How does Aycharaych read the surface thoughts of any being of any species even without knowing that being's internal symbolism? We cannot know the arbitrary meaning of a symbol merely by looking at the symbol.
Erannath suggests first that there is an ultimate mental quality deeper than language. Secondly, he suspects that Aycharaych:
analyses a mental pattern;
identifies logical and conational universals;
reconstructs an entire mental configuration.
This would require not only telepathic sensitivity to mental radiation but also an advanced organic semantic computer.
I do not think that universals can give him specific meanings. How does this sound? At each moment, the other being thinks with a set of symbols and knows the meanings of those symbols. Aycharaych's brain detects and reproduces the surface contents of the other being's mind, including both the symbols and their meanings. A moment later, Aycharaych remembers that mental content, including knowledge of the meanings.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
And of course Anderson had to try to make sense of how Aycharaych could so quickly understand even the merely surface of other beings not even of his race. Some might call this "handwavium," but I think Anderson did as well as could be hoped for.
Ad astra! Sean
I think it was suggested that the Cherionites had used genetic engineering at some point in their (multi-million-year) history to enhance their original "natural" (limited) telepathic abilities.
That is not explicit but maybe implied in the conversation between Erannath and Ivar.
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