bears would become our intellectual replacements when we leave the Earth. David Brin's The Uplift War novel indicates it will be up to Man himself to jump-start further evolutionary rise in dolphins and gorillas.

Neither gave thought to Man's own further evolution. When thoughts are directed to what direction Man's own next evolutionary step will take, the speculation has always been Psionics. Physically, the bipedal humanoid shape isn't likely to change much on Earth, showing itself capable of adapting to all current environments. [Body shape alternatives will be discussed further in Chapter 11: Predator Be Thy Name.]

An examination of brain evolution in mammals clearly indicates that Man is at the forefront of development. Anything new will really come from our species stock than any other animal. Is it any wonder that if Man is the leader of physical manipulation that manipulating matter or energy with the power of our thought is considered the next evolutionary step?

It has been suspected for a number of years that some people have exhibited certain Psionic abilities. Continuous runs of good or bad luck that exceed probability chances. Communication at a distance without the use of any mechanical device. Visitations of dying relatives at a distance.

The ability to describe events from the past and present with no prior knowledge or future before they happen. The dowsing of water or metal with nothing but a twig in the hand. It doesn't happen to everybody, but with a wide genetic pool, evolution tends to play its cards and have something available for a time when any gap has to be exploited to ensure a species genes are passed onto the next generation.

Many Psionic based stories have used 'sports', early mutants than have a ready-made new species using these highly advanced powers. Most of these Psionic abilities in our reality have been dismissed as either conjuring tricks at worse or defies repeatable laboratory statistical analysis.

The subjects tire from doing thousands of repeated tests to give evidence that can be understood statistically. Given the circumstances, this is hardly surprising.

A survival talent isn't likely to surface in non-threatening circumstances continually. Premonitions of major disasters are always announced afterwards but there is never a joint recall of events from various psychics that would exceed such a low probability.

Neither, for that matter, is there, to my knowledge, any public organisation set up to record premonitions in that event. This wouldn't really work either. On a statistical basis, a none-Psionic could announce danger for any event and would be proven right eventually.

One only has to look at how many people believe in Nostradamus' vague forecasts to realise belief and interpretation over-rides actual power. Conclusive proof would only be acceptable, based on how much detail could be provided before hand, and guarantee that the psychic could do the same thing again.

Many Psionic abilities exhibited tend to be reflexive to extreme circumstances - something that can hardly be recorded in the laboratory. It has been suggested that we are using some element of Psionic ability all the time but unless something spectacular happens aren't even aware of its use.

As such, statistical prediction or telepathic declaration of runs of cards hardly seems an appropriate way to demonstrate such gifts. This author wonders how the statisticians chose their subjects in the first place, let alone ignore using non-Psionics to compare results.

Hardly the use of a good scientific method. Any testing should really be done in a manner that reflects its real use than unlikely laboratory situations. In his book, How We Know What Isn't So, Thomas Gilovich gives rational argument regarding statistical coincidence that someone somewhere is bound to declare an international disaster happening before it occurs.

On a people scale, there would need to be many people reporting identically the same disaster accurately to refute this sort of coincidence. It seems most unlikely that anyone would predict an event where there was no personal involvement for personal survival. Even here, newspapers are forever noting people who just missed trains or aeroplanes and crashes, forgetting that people missing transport is a regular occurrence anyway.

All rudimentary abilities possessed by organic beings are designed for one thing: Survival. As such, Psionics in Man's current development can only be considered as needed for the individual's welfare than as parlour games. Laboratory testing might obtain a few good results but would account for the fall-off rate when it won't enhance the subject's safety.

Alfred Bester's Tiger, Tiger (US title: The Stars My Destination) has a rather novel approach to providing this extreme interest in a subject's welfare. They were placed under a falling hydraulic press to see if they can teleport to safety with a consequence of a fall off in volunteers for obvious reasons.

Hardly a good way to acquire such 'volunteers' in the real world. Scientists are also habitually looking for a single ability rather than consider that they might all be linked together with its user only exhibiting the most required recognised talent. Pigeon-holing is often Man's way of categorisation but not necessary a reflection of the real world.

