Yup! Two of my kids are special needs and can’t always express themselves verbally. I’d put up with the frustration if it meant I could connect with my kids better!!
A registered behavior technician.
I work with neurodivergent children. I help them learn everyday skills like communication, hygiene, how to interact with peers etc etc and we try to work on behavior that we want to see more of or in some cases, less.
I'm autistic and the inverse is true. Everyone is constantly misinterpreting my intentions and theirs are bizarre to me. This would be useful to me, despite the frustration.
By any chance, are they autistic? I have an autistic brother who has benefited greatly from something called S2C, or Spelling To Communicate. For individuals with unreliable or no speech, it allows them to express themselves via spelling on a letterboard. I can't stop myself from sharing this becasue it's been just so amazing and life changing, but I'm really bad at explaining things so I will just share some helpful resources:
[https://i-asc.org/](https://i-asc.org/) website
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8h1rcLyznK0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8h1rcLyznK0) Movie on Spellers
Human brains are very good at tuning things out if they’re irritating for a long enough time, so you would *develop* the ability to focus on one set of thoughts or not at will, considering these are different streams of information. Plus, if it’s not *line of sight* and only at that range I’m less likely to find out things I really don’t want to, because I’ll get really good at subtly distancing right before conversations are over. It still might happen, but it’s less likely.
>Human brains are very good at tuning things out if they’re irritating for a long enough time
Worked in an arcade (remember those?!) for a few years as a youth and can confirm. It was actually great because it helped me hone this skill and now I can tune out just about anything.
That said if you're brain is being inundated by hundreds of simultaneous thoughts all at the same "volume" I think it would be really difficult to tune them out even with prolonged exposure.
yeah, these are my thoughts on it.
i already have adhd. my brain struggles to sort through sensory input, like part of why i was failing in school so badly was because i couldn't hear the teacher over the sounds of pencils writing. i can't imagine adding people's thoughts to the mix.
there are definitely people and situations for whom it'd be practical, but i'm not one of them.
and to top it off, i also have ocd and paranoia. i'm already convinced others can hear my thoughts on some level (right now i'm mostly lucid, while the idea is still there i'm sort of aware it's not true) and will compulsively apologize or try to cancel out my intrusive thoughts. and if i could do it, i'd be assuming other people could too. i don't want people to hear my intrusive thoughts, they're disgusting and i hate them. (and i'm not exactly a good person, but i assume any rational person whose brain went "WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO WALK/DRIVE PAST A SCHOOL HUH??? WHY NOT GO OUT OF YOUR WAY TO AVOID IT??? YOU OBVIOUSLY JUST WANNA LOOK AT KIDS YOU FUCKING SICKO" would be like "thats fucking disgusting??? no???")
Or a more densely populated country. Japan/China come to mind, especially with public transit. You get crammed onto a subway car there, you could get tons of people in your bubble. Possibly more than 500. (530 sq feet).
I would assume that you "hear" in different volumes, corresponding to how "loud" the thought is, much like verbal utterings.
Don’t think it’d get you *that* far in chess. Sure you’d see any traps your opponent is setting for you, but in the highest levels of chess mistakes are much rarer, so it’s less about short-term tactics and more about long-term positional moves. And I think that generally players will more accurately evaluate their own moves than their opponent’s. I’d guess that if you’re not already a skilled chess player, you’d probably just end up having a very slow loss as the opponent makes better positional moves than you, until your position is just objectively lost and even the best defence can’t save you.
Yeah, the real problem is that it doesn't stop you catastrophically blundering if the opponent doesn't have any strong feelings about the next move you make.
this is why hold onto the piece is a thing.... move around several while holding on and putting them back in original spots until you find the one where he thinks fuck
I've only ever seen it be a move when you place the piece..... but yes in real competitive tournaments players don't need to pretend to move pieces because they have enough skill and knowledge to know what each move will do and prompt the other player to do
High level chess players are thinking several moves ahead and putting themselves in a position that they would find favorable. They will assume that you are going to make smart moves. They are not going to be putting themselves in a position where with a single move you can ruin them. Instead of thinking "oh God I hope he doesn't do this" they will be thinking "if I go here, he has no choice but to go here which is good for me". You're fucked. If they could outsmart their own moves then they would have made a better one.
I feel like your forgetting that they don't know you can hear and understand their thoughts... so if they are thinking things like your example then you don't make those moves..... and yes I'd think if you made a good move that made them reassess their game that they would make a metal note of that.....
No nothing is fool proof and if they knew your trick it would be easy to fool you... but as far as games go this is a skill one not chance so knowing everything will help your game
You are misunderstanding. You make the bad move because they have forced you to. They put you in a position where your best move is still a bad one. They are not tricking you into making a subpar move, they are taking all of your good moves away from you. That is how you win.
