The Devil's Advocate
Author
Respected Member I will deflate your theories and claims with ye olde pointy stick of logic.
Est autem fides credere quod nondum vides; cuius fidei merces est videre quod credis.
Posts: 1,552
|
Post by The Devil's Advocate on Sept 21, 2006 8:03:10 GMT -5
Premise for this discussion: Compare and contrast Empathy and Telepathy.
I tried this discussion on the old pro boards and thought it might be worth another shot here. Some questions to consider when answering the above: What do they do differently? What kinds of data does each give? Is there a difference between telepathic overload and empathic overload? Does passive range affect each differently? These aren't questions you absolutely have to answer, nor are they all the aspects of this topic out there, they're just a few that came to mind to help give people a general idea of what I mean by this.
I am predominantly an Empath. I have begun developing telepathy, rather against my will. (I’ve stopped arguing with what my natural abilities decide they want to do. It’s too much headache, but that is another discussion.) I have noticed, two very different types of data come from the two. Empathy is a general ‘sense’ or read of a person, when not used in any specific way. Telepathy tends to gain more concepts than impressions. Empathy yields perceptive reactions like “that was a bad thing to say” or “he is upset”. Telepathy, receptive/perceptively, yields more concrete understanding. Example: When I was in my Russian class last semester, I discovered there were times I just ‘synched’ with the professor and started grasping the meanings of what he said, beyond phrases I knew. It took me a little while to correlate to Telepathy, because that’s how I naturally deal with languages anyway (in phrases or not at all.) But he was using phrases I and he both knew he hadn’t used with us, complicated constructions that were not readily deduced from the limited context he supplied. This was the first time I noticed Telepathy in /myself/.
Since then the differences have become more sharp. Empathy is very good, protectively and receptively, for influencing things, and determining how best to react. Telepathy seems to be more appropriate to inexplicable understanding rather than inexplicable ability to react to people. I have overloaded on both, though the telepathy overload was much milder than the Empathy overloads, it also was a completely different feeling. An empathy overload, for me, starts as just pressure, not an actual headache, but that feeling you get when there are just way too many people in a room that you’re stuck in the middle of. It grows to just a sensation of something constantly in your head pushing down. It usually does get interpreted as a headache at some point in the process, and get severe enough that thinking is nearly impossible. The telepathy overload started a little differently, it was like I was hearing snippets of conversations that weren’t there and wasn’t ‘catching’ it all. That grew to the perception of ‘noise’ rather than ‘pressure’, which got ‘too loud’ rather than ‘too much’.
Please note these are, to some degree, analogies and metaphors. I do understand that this is, in some ways, rather like trying to describe the difference between sight and sound, but I hope to get some useful discussion going on the nature of these two psionic skills, and see if there actually is any way to reference them in terms of eachother.
~The Devil's Advocate
|
|
|
Post by wolfdancer on Sept 21, 2006 22:41:53 GMT -5
You seem to have done a reasonable job. I understand what you are getting at in the differences. For me, being naturally more telepathic, it is becoming easy to tell the two apart. Like you said, sight and sound. They are totally distinct though one may aid the other. I have also noticed that using empathy my mind will often interpret what was said into more concrete terms than what was actually recieved. Sometimes this is accurate and sometimes not.
Telepathically, I tend to pick up the essence of what someone is going to say or gleen answers from what they are thinking rather than what has actually been said (at least in some occassions and on a relatively consistent basis).
|
|
|
Post by intrepid on Sept 25, 2006 3:20:30 GMT -5
Hello. My sympathies. I am experiencing what appears to be at least similar, if not the same phenomenon myself, though about a year further down the line if this is recent for you.
I *was* primarily an empath. I could not say for sure whether the change came about from my own extensive experimenting, its a natural (to be expected?) thing, or a result of frequent contact with telepaths.
I am at a place now, that I hope you don't reach, and mostly like won't if you don't attempt some of the truly bizarre stunts I have. I find myself flipping back and forth from empath to telepathy dominance and vice versa fairly quickly, and without discernible warning. And though quick, there is a "between" state that is fairly uncomfortable, and different than another similar aspect of empathy.