With media indoctrination, including SF, towards specific terms this is hardly surprising. As our physical senses inter-link to provide a wider perception of our environment, it's highly likely that Psionic ability uses a similar wider linked spectrum. Any with limited Psionic abilities could almost be regarded as being handicapped.

This same limit might also prevent the brain being over-whelmed making sense of all the information that's being received. As a survival mechanism, only the unconsciously selected appropriate talent would appear to surface for use, rather than a lot of useless information. This assumes that the brain is picking up all such information unconsciously all the time.

Having taken all of the above into account, where does this leave us? The brain, for all intents and purposes, is a limited range wave generator and receiver. Through the physical senses, a limited part of the electromagnetic spectrum can be interpreted through the eyes, sound waves through the ears, smell and taste providing knowledge about edibility and touch gauging anything from texture to weight.

Psionics takes this to another plane in interpretation data the brain receives directly. Unhindered by physical limitations, the range is therefore much wider for different sorts of information. The difficulty is interpreting it in ways similar to how are regular senses interpret the world.

If the brain can also send signals the same way, then there is a two-way relationship between it and the environment. Before we go any further, we need to consider the form Psionic projection can take.

Apart from the 'brainwaves' noted above, there is nothing obvious generated that someone could label 'a Psionic wave front', let alone capable of projecting and receiving from beyond the body. The brain does produce other brainwave signals, but like the four common ones have a very limited range and EEG recording them takes some amplification.

To project externally would require an organic generator out of proportion to what we currently know about the brain capable of projecting and receiving electro-magnetic radiation.

One only has to compare the human brain to that of, say, a dolphin, to realise certain lobes of our brain are simply not developed for such work. As some Psionic ability appears to be going on, we might be making the wrong assumption that brain activity has to resemble any amplification device that we can mechanically make.

Most mechanical devices based on nature rarely resemble or work the way organic source does. Nature requires smaller energy resources for the work it does. Let's dig into some elementary Quantum Mechanics. Under certain conditions, a typical atom consists of a nucleus of protons and neutrons surrounded by electrons and at least some 300 lesser particles.

The atom can be observed as being particle-like in nature. Under different conditions, the atom is recorded purely as a wave front, largely because none of its parts stay still long enough to be recorded - that's the basis of Werner Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle.

This led to some extended arguments between Ernest Rutherford and Niels Bohr who both independently discovered the atom's dual nature. Ultimately, they decided that atoms lie in a quasi-state between these two extremes. Particle accelerators do get solid results.

Passing particles through a diffraction pattern had less than predictable results as to which slot they would pass through. This is only a brief simplification. Scientists are still trying to work out the common-bond that the two states and assorted radiations into a single Unified Theory.

All this may have some relevance as to what makes up the sentient mind's ability to receive, control or manipulate Psionic based information before we even get to macro-size world. The rules of the universe at Quantum levels are different to us in the macro-size world.

Atoms are, after all, most empty spaces and we're decidedly solid, despite being composed of them. It is the interaction of these internal 'particles' combined with electro-magnetic effects, no matter how weak, that makes what we see as gaseous, liquid or solid matter depending on their overall dispersion.

The synchronisation of matter in phase is the reason why we don't fall through the floor or walk through walls. It is the overall cohesiveness of matter that governs what we can and can't move through. We can walk through steam with no effort.

Moving through water requires effort to fight buoyancy and drag. Ice can be as tough as any brick wall and only a change in its state by smashing or increase of temperature, can it be breached. At the atomic level, one has to consider what and how Psionic information is passed.

When the term 'energy' is used, it refers to electromagnetic radiation. The penetrative power of which depends on the wavelength. Radio waves are mostly harmless and used to carry messages. The discharge from radioactive material is more particle-like in nature.

Alpha radiation is positively-charged Helium atom nuclei and being relatively heavy don't penetrate far. Beta radiation is composed of electrons, and negatively charged, and penetrate matter many times further that Alpha before stopping. Gamma or X-ray radiation, having no particles or charge, causes destruction by kicking electrons and Beta radiation, from atoms.

As Gamma radiation is carried with Beta, there is a build-up of destructive potential if left unchecked or barriers using dense material like lead, to stop its progress. Gamma radiation is potentially fatal to life. Please don't confuse the names of this radiation with the names given to the EEG brainwave generation.