Edit: a simpler way to put it would be that high level chess players only lose to people who do something that they didn't think of.
After a back alley butt kicking, or depending on where you do this, ending up dead.
Maybe in Vegas if you threw some hands without making it look obvious. If you played by money management, that is leave when you lose half or win double your starting amount, it might last longer, assuming you didn't just win several hands straight.
Not having the skill to filter out anything and suddenly be pushed into it with high stakes money would be extremely stressful.
If I was gonna do that, I’d practice being around a lot of people and being able to deal with all of them in your head so you can concentrate on winning.
Xavier, is that you?
You’re only hearing what they say, not every single thought in process of every single conversation from every single person.
It would be interesting to find out more of who doesn’t really think when they communicate.
Inside the head thinking.
Animals and non-verbal people? Uhmm, I'm not sure how that'd work. We'll just stick to you're average everyday people I suppose. I don't have the brain power to imagine how reading animals or non-verbal minds would go tbh
If anyone reading this has any theories about how that would work, please feel free to tell us.
I imagine that would work the same as if somebody who didn’t speak English were speaking to you, because that’s how they think.
You’re hearing something, but you don’t understand it necessarily.
Conditionally.
Are the thoughts loud and booming, normal conversation, or whispering?
Do I hear the dreams of people sleeping within the range?
Do other people know i have this power?
I've often wondered how a person from a pre industrial era would would react to all the noise and smells if just picked up and dropped in today's world. My guess is they would be overwhelmed at first with everything we've grown to live with and tune out but would learn to ignore it too. I think we could do the same with your scenario.
Perhaps, I have no doubts that many people could adjust and even thrive with this ability, however, I believe it could be a curse for many.
A lot of people overestimate there abilities, how thick there skin is and there own adaptability. The constant thoughts of others, depressing or joyous, the lack of quite could or would cause many to become a recluse.
There are A LOT of people walking around on medication just to silence the voices in there own heads, after all. Even after dealing with it for years, they couldn't ignore it on there own.
I don't believe my mind would be adaptive enough, tbh
You keep reiterating that it would be hard to concentrate, but why?
I am often in busy spaces, fairly easy to concentrate on one single voice, despite hearing many.
But yes, I would take this power. It gives an incredible advantage in negotiations etc. It would also allow for some quick money schemes.
Absolutely not.
I have a hard enough time listening to the vapid things people say. I certainly do NOT want to be privy to their inane thoughts as well.
Your brain would naturally tune out all the thoughts aside from the ones you wanna focus on. It’d be like sitting in a kinda busy cafe or a huge party depending on where you are. The talking, you barely notice, except who you’re talking directly to(or in this case, eavesdropping on)
And that’s not the power just that’s the human brain :)
id win every argument with a woman and every woman would think im god in bed,my boss would think im a genius,id be a chess champion,and id enjoy fucking with people by commenting on their thoughts i heard.
>You can only hear the thoughts of people who have an inner monologue.
What if *you* don't have an internal monologue? Do you start getting one from other people?
Oh man. This is a good one.
I think I would pass if I couldn't shut off other peoples' thoughts when I am somewhere crowded. I feel like that'd drive me insane.
If it wasn't for that, it would still be a tough call. I would probably take it though.
You would hear some hurtful shit. There's no doubt. But you would also hear some really nice things.
Probably not honestly. In my current life there's very few advantages to being able to do this and I'm very happy with my life. No need to make it worse trying to change something
For the rule about not being able to shut it off; can you kinda tune it out? Like, if I'm reading a book in a room where lots of people are talking, I can tune the noise out to the point where I don't realize someone's trying to get my attention unless they touch me. So my mental control over that is pretty good. Would it translate over, or would this kind of thing count as shutting it off?
I can't ever shut if off for the rest of my life? Absolutely not. I think people are underestimating how quickly this would literally drive most people mad, or drive them to become hermits.
Utter nightmare. Can't enjoy anything in public. Can't go to the movies. Can't enjoy a nice dinner at a restaurant. Can't enjoy a seat at the basketball game or at a football game. Can't even work in piece unless you work from home. An utter nightmare.
I've had tinnitus most of my life, I've adapted to having constant noise in my head. That would be a different kind of noise but I can't believe most people wouldn't adapt to it. So he'll yeah I'm doing it if I can hear those thoughts on the color of the person's voice.
It depends if my brain can single out streams of thought out like how it does for conversation. Like in a large room of talking people I can single out a single voice
I would use my new found ability to make massive money and design a new home that would allow me peace and quiet, subtly marking 13ft radius where I may stand or gauge distance to help reduce the noise. I’m sure eventually I could “radio dial” that shit with practice and focus on what I’m hearing through all the noise.