It all began with a change in empathic perception. For most of my life I was able to read the emotion of another, in general terms, picking up the dominant one, maybe a mix of one or two more underlying the top one. It was there, I could usually tell the persons general emotional state and reactions. Then I began feeling them. After a few overloads, and experiencing emotions that had nothing to do with me, I decided I REALLY didn't like this development and set about various 'fixes'. I tried filtering, layered shielding, blocking, even went so far as a complete shutdown. The only thing that had significant results was layered shielding, which takes effort to maintain. The most effective method I've found to date is to shield yourself and have two others layer a shield over the top. The mechanics of why it works are unknown to me , I only know its effective.
As time goes by, the difference between empathic/telepathic overload will become easier to identify. With empathy, I usually feel like I'm in a very crowded room, where everyone is talking, but I'm not hearing anything. Instead, the sound becomes a steadily increasing pressure, as though the air has become very thick, and I have trouble thinking clearly. If someone speaks to me, its like listening to sound under water. Now I know that as soon as people start to sound "far away" its time to run. Telepathy is harder to describe. An overload would be like standing on an invisible freeway, eyes closed, while cars moving fast, but at different rates of speed, zoom past you. As they go by, they toss something out the window for you to catch, but its all so fast and their aim is off.
In what I think of as the 'between' state, its a bit like empathy where you know the emotion but don't feel it , but not quite. I feel it, but its more vague and the source is not certain. And simultaneously surface thoughts of others will just kind of arrive. It's all simultaneous, and whether the thought fragments are coming from the same people the emotions are, is not clear, but I suspect not, they don't usually align logically. Physically I feel like I just woke up, and everything is foggy. This state usually lasts a few minutes (though it can be several hours) and then one becomes dominant and the disorientation disappears.
The between state could be a normal state that many rest in, perceiving both, and ignoring it, or a sloppy transition from one dominance to the other. I don't know.
Once dominance of one or the other is achieved, without enough input to be a nuisance, its fairly clear. Though for me, the telepathic input has changed in how it occurs over the last few months. I no longer pick up fragments or single thoughts. I now get a full concept. I get a rush of visuals too fast to interpret, and a min or two later I have a concept. Such as "you went on a date with a new person, and enjoyed it" In the short time it takes to process the incoming information, I feel like a proverbial deer in the headlights.
Physical distance seems to have no relevance in my experience. It's my belief that reception depends more on the strength and sensitivity of the sender and receiver.
Your analogies and metaphors, btw, are quite good. I recognized the description of what is often referred to as "the wall of noise" when an empath overloads.
While empathy and telepathy seem to be separate, and one usually dominates the other, I am not convinced they are truly separate. It has occurred to me that the subconscious may be blocking one at any given time, as a form of self-defense. When caught between dominance of the two, the amount of input for me is too much, from too many sources, to interpret. Logically, I think I would block one, enabling me to be able to make some sense of at least some of the incoming. And that is pure speculation. As to whether I switch dominance or revert back, when in the midline area, I cannot predict, and have done both.
I would be greatly interested in any ideas/theories as to what causes the dominance change. After many months of notes, I still have no idea, and no way to predict the switch.
Intrepid
|
|
The Devil's Advocate
Author
Respected Member I will deflate your theories and claims with ye olde pointy stick of logic.
Est autem fides credere quod nondum vides; cuius fidei merces est videre quod credis.