The labels are quite arbitrary and have nothing in common with each other. What you should be asking by now is just what does this physics and atomic theory lesson have to do with Psionics? If the brain is generating an electro-magnetic wavelength that is capable of penetrating matter, then it should be detectable. It would be a little difficult not to miss.

As only Gamma radiation has any penetrative ability but is destructive and not likely to be used, just what process is being used by someone possessing Psionic ability? You could argue that maybe modern day instrumentation isn't sensitive enough to pick up finer radiations - whatever they are. Gamma radiation wavelengths are 10-8 metres long. Any radiation shorter than that is equally destructive.

At the other end of the electromagnetic spectrum, beyond infra-red we have radiowaves and anything picked up by them would be too vague for interpretation. Radar, which is in this range, can only determine position and size, it can't do much about mass or detail. It's also easily detectable and any human generating such potential is likely to be making him or herself, not to mention anyone in close proximity, extremely sick.

Even conventional radar is kept away from people to prevent because of this effect. In case anyone is going to remind me about dolphins. The sonar signals they generate are largely insulated by the water medium from causing any harm. If energy patterns are being transmitted or received, it's not using any route our current instrumentation is capable of tracking.

The energy needed for the brain to pulse an electromagnetic wave would be recordable and the heat generated alone likely to fry the user's brain. It would also have all the limitations of our regular senses and be stopped by solid matter. Any evidence presented related to Psionic abilities so far apparently defies using the electromagnetic spectrum as a means to channel information. Scientists have enough problems defining demonstrable Psionic abilities, let alone what makes them tick.

However, at Quantum levels, we might have an automatic awareness of other energy levels and their influence on the world but the route of such sources is beyond anything we can currently understand. Everything relates to everything else and some individuals might be in tune, sensitive or in syncrosity with these events that, on occasion, can be interpreted at a conscious level.

There are examples of twins sharing a syncrosity with each other to suggest that there is a definitive level of awareness existing. As most of us are unlike, such mental contact is likely to be limited. The chances of coming across a true 'soul mate' isn't impossible but statistically rare. If you're choosing electromagnetic radiation as your source for Psionic talent, then you're going to need something plausible to explain these problems and your solution.

That's not to say it's impossible to do, but this chapter is not designed to give you all the answers. When it comes to unknown sources, imagination is free. Declaring an unknown electromagnetic radiation source is simply impossible, contrary to Star Trek mythology, as we know what they are and what they do.

Any new radiation would be unlikely to have any effect that is likely to cause sustained harm. Let's go back to the most important mechanism in this discussion: the brain. No matter how the information is received, there are three functions the brain can do: Awareness, deduction and manipulation.

Awareness is receiving information from the senses directly into the brain. Deduction is the function of the brain in understanding the information received. Manipulation is reacting back to the world based on the information received. These same functions have to apply to Psionic talent.

The fact that some people have limited access to Psionic ability suggests that the ability is rudimentary or one of these functions is not working correctly or a combination of both. Although this might account for Extra-Sensory Perception, it fails to take into account the energy/matter manipulation associated with telekinesis.

It can't be ignored as telekinesis is the basis for returning signals to the exterior world, probably by a similar process to ESP. Without some knowledge of what is being picked up or manipulated, the user would have no idea whether any movement is successful or not.

This is the physical equivalent of picking up a bottle of mercury with padded gloves and a blindfold on and wondering what it is. Regarding ESP and telekinesis as separate entities therefore appears inaccurate. Observations indicate nature would rather go for the simplest option than anything overtly complicated of having twin abilities where one will do.

It is easier to have a single function with dual functions. The following is this author's theory for their connection. As we are in a speculative area, your ideas are as probably as valid as my own, providing you also account for the same problems. Let's consider the definition of telepathy. The ability to project your thoughts into someone else's brain so that they can understand what you're 'talking' about without using speech.

This is based on the fact that we can think to ourselves non-verbally and assume the same technique can pass messages to other people. The mechanism involved actually 'manipulates' a second brain to receive and that means telekinesis.