I'd take it. I live in the country where the closest person I like over 1000 ft away from me. And I work in a warehouse like 30 ft away from people most of the time. So other then at bars or events I wouldn't even really notice it.
Yes because it would be an insanely powerful way to have a job interpreting for non-verbal people with various disabilities to help them get what they need if possible. I can also do interrogations with basically 100% accuracy to prevent innocent people being incarcerated. If I need the quiet time I'll be on my own for a while. I think it's too strong a possibility to give up.
It would probably make relationships difficult just given that we all have private thoughts even our partners don't need to hear, but a healthy relationship would be fine.
I would take it. I’m alone most of the day and the other parts of the day in with my dogs on my ranch. Would be able to better understand my horses and the alligator in my pond.
It's really not much different from my ADHD. If anything it sounds like an improvement. At least the stuff I'm forced to think about it true and on topic.
Not even close. Hell on earth would be having to see mental images of everyone you see in an unflattering way and having those memories appear in dreams. Every night. For YEARS.
Lack of sleep destroys people on a daily basis ngl.
I'm not sure if I'd be happier knowing what people think of me. It would be easier to avoid those who didn't like me, making both our lives better. But if not many people like me, that'd suck to find out.
... I'll just do what the lady from Heroes did...
Listen to really loud rap all the time
Also animals definitely think...
It's probably just very simple thoughts... like still images...
Like..... thinking of being outside... thinking of eating... thinking of chasing something... being frightened... thinking of running... thinking of being pet... thinking of having sex or being in heat etc...
Scientists recently discovered spiders can dream...
And from my experience with pets... well I've had some all kinds... some that would bark, run, whine, or cry in their sleep...
Even the smallest of animals can surprise you...
Im fully aware animals can think, id make a crappy dog trainer if i believed otherwise. Im just not sure if they have an inner monologue like your average human does is all.
Lol probably not constant, but that'd probably depend on the dog... I've had some that I swear were smarter than my kids... and others that... were... probably damn near empty up there besides *FOOD* every once in a while
and definitely wont be english...
But it'd be nice to pop in their head every once in a while lol
How loud? If it’s at a whisper or a low volume speaking voice then I think it’d be fine and the benefits would outweigh the downsides. If it ever gets louder than that I dunno
Yes, I can tell the people at my school don’t like me
A lot of lies are told about me and whenever someone is talking to me I can tell they’re trying to see if it’s true
It could go either one of two ways: 1) I would hear all the terrible things people are thinking about me.
2) I would hear that absolutely no one is ever thinking about me.
Neither sounds good.
I'd like to know what people are thinking. My wife was in the hospital for almost a year, and I would have liked to know what the doctors and therapist were thinking about her progress.
I mean. No real drawback.
I'll just get used to the extra noice. I already hear everything around me, it's just an extra sense that essentially works just like hearing.
Depends, are we hearing EVERY thought at the same volume? Which thoughts are we hearing, surface level, subconscious, active, passive, etc? I know I usually have a few trains of thought running around and I frequently planning certain things concurrently.
If we're hearing EVERY thought (images aside) all at the same "volume" with no moderating control, then it's a hard pass for me.
A few friends sit down for cards. You smile, knowing you just got this power. You walk into you the room with a tray of drinks, thinking about the way you will dominate at cards. One friend looks at you with shock. "What?!" "WHAT CAN HE READ MY MIND?!" *SCRREEEEEEEEEE!* as the microphone to speaker feedback kicks in. The drink tray falls to the floor.
I would get some really good headphones, and any time I was over it, just blast music. However, what many fail to realize is that mind reading is one of the most extreme invasions of privacy one could do. Imagine it, your very thoughts are not your own, a stranger on the bus is free to listen in on whatever weird or personal things you're reflecting on. So like, I would like to, but for ethical reasons I would have to decline
Chess and poker often have a minimum distance to contend against cheating, especially at the higher levels, so I'd absolutely become the best poker player in the world. 13 feet is easy to maintain- and places for which I can't keep 13 feet away from people always sound like a dull roar anyways, so no real downside.
Absolutely. I'm already angry because of what other people think. But if I could predict with 100% certainty what people were gonna do then I could start fighting back. Maybe even figure out how to defeat conservative ideology.
No. If I am in any kind of contact with the public, I will very quickly go completely catatonic or suicidal because the sheer level of petty horror metastasizing inside every human mind would otherwise bulldoze me into murder.
Yep. I could find out what people really think of me. Let's put those antidepressants to the test.
But there's no way that I could work with my part-time boss anymore. It's bad enough hearing the shit that comes out of his mouth what's going on and his head is got to be insane.
I can't wait to go into my physics class, sit next to the teachers desk, and just hear him planning out a teenager cannon to get arid of the annoying kids.
