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I was just doing some thinking in an attempt to understand how a telepath's psychic ability works. Here is my theory, pretty much all life forms on earth are some sort of electrical based beings correct? Our brains and nervous systems operate through way of electro-chemical impulses. So it is my theory that telepaths have some region of their brains dedicated to emitting low level electronic pulses. Also i think the span of control a telepath may have as far as their ability goes can be broken down into 3 basic categories, the ability to read, write and execute. Read obviously being able to interpret the the signals and pulses that the brain puts out, write being the ability to over write or alter electrical pulses in the brain, and execute being the ability to send commands to the nervous systems of individuals in order to create a reaction such as mind controlling someone's body. I know this sounds a bit far fetched but i was just attempting to make a S.W.A.G. as to how a telepath's abilities might work. Anybody have any thoughts on this?

Would it be similar to reading or altering someone's brain waves (alpha, beta, theta, delta) only to a much more specific degree?

Originally posted by Deathstroke
Would it be similar to reading or altering someone's brain waves (alpha, beta, theta, delta) only to a much more specific degree? maybe like i said i was just posting up my theory, either way i think there brain has developed differently and the have a part of their brain meant for sending and receiving signals

Very good post


Originally posted by ExodusCloak


You still not getting it...manipulating the mind DIRECTLY...as opposed to manipulating it INDIRECTLY. A person who psionically manipulates a certain part of the nervous system to induce pleasure, pain or loss of vision is manipulating the mind via secondary means. This individual is manipulating the nervous system via primary means and manipulating the mind via secondary means. (This is similar to Benedict, Vertigo etc..). Heck I can manipulate the mind(cause someone pain) via secondary means too. I can hit someone with a chair...I'm inducing pain via secondary means.

A person who directly manipulates a persons thoughts in order to carry out the same feat is manipulating the mind by primary means and the nervous system via secondary means.(This is a telepath)

That's the main difference between a telepath and a person who just psionically manipulates the nervous system.



You need to have at least some power to directly shape and manipulate thought energy.

Vertigo can effect the mind...but via secondary means. Psionic waves...effect nervous system...effect mind.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertigo_%28Marvel_Comics%29

The bio suggests that Manslaughter manipulates the nervous system. It would be similar to how Storm manipulates the weather and how she's linked to the atmosphere. Manslaughter would psionically manipulate the nervous system just like Storm psionically manipulates the weather. And how Iceman can feel(Is linked) to the water in the atmosphere.





Note the difference...

1.) Psionically manipulating the nervous system to cause vision/hearing impairment...

as opposed to

2.) Manipulating the mind in order to manipulate the nervous system...

that's where a telepath and manslaughter differ.

And yes the nervous system isn't the mind. The mind is the mind. Telepaths manipulate thought energy to manipulate the nervous system. That bio suggests that Manslaughter does it the other way round. That's a big difference...see Vertigo.





Eh...that bio suggests that he manipulates the autonomic nervous system in order to effect a persons mind. That's not telepathy...telepathy works the other way around. That's what Benedict does and Vertigo is similar.
That's why he has those limits...if he was a telepath he wouldn't have such limits. His limits = the limits of the autonomous nervous system.





What it comes down to is this. If he can establish mental links on his own...then he should be able to. If he can't then he shouldn't be able to.

From this thread.

http://www.killermovies.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=451546&pagenumber=6

Originally posted by lando005
I was just doing some thinking in an attempt to understand how a telepath's psychic ability works. Here is my theory, pretty much all life forms on earth are some sort of electrical based beings correct? Our brains and nervous systems operate through way of electro-chemical impulses. So it is my theory that telepaths have some region of their brains dedicated to emitting low level electronic pulses. Also i think the span of control a telepath may have as far as their ability goes can be broken down into 3 basic categories, the ability to read, write and execute. Read obviously being able to interpret the the signals and pulses that the brain puts out, write being the ability to over write or alter electrical pulses in the brain, and execute being the ability to send commands to the nervous systems of individuals in order to create a reaction such as mind controlling someone's body. I know this sounds a bit far fetched but i was just attempting to make a S.W.A.G. as to how a telepath's abilities might work. Anybody have any thoughts on this?

Xavier has been able to communicate telepathically with Lilandra over light years with no lag so I wouldn't say that telepaths emit electronic pulses, they emit/receive/manipulate some sort of fictional particle/wave/energy that operates instantly. The speed of telepathy is thought and action in unison. Meaning Xavier thinks and instantly Lilandra receives it light years away.

Telepaths are more like receptors, they're constantly blocking out thoughts of others around them. Even world class telepaths are constantly block out thoughts of others around them. But they are able to reverse the link though. That means that they have to actively reverse the link. Receiving thoughts requires no effort this pathway is always on.

