Precog. I’ll set up “naita’s hedge fund and perfect weather forecast” and make enough money to truly influence the world, while also protecting people from natural disasters.
Yeah, I was also thinking along these lines. Imagine applying this to medical trials. Could I use my lottery winnings to operate a foundation that’s going to give massive grants for the development of new drugs and report on their outcomes in a clear, concise manner? Immediately before giving a grant for a particular treatment, I look ahead ten years to see what the outcome of the treatment is. Then I change my mind to give a grant for a different treatment and do the same. I could possibly know the results of a hundred ten-year trials in a single day, before a single subject received a single dose.
And like naita suggests, I’ll look ahead to listicles like 10 Deadliest Natural Disasters of the 21st Century, only written ten years from now. I’ll hire some folks to do a post-mortem on any disaster that kills more than 100 people, detailing the best way to prevent those deaths, and as a little night-time reading I’ll look at them.
But it’s only thirty days in advance! you say. Well, every thirty days, I’ll spend the day looking ahead thirty days and writing down my best findings in a computer log. When I look ahead thirty days, I read what I wrote down and record that as well. As long as I’m alive, I can daisy-chain my precog abilities indefinitely, by reading what future-me precogs.
You’ve read James Hogan’s Thrice Upon a Time, haven’t you. 
To answer the OP, I’d definitely take the precognition. I’d take it even without unlimited ability to affect the outcome. My own human influence would be sufficient, and after I win the lottery 27 times that influence will be that much stronger.
Ethical issues aside, knowing with certainty what someone will do is much better than knowing what they might do. Yes, with that telepathy I could go in and make someone prefer a particular course of action but I wouldn’t know for sure if that would work as intended without the precognition ability.
This question assumes that both precognition and telepathy are exact sciences with 100% accuracy up to some absolute cutoff.
But to answer the question, precognition especially of the next 5 seconds. I could see that at times being a downer, since you might know that your spouse will be diagnosed with cancer in the next 30 days but that doesn’t mean you’ll be able to “prevent” it.
The telepathy ability as described includes mind control which might be very valuable. I could talk a mugger out of robbing me by just waving a finger, like a Jedi mind trick. Or talk my way into a job. Or, as one poster said, heal the minds of others. However I don’t really want to see what’s in people’s heads.
The question assumes that you are the only person with these abilities. If everyone had them, it would be a different kettle of fish.
If it was me I would just constantly project a telepathic aura to people around me just to ignore me whenever I was out in public negating the possibility of being mugged.
Heh–never heard of it, but there’s a book, The First Twelve Lives of Harry August, with a somewhat similar hook.
In the Hogan book, the ability to send a message back in time was at first limited to at most 24 hours, but a clever hacker realized they could set up a daily relay and send messages as far back as the first day the relay was in service.
Telepathy. And then everyone would be in big, big trouble.
I thank the OP for his generous offer: it will greatly accelerate my plans for world domination.
The OP offers a choice between 30 day clairvoyance, with a loophole granting the user reality warping powers and telepathy, which includes mind control if you read carefully.
My staff recommends that I exploit the loophole and gain reality bending powers, since they encompass mind control to a greater or lesser extent. I have to demur however, since as an experienced Evil Overlord I know it’s best not to annoy or anger the Elder Gods. Mind control is tempting and frankly almost a requirement for effective minion management. Unfortunately, the less subtle varieties tend to attract unwanted attention. Predict a disaster via suspicious means and nobody bats an eye. But brainwash even 100 people and everyone gets upset for some reason. Sure you can zap the occasional adventure party sneaking into your lair. But it’s hard to take on entire armies. Creating so many enemies so quickly is premature.
So I choose actionable clairvoyance, without the reality bending. I’ll break out the crystal ball first thing in the morning, scan for meddling heroes, play the stock market, and direct my minions to build components for my doomsday device. All in a day’s work.
EVEN BETTER!!! MOOHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAAHAHAHAurp.
I think both sound like hell. Precondition especially seems like an unbearable burden: suppose I know the headlines of the next 30 days, with the knowledge that I could change the outcome of, or prevent, accidents, murders, rapes, and whatnot? Suddenly, at least dozens of lives are in my hands, even if no major disasters occur; perhaps up to thousands, if I foresee the next 9/11, or whatnot. There’s no way I’ll be able to save them all, so how do I pick and choose? Do I let the mother of four die in a tragic traffic accident to try and stop the psychotic father from taking a hammer to his children? What if I succeed, but cause a worse outcome down the road—now I’m doubly obligated to prevent that one, as I’ll be directly responsible, not just by omission…
Telepathy has similar issues. What if I see the intention of some random passer-by to kidnap and rape someone? Do I then follow them, try to somehow stop them? Mind-control them? How justified am I to take action against somebody based on something they haven’t done yet?
I would love precog for 5 minutes and 5 feet. Just to know whether the flop will be a 3,4,5 when I hold a 6,2.
I’m not sure that works, because I’d have to be able to predict all the ways I could use it poorly, and prevent those, while not accidentally preventing something useful I could do.
I’d already be concerned that I’d mess up other people’s minds even when I’m trying to help, and doing that to the guy who has the power to control other minds seems like a very bad idea.
I don’t think I would be able to risk the possible damage, both for altruistic and selfish reasons. Would you?
This shouldn’t work the way you describe. Since the future is changeable when you look ahead 30 days to yourself you might see 100 possibilities for what you’ll write down and then the next month 10,000 and so on. Maybe you’ll be able to see the large unchangeable future where the big meteor hits earth in 100 years and no mater what you’re going splat but with a changeable future any chain would have to account for every possible change I doubt you’d get even a year out.
Maybe with something like a drug trial where you’ve set a very specific and unavoidable series of events into motion you could see to the end but it doesn’t seem like you’d even be able pick the winner of 2024 beyond who had the best chance.
Not even going to try. I’m just going to go full supervillian and wait to see which team of heroes arrives to battle my awesome mind control powers.
If the future is malleable without my deliberate input then the whole game is off: I won’t be able to predict my own life a week from now, given the near-infinite choices I’ll make between now and then. I assume the game is that, “If I proceed with my life the way I’m planning to proceed, what will happen?” and then I can make changes from there.
It’s magic, man, can’t bring reality into the game!
So the power is more you’re the only one with free choice. I think that would end up depressing me everyone around you is just a meat computer that won’t change unless you change their course for then.
If you’re gonna bring free choice into it, it’s all gonna fall apart. MAGIC, man!
I like my magic in a world with consistency if not realism.
Any sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology, huh?
Bah. I want my magic magical.
And with that, I’ll leave this behind :).
That used to be an issue, but modern futurescopes are equipped with Advanced Handwavium Circuits which permits fast scrolling through alternate futures. Just upload your psychoprofile into the Mind Scan Interface, complete the appropriately recondite and unspeakable rituals, and you’re good to go.