Everyone's thoughts suddenly become public

[Keith&Co.]

There was a scifi story where they found a hive-mind alien and decided to use their biology to make humans telepathic and contagious.
So, you knew every thought all your neighbirs had. There were no little white lies, first of all, everyone on the block knew that you thought his beard made him look creepy. And everyone was part of the fight that followed.
Everyone on the block was part of all sex. There was no 'mommy why is he doing that to him?' either, any kid could share both people's physical sensations.
No wars, which was the goal, but only because you wanted to kill your sarge, and your team, and the lieutenant just as much as the enemy. And tgere was no one who would not see you coming. And everyone was privy to your plan to sneak up in his sleep...

Eventually, they built eleventy billion spaceships and everyone shot off into space to become a hermit... in lovely, lovely isolagion from all living things.


There was another story where we could suddenly hear the thoughts of animals. Ironically, butchering stoppec at the inescapable evidence that cows HAD thoughts, while lots of pets got killed for thoughts like 'ha-ha, FatAss looks pretty stupid getting out of the shower! Wait, what's he so mad about THIS time?'
Eventually, though, humanity adapted. Firbthe most part no one CARED what a stupid cow thought, and with the exception of eyewitness testimony to infidelity ('i dunno why i can't get on the bed, he lets the redhead up there, and all she does is scream...') most people treated their pets like the crazy bigoted uncle you just ignore. Yes, yes, Fido, good boy, go outside until FartMan leaves.

 

[Koyaanisqatsi]

As others have noted, if it were a sudden thing, there would be initial problems of course. Over time, however, it would simply be as if we had one giant interactive brain. Iow, exactly like it exists right now, only we'd have the added benefit of being like dogs, where we sniff each other's butts and if compatible, cool, if not, bye.

The only difference between any of us right now is that we don't have confirmation that the other person is thinking the same thoughts. We infer it, but there's always the hard problem that gets in the way.

If we had the ability to "read" everyone else's thoughts, the same thing that happened with the internet would happen to all of us. At first it would be a BIG DEAL. And then once all the novelty wears off, we'd realize it's pretty much just a bunch of porn and cat videos and no one would really think twice about it.

The benefits, however, would be no more physically-based crime (no way to sneak up on someone or otherwise hide your intentions); no wealth disparity; no bullies; no shame-based peer pressure; no loneliness; no depression; no childhood trauma (the biggest and most important); no ignorance.

Actually, there would be a LOT of benefits and few down-sides as, again, once the novelty wore off, we'd pretty much just take it for granted, so it would be ALL benefits, since any "harmful" thoughts would be instantly telegraphed and everyone else would just avoid that particular thought/person generating the thought, or overwhelm that individual with positive thoughts or the like.

So, eventually, it would just be everyone born into a thought utopia. There would never be a time when negative thoughts would get generated after one or two generations.

It would certainly rebalance the way things are now, where an elite minority controls the majority since control is almost always through lies/deceit/manipulation and that could no longer happen (assuming that as part of the experiment it would not be possible for people to develop ways to mask or hide their thoughts).

I think the most beneficial aspects would be no more ignorance and no more childhood trauma. We would all be as intelligent/knowledgeable as the smartest among us and we would all be fully aware of anyone's intent long before they could ever act on it against us. The predators would no longer have any prey and therefore die out pretty rapidly.

And not in a Brave New World kind of way; in a steady-state, lowest energy threshold sense.

We'd be like a huge multiple personality disorder brain, only without the trauma that generated us.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

I remember they did an SNL skit about that once. It was just after that Mel Gibson movie where he could read women's thoughts came out and they had this girl who could read men's thoughts. It was her standing there having pleasant, normal conversations with everyone and then just the most gratuitous sexual stuff came out overtop of that. It was quite funny and quite accurate.

 

[Angry Floof]

As others have noted, if it were a sudden thing, there would be initial problems of course. Over time, however, it would simply be as if we had one giant interactive brain. Iow, exactly like it exists right now, only we'd have the added benefit of being like dogs, where we sniff each other's butts and if compatible, cool, if not, bye.

The only difference between any of us right now is that we don't have confirmation that the other person is thinking the same thoughts. We infer it, but there's always the hard problem that gets in the way.

If we had the ability to "read" everyone else's thoughts, the same thing that happened with the internet would happen to all of us. At first it would be a BIG DEAL. And then once all the novelty wears off, we'd realize it's pretty much just a bunch of porn and cat videos and no one would really think twice about it.

The benefits, however, would be no more physically-based crime (no way to sneak up on someone or otherwise hide your intentions); no wealth disparity; no bullies; no shame-based peer pressure; no loneliness; no depression; no childhood trauma (the biggest and most important); no ignorance.

Actually, there would be a LOT of benefits and few down-sides as, again, once the novelty wore off, we'd pretty much just take it for granted, so it would be ALL benefits, since any "harmful" thoughts would be instantly telegraphed and everyone else would just avoid that particular thought/person generating the thought, or overwhelm that individual with positive thoughts or the like.

So, eventually, it would just be everyone born into a thought utopia. There would never be a time when negative thoughts would get generated after one or two generations.

