# You can read one person's mind. Who would you pick? Or not pick? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 16, 2019, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-read-one-persons-mind-who-would-you-pick-or-not-pick/844941 "2019-12-16T15:00:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-read-one-persons-mind-who-would-you-pick-or-not-pick/844941/21 "2019-12-17T12:44:47Z")
Gordon Lightfoot. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-read-one-persons-mind-who-would-you-pick-or-not-pick/844941/22 "2019-12-17T15:31:38Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Why the fascination with \*\*TriPolar’\*\*s wife?.. Have you _seen_ her? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-read-one-persons-mind-who-would-you-pick-or-not-pick/844941/23 "2019-12-17T15:37:15Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I’m not even comfortable reading _my_ mind. I’ll pass. I would say something like this. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-read-one-persons-mind-who-would-you-pick-or-not-pick/844941/24 "2019-12-17T15:40:39Z")
Some enlightening responses so far. So much so that I think I’d be happy with Thag, The Random Caveman from 200,000 years ago. Not so much to see what was cooking back then and how hard/easy life may have been, but just to see how he felt about and approached his world. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-read-one-persons-mind-who-would-you-pick-or-not-pick/844941/25 "2019-12-17T15:53:40Z")
> [@OldGuy](#): > > This wouldn’t help at all as the dealer does not look at his hidden card until all players have finished. Much better would to be able to read the mind of someone in poker. If the up card is an Ace or a facecard, the dealer looks to see if they have blackjack before any playing starts. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-read-one-persons-mind-who-would-you-pick-or-not-pick/844941/26 "2019-12-17T23:34:35Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > Gordon Lightfoot. Indeed. What a tale his thoughts could tell. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-read-one-persons-mind-who-would-you-pick-or-not-pick/844941/27 "2019-12-17T23:37:22Z")
The person who originally wrote the code I now have to maintain. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2019, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-read-one-persons-mind-who-would-you-pick-or-not-pick/844941/28 "2019-12-18T01:32:44Z")
That cute blonde in Accounting. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2019, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-read-one-persons-mind-who-would-you-pick-or-not-pick/844941/29 "2019-12-18T02:24:35Z")
> [@jaycat](#): > > That cute blonde in Accounting. What? That’s crazy. Why would you ever want to read the thoughts of someone you’re interested in? 99 percent of the time, they’re going to be very unflattering. ---
**Author:** ![Grestarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grestarian/32/3227_2.png) [@Grestarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grestarian)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2019, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-read-one-persons-mind-who-would-you-pick-or-not-pick/844941/30 "2019-12-18T04:39:10Z")
I doubt I’d really understand it\* but I think it would be interesting to know what the hell Pierre de Fermat was thinking in 1637 when he was scribbling his [Last Theorem](https://wiki2.org/en/Fermat%27s_Last_Theorem) in the margins of his copy of Diophantus’ Arithmetica next to the sum-of-squares problem. It’s been done and over with for a couple decades now, but perhaps if I could have gotten his proof written onto a couple miles of parchment at the time it would have saved a lot of people a lot of trouble – maybe even have advanced some sort of technology further in some marvelous ways. :dubious: –G! \*Then again, if I’d had the whole year leading up to that epiphany in which to comprehend Fermat’s mind and grasp his thought patterns, perhaps I _would_ understand his marvelous proof. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2019, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-read-one-persons-mind-who-would-you-pick-or-not-pick/844941/31 "2019-12-18T05:07:29Z")
Any random Trump supporter. I’d be curious to know if they actually believe the shit Trumps says. Or do they just say that they do so they have an excuse to say or do what they do. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2019, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-read-one-persons-mind-who-would-you-pick-or-not-pick/844941/32 "2019-12-18T05:29:25Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > Any random Trump supporter. I’d be curious to know if they actually believe the shit Trumps says. Or do they just say that they do so they have an excuse to say or do what they do. Came in to say the same. The Aus PM is using Trump’s playbook, and many, many Australians are lapping it up. It blows my mind, and I really need to understand the mindset. ---
**Author:** ![Tentacle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tentacle/32/90_2.png) [@Tentacle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tentacle)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2019, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-read-one-persons-mind-who-would-you-pick-or-not-pick/844941/34 "2019-12-18T14:10:46Z")
Ok. Thanks. Now I can’t stop thinking about it (nor figure out certain persons). It surely will take while but it’s a good and interesting topic to hold in mind… ---
**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2019, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-read-one-persons-mind-who-would-you-pick-or-not-pick/844941/35 "2019-12-18T18:16:28Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I would read Donald Trump’s, as creepy and unsettling as it would be, and plumb the depths for the most disgusting and illegal stuff I could find. That which could be substantiated, I would pass along to the world media. I came in here to say pretty much the same thing. I think I’d also have fun by creating a “parody” Twitter account and post anything and everything that came into his head. I better do it via Tor or the like because sooner or later somebody will notice real true administration secrets amidst all the chaff. ---
**Author:** ![DrForrester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8edcca/32.png) [@DrForrester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrForrester)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2019, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-read-one-persons-mind-who-would-you-pick-or-not-pick/844941/36 "2019-12-19T10:56:09Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > Any random Trump supporter. I’d be curious to know if they actually believe the shit Trumps says. Or do they just say that they do so they have an excuse to say or do what they do. Ditto for religious people. I imagine that there is a percentage that absolutely believe it and a percentage that just go along with it because they imagine it is going to be personally beneficial. I guess I’d just like an honest survey. Weird that I would feel the need to go with a supernatural option to get at the heart of an issue that would seem so straight forward. Another thing to file in the drawer marked, “Things which ought to be simple, but aren’t”. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2019, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-read-one-persons-mind-who-would-you-pick-or-not-pick/844941/37 "2019-12-19T12:07:10Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > Any random Trump supporter. I’d be curious to know if they actually believe the shit Trumps says. Or do they just say that they do so they have an excuse to say or do what they do. Even within the Trump crowd, though (which numbers maybe 100 million Americans,) you’re going to get answers that are all over the place. People support Trump for dozens of different reasons and there is still diversity within the Trump ranks. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2019, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-read-one-persons-mind-who-would-you-pick-or-not-pick/844941/38 "2019-12-19T15:46:11Z")
I’d feel it would be a real invasion of privacy to be able to read someone else’s mind without their consent. I’d want to read my cat’s mind, just to see what the world looks like from a cat’s POV. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-read-one-persons-mind-who-would-you-pick-or-not-pick/844941.md?page=1)