Day 173 - Telepathy Story

Telepathy Story

Matthew Ryan Fischer

As it turned out telepathy was one of the worst inventions. At first it was exciting. It was an amazing innovation. Of course it was miraculous. Everyone agreed that it was miraculous. Everyone agreed that it would be a sensational new innovative tool to be used for the betterment of life in general.

Of course it wasn’t telepathy like in a comic book or fantasy novel. People don’t just develop super powers. It was science – nanotechnology, brain waves transmitted by machine to other creatures and reconfigured in their mind to make sense and reprocessed as motor function commands. There were those that were disappointed by the fact that it didn’t involve magic, mutation or some other fantastical means of operation. All things considered though, the technology was still pretty amazing.

It quickly became entertainment. There were people that would broadcast their thoughts to their pets and assume control of their motor functions. There were games developed so people could sit back and think and not have to lift a finger or move a piece ever again.  But these were just passing fads. It was surprising how quickly people became bored. One would think that mastery over the animal kingdom would be enough to satisfy people, but apparently not.

The police, prison system and military all made a push for there to be widespread implants in all people and a means of human-to-human control to be developed. It was championed as a crime deterrent. Human rights activists fought the good fight. There were too many dark and deadly ways this technology could be abused. The companies succumbed to public pressure and human-to-human motor and impulse control was banned. Still, one couldn’t help but wonder what really was going on in recently built supermax prisons. Unconfirmed reports suggested that some sort of control was illegally being used to keep prisoners in their cells and prevent them from acts of violence. Most people turned a blind eye to these acts, figuring that as long as it was kept in the world of serious criminals, it was probably in the general interest of the public.

The main thing people wanted was a way to actually communicate, because picking up a phone or opening one’s mouth to speak turned out to be too big a hassle. It wasn’t enough to broadcast impulses and commands to lesser creatures. People wanted to talk to other people. That would truly be a sci-fi superhero superpower. It would fulfill the fantasy illusion that somehow telecommunication telepathy was an obvious step in human evolution. Historically most of the greatest machines and technologies were invented because of human laziness, so this only made perfect sense.

The people wanted faster and easier ways to communicate, so that was what they got. Soon their digital implants were recoding their brainwaves and broadcasting them to their friend’s brain directly to be reconfigured as an actual thought. Telephones, texting and email all abruptly ended overnight. Everyone was now a telecommunications device.

Some worried what this technology was physically doing to their brain, most people didn’t care. Studies showed that even when the nanotechnology suffered some sort of failure, very little cellular damage would occur. That was good enough for most of the public. A one in a billion shot at a partial lobotomy was no reason not to speed up their lives.

Of course there were social and political issues at hand that no one thought about at first. Everyone was now wired into a telecommunication grid. Every thought, every conversation, was now transcribed and stored as computer data. Criminals could hack into your brain. The government could record and track all of your thoughts. Every sin, every foul thought, every failing, was instantly coded and recorded and filed away. Everyone was suddenly living in a world where everyone else was wearing and everyone could access each other’s digital “Scarlet Letter.” Sin was quite literally now on the surface of all public and civil discussion. Everyone had suddenly become each other’s thought police and thought oppressor. Lives were ruined. Relationships were ruined. It got to the point where no one could look at anyone else in the eye without suspicion, concern and contempt. Daily existence was transformed into the worst, most judgmental experience imaginable, and no thought was left unexamined or forgiven.