It would certainly rebalance the way things are now, where an elite minority controls the majority since control is almost always through lies/deceit/manipulation and that could no longer happen (assuming that as part of the experiment it would not be possible for people to develop ways to mask or hide their thoughts).

I think the most beneficial aspects would be no more ignorance and no more childhood trauma. We would all be as intelligent/knowledgeable as the smartest among us and we would all be fully aware of anyone's intent long before they could ever act on it against us. The predators would no longer have any prey and therefore die out pretty rapidly.

And not in a Brave New World kind of way; in a steady-state, lowest energy threshold sense.

We'd be like a huge multiple personality disorder brain, only without the trauma that generated us.

I'm sure it would also have the effect of at least exposing if not eradicating our socially-induced mental disorders.

 

[Koyaanisqatsi]

I'm sure it would also have the effect of at least exposing if not eradicating our socially-induced mental disorders.

Exactly. Particularly with childhood abuse effectively eradicated and empathy becoming universal, even in sociopaths with their own malformed amygdalas. They may not be able to understand the thoughts of others, but neither could they hide their intentions to harm, so, again, the predators would be quickly weeded out.

Empathy would not just be a concept; it would literally be the way of existing. Everyone would always be walking a mile in everyone else's shoes.

 

[Angry Floof]

I'm sure it would also have the effect of at least exposing if not eradicating our socially-induced mental disorders.

Exactly. Particularly with childhood abuse effectively eradicated and empathy becoming universal, even in sociopaths with their own malformed amygdalas. They may not be able to understand the thoughts of others, but neither could they hide their intentions to harm, so, again, the predators would be quickly weeded out.

Empathy would not just be a concept; it would literally be the way of existing. Everyone would always be walking a mile in everyone else's shoes.

And having sex in everyone else's beds.

 

[Keith&Co.]

And having sex in everyone else's beds.

As a kid,
I had THE hardest time figuring out why older guys watched women's butts.
Just never made sense. I mean, they sat there. And i could not parse overheard wishes 'i would like to do X to her.' I fear that getting the attraction and desires and choreography straight from the tap, from everyone around me, would have scarred me for EVER. If not crippled.

 

[Angry Floof]

And having sex in everyone else's beds.

As a kid,
I had THE hardest time figuring out why older guys watched women's butts.
Just never made sense. I mean, they sat there. And i could not parse overheard wishes 'i would like to do X to her.' I fear that getting the attraction and desires and choreography straight from the tap, from everyone around me, would have scarred me for EVER. If not crippled.

I wonder if we'd end up finding a new way to have private thoughts.

 

[Rhea]

I’m reading through all this and wondering, “how is this different from having a teenager in the house? You know everything they are thinking, even when it is “I hate your shirt, I hate your dinner and I hate the sound of you breathing,” because they just don’t have any reason to hold back...

 

[bilby]

I’m reading through all this and wondering, “how is this different from having a teenager in the house? You know everything they are thinking, even when it is “I hate your shirt, I hate your dinner and I hate the sound of you breathing,” because they just don’t have any reason to hold back...

Or it's the exact opposite ...
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_veIGGP1Uh4[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Keith&Co.]

I wonder if we'd end up finding a new way to have private thoughts.

Three track minds with one of them constantly 'playing' Nickelback. Upping the volume on an instant's notice.

"Hi." Never made it as a wise man

"Hi. So, what do you think of my beard?"

COULDN'T CUT IT AS A POOR MAN STEALING! "Nice."

 

[Angry Floof]

I’m reading through all this and wondering, “how is this different from having a teenager in the house? You know everything they are thinking, even when it is “I hate your shirt, I hate your dinner and I hate the sound of you breathing,” because they just don’t have any reason to hold back...

The difference is they'd be reading yours.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

It would be nice to be able to play back anyone's behavior to include spoken word and location. Having access to all those thoughts isn't important, only what people do and say is important. Having a public record of all human behavior would certainly improve the planet and our species.

 

[rousseau]

"When love fails, courtesy will prev.. I mean, wait"
- Kurt Vonnegut

 

[Keith&Co.]

Having a public record of all human behavior would certainly improve the planet and our species.

Trump: I never said that.
Media: Sir, we have VIDEO of you saying that!
Trumpettes: Motherfuckers, he SAID he didn't SAY it! Now shut up and go hate America in the corner.

 

[Toni]

Ugh. I have a strong preference for privacy of my thoughts.

For one thing, an ugly thought is not one's final dispensation on a matter. One might have ugly thoughts but still do the right thing: I don't give a shit how disabled you say you are, I was here first and I should get the parking spot! VS: Of course you can take that spot. I can walk further with less trouble and even if you are faking, it's still the nice thing to do.

Why the fuck would you ever even consider getting that tatoo/piercing/haircut/haircolor/tshirt/dog/cat/couch/car/job?????? OR One could say: Wow what a big change! How are you liking it so far?

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

Ugh. I have a strong preference for privacy of my thoughts.