Posts: 1,552
|
Post by The Devil's Advocate on Sept 25, 2006 11:01:08 GMT -5
Itemizing to make sure I don’t miss anything. Too much good stuff to respond to. Quotes are in quotation marks. It's so very good to be itemizing for a rational discussion rather than a debate. Thank you! “Hello. My sympathies. I am experiencing what appears to be at least similar, if not the same phenomenon myself, though about a year further down the line if this is recent for you.” The Telepathy is relatively recent as a noticeable factor, and even more recent as a /useful/ factor. “I *was* primarily an empath. I could not say for sure whether the change came about from my own extensive experimenting, its a natural (to be expected?) thing, or a result of frequent contact with telepaths.” I’ve had very regular contact with a telepath and while my telepathy has grown my empathy has not diminished, then again I have a passive range measured in multiple miles so I’m not sure how that fits on the scale of what you are discussing. “I am at a place now, that I hope you don't reach, and mostly like won't if you don't attempt some of the truly bizarre stunts I have. I find myself flipping back and forth from empath to telepathy dominance and vice versa fairly quickly, and without discernible warning. And though quick, there is a "between" state that is fairly uncomfortable, and different than another similar aspect of empathy.” I find that interesting. I have not discovered Empathy and Telepathy warring for “dominance” for me. I am a much, much stronger empathy, currently, than I am a telepath, but they seem to augment one another most of the time rather than conflict. Then again I have 18 years of experience dealing with the Empathy so that probably helps. I don’t know what your full background is, could you elaborate on this point? I’ve had my own share of empathic headaches... given that most of the time I was a practicing empathy I didn’t know how to shield effectively (completely self taught for the first 16 of those years. Still mostly self taught.) How does this compare to the typical problems of consistent long term overload or is there no comparison? “It all began with a change in empathic perception. For most of my life I was able to read the emotion of another, in general terms, picking up the dominant one, maybe a mix of one or two more underlying the top one. It was there, I could usually tell the persons general emotional state and reactions. Then I began feeling them. After a few overloads, and experiencing emotions that had nothing to do with me, I decided I REALLY didn't like this development and set about various 'fixes'. I tried filtering, layered shielding, blocking, even went so far as a complete shutdown. The only thing that had significant results was layered shielding, which takes effort to maintain. The most effective method I've found to date is to shield yourself and have two others layer a shield over the top. The mechanics of why it works are unknown to me, I only know its effective.” We can discuss the mechanics of some shields in PM or chat if you like. I’ve found several quite effective. I have a multi-layered/Merged shield that I currently use. I can give you the general theory on that, though I would prefer not to give specifics on my own. I’ve been having issues with certain individuals trying to mess with my shields, and I’m not entirely certain they’ve given up so I am being cautious. What you’re describing seems pretty normal for a macro-empath (unofficial term), that is someone with a range beyond just the person or group they are directly dealing with/line of site. I’m not sure when I hit that point... I’ve just always been there as far as I can remember, so I don’t remember that transition. How did this lead into your development as a Telepath as well? Or do you know? “The between state could be a normal state that many rest in, perceiving both, and ignoring it, or a sloppy transition from one dominance to the other. I don't know. “ You’ve mentioned dominance of one over the other. Does this mean you can only use one OR the other? Or does one simply become more easy to perceive? ”Once dominance of one or the other is achieved, without enough input to be a nuisance, its fairly clear. Though for me, the telepathic input has changed in how it occurs over the last few months. I no longer pick up fragments or single thoughts. I now get a full concept. I get a rush of visuals too fast to interpret, and a min or two later I have a concept. Such as "you went on a date with a new person, and enjoyed it" In the short time it takes to process the incoming information, I feel like a proverbial deer in the headlights.” I haven’t gotten to that point telepathically, at least not with any reliability. I tend to be cautious about assuming whether what I am perceiving is actually coming from Telepathy or just my own fool imagination. I tend to prefer to err on the side of imagination, so when I do claim to have picked up something from telepathy I /know/ I have. Again something I’d like to compare notes on you from. “Physical distance seems to have no relevance in my experience. It's my belief that reception depends more on the strength and sensitivity of the sender and receiver.” Physical distance has an impact on passive ranges. When you’re just lounging around you’re not picking up the emotions or thoughts of everyone on the planet all at once. That would be instant overload of unprecedented levels. Now what I can send/receive to specific individuals does not appear to be related to distance, or at least not on a large enough scale to measure at the current time. Their ability to receive is another story. I’ve got one acquaintance who is the psionic equivalent of a brick wall when it comes to Empathy. “Your analogies and