Telepathic Time is different to Objective time. 1 second Objective time is ages in telepathic time.
http://img149.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xmen2032fs2.jpg

Psionic Energy doesn't have a concrete definition. Exodus called it life energy and the Phoenix Force is a Psionic Nexus and she's been associated with life energy, then we have plenty of other instances where it's called thought energy. And then we other instances where non-telepathic character manipulates an element or aspect of nature "psionically"/mentally so one would assume psionic energy has something to do with the mind.
Psionic Energy was described as Exodus in everything plants humans etc...however we also find it in the atmosphere:
http://img405.imageshack.us/my.php?image=generationx01817mn0.jpg

Telepathy has been shown to be inhibited by electromagnetic energy(Magneto permanently impairing all long range telepathy) and has been shown to inhibit electromagnetic energy(Xavier breaking a magnetic field using his powers), it works both ways. So it's nature could be similar to electromagnetic energy however the speed of the wave/particle/energy is not calculable since it can travel light years instantly.

Originally posted by ExodusCloak
Xavier has been able to communicate telepathically with Lilandra over light years with no lag so I wouldn't say that telepaths emit electronic pulses, they emit/receive/manipulate some sort of fictional particle/wave/energy that operates instantly. The speed of telepathy is thought and action in unison. Meaning Xavier thinks and instantly Lilandra receives it light years away.

Telepaths are more like receptors, they're constantly blocking out thoughts of others around them. Even world class telepaths are constantly block out thoughts of others around them. But they are able to reverse the link though. That means that they have to actively reverse the link. Receiving thoughts requires no effort this pathway is always on.

Telepathic Time is different to Objective time. 1 second Objective time is ages in telepathic time.
http://img149.imageshack.us/my.php?image=xmen2032fs2.jpg

Psionic Energy doesn't have a concrete definition. Exodus called it life energy and the Phoenix Force is a Psionic Nexus and she's been associated with life energy, then we have plenty of other instances where it's called thought energy. And then we other instances where non-telepathic character manipulates an element or aspect of nature "psionically"/mentally so one would assume psionic energy has something to do with the mind.
Psionic Energy was described as Exodus in everything plants humans etc...however we also find it in the atmosphere:
http://img405.imageshack.us/my.php?image=generationx01817mn0.jpg

Telepathy has been shown to be inhibited by electromagnetic energy(Magneto permanently impairing all long range telepathy) and has been shown to inhibit electromagnetic energy(Xavier breaking a magnetic field using his powers), it works both ways. So it's nature could be similar to electromagnetic energy however the speed of the wave/particle/energy is not calculable since it can travel light years instantly. I think that many abilities seen in comics can in some way be explained by some science but the level of the ability here in the real world would be much weaker or lower than their comic incarnation IE super speeders would not be going faster than light, and so on and so on. Taking that into account do you still think that telepaths can communicate at instantaneous speeds? Their thought waves still need to travel across some medium.

Originally posted by lando005
I think that many abilities seen in comics can in some way be explained by some science but the level of the ability here in the real world would be much weaker or lower than their comic incarnation IE super speeders would not be going faster than light, and so on and so on. Taking that into account do you still think that telepaths can communicate at instantaneous speeds? Their thought waves still need to travel across some medium.

I'm not sure, I know that you get instances where people can sense when loved ones are in accidents(trouble) and that is the closest thing I can think of in Real Life to telepathy. Its more empathy but you instantly know(a gut feeling) when something has gone wrong. Whether it's due to an emotinal link being severed or an emotional surge through the rapport you share with that person can't really be said. So not really sure I'll have to think about that.

Originally posted by ExodusCloak
I'm not sure, I know that you get instances where people can sense when loved ones are in accidents(trouble) and that is the closest thing I can think of in Real Life to telepathy. Its more empathy but you instantly know(a gut feeling) when something has gone wrong. Whether it's due to an emotinal link being severed or an emotional surge through the rapport you share with that person can't really be said. So not really sure I'll have to think about that. I know what your talking about there, most people say it's an empathy thing i think, I know iI personally have had some experiances like that my self but they mostly came in the forms of dreams and a few rare precongative guesses

taking what i said into count does tat make people like electro pseuto telepaths?

any othe thoughts or opinions?

Found something new:

http://comicbookresources.com/prev_img.php?pid=3774&pg=1

Originally posted by ExodusCloak
Found something new:

http://comicbookresources.com/prev_img.php?pid=3774&pg=1

holy shit.

it all depends ...diff characters do diff things..eg.. once the Silver Surfer was able to read a little girls mind, by manipulating the electricty in her brain, and converting them into moving pictures over her head(stan lee days). most comic telepaths are usually explained as thoughts traveling thru some sort of subspace or hyperspace, or the astral plane..where it is generally accepted in comic lore that time and space dont exist in those realms or they are at the very least relative.. also too in an old JLA issue Dr Destiny was able to manipulate ppl's thoughts and actions thru thier dreams, not to mention other ppl like deadman who can just possess someone and tap into thier memories....sure it would be sweet for there to be one unversal concept for how telepathy works, but there are too many versions of thought/mind control to just nail down one

I think that forming a "theory of telepathy" is going to be ultimately fruitless because you have so many different characters using it in different ways that "how it works" is going to vary based upon author interpretation, character usage, and what they need it to accomplish in the story. It's comics, and anymore a lot of writers are realizing that they writer themselves into logical flaws when they try to be too explicit about powers, especially ones shared by many other characters whose writers may contradict their own work. So trying to relate it to real-life brain functions might be fun to theorize, but will remain elusive because telepathy doesn't exist in the real world, we're dealing with comics, and the industry will never standardize it enough for inquiry such as this.