# Telepathetic or Tele-Path To World Peace? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 9, 2010, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telepathetic-or-tele-path-to-world-peace/528322 "2010-02-09T20:19:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telepathetic-or-tele-path-to-world-peace/528322/21 "2010-02-10T17:35:32Z")
I would definitely go to church, look my fellow parishioners in the eye…and grin. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telepathetic-or-tele-path-to-world-peace/528322/22 "2010-02-10T17:35:53Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > I recommend the original short story. [This](http://nickelkid.net/docs/greats/its_a_good_life.html) one? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telepathetic-or-tele-path-to-world-peace/528322/23 "2010-02-10T17:37:20Z")
Hmm… Suppose everyone around you has an earworm. Would mass insanity result? ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telepathetic-or-tele-path-to-world-peace/528322/24 "2010-02-10T17:41:26Z")
That looks to be the one. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telepathetic-or-tele-path-to-world-peace/528322/25 "2010-02-10T18:01:29Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > The kind of society this would result in, even after everyone adjusted, is not one I’d want to be part of. Just seems like everyone would be struggling very hard to fake their way through every social interaction. I mean, moreso than currently. > > _“Happy goldfish bowl to you, to me, to everyone, and may each of you fry in hell forever.”_ I couldn’t remember the name of the story that your quote came from until I googled it. That was a great story by Dr. A! > **[The Dead Past](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dead_Past)** > > "The Dead Past" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov, first published in the April 1956 issue of Astounding Science Fiction. It was later collected in Earth Is Room Enough (1957) and The Best of Isaac Asimov (1973), and adapted into an episode of the science-fiction television series Out of the Unknown. Its pattern is that of dystopian fiction, but of a subtly nuanced flavor. > Asimov extrapolates the twin trends towards centralization of academic research and scientifi... ---
**Author:** ![justrob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9adbd/32.png) [@justrob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justrob)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telepathetic-or-tele-path-to-world-peace/528322/26 "2010-02-10T18:14:30Z")
I vote doom and thank you for the Hee Haw reference. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telepathetic-or-tele-path-to-world-peace/528322/27 "2010-02-10T18:22:59Z")
> [@justrob](#): > > I vote doom and thank you for the Hee Haw reference. 🙂 You’re welcome. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telepathetic-or-tele-path-to-world-peace/528322/28 "2010-02-10T18:24:50Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > That looks to be the one. I just finished reading it. It’s a _good_ story. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telepathetic-or-tele-path-to-world-peace/528322/29 "2010-02-10T19:11:22Z")
Someone will invent some kind of shielding helmet, and he’ll be the World’s Richest Person. Otherwise . . . total chaos. Just sexual thoughts alone will end civilization. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telepathetic-or-tele-path-to-world-peace/528322/30 "2010-02-10T19:56:37Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Otherwise . . . total chaos. Just sexual thoughts alone will end civilization. Or greatly expand it. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telepathetic-or-tele-path-to-world-peace/528322/31 "2010-02-11T15:02:20Z")
You only need to have watched **Scanners** to know how badly that would turn out. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telepathetic-or-tele-path-to-world-peace/528322/32 "2010-02-11T17:15:19Z")
I think everyone basically knows the sort of thoughts other people are having about them, since they tend to have the same type of thoughts. It shouldn’t be shocking to find out that you annoy some people or other people find you attractive. So I think we’d learn to cope pretty quickly with this. The things we knew were probably boiling under the surface (although we may not know to which degree) would be out there, but they wouldn’t be coming from nowhere. There’d probably be more minor conflict, especially early on, but the world would more or less continue to function as it has. Exceptions to that would be now essentially everyone would have universal lie detectors… justice, politics, etc. would be way different. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telepathetic-or-tele-path-to-world-peace/528322/33 "2010-02-11T17:21:50Z")
