…Which is not to say Sere’s fondness for and ingenuity in pulling the wings off things isn’t very well written. Overgrown child she may be, but your matured understanding of cruelty as expressed by the character is vivid.
The psychology of the malignant narcissist centers around the stunted emotional development of this type. She doesn’t have a real awareness of other people except as extensions of herself, which would be doubly interesting for a telepath.
My thinking is that the telepaths of this world spend much of their time trying to block each other from a very early age. This would create dearth of empathy.
In science fiction and fantasy, the conceit is telepaths have the warm fuzzy superpower. I’ve always seen it as a power that would lead to terrible abuses. Knowing exactly how other people think and feel would force empathy. It would force withdrawal, denial, and exclusion.
And a strong sense of narcissism. Simply knowing what other people think and feel does not mean those thoughts and feelings would be respected.
That’s really interesting, Colleen. When I read the book the first time, I found Sere rather like a parasite, feeding off the emotions of those she’s provoking and abusing. Very creepy, that. (In a good storytelling way, of course. 😉 )
As for the nature of telepathy, I’ve always thought it would depend on the “degree of penetration”, as it were. Just how powerful would the ability be? Would it be intentional or involuntary? Would it be projective or merely receptive?
You, of course, are writing about very powerful telepaths. I love the way, later, you have Liana handling it all.
In her case singing “tra-la-la” seems to help block unbidden images, which would suggest the power is at least partially involuntary. As do the earlier scenes where she is overwhelmed by her first experience of touching minds not her own.
Sarah, I agree with you. Sere enjoys causing other people pain.
What I think is interesting is that many people assume that feeling someone else’s pain would make people feel sorry for them, and that’s just not the case. Knowing other people’s pain gives some people who inflict pain a sense of power.
Yeah… that bit about enjoying other people’s pain.
And then there are also situations where if you were a “good” person-telepath, you would NOT want to know the other person’s thoughts or feelings. People you don’t particularly like, for instance. Or those who want to suck you into the black hole of their own souls.
I envisioned these powers as having different levels of intensity for different telepaths, so not everyone is having to sing LALALA. But the default is people have to learn to deal with them. You are not born having control over these abilities.
My thinking is these powers can cause people to become extremely callous or autistic. They can force people to completely withdraw from their fellow beings, to want to turn off the trauma of being assaulted by other people’s concerns and feelings.
To my mind, lots of people in SF envision these powers as dissolving boundaries.
Boundaries are necessary for healthy adult relationships. And without respect for boundaries, there is an enormous potential for abuse and exploitation. I don’t assume people who have warm and fuzzy-seeming abilities like telepathy are always going to be warm and fuzzy themselves.
We’ve seen plenty of examples of professional counselors and psychiatrists abusing their close connection with their charges. Why would we assume telepathy would make people better people? The appearance of empathy does not ensure kindness or goodness.
We have ample evidence in the real world that people with wonderful advantages and abilities are not always wonderful people.
10 Comments
Carla Speed McNeil
…Which is not to say Sere’s fondness for and ingenuity in pulling the wings off things isn’t very well written. Overgrown child she may be, but your matured understanding of cruelty as expressed by the character is vivid.
Poor baby. Seren’s what, about four?
Colleen
Thank you very much!
Colleen
BTW, good point about “overgrown child”.
The psychology of the malignant narcissist centers around the stunted emotional development of this type. She doesn’t have a real awareness of other people except as extensions of herself, which would be doubly interesting for a telepath.
My thinking is that the telepaths of this world spend much of their time trying to block each other from a very early age. This would create dearth of empathy.
In science fiction and fantasy, the conceit is telepaths have the warm fuzzy superpower. I’ve always seen it as a power that would lead to terrible abuses. Knowing exactly how other people think and feel would force empathy. It would force withdrawal, denial, and exclusion.
And a strong sense of narcissism. Simply knowing what other people think and feel does not mean those thoughts and feelings would be respected.
scribblerworks
That’s really interesting, Colleen. When I read the book the first time, I found Sere rather like a parasite, feeding off the emotions of those she’s provoking and abusing. Very creepy, that. (In a good storytelling way, of course. 😉 )
As for the nature of telepathy, I’ve always thought it would depend on the “degree of penetration”, as it were. Just how powerful would the ability be? Would it be intentional or involuntary? Would it be projective or merely receptive?
You, of course, are writing about very powerful telepaths. I love the way, later, you have Liana handling it all.
Allan
In her case singing “tra-la-la” seems to help block unbidden images, which would suggest the power is at least partially involuntary. As do the earlier scenes where she is overwhelmed by her first experience of touching minds not her own.
Colleen
Sarah, I agree with you. Sere enjoys causing other people pain.
What I think is interesting is that many people assume that feeling someone else’s pain would make people feel sorry for them, and that’s just not the case. Knowing other people’s pain gives some people who inflict pain a sense of power.
It’s some people’s idea of joy.
scribblerworks
Yeah… that bit about enjoying other people’s pain.
And then there are also situations where if you were a “good” person-telepath, you would NOT want to know the other person’s thoughts or feelings. People you don’t particularly like, for instance. Or those who want to suck you into the black hole of their own souls.
Colleen
Yeah.
I envisioned these powers as having different levels of intensity for different telepaths, so not everyone is having to sing LALALA. But the default is people have to learn to deal with them. You are not born having control over these abilities.
My thinking is these powers can cause people to become extremely callous or autistic. They can force people to completely withdraw from their fellow beings, to want to turn off the trauma of being assaulted by other people’s concerns and feelings.
To my mind, lots of people in SF envision these powers as dissolving boundaries.
Boundaries are necessary for healthy adult relationships. And without respect for boundaries, there is an enormous potential for abuse and exploitation. I don’t assume people who have warm and fuzzy-seeming abilities like telepathy are always going to be warm and fuzzy themselves.
We’ve seen plenty of examples of professional counselors and psychiatrists abusing their close connection with their charges. Why would we assume telepathy would make people better people? The appearance of empathy does not ensure kindness or goodness.
We have ample evidence in the real world that people with wonderful advantages and abilities are not always wonderful people.
mamid
I just stare at this sequence and think “poor little innocent Seren” and then I want to rip Sere’s head right off her pretty little neck.
Colleen Doran
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