metaphors, btw, are quite good. I recognized the description of what is often referred to as "the wall of noise" when an empath overloads.” Thank you. I’ve had a lot of practice making them comprehensible. “While empathy and telepathy seem to be separate, and one usually dominates the other, I am not convinced they are truly separate. It has occurred to me that the subconscious may be blocking one at any given time, as a form of self-defense. When caught between dominance of the two, the amount of input for me is too much, from too many sources, to interpret. Logically, I think I would block one, enabling me to be able to make some sense of at least some of the incoming. And that is pure speculation. As to whether I switch dominance or revert back, when in the midline area, I cannot predict, and have done both. “ Yet, I can use both at will, though with varying degrees of strength. I choose which one I use, and shutting off my passive range with either is not an option. (Tried that, failed miserably... Someone else tried it, didn’t manage it all the way and it still almost ‘suffocated’ me.) Are your biceps and your triceps the same muscles? No, but they are very much related. Your biceps and your latismis(sp?) dorsi are also not the same muscle, nor are they completely dependant upon one another except when you’re trying to move your shoulder joint. “I would be greatly interested in any ideas/theories as to what causes the dominance change. After many months of notes, I still have no idea, and no way to predict the switch.” I’m still not entirely sure how you’re using Dominance in this instance. I definitely look forward to your replies. Though I think we may scare some of the folk on this site if we keep this up! ~The Devil’s Advocate
|
|
|
Post by wolfdancer on Sept 26, 2006 15:18:15 GMT -5
Scare who? Isn't this part of what the Advanced section is for? It is in my opinion. Anyway, back to topic.
“While empathy and telepathy seem to be separate, and one usually dominates the other, I am not convinced they are truly separate. It has occurred to me that the subconscious may be blocking one at any given time, as a form of self-defense. When caught between dominance of the two, the amount of input for me is too much, from too many sources, to interpret. Logically, I think I would block one, enabling me to be able to make some sense of at least some of the incoming. “
I have been thinking about what you said in your text, intrepid, and what you say in the above quote makes a lot of sense. I think individuals who are strong in both may at times have difficulty processing the total amount of information you can pick up with these two abilities. It is often easier to suppress one and focus on the other for comprehension and sanity's sake. I am still growing in both abilities. I am a natural telepath of some strength, measuring it specifically is difficult and ever changing. I have learned a great deal about empathy and become more empathic over the last three years. I believe I understand what you are talking about and have experienced the inbetween state you describe at times, though for longer periods (and with much frustration). I have not noticed it relating directly to what you described. It is more a period where I feel like nothing is working quite right and when I'm recieving anything it becomes scrambled gibberish. I guess this isn't very helpful, but there you go.
|
|
Fearn
Full Member
Formerly ILuvEire
Posts: 149
|
Post by Fearn on Sept 28, 2006 14:59:18 GMT -5
I am predominately an empath, but telepathy has reared its ugly head again and I am learning to just 'go with the flow'.
In MY expierience empathy was/is colours. Mad is red sad is blue etc etc etc. When people feel that emotion i start thinking "oh he's red...dont mess with him. I am colour blind, so I dont know why I am so attached to colours.
Telepathy is like little bubbles of thought. When they 'pop' in my head I hear, "He's thinks Kem smells...and he's mad."
Telpathic overload is having all these voices going at once and they wont stop.
Empathetic overload is having my emotions changing every minute.
Sorry that it is so riddled with analogies.
|
|
|
Post by wolfdancer on Sept 28, 2006 15:46:23 GMT -5
What you are describing seems very highly connected to telepathy and not as much to empathy as I know it. I have totally different experiences regarding empathy, but am not sure how to word them at the moment. I am a natural telepath and the use of colors has already been much more closely related to that skill than to my ability with empathy. I think I understand what you are describing as telepathic overload. That does make sense. As far as empathic overload: they have time to change? I've never known of an empathic overload where emotions were distinctly changing like that. I'm sure DA and Cullen could tell you more than I can on the subject. It wasn't riddled with any more analogies than are typically used when trying to talk about something without concrete references that both sides understand which are not analogies. ~Wolfd@ncer
|
|
|
Post by Lady Hawke on Sept 28, 2006 15:50:20 GMT -5
iluveire: This comment is of a very basic level; therefore, it is more suited to the thread in the "General Psionics" Board entitled "What are Telepathy and Empathy". Please take your comments there. This forum is specifically for advanced, detailed, in depth discussions of psionics, beyond the entry level. If you have a comment that is commensurate with an advanced discussion by all means, post it. Please keep in mind before you post next time, that this forum is not for those who are brand new to psionics, or those who wish to discuss entry level topics. You are invited to read these topics, but refrain from posting unless you can maintain the level of the discussion.
