http://on-her-korhal.livejournal.com/ (![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png)
on-her-korhal.livejournal.com) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fandomhigh2011-01-26 12:18 pm
on-her-korhal.livejournal.com) wrote in fandomhigh2011-01-26 12:18 pm
Entry tags:
The Science of Psionics, Wednesday
"'I am like an onion'," Kerrigan said, "'Layers'."
Once again, she had started talking the moment she felt the last person entering the room, and she was yet again standing at the front of the class.
"I'm sure you've all heard that one before. Either it's an empty and oft-recycled piece of wit," she continued, "Or a cunning insight into the human mind. Maybe both. Our consciousness is not a single entity. Even scientists in this century have figured it out; if you cut the cord between one half of the brain and the other, one of the two rebels. They're seperate, divisible layers of our own mind. For telepaths, it's crucial to understand how consciousness works, how it's variable, how it can cheat us."
She glanced from one face to the next, as if looking for something. "I'm not talking about 'transcendent' nonsense, like how every single blade of grass has a consciousness, too. I'm talking about science. I'm talking about the layers of our mind, where every bit of it puts off its own frequency of psionic energy. At the very core of us don't lie all the little secrets we keep from the world, no matter how we shield-- at the very core of us lies the apparatus that keeps us breathing and functioning. The stuff we aren't conscious of ourselves. The stuff that goes on on automatic. It's well-protected, and nearly impossible to reach, unless you discipline yourself physically as well as mentally. It's where our body ties in to our mind."
Her eyes flickered to Inoif she was there. "I don't know if possession can reach that far in; I've certainly never seen anyone possess someone and simply will their heart to stop beating. Maybe it is possible, but you would have to be pretty strong. Going from there, you have the layer - or layers, depending - of our subconscious. Where our hormones and our ideas frolic freely through the space of our mind, making up intangible connections. They say that most human beings only use about 10% of their mind in earnest. The rest of it is hidden under the sweeping umbrella of the subconscious.
"Not that that makes it passive - quite the opposite, actually. Depending on how deep you bury through the layers of someone's subconscious, you can prime them for anything. Even with simple physical impulses. It's much harder to dig that deep past someone's shields and figure out exactly what primes work, of course, but if you find them, you can make someone do just about anything. What they really want, what they really need, only very rarely drifts up to the top. Most telepaths try not to go that deep. It gives us a headache."
She produced a slight smile.
"To know yourself is hence probably the strongest weapon anyone has against a telepath. It's harder to manipulate that which knows what you are manipulating. Most of the time, though, we busy ourselves with the scum up top: the layers of consciousness we are all aware of. Our heartfelt secrets, our deeper traumas lie in half-slumber at the bottom of the consciousness, but in comparison to the subconscious it's such a flimsy shell. They can shoot up at any moment. A handy opportunity - or headache - for a teep, a dangerous business for a non-psionic. This is the chief thing we shield for, because the subconscious has a habit of taking care of itself - at least to a point."
She leaned forward. "Surface thoughts are easiest for everyone," she said. "Like I told you last week, telepaths from my universe can't even keep them out, no matter how hard they try. We can always hear it, like a whisper that doesn't quite stop - we can sense the consciousness below it, too. But surface thoughts can be very dangerous even for a telepath, because it's as easy for a non-psionic to control them as it is for us to read. Because people's motivations can't be read from a single line of mental monologue: like conversation, you have to listen in for long enough to be able to predict the next step. It's much less reliable than the deeper layers of the mind."
And with that, Kerrigan took a quick breath. "I want you all to be as aware of your own mind as you can be," she said, "Today, sit down. Talk with someone. Meditate. Do whatever it takes to make yourself a little map of as many layers of your brain as you can figure out. Our minds are complex things; unlike animals, we aren't just heartbeats, instincts and fleeting surface impressions."
A beat.
"Or maybe we are, and ours have just grown big enough to fool us into thinking they're anything more."
[[wait for the ocd up! ]]
Once again, she had started talking the moment she felt the last person entering the room, and she was yet again standing at the front of the class.