The level of manipulation is probably not equivalent to raising a set of keys off the dressing table, but is probably as great in its own way. With another brain having a similar wavelength to your own, there would be less effort in 'tuning them' in to the signals you're dispatching. It is unlikely another brain would automatically tune in without possessing similar abilities.

Even then, it would need to know a message was coming amongst all the other psionic-based information it is continually receiving. If both brains can do the same thing, then mental communication is possible without necessarily having to do anything but direct messages.

A good example of this 'one-way traffic' was performed in Robert Silverberg's novel Dying Inside with neither character being truly telepathic, although they had an awareness of each receiving the other's message. I use the term 'brain pattern' in a subjective way.

If we assume that each brain is capable of having its own individual brain pattern, then a Psionic's brain must act like an oscillating generator to match the contact person's brain for syncrosity. Without this ability, other people would also pick up same private messages.

The telepathic Psionic's brain would be acting like a step-up or step-down transformer to hook up. If the brain can send orders to another brain, then before telepathy, mind domination must be considered as a higher Psionic function. Similar Psionic endowed people would allow such control to go only so far for passing messages.

A normal human would have serious problems accepting not always being in control of themselves, providing they remember it. A good example of mental control is given by Andrew McGee in Stephen King's novel Firestarter who could convince or push anyone he chose to do his will.

In our own reality, there are many people around who have no difficulty in getting other people to do tasks for them that could be a latent demonstration of this ability. Depiction of telepathy in SF material favours hearing someone else's voice inside your head. It's graphic and easy to understand as information is related in words.

The problem is that speaking is very slow considering how quickly the human brain works. Time some paragraphs at think speed and compare to the time it takes to say them. Unhindered by any breathing rhythm, they're bound to be faster. With the ability to visualise and project an image, the mind can project more information than speaking alone can do.

It's the equivalent of being hooked up to a video recorder instead of a record player. The image technique was used in John Wyndham's novel The Chrysalids. Alfred Bester attempted to illustrate a simultaneous telepathic conversation between several telepaths in The Demolished Man but only ended up indicating the limits of paper for such techniques.

You still had to take your time reading each thought. Passing telepathic messages is one thing, but it is extremely more complicated to recognise and pick out an individual's memories. The human brain stores a life-time of memories that even it is incapable of bringing up the right memory required. It seems less likely an intruding telepath could do any better.

The telepath is better off getting the subject to bring memories into conscious thought by verbal or telepathic communication and then share the information than try to find them himself. The brain generates an electrical voltage of some 0.00015 volts and has no discernible reach beyond the skull. To cause any change in this voltage involves direct physical contact and evidence has been made to support this.

Under those circumstances, telepathy or mind domination hardly seems practical, although it has been shown there is a difference of electrical potential shared when a man touches a plant. What either human or plant makes of this information has yet to be discovered. One could surmise that this charge could be carried across other objects between the two reciprocals but the fall-off would make this extremely minute for continuous traffic let alone an unspoken conversation.

A side-effect of mind domination is the possibility to place your thoughts into someone else's head, then it should be possible to move the entire personality as well. Although some authors have favoured switching personalities between bodies, like for example in the Wildcards Books 8-10 (ed: George R.R. Martin plus miscellaneous writers), this would be too complicated in a survival situation.

Octavia Butler's character Doro, in her novel, Mind Of My Mind, readily destroyed any personality within the body when he took occupation. A far easier option than switching them over. This draws some interesting questions as to what actually constitutes a personality, let alone a soul. If memories constitute the main part of the personality and they can be transferred, then it provides a rather unique level of immortality.

A.E. Van Vogt's character, Gilbert Gosseyn, in his Null-A novels had an immortality of sorts by having his memories transferred across a series of clone bodies that ensured the survival of the personality. Using telekinesis to explain how projecting telepathy probably works doesn't give the whole story for mind-over-matter. The influence on matter in the physical world is a million times greater and as complicated as reading minds.

To physically lift an object requires defying air pressure and gravity. These same restrictions have to apply to telekinesis. It would require a considerable display of energy that could be registered on any of our current instrumentation. The odd film footage, assuming it wasn't faked, displaying telekinetic control demonstrating sudden shifts of objects rather than the leisurely approach that TV series and films use with their strings.