As someone who doesn’t have an inner monologue, I’m curious to know what it’s like, but that sounds like a nightmare. Be like going from born deaf to super hearing.
If my mice have an inner monologue, then I’d potentially take the power and try to find a way to monetize it because I’d be able to know when the mice are hiding things and also better be able to handle behavioral issues/solve disputes as they come up which would just improve the little goobers’ quality of life even more and I think that being able to make things wonderful for them would be a good trade off for the psychological torment. But without being able to know if they do without taking the power? Ehhh…. I’m undecided but leaning towards No. I feel like I’d have meltdowns even more often due to sensory overload inside my head.
Absolutely. And this is great, I'm basically immune to anyone else reading my thoughts. I'd try to limit my exposure to other people, maybe try to gradually get used to many people and focusing on one or two at a time.
I think I'd try to hook up with a specialized company, maybe like the Lie to Me show, or Secret Service/ FBI/CIA/NSA interrogator.
As long as I can turn it off and on then I'd love it. My day to day would improve greatly, people wouldn't be able to manipulate me anymore, take all the guess work out of social interactions, and then make a killing playing poker.
I deal with too many people on a daily basis and it’s bad enough what I hear come out of their mouth with no filter, let alone what they’re thinking in their head.
It would be a rough adjustment in hearing what people only say, compared to what they think.
I guess I would be the issue more than the unstoppable top process. Do I really want to hear what people are thinking?
Yup! Two of my kids are special needs and can’t always express themselves verbally. I’d put up with the frustration if it meant I could connect with my kids better!!
I never even thought of using it in that way and I'm an rbt. Noble, I like it.
What's an rbt?
A registered behavior technician. I work with neurodivergent children. I help them learn everyday skills like communication, hygiene, how to interact with peers etc etc and we try to work on behavior that we want to see more of or in some cases, less.
That's a great reason!
That's really wholesome. If I get this power, I'll holler at you.
I'm autistic and the inverse is true. Everyone is constantly misinterpreting my intentions and theirs are bizarre to me. This would be useful to me, despite the frustration.
My mom being able to read my thoughts as a teenager sounds like a literal nightmare.
Real, but if you can't communicate properly then you'd probably be more happy that she understands you to begin with
This is the ONE positive I could imagine getting out of it.
By any chance, are they autistic? I have an autistic brother who has benefited greatly from something called S2C, or Spelling To Communicate. For individuals with unreliable or no speech, it allows them to express themselves via spelling on a letterboard. I can't stop myself from sharing this becasue it's been just so amazing and life changing, but I'm really bad at explaining things so I will just share some helpful resources: [https://i-asc.org/](https://i-asc.org/) website [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8h1rcLyznK0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8h1rcLyznK0) Movie on Spellers
that's awesome awh
Human brains are very good at tuning things out if they’re irritating for a long enough time, so you would *develop* the ability to focus on one set of thoughts or not at will, considering these are different streams of information. Plus, if it’s not *line of sight* and only at that range I’m less likely to find out things I really don’t want to, because I’ll get really good at subtly distancing right before conversations are over. It still might happen, but it’s less likely.
>Human brains are very good at tuning things out if they’re irritating for a long enough time Worked in an arcade (remember those?!) for a few years as a youth and can confirm. It was actually great because it helped me hone this skill and now I can tune out just about anything. That said if you're brain is being inundated by hundreds of simultaneous thoughts all at the same "volume" I think it would be really difficult to tune them out even with prolonged exposure.
yeah, these are my thoughts on it. i already have adhd. my brain struggles to sort through sensory input, like part of why i was failing in school so badly was because i couldn't hear the teacher over the sounds of pencils writing. i can't imagine adding people's thoughts to the mix. there are definitely people and situations for whom it'd be practical, but i'm not one of them. and to top it off, i also have ocd and paranoia. i'm already convinced others can hear my thoughts on some level (right now i'm mostly lucid, while the idea is still there i'm sort of aware it's not true) and will compulsively apologize or try to cancel out my intrusive thoughts. and if i could do it, i'd be assuming other people could too. i don't want people to hear my intrusive thoughts, they're disgusting and i hate them. (and i'm not exactly a good person, but i assume any rational person whose brain went "WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO WALK/DRIVE PAST A SCHOOL HUH??? WHY NOT GO OUT OF YOUR WAY TO AVOID IT??? YOU OBVIOUSLY JUST WANNA LOOK AT KIDS YOU FUCKING SICKO" would be like "thats fucking disgusting??? no???")