~Lady Hawke
Modified to clarify toward whom the post was directed.
|
|
The Devil's Advocate
Author
Respected Member I will deflate your theories and claims with ye olde pointy stick of logic.
Est autem fides credere quod nondum vides; cuius fidei merces est videre quod credis.
Posts: 1,552
|
Post by The Devil's Advocate on Sept 28, 2006 19:45:32 GMT -5
In MY expierience empathy was/is colours. Mad is red sad is blue etc etc etc. When people feel that emotion i start thinking "oh he's red...dont mess with him. I am colour blind, so I dont know why I am so attached to colours. I am a natural empath. Empathy is NOT associated with any physical sense. Emotions do not come across as a sound. They do not come across as a color, a texture, a taste, a smell, or anything else related to that which we can directly percieve. What you describe is much closer to what I have heard Telepathy described as. I am not a natural Telepath, but what you describe as "empathy" does not match my own experience with the empathy, nor anything the two other empaths I consulted on the topic. Telepathy is like little bubbles of thought. When they 'pop' in my head I hear, "He's thinks Kem smells...and he's mad." Please elaborate on how this relates to the 'empathy' above. How do the two phenomena correllate to one another? Is there any time correllation? Is there a sequential pattern? (Ie you get a 'color' response, followed by a popping bubble or the other way around?) How often do these pairings occur, if they do occur? What other phenomena do you notice around these 'bubbles'? Do you deal with the active transmission of thoughts or emotions? If so, do the analogies carry through. Telpathic overload is having all these voices going at once and they wont stop. That sounds like normal order of business, to me. Dead silence is the exception not the rule both empathically and telepathically in my experience. Empathetic overload is having my emotions changing every minute. Hormones usually cause more rapid emotional change than empathy in my experince (and I went through all of puberty as an active empath with an extensive range. Trust me on this one.) Frankly, it is very rare that emotions completely change with empathic input, though there is a distinct increase in the suceptability to the 'mob mentality' amongst strong, unshielded empaths. During Empathic overload there is no time. There is no 'changing emotion every minute.' There is just emotion. The only thing you have time for is thinking 'make it stop make it stop.' Finding a way to do something about it takes great deal of energy if there are no contingency plans in place. Shields are not always proof against overload, especially if they only go up after the overload has begun. There is no physical equivalent, though I can tender an analogy of my own: It is akin to a very intense claustrophobia. Sorry that it is so riddled with analogies. Analogies are perfectly acceptable. We do not have a hard system of measurements for psionics the way we do for things such as mass and velocity. Analogies are frequently all we have to communicate with, so clear analogies are priceless. ~The Devil's Advocate
|
|
|
Post by intrepid on Oct 6, 2006 3:42:09 GMT -5
Sorry for the delay in responding, life intervenes.
"I don’t know what your full background is, could you elaborate on this point?"
I’m a natural telepath. A natural/normal state of being as far as I’m concerned. Somewhere in my late thirties I became predominantly empathic. I began researching information about it on the web about four years ago. As far as I have been able to determine, the use of psi is so integrated into my life, that the line between psi/nonpsi functioning is not a line I can draw definitively. It’s always been there.
"We can discuss the mechanics of some shields in PM or chat if you like. I’ve found several quite effective. I have a multi-layered/Merged shield that I currently use. I can give you the general theory on that, though I would prefer not to give specifics on my own."
I would be interested in that. Of course I don’t reveal the finer points of my shielding either.
