Have you ever imagined that you could communicate with other people using only your mind? And that, by doing so, you could have all the things you’ve ever desired? Well, if you had telepathy, chances are it wouldn’t help you communicate better; you would just hear inner monologues about nonsense.
The majority of sci-fi films and television have led us to believe that having the ability to tap into someone’s thoughts would give us the ultimate edge in our interactions and communications—and, ultimately, life.
But the reality is this: if you were to select one random person on the bus, for example, your amazing ability would pick up worries about what others might have said about them, or perhaps concerns about whether they could have said something differently in a conversation they had earlier; ruminations on what was said and what could have been said.
Communication is like a funnel: a lot wants to come out but only a small amount does. What happens is the little amount that does come out leaves us regretting what didn’t come out.
So, if you could read others’ minds, chances are what you find would look quite similar to your own thoughts. The question is: what’s on your mind? Why are you concerned with what has been said and what could have been said?
Mind reading isn’t required for being heard; in fact, it actually presupposes people are listening to you in the first place, and chances are they aren’t. If others are more concerned with worries about their past communication, then why does reading their minds matter? If time travel took you back to the moment when you wanted to say something differently, would that solve everything?
Let’s consider that for a second. If we always care more about what we’ve said, as opposed to what we’re saying, then we are forever in a loop—ad infinitum. The past conversations matter more than the present ones. Well, how does that make any sense? Yet, most of us have this logic built into us—so much so, in fact, that most of our communications rely on the past in order to make sense of the present.
If telepathy were possible, would it actually help us? If communication is a mixed bag—a shot in the dark, if you will—then reading others’ minds isn’t a straight path.
We often forget that communication isn’t neutral; that it does not jump from brain to brain naturally; that language has its conventions, like everything else.
For most of us, communicating with anyone other than our best friends or mothers can be difficult at times. But, perhaps, the ability to communicate directly into someone’s mind would bypass all of communication’s shortcomings. Or would it?