For one thing, an ugly thought is not one's final dispensation on a matter. One might have ugly thoughts but still do the right thing: I don't give a shit how disabled you say you are, I was here first and I should get the parking spot! VS: Of course you can take that spot. I can walk further with less trouble and even if you are faking, it's still the nice thing to do.

Why the fuck would you ever even consider getting that tatoo/piercing/haircut/haircolor/tshirt/dog/cat/couch/car/job?????? OR One could say: Wow what a big change! How are you liking it so far?

See? That's what I mean. Knowing someone's thoughts is a distraction. Only their actions matter.

 

[Keith&Co.]

See? That's what I mean. Knowing someone's thoughts is a distraction. Only their actions matter.

No, thoughts matter, too.
If everyone's action is to say dinner was tasty, it would still matter if i knew that one liked it; one hates it but likes me; one hates it but hates cooking more so hopes i'll do it more if complimented; and one ddidn't taste anything because he's got a hard-on for his sister

 

[Koyaanisqatsi]

Ugh. I have a strong preference for privacy of my thoughts.

For one thing, an ugly thought is not one's final dispensation on a matter. One might have ugly thoughts but still do the right thing: I don't give a shit how disabled you say you are, I was here first and I should get the parking spot! VS: Of course you can take that spot. I can walk further with less trouble and even if you are faking, it's still the nice thing to do.

Why the fuck would you ever even consider getting that tatoo/piercing/haircut/haircolor/tshirt/dog/cat/couch/car/job?????? OR One could say: Wow what a big change! How are you liking it so far?

Well, part of that is knowing which thoughts you are going to act on, which in turn would become common knowledge as well among the collective, so, again, within a generation or two (iow, pretty quickly), we would all simply be of one mind.

I word it like that so as to avoid confusion over personal identity. We would all still have our own identity—our own personality—it’s just that it would be in an ideal form. Iow, only the best of what we thought would ever be selected, but not in a judgmental sense or Borgian sense (to go full geek); in a natural, cream rises to the top, autonomic sense.

Emotional abuse and physical abuse are the two biggest problems humans have and a good argument can be made that physical abuse stems entirely from emotional abuse. And there are many forms of emotional abuse, but it always starts with the family unit.

Once that is eliminated, then pretty much 98% of man’s inhumanity to man is eliminated just as a base operating function of all humanity. There would be no bullying; no more wars; no more borders; no more pettiness, no more greed, no more sociopathy; etc., etc., etc. We would all simply be born into an environment of pure and open empathy, readily accessible to all and with no way—or even understanding of what it would entail—to shut it out.

It would be a utopia, only without any possibility of dystopic contrivances, if you will, such as the “savage” from Brave New World (that authors use as a means for commentary on the status quo). We would simply always be our “best” selves since anything less would immediately be hurting everyone in the same way instantaneously.

Individuals may tolerate a temporary state of abuse for a perceived greater good, but a collective "mind" would immediately act as that greater good and shut that shit down accordingly.

And because it would all be merely internal, that still wouldn’t stop the external world from impacting us the way it does now, so our reactions to the external world would still necessitate change and adaptation and survival, etc., which in turn would drive us forward just as it always has. The only difference would be the overcoming of a period in our evolution that could be likened to an adolescence of sorts; of a time when we were self-oriented, rather than group-oriented.

We’ve seen glimpses of that in our past; of tribal utopic collectives, such as certain Native American communities and the like, but they always seem to get trampled over by the short-sighted, self-oriented communities. The "adolescent" communities. The bullies.

Much like what we're seeing unfold right now with climate change. The majority know we're in serious trouble and need to act right now (well, actually, decades ago, so we're all fucked now, it's just a lingering death). But there are the adolescents that act on ignorance and selfishness. Who basically don't care that everyone else dies, so long as they get their toys.

And certainly the idea has been around for millennia and talked about ad-nauseam in nearly all of the world’s cults, but there is always that central self-orientation of the cult leaders—the power mongers and the power mad—that taints it from the ground up. The kernel is there, but it's being used for the opposite purpose.

And that, I believe, is for precisely this reason; something/someone fucked them over in their childhood and that primary darkness drives everything they subsequently do and inflict on others later in life.

Remove that—organically—and we will have finally exited the adolescent phase of our intellectual and emotional (identity) evolution.

 

[Jolly_Penguin]

A lot of conflict in society is caused by misunderstandings, mischaracterizations, false attributions of motives, etc. If everyone's thoughts were all public AND clearly communicated and understood telepathically, there very well may be LESS hysteria, conflict, war, etc.

Most people mean well even when they disagrew and hold diametrically opposite views and opinions. If that was unable to not be known, a whole lot of problems could be avoided.

One of the first things they teach mediators is that many fights can be avoided and settled to everyone's satisfaction once each side clearly understands the other. The extremw example usually given to make the point is two people fighting over an orange. It turns out one wants the juice and the other wants the rind, and there is no actual conflict.

Also, look at online internet forums; one step removed from in person talking, with voice inflection etc absent, and note cases of people telling each other what the other thinks or "really" thinks. If they had actual mind reading instead of imagined mind reading, a lot of bickering wouldn't happen.