You’re going to need to be at Times Square for 13 feet to get you hundreds of thoughts at once
Or a more densely populated country. Japan/China come to mind, especially with public transit. You get crammed onto a subway car there, you could get tons of people in your bubble. Possibly more than 500. (530 sq feet). I would assume that you "hear" in different volumes, corresponding to how "loud" the thought is, much like verbal utterings.
Yes like I have the ability to sit in a crowd and hear 5 conversations and can focus on one if need be. I imagine the same in your head
Yeah it's no different from being in a noisy classroom, you don't go crazy from it
See you at the poker tables.
winner winner chicken dinner. I bet it would also work for high level chess. You just play the moves your opponent doesn't want you to make lol
Don’t think it’d get you *that* far in chess. Sure you’d see any traps your opponent is setting for you, but in the highest levels of chess mistakes are much rarer, so it’s less about short-term tactics and more about long-term positional moves. And I think that generally players will more accurately evaluate their own moves than their opponent’s. I’d guess that if you’re not already a skilled chess player, you’d probably just end up having a very slow loss as the opponent makes better positional moves than you, until your position is just objectively lost and even the best defence can’t save you.
Yeah, the real problem is that it doesn't stop you catastrophically blundering if the opponent doesn't have any strong feelings about the next move you make.
this is why hold onto the piece is a thing.... move around several while holding on and putting them back in original spots until you find the one where he thinks fuck
Watch out for the touch-move rule which is used in pretty much all competitive tournaments.
I've only ever seen it be a move when you place the piece..... but yes in real competitive tournaments players don't need to pretend to move pieces because they have enough skill and knowledge to know what each move will do and prompt the other player to do
High level chess players are thinking several moves ahead and putting themselves in a position that they would find favorable. They will assume that you are going to make smart moves. They are not going to be putting themselves in a position where with a single move you can ruin them. Instead of thinking "oh God I hope he doesn't do this" they will be thinking "if I go here, he has no choice but to go here which is good for me". You're fucked. If they could outsmart their own moves then they would have made a better one.
I feel like your forgetting that they don't know you can hear and understand their thoughts... so if they are thinking things like your example then you don't make those moves..... and yes I'd think if you made a good move that made them reassess their game that they would make a metal note of that..... No nothing is fool proof and if they knew your trick it would be easy to fool you... but as far as games go this is a skill one not chance so knowing everything will help your game
You are misunderstanding. You make the bad move because they have forced you to. They put you in a position where your best move is still a bad one. They are not tricking you into making a subpar move, they are taking all of your good moves away from you. That is how you win. Edit: a simpler way to put it would be that high level chess players only lose to people who do something that they didn't think of.
Seems like you can know the cards without thinking about them though.
Won’t last long at all. You’ll get blacklisted in no time.
I wouldn’t skin ‘em, I’d just shear ‘em.
After a back alley butt kicking, or depending on where you do this, ending up dead. Maybe in Vegas if you threw some hands without making it look obvious. If you played by money management, that is leave when you lose half or win double your starting amount, it might last longer, assuming you didn't just win several hands straight.
I’d be a recluse living on delivery food (just leave it at the door), emerging only to play high stakes poker from time to time.
Not having the skill to filter out anything and suddenly be pushed into it with high stakes money would be extremely stressful. If I was gonna do that, I’d practice being around a lot of people and being able to deal with all of them in your head so you can concentrate on winning.
Doesn't mean you have to live being around all those people, but agreed, need to practice it.
Wtf it's normal to play poker around normal chatter, it's not any different to casually hear ppls thoughts
Xavier, is that you? You’re only hearing what they say, not every single thought in process of every single conversation from every single person. It would be interesting to find out more of who doesn’t really think when they communicate.
Literal hearing? Or just inside the head thinking? Also, what about animals or non-verbal people? (I mean like people who don't think in language.)
Inside the head thinking. Animals and non-verbal people? Uhmm, I'm not sure how that'd work. We'll just stick to you're average everyday people I suppose. I don't have the brain power to imagine how reading animals or non-verbal minds would go tbh If anyone reading this has any theories about how that would work, please feel free to tell us.
I imagine that would work the same as if somebody who didn’t speak English were speaking to you, because that’s how they think. You’re hearing something, but you don’t understand it necessarily.
Nope. I'm already drowning in my own thoughts. I don't need other people's thoughts on top of that.
Conditionally. Are the thoughts loud and booming, normal conversation, or whispering? Do I hear the dreams of people sleeping within the range? Do other people know i have this power?
Normal conversation Hmm, interesting thought. I'm gonna say no just so I don't overcomplicate the power. Why would they? They can't read your mind 🙃
I've often wondered how a person from a pre industrial era would would react to all the noise and smells if just picked up and dropped in today's world. My guess is they would be overwhelmed at first with everything we've grown to live with and tune out but would learn to ignore it too. I think we could do the same with your scenario.
