Sunday 14 February 2021

Universal Telepathy

If I hear someone speaking Chinese, then I hear the sounds that he utters but do not know their meanings. The same applies if my hearing is sensitive enough to detect his subvocalizations and would also apply if I were able to "read his mind" to the extent of knowing which Chinese words he was currently inwardly thinking. For this reason, I used to think that the universal telepathy of Poul Anderson's character, Aycharaych, was simply impossible.

However, a Chinese man not only thinks certain words but also understands them. Therefore, I suggest the following scenario, in which I refer not to a Chinaman but to a hydrogen-breathing, Jovoid-planet-inhabiting Ymirite:

the Ymirite thinks in certain symbols and understands them;

both the Ymirite symbolic expression and the Ymirite's understanding of it are reproduced in Aychayach's mind;

a moment later, Aycharaych remembers not only the symbols but also the understanding of them;

he does not detect the symbols without understanding them but detects the understanding.

1 comment:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

That's as reasonable an explanation as any I've seen of how Aycharaych's universal telepathy works. It could well fit in with Erannath's discussion of that we see in THE DAY OF THEIR RETURN.

Ad astra! Sean