I think that the universal thought that everyone would transmit would be “Oh god, everyone can tell what I’m thinking.” Actually, would other’s thoughts have a voice? Could you tell, in a crowd, who is thinking what? If not, how would you distinguish your own thoughts from everyone else’s? ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telepathetic-or-tele-path-to-world-peace/528322/34 "2010-02-11T17:28:11Z")
> [@Gagundathar](#): > > I couldn’t remember the name of the story that your quote came from until I googled it. > > That was a great story by Dr. A! > [The Dead Past - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dead_Past) One of my favorites by him, actually. And while the circumstances presented in this thread aren’t _quite_ as extreme as the outcome of the story, there are still enough similarities to make that quote relevant. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telepathetic-or-tele-path-to-world-peace/528322/35 "2010-02-11T17:56:38Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I think that the universal thought that everyone would transmit would be “Oh god, everyone can tell what I’m thinking.” > > Actually, would other’s thoughts have a voice? Could you tell, in a crowd, who is thinking what? If not, how would you distinguish your own thoughts from everyone else’s? The OP states “read on demand”-you pick which minds to read. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telepathetic-or-tele-path-to-world-peace/528322/36 "2010-02-11T18:07:11Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > The OP states “read on demand”-you pick which minds to read. Ah, I missed that bit. Though I wonder how that would work. It’s not like I can selectively listen to people speak, after all. (Well, sort of I can.) But in that case, I think that people would very quickly learn that if you don’t want to know what someone’s thinking, don’t receive their thoughts. If I’m thinking something offensive about you, for instance, and you get offended, well, hey, you shouldn’t have asked in the first place. I think people would adjust pretty quickly. (But you knew that. And I knew that you knew that. And you knew that I knew…) ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telepathetic-or-tele-path-to-world-peace/528322/37 "2010-02-11T19:58:50Z")
Would it eliminate the need for meat-market bars? ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telepathetic-or-tele-path-to-world-peace/528322/38 "2010-02-11T20:05:02Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Women would _never_ stop slapping us. > > Regards, > Shodan Either that or we’d be getting laid like oil pipe! ---
**Author:** ![umop\_ap\_sdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/dbc845/32.png) [@umop\_ap\_sdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/umop_ap_sdn)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telepathetic-or-tele-path-to-world-peace/528322/39 "2010-02-11T20:07:13Z")
Nearly all businesses would immediately fail because 90% of their employees would be fired. People would have to cooperate more to get their basic needs met, and I don’t see that happening on its own. The majority of romantic relationships would end, as would a great many friendships. New ones would start to form spontaneously as people pick up thoughts from similar minds. I think there’d be a great deal more guilt and regret over little things. Most people would try harder to not annoy each other, for instance. Yeah there would certainly be a lot of chaos, but I’m sure a small population would survive and learn to live with their new ability. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telepathetic-or-tele-path-to-world-peace/528322/40 "2010-02-11T20:10:07Z")
The mean and petty thoughts, most of which are easily dismissed or controlled within our own minds, would overwhelm each of us when we are subjected to an involuntary bombardment of those thoughts from everyone around us. And I think **tdn** is wrong. The entire world would be subject to break outs of insane mass murder sprees. Because you’re thinking it. And he’s thinking it. And that other guy is going to kill you before you kill him. Then everyone is panicking, and reacting, and in short order, we’re all killing each other in a sea of broadcasted murderous thoughts and paranoia. Then you’re thinking pissy thoughts about Billy Bob driving slow in front of you, so he deliberately slams on the brakes and comes at you with an axe. Then a racial slur passes through your mind unbidden in a room full of people and you’re being stabbed with butter knives. Then your boss hears all your true opinions of his ideas and you hear his true opinion of your worth, and all hell breaks loose. Then you hear the true thoughts of that greasy, smooth talking, always smiling friend… Then you’re hearing your lover thinking of someone else. Or their true thoughts about you. Hell is other people’s thoughts. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telepathetic-or-tele-path-to-world-peace/528322.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telepathetic-or-tele-path-to-world-peace/528322.md?page=3)