Okay, you’ve got this nutcase guy who suddenly has the ability to read people’s minds and change the thoughts a person has. This guy starts trying to take over the planet.
How do you stop him? I suppose you could try to assassinate him, but then he’d detect your thoughts and he’d make you want to assassinate Ronald McDonald instead (unless the nutcase telepath WAS Ronald McDonald). Perhaps you set off a whole bunch of nukes, but he’d detect the thoughts of the person “pushing the button” and he’d make the guy want to go masturbate instead (if I were telepathic, I’d first have everyone on Earth masturbate in the streets… that’d be hilarious).
The only way I can think of is with another telepath. Someone who can keep the other telepath out of his mind.
You need a telepath to stop a telepath (I’m ignoring, of course, the lame-ass comic-book gimmicks, like Magneto’s wonky telepathy-blocking helmet… that was lame. Lame lame lame. Lame as a duck. Lame.)
Anyway, I’m sure there’s a science-fiction story in there somewhere, but I’ll be damned all the way to the burning, molten depths of Pittsburgh if I knew what it was.
“Time Pressure”, Spider Robinson discusses the problem in depth (well, except for the Ronald McDonald bit). It’s been collected with the other book in the series “Mind Killer” in a compilation volume called “Deathkiller”.
You also could read “Donnovan’s Brain” by Siodomak (sp) which is about a disembodied, telepathic, mind-controlling brain which our hero has to outwit before it takes over the world.
It depends on how their telepathy works. If it’s some kind of EM radiation, then some kind of helmet would probably work.
Even if his telepathic powers are unblockable, how many people’s minds could he listen to at once? How does he know who to listen to? I doubt he would automatically know when someone he has never met or been near is plotting to kill him.
OK, he can read minds. But I figure, he can’t read everyone’s mind at once or he would go insane. So he would have to filter his thoughts. Kinda like the Ann Rice Vampires. So, if you were far enough away, or enough people though of a way to get him, then I think he would be powerless to stop them all at once. Of course, if he knew who, specifically, to watch out for, then you might still be in trouble.
One method that’s often used in SF to “block” the telepath (Donnovan’s Brain and The Demolished Man both use it) is to repeat a nonsense rhyme over and over. You can drown out your other thoughts by broadcasting the rhyme over and over
“Tenser” said the Tensor “Tension, apprehension and dissention have begun”
or
He thrusts his fists against the posts yet still insists he sees the ghosts
You could send some one with no brain after him. (Power-mad telepaths are always male in real life. This is not a sexist comment. Sometimes fiction casts them female, but this is simply dramatic license) (In another parenthentical phrase: Insert your own political joke here).
Zombies or robots. That’s the way to go. But FRIENDLY killer zombies or robots. That’s the key. You don’t want to get rid of the telepath whose controlling the world only to serve it up to some power-mad zombie.(Or robot)
If I were to masturbate in the street, could I now sue SPOOFE Bo Diddly for “planting the seed” in my mind? (If there’s a pun there it was intentional. The voices in my head made me do it.)
I read The Demolished Man. What makes that a classic? It was kinda stink-o. (But that’s just me.)
Five parenthetical phrases. (A new personal best) Ooooo… now six…
I would think range would be the critical thing. If he has anything resembling a limit on it, you can stand outside that limit and lob whatever you like his way. Time Bombs work as well. .50 cal sniper rifle, with high power scope and stand on a building a mile away. Send some of my ex-coworkers after him, since they were brainless morons.
Sure, Magneto’s helmet was indeed “wonky” but, everyday the answer is proven time and time again, Aluminum Foil Hats. Yes, that’s the answer, Aluminum Foil Hats.
However, they must be assembled correctly. They cannot cover only the top of the head, that’s just crazy. They must cover the whole head. Done properly, you protect yourself from telepathy, mind control beams, and alien abduction. Plus, they’re awfully stylish.
Does this telepath read the words you’re thinking, or can he perceieve the meaning behind them? If the former, you think in some code (probably not such a good idea, as you’d have to be thinking of the key at the same time to do it, unless you’d been practicing for years) or, you think in another language (same as the other thing I said really, but you’re more likely to have been practicing for years).
A mixture of nonsense rhymes, 80s pop songs and Zen koans would do the trick. Of course, that’d use up all your conscious mind, leaving your subconscious to run your life.
First of all, it’s well known that a person cannot read your mind if you do not want them to. That little detail is usually left out of this kind of situation.
I don’t think that “hilarious” is the word that comes to mind.
As for stopping this telepathic loon, I would think that, particularly if he’s working alone, if more than one person is considering assassinating him, there would not be too much he could do to stop all of them, right?
This question reminds me of my own such thought on the fearsome threesome in Superman II. Although telepathy wasn’t their power, I always wondered what would happen if Superman wasn’t around to stop them or if Superman himself decided that working for the good was getting a bit too dull and thought it was time to take over the world. What could we do if we can’t find any Kryptonite? Hopefully if we talk enough about such things, you know, Superpeople coming down, telepaths, et al. we can be better prepared when it finally happens.
Stephen King’s new book has telepathy being spread by an alien virus. Haven’t finished it yet, so don’t know where he’s going with the idea, but it’s certainly intriguing.
“And since all telepathy is fiction, the author can invent whatever rules s/he wants to.”
Oh, so you don’t believe in telepathy? Okay, but with those who do they think of it as two way, not one way & one can choose whether or not someone can read their mind. After all, its a free choice.