This suggests a different order of metaphysics and molecular manipulation that borders on teleportation. It can only be an assumption that should telekinesis be possible that the order of movement would be at a Quantum level speed with physical matter following its path at an equal rate.

Given this example, then the movement of energy, such as with pyrokinesis - the control of ignition and fire, would be easier than with more dense objects. This brings us to a rather grey area called poltergeist activity. This has ranged from troubled adolescents being present when lights unexplainably flicker, clocks moving at an accelerated rate and objects flung across the room to places where some people feel as though 'someone has walked over their grave'.

With the first, assuming not all of them have been faked, there is the possibility that adolescent hormones, from the pituitary and pineal glands in the brain, could be releasing some telekinetic disturbances under the right conditions. There has been no attempt to test what would happen should these glands continue being over-active after puberty as they are likely to have a detrimental effect on body growth.

It brings an uneasy question mark and reminder that the human brain is still at the most rudimentary level of Psionic development. Certain places providing such sensitivity isn't unusual and there have been recorded repeat phenomena by different people. Speculation here suggests latent energy sensitive to certain people of the same 'wavelength'.

This would account for watching past events in so-called 'time-shifts', seeing ghosts, etc. The area itself carrying the residue of previous energy movement. Such effects are more likely to be borderline clairvoyance or premonition and part of the same ability. This might not bring too much bearing on telekinesis other than suggest that latent energy might be manipulated by the brain that can sense it.

As a manipulator, the brain would need only to direct energy/matter than create actual effects. Such ability would have limitations but would fit some of the patterns we've seen in our own world. Levitation is an alternative name for telekinesis usually used to signify that the user is lifting his or her own body weight than moving objects.

Although scientists have been rather serious about the possibilities of a graviton particle that keeps matter together, the absence of such particles would have you flying off into space. The super-hero use of flight requires control of these graviton particles but all they really provide is lift rather than momentum. Any forward or backward momentum will depend entirely on a swimming action or projection is a chosen selection.

Cancelling inertia - the mass of the object dictating how far it can be moved - would again have the user flying unheeded into space. Control would have to be maintained if survival is assured. Superman or any of the other flying super-heroes would hardly look so dynamic doing the stroke or butterfly rushing to the rescue and might be too tired to do anything on arrival.

Some scientists have speculated that any Psionic talent would be operating all the time. People who continually experience good or bad luck may actually be demonstrating Psionic ability. The measure of fortune has to be flexible to circumstance. Is the good luck good to you? Is bad luck actually good to you in the long run?

Does missing a certain event now mean you're in a better position for something later? Does someone going through a series of bad luck but surviving really be experiencing bad luck? As a survival factor, luck is staying alive. To define it as either good or bad is limiting such an ability's potential. It's all a matter of perspective.

There have been too many incidences of 'coincidence' to dismiss this totally out of hand as not being a Psionic influence of choice. Of all the Psionic talents, teleportation has probably caught the most imagination of SF authors. It solves many problems in moving a distance almost instantaneously when no other vehicle is available.

If such an ability was used by other members of the animal kingdom, then there would be a fair bet that we could either develop our own ability or create a mechanical device duplicating the feat. As they don't, such abilities would probably be restricted to more advanced or developed species to attain. Teleportation, by definition, is the near instantaneous movement in space from one place to another, by-passing any material space in between.

If it follows the route indicated by telekinesis as being instantly done, there wouldn't be any elaborate disintegration or reintegration of the body components. Author Larry Niven, in his book, All The Myriad Ways, points out the problems here in regard to planetary revolution where the teleporter has to take into account momentum and materialises frozen or incinerated by heat.

There is also a problem of what you're doing when teleporting. If you're running then the velocity would be maintained and you'll be hoping that you don't stumble or run into a wall. Whether this energy could be exploited by the teleporter is undecided. A mechanised teleportation device would probably be built to compensate or use these problems.

One can only hope the organic versions are equally versatile. For any practical purposes, it isn't enough to just teleport. The talent also requires the ability to navigate. A.E. Van Vogt's The World Of Null-A and it's sequels limit teleportation (called 'similarisation' as it predates the formal term) to only being able to teleport to previously visited destinations.