"I'm sure you've all heard that one before. Either it's an empty and oft-recycled piece of wit," she continued, "Or a cunning insight into the human mind. Maybe both. Our consciousness is not a single entity. Even scientists in this century have figured it out; if you cut the cord between one half of the brain and the other, one of the two rebels. They're seperate, divisible layers of our own mind. For telepaths, it's crucial to understand how consciousness works, how it's variable, how it can cheat us."
She glanced from one face to the next, as if looking for something. "I'm not talking about 'transcendent' nonsense, like how every single blade of grass has a consciousness, too. I'm talking about science. I'm talking about the layers of our mind, where every bit of it puts off its own frequency of psionic energy. At the very core of us don't lie all the little secrets we keep from the world, no matter how we shield-- at the very core of us lies the apparatus that keeps us breathing and functioning. The stuff we aren't conscious of ourselves. The stuff that goes on on automatic. It's well-protected, and nearly impossible to reach, unless you discipline yourself physically as well as mentally. It's where our body ties in to our mind."
Her eyes flickered to Ino
"Not that that makes it passive - quite the opposite, actually. Depending on how deep you bury through the layers of someone's subconscious, you can prime them for anything. Even with simple physical impulses. It's much harder to dig that deep past someone's shields and figure out exactly what primes work, of course, but if you find them, you can make someone do just about anything. What they really want, what they really need, only very rarely drifts up to the top. Most telepaths try not to go that deep. It gives us a headache."
She produced a slight smile.
"To know yourself is hence probably the strongest weapon anyone has against a telepath. It's harder to manipulate that which knows what you are manipulating. Most of the time, though, we busy ourselves with the scum up top: the layers of consciousness we are all aware of. Our heartfelt secrets, our deeper traumas lie in half-slumber at the bottom of the consciousness, but in comparison to the subconscious it's such a flimsy shell. They can shoot up at any moment. A handy opportunity - or headache - for a teep, a dangerous business for a non-psionic. This is the chief thing we shield for, because the subconscious has a habit of taking care of itself - at least to a point."
She leaned forward. "Surface thoughts are easiest for everyone," she said. "Like I told you last week, telepaths from my universe can't even keep them out, no matter how hard they try. We can always hear it, like a whisper that doesn't quite stop - we can sense the consciousness below it, too. But surface thoughts can be very dangerous even for a telepath, because it's as easy for a non-psionic to control them as it is for us to read. Because people's motivations can't be read from a single line of mental monologue: like conversation, you have to listen in for long enough to be able to predict the next step. It's much less reliable than the deeper layers of the mind."
And with that, Kerrigan took a quick breath. "I want you all to be as aware of your own mind as you can be," she said, "Today, sit down. Talk with someone. Meditate. Do whatever it takes to make yourself a little map of as many layers of your brain as you can figure out. Our minds are complex things; unlike animals, we aren't just heartbeats, instincts and fleeting surface impressions."
A beat.
"Or maybe we are, and ours have just grown big enough to fool us into thinking they're anything more."
[[
Sign In
Listen to the Lecture
Circle Discussion
Map Your Mind
Then try to write out the workings of the layers of your mind you can access. For yourself, if you'd rather keep it private.
Talk to the TA
Talk to the Teacher
OOC
Re: Sign In
Re: Listen to the Lecture
Really, she'd never tried to stop someone's heart, but surely it wasn't that far out of the realm of possibility when she could control the rest of their body...
Re: Sign In
Re: Map Your Mind
Re: Sign In
Re: Sign In
Re: Talk to the TA
Heart stopping...only in dreams, but she wouldn't be surprised if she could do that.
Re: Sign In
Re: Sign In
Re: OOC
And Merlin. And Sherlock. Those two were side-by-side.
... My classmates will never know why I could not stop giggling.
Re: Map Your Mind
He knew where the shields that he needed to keep up in order to not light everything on fire were. That, he'd always figured, was enough. Now, he wasn't so certain.
Quietly, tiredly, he picked up the handout and started to read it over.
Re: OOC
Re: Sign In
Re: Sign In
Re: OOC
Re: Sign In