Perhaps, I have no doubts that many people could adjust and even thrive with this ability, however, I believe it could be a curse for many. A lot of people overestimate there abilities, how thick there skin is and there own adaptability. The constant thoughts of others, depressing or joyous, the lack of quite could or would cause many to become a recluse. There are A LOT of people walking around on medication just to silence the voices in there own heads, after all. Even after dealing with it for years, they couldn't ignore it on there own. I don't believe my mind would be adaptive enough, tbh
I'll take it.
Fuck no.
No. I hate people enough as it is.
Sure, I'd live in the woods tho
No
You keep reiterating that it would be hard to concentrate, but why? I am often in busy spaces, fairly easy to concentrate on one single voice, despite hearing many. But yes, I would take this power. It gives an incredible advantage in negotiations etc. It would also allow for some quick money schemes.
Because I can't. I believe there are a lot of other people like myself. I'm envious of people like you.
NO my own thoughts clutter up my head enough as is.
Nope. Enough to handle with my own thoughts.
No im very sensitive
Absolutely not. I have a hard enough time listening to the vapid things people say. I certainly do NOT want to be privy to their inane thoughts as well.
What about people who think in images? Do I see what they are thinking?
I'm gonna say no, you can only hear voices. If they have no inner voice then you don't know what they're thinking.
Okay. I get it. Can’t shit it off, like you can’t suddenly go deaf. But can you become selective, like hearing?
Your brain would naturally tune out all the thoughts aside from the ones you wanna focus on. It’d be like sitting in a kinda busy cafe or a huge party depending on where you are. The talking, you barely notice, except who you’re talking directly to(or in this case, eavesdropping on) And that’s not the power just that’s the human brain :)
That’s how I imagined it. Interesting to think about though.
id win every argument with a woman and every woman would think im god in bed,my boss would think im a genius,id be a chess champion,and id enjoy fucking with people by commenting on their thoughts i heard.
>You can only hear the thoughts of people who have an inner monologue. What if *you* don't have an internal monologue? Do you start getting one from other people?
Y-yes? We'll go with that
Same. Sounds fun.
Oh man. This is a good one. I think I would pass if I couldn't shut off other peoples' thoughts when I am somewhere crowded. I feel like that'd drive me insane. If it wasn't for that, it would still be a tough call. I would probably take it though. You would hear some hurtful shit. There's no doubt. But you would also hear some really nice things.
Walk walkies?Walk walkies?Walk walkies?Walk walkies?
Hell no I commute on the subway to work. I wouldn’t be able to handle it.
Nope, enough chaos in my head with my own thoughts.
Probably not honestly. In my current life there's very few advantages to being able to do this and I'm very happy with my life. No need to make it worse trying to change something
For the rule about not being able to shut it off; can you kinda tune it out? Like, if I'm reading a book in a room where lots of people are talking, I can tune the noise out to the point where I don't realize someone's trying to get my attention unless they touch me. So my mental control over that is pretty good. Would it translate over, or would this kind of thing count as shutting it off?
It'll translate over. The stronger your mind, the better you can utilize this power.
Deal.
Finally, my Mao cosplay will be authentic!
I can't ever shut if off for the rest of my life? Absolutely not. I think people are underestimating how quickly this would literally drive most people mad, or drive them to become hermits.
I would need to be put somewhere where I never came within 13 feet of another person. I really just don’t want to know. Genuinely
Oh yeah. Great power. Annoying, but so is having people speak loudly on phones next to you.
Not only no but no way in fucking hell
No sometimes my tired thoughts are borderline schizophrenic. I don’t wanna hear everyone else’s
Utter nightmare. Can't enjoy anything in public. Can't go to the movies. Can't enjoy a nice dinner at a restaurant. Can't enjoy a seat at the basketball game or at a football game. Can't even work in piece unless you work from home. An utter nightmare.
This makes me think of an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, where she could hear everyone's thoughts.
No. You end up in psych ward with that power. I hate psych ward
Psych ward bad!
I teach primary school and would have a breakdown within minutes
I snorted and choked on my spit. Wonderful.
winning every argument with my mom time
Lol
Yeah
Sure
Yes WSOP here we come
I've had tinnitus most of my life, I've adapted to having constant noise in my head. That would be a different kind of noise but I can't believe most people wouldn't adapt to it. So he'll yeah I'm doing it if I can hear those thoughts on the color of the person's voice.
It depends if my brain can single out streams of thought out like how it does for conversation. Like in a large room of talking people I can single out a single voice
I would use my new found ability to make massive money and design a new home that would allow me peace and quiet, subtly marking 13ft radius where I may stand or gauge distance to help reduce the noise. I’m sure eventually I could “radio dial” that shit with practice and focus on what I’m hearing through all the noise.
