Congratulations! You have recently discovered that you have the ability to read minds. It’s only been a few weeks, but you’re starting to get used to your new talent. As far as you know, nobody else has this ability, and you have not shared the news with a soul.
So one day you’re talking with a co-worker of the opposite gender. This person has never been anything other than polite, professional, and appropriate in your presence. During this conversation you begin to hear the person’s thoughts.
They are sexual thoughts. About you. Not just sexual, but perverted, outlandish, kinky thoughts about things you would never consider doing in a million lifetimes. However, they remain only thoughts. No spoken words or actions betray this person’s feelings, and the conversation is outwardly pleasant and cordial as usual.
For the purposes of this poll, the person is somebody you’ve always liked and respected, but you’ve never been attracted to them or thought of them in a sexual way – and in fact you’ve never thought of anybody in quite the over-the-top way this person has in mind.
I think many people have unusual thoughts. I know I get some random impulses or other strange thoughts that I don’t act on. Thoughts seem to me to be more or less random and our personalities are just selecting which ones we pick up and assign value to, which ones we act on, and which ones we utterly ignore. In this case, those thoughts are sexual, but it really doesn’t seem any different to me or a reason to think any less of that person.
To me, this sort of thing really isn’t that different from reading through someone’s diary they accidentally left open or reading through their personal email when they left their computer unlocked. Would you treat them any different if you found out the same things that way? Especially in their mind, it’s the sort of stuff they have expectation of privacy for.
I don’t date coworkers either. I might be a little skeeved out but I’d never mention it. Unless of course it something that crossed one of my cardinal rules - rape, extreme pain, animals, or poop and pee. Then I’d probably be disgusted.
For the record, I voted “turned on and considering it.” (In my hypothetical, I’m single. ;))
What good would mind-reading be if I couldn’t use it to open doors like this and broaden my horizons? A no-dating-coworkers policy would be moot, since it won’t be long before I figure out how to profit handsomely from my telepathic powers and ditch the day job.
I guess the real trick would be bringing the subject up in the first place, without her realizing I’ve raided her brain.
Wavered between “amused” and “disturbed”; it depends on the exact character of the thoughts & also what the ACTUAL character of everyone else’s thoughts that I’d read over the past week plus. I mean, if everyone in fact is having pervy thoughts all the time, it’s different than if everyone in fact has their minds on other stuff 90% of the time.
If I’m a mind-reader, I’m hearing all sorts of stuff I don’t wanna. This would probably be a drop in the bucket. But generally speaking, I don’t want to be thought of sexually by anyone I’m not involved with.
If I genuinely weren’t attracted to the person, her being into me isn’t going to change that. But I would be flattered and probably enjoy the knowledge that she found me attractive. People can’t help much how they feel, and she’s not doing anything outwardly to act on it, so I definitely don’t see anything negative about it.
I would, however, want to learn how to control my mind-reading techniques and develop the ability to shut it off. If, for example, my coworker were Girl Hitler, I would not want to be bombarded by her fantasies about her and me and Jesse Owens.
This is the part I’m tripping over. What little I wouldn’t ever consider doing in a million lifetimes would have to involve extreme pain or gore, or major grossness along the lines of shit, puke, sewage, or whatnot.
If her sexual fantasies of me involved plunging red-hot skewers through me as foreplay, or having sex in the middle of a gigantic vat of human offal, or something else along one of those lines, I’d switch jobs rather than risk spending much time around her.
Stuff that I wouldn’t consider doing in a dozen lifetimes, but might consider doing in a hundred lifetimes, I’d probably just let pass.
I’d be keeping that talent a secret. Also very unlikely to have any coworkers, because if I can read minds, I’ll be busy winning the next 20 or so World Series of Poker events.
Good point.
I may have overstated things in that description. I was going for “something well outside your usual comfort zone” and got carried away with the phrasing a bit. My imagination didn’t cook up anything nearly as disgusting as yours did.
I waffled between enjoying my secret, and acting upon it. I chose the latter, as I guess I’m at least considering it. And with the confidence boost of knowing what other people are thinking, it becomes a lot more likely. Plus, it would be fun to see how I well I could pull it off without letting her know what I can do–with Czarcasm’s idea in my back pocket (although I’d make it seem like I knew what she was thinking by some cold reading or something–not that I could read minds)
I am the sort of person who finds humor in a lot of twisted situations. I’d probably think it was funny as long as the sexual fantasies were not about violence or something else that could indicate a potential actual danger to me.
I’m sure that within a few days of developing the ability to read minds I would hear a LOT of people’s thoughts that were disturbing or shocking in some way.
I’d consider acting on it. I’m currently single, so it wouldn’t be hurting anybody (I think).
This is based on the fact that I’ve had several women admit (after the fact) that they wished I’d have expressed my romantic interest at an earlier time, because they had been interested in me for a while and didn’t mention anything because it wasn’t ladylike to approach a man or initiate a relationship.
I have kicked myself many times for my inaction.
Besides that, I’d probably move to Vegas. It’s nicer than Atlantic City.
a) I’m totally turned on to have this much access to what does it for her, in conjunction with finding out that I play a role in her fantasies.
b) But I’m fairly often totally turned on and it doesn’t obligate me to do anything about it. And as per the OP it is stipulated that I’d be skeeved out to actually do that, whatever “that” is.
c) Question: do I get to keep on seeing what turns her on, to see if it changes as I interact with her?
d) With or without a “yes” answer to c above I think I focus in on her, interacting, flirting, hoping maybe other scenarios more palatable to me but still involving me begin to cross her mind. If I don’t get to read her mind, hopefully she’ll find a way to let me know.
Depends entirely on what those sexual thoughts are and what role I’m intended to play. If she wants to beat me like a hound and make me lick her boots, I ain’t interested.
You definitely swayed my answer with the idea of “never in a million lifetimes” too. Maybe “thoughts you’ve never before entertained” would have been less likely to led people’s thoughts to bad places.