Should an alternative choice be made, the importance of establishing your teleporter has more than a single ability operating as some sort of omnipresence awareness would be needed to arrive safely. Author Vernor Vinge's novel The Witling has an alien species with the natural ability to teleport. Planetary momentum distortions are normally compensated for by not teleporting too far at a time and using water pools to absorb the excessive energy.

These teleporters still had to travel to these points first before teleporting to them. The fact that Vinge addresses the problems that Niven indicated is a clear indication to any neo-SF writer that any problem can have solutions if they are thought about deeply enough.

Whatever the system, teleportation will be either manipulating or using vast amounts of energy that makes conventional telekinesis pale by comparison. As such, it should be regarded as the most extreme powerful ability that telekinesis will reach. Telekinesis, by definition, covers such a wide range of abilities that its use can be qualified by defining the difference of moving a compass needle to using a sledgehammer.

If this follows the physical difference in humans, then it is conceivable that no telekinetic will have the full range of abilities and may have a limited range. As such, these limitations are more in the order of 'mental gears' than overall control. Conventionally, the brain will select a control that has the least energy depletion for its own survival.

A choice that leaves the user continually drained and in danger from enemies is a poor survival option, although this is entirely upto how the DNA tumbles. Until such abilities stabilise themselves in the genetic pool, odd varieties of Psionic talent are likely to be spasmodic.

After the above assertion, I'm sure I've put a lot of the current professional SF authors minds at ease with their Psionic stories and worried many others. From energy/matter manipulation, we can now examination true Extra-Sensory Perception.

By definition, it enables the Psionic to perceive energy flow/matter movement but can't interact with it. This doesn't necessarily conflict with theories that the observer can affect events themselves. It does suggest that the scan is too weak to have a detrimental or positive effect on the observed environment.

The most confusedly defined ability is clairvoyance as a side talent of Distance or Remote Viewing. Clairvoyance covers an ability to see past and current events at a distance. Distance Viewing - as described by those employed by the CIA to use this talent, is only concerned with seeing events within the same time frame.

Technically, this is still clairvoyance without the temporal shift. Precognition is the term used to see future events only. Again, this is another variation of Distance Viewing but into a vision of future probability. Whether events are likely to fall into this pattern depends on whether the current factors leading up to it will remain unchanged by being known.

There is no collective term for such a talent, despite their similarities. Bearing in mind previous descriptions, it is highly probable that these are facets of a single ability with sensitivity to only one of its three forms by its user.

We are now back in the territory previously discussed in the last chapter regarding the movement of time. Spatial and temporal movement is dependent on the flow of energy and matter. Assuming there is nothing out in the universe to contradict his law, Anton Lavoisier's Conservation of Energy law states: Matter and energy cannot be created or destroyed, only its form can be changed. It means there is a limited quantity of matter and energy in the universe.

It is possible that through means as yet unknown, the brain can perceive such past or present movements by their quantum energy pattern. Although the actual mechanism of clairvoyance might be acceptable, the act of premonition isn't. To foretell a future event depends on so many factors coming together at a particular time.

The flow of time might indicate an event has a high probability of happening regardless of other events but there's no guarantee that a Psionic would be focusing on it or that it will happen once announced.

Unless future events are pre-ordained and matter rushes in to fill them, regardless of who or what, the patterns aren't likely to exist. Demonstrations in our reality have rarely had much precision. Buildings and places have been known to be accurately described, but 'seeing' or tracking people's movements or even reading documents has not.

Would precogs be employed to warn and divert certain situations or would it be regarded as too risky for the consequences of differing actions taking place. It's only real asset would be for teleportation so the Psionic doesn't materialise in some solid object. Déjà vu - the feeling of experiencing events just before they happened might also be related to clairvoyance. It probably indicates that the translatable function of the brain is late in making any sense of the images it has seen.

Any familiarity suggests an ability that is still very rudimentary. As people have sometimes stated they saw such images in a dream strongly suggests that the conscious mind is more of a hindrance to this recognition ability or a general lack of power development. Dreaming is the brain's way of sorting out the day's events and cataloguing memories away.