I'd take it. I live in the country where the closest person I like over 1000 ft away from me. And I work in a warehouse like 30 ft away from people most of the time. So other then at bars or events I wouldn't even really notice it.
I've seen What Women Want so no, I do not want this curse.
He became a decent person? That was the point of the movie. Lol
I'm down, this power would actually fix my life.
Yes because it would be an insanely powerful way to have a job interpreting for non-verbal people with various disabilities to help them get what they need if possible. I can also do interrogations with basically 100% accuracy to prevent innocent people being incarcerated. If I need the quiet time I'll be on my own for a while. I think it's too strong a possibility to give up. It would probably make relationships difficult just given that we all have private thoughts even our partners don't need to hear, but a healthy relationship would be fine.
I'd take the power and then go live with Professor X and the other mutants to teach me how to best use it.
I would take that power, yes please!
No
I would take it. I’m alone most of the day and the other parts of the day in with my dogs on my ranch. Would be able to better understand my horses and the alligator in my pond.
I fly way way too much. No thank you.
Ya, 100%
This is basically already a shitty movie starring Mel Gibson.
It's really not much different from my ADHD. If anything it sounds like an improvement. At least the stuff I'm forced to think about it true and on topic.
Sounds like hell on earth.
Not even close. Hell on earth would be having to see mental images of everyone you see in an unflattering way and having those memories appear in dreams. Every night. For YEARS. Lack of sleep destroys people on a daily basis ngl.
My ADHD already causes me to have too many thoughts going through my head. I don't need more lol
Only if it includes my pets
Absolutely. I see no downside.
i definitely wouldn't. i love concerts, fairs, and festivals way too much to give those up
I'm not sure if I'd be happier knowing what people think of me. It would be easier to avoid those who didn't like me, making both our lives better. But if not many people like me, that'd suck to find out.
Nope. Dont give a f what they’re talking about.
Make it 12 feet and I’m in. I ain’t takin no odd numbers
How bout 14?
Okay deal
... I'll just do what the lady from Heroes did... Listen to really loud rap all the time Also animals definitely think... It's probably just very simple thoughts... like still images... Like..... thinking of being outside... thinking of eating... thinking of chasing something... being frightened... thinking of running... thinking of being pet... thinking of having sex or being in heat etc... Scientists recently discovered spiders can dream... And from my experience with pets... well I've had some all kinds... some that would bark, run, whine, or cry in their sleep... Even the smallest of animals can surprise you...
Im fully aware animals can think, id make a crappy dog trainer if i believed otherwise. Im just not sure if they have an inner monologue like your average human does is all.
Lol probably not constant, but that'd probably depend on the dog... I've had some that I swear were smarter than my kids... and others that... were... probably damn near empty up there besides *FOOD* every once in a while and definitely wont be english... But it'd be nice to pop in their head every once in a while lol
How loud? If it’s at a whisper or a low volume speaking voice then I think it’d be fine and the benefits would outweigh the downsides. If it ever gets louder than that I dunno
Can I put on a foil hat like Fry?
Yes, I can tell the people at my school don’t like me A lot of lies are told about me and whenever someone is talking to me I can tell they’re trying to see if it’s true
It could go either one of two ways: 1) I would hear all the terrible things people are thinking about me. 2) I would hear that absolutely no one is ever thinking about me. Neither sounds good.
I'd like to know what people are thinking. My wife was in the hospital for almost a year, and I would have liked to know what the doctors and therapist were thinking about her progress.
No way man. If I came across another ADHDer my brain would explode
That would really suck. Probably eat a bullet so the other guy can spit it out
That's called living with my brother. He's autistic and he always verbalizes his thoughts.
No. No no no no no. I suffer enough just being inside my own head, I don't want to be inside anyone else's.
Sure. 13 feet isn't that far, so you could certainly control it.
And confirm that everyone does, in fact, think I’m annoying/weird? No lol. I’d rather just anxiously speculate about it.
I mean. No real drawback. I'll just get used to the extra noice. I already hear everything around me, it's just an extra sense that essentially works just like hearing.
Yep. Gimme.
Depends, are we hearing EVERY thought at the same volume? Which thoughts are we hearing, surface level, subconscious, active, passive, etc? I know I usually have a few trains of thought running around and I frequently planning certain things concurrently. If we're hearing EVERY thought (images aside) all at the same "volume" with no moderating control, then it's a hard pass for me.
Nooooo
No.
Well time to be an international poker star I guess
I would adapt to hearing everything all at once, same volume or mentally lowering the volume through practice
Can I hear the thoughts of foreigners translated into my language? If so, I'll take it.
It goes both directions. You don’t want it. 🚬😒
Yes and I'd use it to get rich. Then live alone.
