The advantage of limitations. Imagine if humans had had paranormal powers?

YES! Fresh brains, me zombie, growing weak, can't think, must eat ... another fresh ... brain....Sorry, Phat, it's getting late, I'm hungry, and talk of fresh brains just does something all shivery too me and when I read "we could use fresh brains" a scene from Night of the Living Dead just flashed in front of my eyes...

You betta get some sleep! I was going to make a reply, but I am trying NOT to be Biblical on just this one thread....Must quote scripture!....getting weak...He is strong...If you save your life you will....lose it....zombies!...brains!...absolute food vs relatives....(yeah...its too late!) This message has been edited by Phatboy, 01-24-2005 01:09 AM

I should go to bed but I just recalled this really horrible horror movie I saw once on late night t.v. This beautiful young woman and her fiance were visiting her father who was a scientist, who like all scientist, the mad ones at least had this laboratory in an old castle in Europe and was doing the very important research to make thought concrete, to somehow intensify the powers of the mind to do telekineitic things, and he was thought mad by his collegue, and of course he was mad and then people started mysteriously turning up dead all over the castle, and even more mysterious their bodies had been drained of spinal fluid and there might have been some suspicion that the old man may have done it.Well, one night there was this really bad lightening storm and it was over amping his collection of mad scientist equipment and arching all the place when a bright blast of lighting revealed the true cause of the deaths creeping towards the castle was a field of naked brains complete with a spinal cord that could creep like an inch worm, and eyeballs waving about on the ends of optic nerves, and when the brains got close to people they flew into the air and drove a set of facial nerves somehow into their necks and sucked out all the spinal fluid while their victims rolled theirs eyes about and thrashed around with dramatic helplessness. It was hysterical!I would recommend the movie for that scene alone except that the hour and a half of bad dialogue and incredibly boring acting that you had to sit through relieved only by trips to the frig during the long ads for used cars renders it virtually unwatchable.Um, Jar, you best shut down this thread just to be on the safe side, if folks going playing around with telekinesis there is no telling what forces might be unleashed on us unsuspecting ....

I would suggest that telekinesis would lead to at the very least art and likely to building and eventually to architecture.I would suggest that if Kurzweil is correct then technology sparks the creation of writing.This message has been edited by Trae, 02-04-2005 21:57 AM

Why do you think telekinisis would lead to those things?

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Sorry for the long delay.I assert that telekinesis would lead to art or some sort of structure.Consider:Look I can use my abilities to carve shapes out of that tree, rock, hill, etc.Or,See how skilled I am. I can stack these rocks.Or even,Let’s make a structure to hide out during the rain.Humans throughout history have had a taste for decoration and adornment.Then you have structures. Once you get into the business of creating structures and monuments, trial and error, passing on and documenting what you have wrought — you have entered art, science, and technology.So if you think it is unlikely they would develop language and writing something would need to substitute for it. How 100 years later would they know that Grunt-Bob made the obelisk?

I doubt that they'd ever make an a shelter or monument. And I also doubt they'd ever develop language, much less writing. They'd be, as most societies throughout history, based on an oral, actually in this case mental, tradition. Possesing telepathy, what one person knew would be available to all.But the idea of decoration is interesting. Every society I've ever heard of has some tradition of decoration but most are based on modifying the body in some way. Would these people develop tattoos, piercings, some minimal decorative clothings? If so, what would be likely? Since they would be very, very mobile, would it be whatever happened to be blooming where the were at that moment or would a more permanent item be more likely?

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Yes, but when that person died the ability to tap into that knowledge would be lost. Even given the ability to exchange information you lack the ability to store it completely in one human, so any knowledge not used for a significant time would be lost.You have asserted they wouldn't need any structures, I don't agree. If I have access to that much power, I am not going to want wake up and relocate if I am unconfortable. Perhaps I might have dozens of structures, but I want something to keep the night mist off of my face. I find that unpleasant.You also say you doubt they would make a monument, yet that doesn't seem to be in keeping with burial traditions of even prehistoric peoples.This message has been edited by Trae, 02-20-2005 22:32 AM

True. But let's stop and look at their situation some more. Telepathy would be similar to a super internet. anything known by one person would spread at the speead of thought throughout the population. Knowledge would be copied, and recopied. It's unlikely that any one person dying would result in losing information. The night mist can be unpleasant. But you are telekenetic. How can the mist get to you? Well, could be. But stop and look at the traditions of highly nomadic cultures. Burial is a feature of sedentary, settled people. In many nomadic cultures the old, the sick, the injured are simply left, abandoned.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

quote:

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Telepathy would be similar to a super internet. anything known by one person would spread at the speead of thought throughout the population. Knowledge would be copied, and recopied.

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So you don't feel that people would be able to retain the information they need and reject what they don't feel they need. Remember they still have to deal with an individual's perception.Buildings would be necessary for protection from animals while sleeping.I think people would still group together for protection and to learn from the mistakes of others. (don't want anyone forgetting the whole teleporting to a cloud fiasco) They would have to learn their limitations.Do children teleport from birth (from the womb would be preferable )? If not they need protection until they learn.Medical needs. Telepathy may tell you what people are thinking, but won't show you their innards or what herbs can heal etc.While they may not develop writing, I think they would develop some means of retaining CORRECT information. You know lessons learned. Just because people have telepathy, teleportation, and telekinesis doesn't mean they are all smart. It doesn't alleviate diseases, birth defects, etc.Just some thoughts.

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A gentle answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger.

Also, even a very wide channel is not infinite, and storage space will definitely not be infinite. So it is likely that some technique to permanently store data outside the body will still eventully be required as the total body of data increases.