Is it theoretically possable for telepaths to exist?

[Godmode]

Obviously, it doesn't seem like telepaths exist among humans, but imagine there's an sentient alien species out there, is it possable that a brain could develop with telepathic abilities? Maybe some sort of bio-radio transmitter and reciever. And if so, if we found those aliens we would likely be able to pick up those signals on our own equipment, or develop the equipment to do it. That would be interesting.

 

[LostAngeles]

Obviously, it doesn't seem like telepaths exist among humans, but imagine there's an sentient alien species out there, is it possable that a brain could develop with telepathic abilities? Maybe some sort of bio-radio transmitter and reciever. And if so, if we found those aliens we would likely be able to pick up those signals on our own equipment, or develop the equipment to do it. That would be interesting.

I hold that telepathy and all the other paranormal stuff could be possible simply because there may be scientific things we don't know yet. Having a new science would be really, really, unbelievably wicked cool.

Unfortunately, as of right now, biology and psychology have them pretty well explained.

Ah well, it's not like there isn't still a holy metric (rule 8)ton of wicked cool stuff in the universe anyway.

(GM, are you writing a sci-fi story, because that's an interesting idea there.)

(Edit: shorter version. Real paranormal stuff would be cool. There isn't any. So it goes.)

 

[Ririon]

Obviously, it doesn't seem like telepaths exist among humans, but imagine there's an sentient alien species out there, is it possable that a brain could develop with telepathic abilities? Maybe some sort of bio-radio transmitter and reciever. And if so, if we found those aliens we would likely be able to pick up those signals on our own equipment, or develop the equipment to do it. That would be interesting.

Obviously, the aliens use telepathy. That's what the antenna on their heads is for..

There are animals on earth that generate a significant amount of electricity (electric eels), and have senses that pick up electromagnetic signals (sharks). If a social intelligent (alien) animal had those kinds of capabilities, they could possibly evolve into using them for communication. Microwaves, maybe? It would be an alternative to talking (microwaves instead of soundwaves) so it would be telepathy in the sense "I can send and receive messages", not "I can read your mind".

The signals could be picked up with pretty standard technology, but they wouldn't make much sense without a lot of decoding, of course. And depending on the frequency used, they could find earth to be a very noisy place...

Ririon

 

[Darat]

Obviously, it doesn't seem like telepaths exist among humans, but imagine there's an sentient alien species out there, is it possable that a brain could develop with telepathic abilities? Maybe some sort of bio-radio transmitter and reciever. And if so, if we found those aliens we would likely be able to pick up those signals on our own equipment, or develop the equipment to do it. That would be interesting.

Well although people don't often think of it this way we already have telepathy - I can using electro-chemical and vibrational energy transfer my ideas and thoughts to you.

 

[brodski]

The human body can naturally send a receive messages over a distance, its called "shouting" and "hearing". I can see no reason why other creatures could not evolve similar long range (natural) communications, using something other than sound. However isn't part of the idea of "telepathy" that it can only be "received" by a specific individual which it is "aimed" at? Otherwise in a world without spoken communication "shouting" would be classed as telepathy.

 

[MRC_Hans]

The question touches on an important point: What exactly is telepathy?

Obviously, humans and other animals communicate by a number of means other than audible signals. Body language, scent, pheromones. Even in speech, there is more communication than just the words. If you phone somebody and he/she picks up the phone and says "Hello?", you will already know much more than just that the phone at the other end has been picked up. You will know the gender of the other person, often have clues to the age and health of the person, you will have clues to the mood of the person, and if you recognize the voice, you will know the identity of the person.

How much of this could be labelled telepathy? In the context of paranormal telepathy, none of it, but could other creatures have still other means of communication? Of course they might. Electrical fields, EM waves, light signals, infra sound, ultra sound, various chemical signalling. All are possible. But none are paranormal.

Hans

 

[Mojo]

Obviously, it doesn't seem like telepaths exist among humans, but imagine there's an sentient alien species out there, is it possable that a brain could develop with telepathic abilities? Maybe some sort of bio-radio transmitter and reciever. And if so, if we found those aliens we would likely be able to pick up those signals on our own equipment, or develop the equipment to do it. That would be interesting.

The methods used for communication in animal species (sound, visual signals, pheromones) are all detected by the sense organs used to detect the world around the organism. For these senses to evolve, it was necessary for the things being detected (i.e. sounds, light and chemical scents) to exist in the environment. Unless there was an evolutionary advantage to the aliens in being able to detect radio waves, they would not have evolved this ability.

If they did have this ability, of course, they would just regard it as one of their normal senses, rather than as "telepathy".

 

[Soapy Sam]

If anyone wants a couple of interesting SF yarns on this theme, I suggest "Rider at the Gate" and "Cloud's Rider", by C.J.Cherryh, which concern a struggling human colony on a world where everything but people is telepathic and using a radio is apt to get you eaten.

 

[MRC_Hans]

The methods used for communication in animal species (sound, visual signals, pheromones) are all detected by the sense organs used to detect the world around the organism. For these senses to evolve, it was necessary for the things being detected (i.e. sounds, light and chemical scents) to exist in the environment. Unless there was an evolutionary advantage to the aliens in being able to detect radio waves, they would not have evolved this ability.

If they did have this ability, of course, they would just regard it as one of their normal senses, rather than as "telepathy".