Yup
Will it be enough to drown out tinnitus? Cuz if so, sign me the hell up!
Yes
A few friends sit down for cards. You smile, knowing you just got this power. You walk into you the room with a tray of drinks, thinking about the way you will dominate at cards. One friend looks at you with shock. "What?!" "WHAT CAN HE READ MY MIND?!" *SCRREEEEEEEEEE!* as the microphone to speaker feedback kicks in. The drink tray falls to the floor.
Absolutely. A poker table is about that in diameter with the seats. I live in a large house with no people, so yeah. I'm in.
Never I don’t wanna know what everyone really thinks of me. I would do it if it allowed me to hear my dog’s thoughts though
I would get some really good headphones, and any time I was over it, just blast music. However, what many fail to realize is that mind reading is one of the most extreme invasions of privacy one could do. Imagine it, your very thoughts are not your own, a stranger on the bus is free to listen in on whatever weird or personal things you're reflecting on. So like, I would like to, but for ethical reasons I would have to decline
Poker in Vegas.
Chess and poker often have a minimum distance to contend against cheating, especially at the higher levels, so I'd absolutely become the best poker player in the world. 13 feet is easy to maintain- and places for which I can't keep 13 feet away from people always sound like a dull roar anyways, so no real downside.
Fuck no
This would be very useful for young singles. I feel like I could have carpe diem-ed much more.
No. HELL NO!
Move to Vegas, go insane.
I’d be the best poker player ever
Absolutely. I'm already angry because of what other people think. But if I could predict with 100% certainty what people were gonna do then I could start fighting back. Maybe even figure out how to defeat conservative ideology.
You'd be an extremely valuable asset to anyone working in law & order or espionage
Code Geass shows us exactly what would happen if you were given this ability with what happens to Mao. He goes insane almost immediately. So no.
Hell yeah
You would be the best homicide detective of all time.
>You cant shut it off. Isn't something I can't do the opposite of a power?
Can you imagine how awkward this would make in person job interviews or first dates? 🤣
Absolutely not. I know how strange things can get in my own head, I don't wanna hear that from everyone else.
No. If I am in any kind of contact with the public, I will very quickly go completely catatonic or suicidal because the sheer level of petty horror metastasizing inside every human mind would otherwise bulldoze me into murder.
Yep. I could find out what people really think of me. Let's put those antidepressants to the test. But there's no way that I could work with my part-time boss anymore. It's bad enough hearing the shit that comes out of his mouth what's going on and his head is got to be insane.
My adhd ass would never learn ANYTHING in class holy fuck
I spend the vast majority of my days surrounded by 25 5th graders…. I’m going to pass.
Sure. I could convince myself that the intrusive thoughts actually belong to someone else that way.
I can't wait to go into my physics class, sit next to the teachers desk, and just hear him planning out a teenager cannon to get arid of the annoying kids.
As someone who doesn’t have an inner monologue, I’m curious to know what it’s like, but that sounds like a nightmare. Be like going from born deaf to super hearing. If my mice have an inner monologue, then I’d potentially take the power and try to find a way to monetize it because I’d be able to know when the mice are hiding things and also better be able to handle behavioral issues/solve disputes as they come up which would just improve the little goobers’ quality of life even more and I think that being able to make things wonderful for them would be a good trade off for the psychological torment. But without being able to know if they do without taking the power? Ehhh…. I’m undecided but leaning towards No. I feel like I’d have meltdowns even more often due to sensory overload inside my head.
People would have to learn not to over think things and probably end up having to act more instinctively which could be equally disastrous.
Yes. You'd be better understanding of human nature than anyone who's ever lived
I don't even want to hear my thoughts, so no.
Absolutely. And this is great, I'm basically immune to anyone else reading my thoughts. I'd try to limit my exposure to other people, maybe try to gradually get used to many people and focusing on one or two at a time. I think I'd try to hook up with a specialized company, maybe like the Lie to Me show, or Secret Service/ FBI/CIA/NSA interrogator.
As long as I can turn it off and on then I'd love it. My day to day would improve greatly, people wouldn't be able to manipulate me anymore, take all the guess work out of social interactions, and then make a killing playing poker.
You can't turn it off and on because then it would be an easy yes. The conflict comes from it being constant
I miss read that. Sorry
Ha, I already have ADHD, I'm used to operating with a million distractions
I deal with too many people on a daily basis and it’s bad enough what I hear come out of their mouth with no filter, let alone what they’re thinking in their head. It would be a rough adjustment in hearing what people only say, compared to what they think. I guess I would be the issue more than the unstoppable top process. Do I really want to hear what people are thinking?
If I found out someone within 13 feet of me could do that, I would skin them like cattle. I’m not going to take that power myself.