Precognition: You can see up to 30 days into the future (both personal and impersonal events) with the ability to change it. You’ll also be able to see the outcomes of decisions you haven’t made yet so you can choose which outcome you prefer (with a 30 day limit).
Telepathy: You’ll be able to read, control, alter and shut down minds within a 100 feet radius. You can pick and choose who you affect and have fine control over it so as to avoid being overwhelmed. Whatever you do to someone remains in effect even if they leave the radius.
Precognition is much more valuable to me. I’m not really all that interested in what other people are thinking if they’re not willing to share it with me if I simply asked them.
I think that just meant you can act in ordinary ways to change outcomes, not arbitrarily alter any aspect of the future. You can tell NORAD about the incoming nuke, but can’t just make it explode over the ocean, for example.
Each ability gives some aspects of the other ability. I.e. if I choose Telepathy I gain some minor precog from being able to see the intended future choices of others. If I choose Precog I gain insight into the mindset of others by being able to see their actual future choices.
If I can alter minds I’m going to assume I can also heal them to an extent. I’d go with Telepathy.
For personal goals and peace of mind, precognition. Instant wealth via lottery winnings sounds real good.
Telepathy could make an enormous difference: what if you could get close enough to a powerful leader and persuade them to take a critical position? What if you could persuade a dictator to abdicate, taking full responsibility for their crimes? What’s a little mind-rape compared to the amazing, world-changing outcomes?
But damn, that sounds awful. I’ll take precognition, cheat my way to the top, and try to change the system from within.
My thoughts, too. You know the results of your decisions, which would include seeing how someone would react to something you then don’t do. That covers what I would read minds for. Plus getting rich this way is easy without any real ethical qualms: I just win a lottery.
I do admit that mind control is the one aspect that is tempting, but that has so many ethical problems. Sure, it would be an easy solution to certain problems, but I wouldn’t trust myself to not to eventually abuse it. Using precognition to try and solve those problems requires more effort, and thus would hopefully be a damper on it.
If ethics weren’t a concern, then the telepathy seems more powerful. You could know what people would do simply by making an alteration. The time limit isn’t really a limit since the change is permanent: you just make them really want to do something at the time when you want it to happen. Sure, you need to get yourself within 30 feet of a lot of people, but you can control people to facilitate that.
The main issue is very much the ethical concerns for me. I have much fewer such concerns with being uncannily accurate in my predictions.
The OP said : “You can see up to 30 days into the future (both personal and impersonal events) with the ability to change it”.
I may agree that with normal precognition as seen in fiction you have a point, but that was not the rule here, IMHO that bit about having the ability to change the future makes any telepathy a useless ability.
What about ending depression, anxiety, and other mental health problems in the lives of the people you care about? Or opening a clinic and permanently healing the public at large?
Well… as others noted, one can get rich with precognition, and then one can help the loved ones by opening clinics, improving their economical wellbeing, just like you talk about.
Yeah, but none of those clinics could do it like you can. You have people now who are willing to try mind-altering things like hypnosis or heavy medication or even neurosurgical techniques to find peace with their issues – I’m sure that you being able to change their wiring to “fix” them would be far more effective than those existing techniques no matter how fancy the clinic is.
Plus you could charge on a sliding scale and still make enough to open clinics or whatever if you really thought it would help.
Right, but then again, it shows what one can also do with precog, it is not as limited as the other option.
BTW, also knowing what is coming I will be able to prevent disasters that would affect the mental wellbeing of my loved ones, a precog can be also proac. **
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** proactive.
On edit: The thought also occurred to me that since I’m not an expert on psychology or mental issues, I may end up causing more harm than good with the “cures” I believe should apply.