Very little of what is dreamt is remembered. If the brain is receiving signals of past, present or future events unhindered, the odds of remembering them all are not high. Statistically, any dream reported predictions are low comparatively to the number of dreams each individual has in a sleep period.

An ability closely associated with clairvoyance is that of psychometry. The Psionic is able to read events or information from handling an object closely associated with a person or situation. This depends entirely on whether everything holds memories of where it has been as just specific objects.

A Psionic with such a gift could be bombarded with information from anything touched all the time. Certainly such differences are unrecordable by any instrumentation or technology currently available and the brain might be capable of keeping out all but the strongest signals.

There is a possibility that the object might really act as the focus for the Psionic reader to clairvoyantly see the original place of the event by associated imagery. One ability that appears to have some credentials in our medical profession is that of empathy - the ability to be sensitive to the emotional state of people, animals or objects.

If such an ability was limited to reading and understanding body language at a less than perceptible level then it wouldn't be regarded as Psionic. What it does not explain is how empaths pick up the emotional states of a number of individuals collectively with the dominating emotions, like love, hate or fear, filtering out the rest.

Emotionally agitated crowds are an Empath's dream or nightmare. Emotions over-whelm them with energy but they have no way of pulling back from them and can be engulfed by the reaction. As such, an Empath is an emotional thermometer forced to live the emotional states of other people. They carry the message without necessarily understanding its dominance. The Empath wonders just what are his or her own emotions actually are.

The feelings of love or hate of one person to another becomes identified with themselves and either strong will or isolation will free the Empath from these constraints to make a value judgement. It might well be the channel through which greater Psionic abilities could reach out. If standard empathy is possible, then the reverse, projecting empathy is probable, especially as it resembles mind domination.

Here, the Psionic projects his or her own emotional state into others who react accordingly. In a crowd situation, rebel rousers can be projecting empaths as the mob instinct takes over and individuality is forgotten. This is akin to being in a dream state and susceptible to such control. Charismatic individuals are probably displaying levels of empathy to persuade other people to do things for them.

One thing that has always got to be considered is the prime use of Psionic talent. The main purpose of existence is survival to pass on genetic information to the next generation. The advantages of Psionic talent suggests it would be better to have the ability than not from an evolutionary perspective.

The fact that it is not prevalent among the human species also suggests that it is still rudimentary with no real necessity to develop yet. Should a situation arise where people possessing Psionic abilities will survive over those who don't, the odds will be moved to the former ensuring Man will continue.

Many SF authors see this as story potential although such fiction has made this a tired cliché. It is this perspective that has provided an outlet for Science Fiction writers for years, although they have taken it as a comparison similar to Neatherthal and Cro-Magnum Man, believing it would be an all out struggle for race supremacy.

Bearing in mind some thoughts on racism being driven by tribal instinct, this observation is not totally unfounded. The drawback tends to lie with the fact that, other than a demonstration of power, there won't be much differentiating a current baseline human with a Psionic human. This isn't for the want of trying. A.E. Van Vogt's Slan were provided with tentacles hidden amongst their hair.

The Baldies from Mutant by Lewis Padgett (Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore's pseudonym) were devoid of all hair. This stemmed from the belief that all this extra mental activity would have the brain was generating extra heat that hair would otherwise keep in. Even if the brain exceeded its 0.00015 volts in biological activity, any substantial prolonged heat increase beyond 40 C is likely to cause the blood to boil and sustain irreparable tissue damage.

Both the Slans and Baldies were shunned by society, despite their advantages. The reason they didn't dominate their inferiors was noted as a lack of numbers than ability. Brain damage is unlikely to release Psionic ability either. Disruption to the brain affects memory and intelligence, both of which are needed to make sense of the information received.

Although limited damage or activating Psionic ability, either by surgery or accident, is possible, there is no indication that one can control the other. Psionic ability is likely to work in a very random lesser way without a conscious mind making sense of all the extra information coming in.

It is a sense, not an intelligence. Whether or not such abilities will make a Psionic believe him or herself omnipresent and arrogant depends largely on genetics, social standing and mental wiring. Too often SF authors have sprung the ability on 'fully developed' personalities who succumb to the powers advantages simply because of the edge it provides.