Quite right, of course. However, one evolutionary pressure to make a creature evolve EM detection abilities would be availability. The vision of Earth creatures is tuned to the narrow EM band that bathes the surface of the planet during the day, and which has a useful wavelenght for detecting objects around us in sufficient resolution. We have come to call it the visible light spectrum. On a planet circling a radio source star (assuming that such a planet is otherwise equipped to sustain life), creatures might have had better advantage in adapting to a "visual spectrum" in the microwave range.

Hans

 

[Angus McPresley]

Sense organs

We have sense organs that work on direct contact (skin, taste) and those for remote detection (eyes, ears, nasal membranes). In each case the sense organ has a clear layer of nerves that receive the signal, and are wired into the brain.

Just where is the supposed sense organ for telepathy? I know your woo-woo types will say it's the brain, but why is there nothing internal to it like a directed sense organ, for gathering signal? Where is the separate wiring? If we receive signals at all from other brains, there has to be some sort of cells that react to them, and natural selection (you'd think) would push them to become larger, or more sensitive, or at least (is it too much to ask?) somehow discernable from other cells. You know?

 

[Mojo]

Quite right, of course. However, one evolutionary pressure to make a creature evolve EM detection abilities would be availability. The vision of Earth creatures is tuned to the narrow EM band that bathes the surface of the planet during the day, and which has a useful wavelenght for detecting objects around us in sufficient resolution. We have come to call it the visible light spectrum. On a planet circling a radio source star (assuming that such a planet is otherwise equipped to sustain life), creatures might have had better advantage in adapting to a "visual spectrum" in the microwave range.

How good would this sort of vision be? Surely the long wavelength would reduce the resolution possible. I suppose it would be better than nothing.

 

[Corpse Cruncher]

Telepathy, what is it exactly or what is the definition of it that can or cannot be validated/dismissed? Then, exactly how do you test that it is or not feasibly possible? Could you say, that perhaps maternal instincts are a form of telepathy? Female intuition another avenue of telepathy perhaps?

Which part of the brain would most likely be the production centre of telepathy, the hippocampus?

 

[Ririon]

How good would this sort of vision be? Surely the long wavelength would reduce the resolution possible. I suppose it would be better than nothing.

The "sonar" of the bats would give you a rough idea. Wavelength/resolution about the same order of magnitude as the size of an insect. (If I'm waving my hands correctly, here.)

 

[NeilC]

Telepathy, what is it exactly or what is the definition of it that can or cannot be validated/dismissed? Then, exactly how do you test that it is or not feasibly possible? Could you say, that perhaps maternal instincts are a form of telepathy? Female intuition another avenue of telepathy perhaps?

Which part of the brain would most likely be the production centre of telepathy, the hippocampus?

Ffemale intuition would not be telepathy, it is more likely just empathy. A definition of telepathy could be the communication or reading of another human's thoughts not using any of the 5 senses. This is easily validated.

 

[Tricky]

I've heard of cases where people can pick up radio signals in their dental work. Would that count as telepathy?

 

[MRC_Hans]

Not as paranormal. And, such stories are at best unverified. However, there is a theortical possibility they can be true, at least in the days of powerful AM transmitters.

Hans

 

[Tricky]

Not as paranormal. And, such stories are at best unverified. However, there is a theortical possibility they can be true, at least in the days of powerful AM transmitters.

Hans

Well, the OP was about aliens with evolved-in radios. I see no reason why not. If their metabolism evolved to assimilate and build structural componants out of ferromagnetic materials, then such a system would even seem a logical outgrowth of that biosystem. Actually, the transmitter would be much more problematic than the receiving device. Heck, I rememer crystal radio sets that operated without electricity. But like you say, Hans, they could only pick up really powerful AM signals.

 

[Godmode]

The human body can naturally send a receive messages over a distance, its called "shouting" and "hearing". I can see no reason why other creatures could not evolve similar long range (natural) communications, using something other than sound. However isn't part of the idea of "telepathy" that it can only be "received" by a specific individual which it is "aimed" at? Otherwise in a world without spoken communication "shouting" would be classed as telepathy.

You make an interesting point.

 

[tsg]

The question touches on an important point: What exactly is telepathy?

If there were a means of fairly reliable communication via a transmission of signals outside the normal sensory range, I think that would qualify. Of course, once science understood the process it would likely lose the name "telepathy" in favor of something more accurate.

From an evolutionary standpoint, though, I can see a big incentive not to develop the ability to transmit thoughts. The ability to deceive can be a survival trait, even if the deception is simply a matter of not communicating "I'm hiding in a bush" or "I'm going to run to the right". Of course, the ability to detect thoughts would also be a survival trait, so I can see the "transmitters" getting eaten by the "receivers" before gaining the ability to really control it. Maybe we're all receivers and there just aren't any transmitters left. But then, without transmitters, the ability to receive ceases to be an advantage.

 

[Bikewer]

You have to have some method of transmitting information, and some method of recieving/decoding same.

We can at present use all of our senses for this purpose, as does the rest of the animal kingdom. Many animals use communication methods that are not perceptible to us, but still use the common sensory apparatus. Sub-auditory sound waves in elephants, for instance.

So, to have true "telepathy", the unaided brain would have to produce some sort of signal, which could be recieved by another beyond the range of "normal" senses. What could be used for such transmission? I think that any range of the electromagnetic spectrum would still fall into the category of normal sensory apparatus; radio waves, infrared, etc.
Likewise any mechanical production of sound, however low or high.

What would carry our signal?