An individual whose abilities develop with age would have a better chance in coping with what it provides and be more wary of the dangers of believing that being Psionic is everything superior. There has been much speculation regarding whether a telepathic society would be a peaceful one. Would everyone have access to everyone else's thoughts so crime would be impossible? We have enough problems in a non-telepathic world with all the noise about us.

A Telepath open to everything would be infinitely worse and be forever shutting this 'noise' out. As the comments above regarding limited memory access, it would follow that the brain would also restrict or shield itself from receiving excessive input as well. It might make telephones or the Internet redundant, but nothing else.

Many authors choose to signify Psionics and greater intelligence by increasing both the brain and skull size. The evolution of the brain has not signified any greater size growth. If intelligence could be measured by size, then the humpback whale would be an intellectual genius.

It might well be, although there isn't sufficient evidence to prove this yet. The whale's body is designed purely for swimming and eating and hasn't made any evolutionary steps for physical manipulation or, as far as we know, psionics.

The brain's evolution centres on the convoluted folds it has than comparable brain-size to body ratio. If you want to knock the large skull theory totally on the head, so to speak, then think of the first poor mother trying to give birth to a larger headed baby that won't pass through the birth canal.

Without proper medical care, such a baby would have to be born by Caesarean or kill its mother. It might also signify the baby's own death if it resembles a freak in such circumstances. The reader should again remember that some of the information above regarding the actual mechanism is still rather speculative on the part of this author.

There is simply not enough information known to draw any other conclusions. If you have a theory of your own, then address these problems with your own solutions. SF authors, despite using Psionics widely in their fiction, have dwelt more in its application than its mechanism and that it unlikely to stop in the future. More effort should be made as to how such abilities affect the individual than turn them into raving megalomaniacs or an oppressed or controlling new species.

As a subject in SF, it is also one that has still not been fully explored with plenty of opportunities to provide different slants to those already seen and read. There has to be some speculation as to why the Psionic talent isn't more prevalent than what little is known existing. In centuries past, such abilities would have labelled certain people as witches or warlocks, who either were shunned by their society or even killed.

Such actions would have lost these 'wild talents' from the genetic pool. Then again, if they were so powerful how could they have allowed themselves to be summarily executed? In more recent times, it is noteworthy that both the American and Soviet secret services took ESP very seriously to exploit it to their own ends with some interesting results.

Considering all the denials made about the existence of UFOs and other phenomena, this is some order of belief. Then again, the rumour that one side was taking ESP seriously would automatically ensure the other side was not left out in any such studies. Assuming that telepathy is capable of breaking down the verbal language barrier, it opens a lot of possibilities for inter-species communication.

Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders Of Pern books explore this possibility between some humans and dragons. It is frequent fodder for communication in a variety of SF novels, although frequently just employed to learn before switching to verbal. On a wider galactic scale, Psionics could be seen as the means for evolutionary development to compete with sentient aliens on other worlds. Although this chapter has dealt with Psionics as the next evolutionary step for Mankind, don't let this sway you from considering other possibilities.

As a section of SF, Psionics itself has rarely been explored beyond all the recognised clichés and should be considered for further possibilities providing the right, er, thought is given to the subject.

GF WILLMETTS

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Looking at this chapter, it's possible to dig holes in the mechanics of many stories related to Psionics. The small cross-selection below were selected to make you ponder on the effects such talents have on society or the individual. Babylon 5: Mind War (TV) Carrie - Stephen King Childhood's End - Arthur C. Clarke Dune book series - Frank Herbert Flim Flam - James Randi (non-fiction) Foundation And Empire - Isaac Asimov The Midwich Cuckoos - John Wyndham More Than Human - Theodore Sturgeon Odd John by Olaf Stapledon Scanners - David Cronenburg (film) Drunkard's Walk - Frederick Pohl Star Trek: Where No Man Has Gone Before (TV) Hogben stories (Exit The Professor, Pile Of Trouble, See You Later and Cold War) by Henry Knutter Wild Talent - Wilson Tucker (alternative title: Man From Tomorrow)

Top level: teXt Files

Books on Psionics