"What you’re describing seems pretty normal for a macro-empath (unofficial term), that is someone with a range beyond just the person or group they are directly dealing with/line of site. I’m not sure when I hit that point... I’ve just always been there as far as I can remember, so I don’t remember that transition. How did this lead into your development as a Telepath as well? Or do you know?"
I’m a wide-band (slang) psi. Meaning that linear distance is of no real consequence. I actually receive better from those at a distance. Maybe because of less ambient noise, I havent given it much thought. As far as I can remember my development as a telepath came first. As a child I thought everyone was. I suppressed it to a great extent for several years, noticing heightened empathy later. My memory isnt really clear on it, its always been there, sort of thing. I didn’t pay much attention to it until my sensitivity level became uncomfortable.
"You’ve mentioned dominance of one over the other. Does this mean you can only use one OR the other? Or does one simply become more easy to perceive?"
I can use both, though that tends to be a muddled mess for me. Since I began actively attempting to control psi input/output, I usually suppress empathy. Suppression of one or the other does seem to make for clearer perception. When not attempting to control the input, one usually overrides the other. There have been times when neither was clear, both were noticably in use. Those were not happy times.
"I haven’t gotten to that point telepathically, at least not with any reliability. I tend to be cautious about assuming whether what I am perceiving is actually coming from Telepathy or just my own fool imagination. I tend to prefer to err on the side of imagination, so when I do claim to have picked up something from telepathy I /know/ I have. Again something I’d like to compare notes on you from."
To be honest, I frequently don’t examine how I “know” something. The knowledge/impression is there. Unless it’s something I am certain I didn’t learn from conversation, reading, etc. I would be hesitant to label it psi input. Too much of life is predictable to assume anything more than vague memory, a reasonable guess, or the most likely probability. Even scanning for information, analytical overlay must be factored in.
"Physical distance has an impact on passive ranges. When you’re just lounging around you’re not picking up the emotions or thoughts of everyone on the planet all at once. That would be instant overload of unprecedented levels."
Agreed. I’ve never investigated my passive range. Learning to shield has been a phenomenal help. I’ve been told several times that I tend to hold an overly large number of links at any given time. I have learned not to automatically tune in to everyone in my surrounding area. The few contacts I am comfortable with identifing as passive listening, without being linked, and are consistent, are at a distance of eight and ten floors above my floor. (yes, I am the master of overloading)
“I would be greatly interested in any ideas/theories as to what causes the dominance change. After many months of notes, I still have no idea, and no way to predict the switch.”
"I’m still not entirely sure how you’re using Dominance in this instance. I definitely look forward to your replies. Though I think we may scare some of the folk on this site if we keep this up!"
By dominance, I mean that one ability becomes significantly more apparent/functional than the other. I can attempt it purposefully, but of late it seems to change without warning or easily discernable cause.
|
|
|
Post by wolfdancer on Oct 10, 2006 13:41:37 GMT -5
"Agreed. I’ve never investigated my passive range. Learning to shield has been a phenomenal help. I’ve been told several times that I tend to hold an overly large number of links at any given time. I have learned not to automatically tune in to everyone in my surrounding area. The few contacts I am comfortable with identifing as passive listening, without being linked, and are consistent, are at a distance of eight and ten floors above my floor. (yes, I am the master of overloading)" I take it from this that you live in highly populated area? I'm curious about a couple of things, is your passive range different with telepathy vs. empathy? You mentioned being a natural telepath and I wondered if your range on that might be larger. Also, since I come from an area with relatively low population (40,000 swelling to 60,000 during University), I was wondering what type of population density exists in the space you've described. I know. I'm asking a lot of questions today and giving relatively little feedback on the information you've provided. ~Wolf
|
|
|
Post by intrepid on Oct 15, 2006 20:32:26 GMT -5
I live and work in a highly populated area in northern California. A hop, skip and jump from Stanford Research Institute, fairly close to San Francisco. Dont worry about feed back in a hurry, tomorrow is another day. Never really thought about it, but it occurs to me my range with empathy is very short, about 20 feet, but quite intense. Passive range with telepathy a few hundred feet, without linking or knowing the person. Much more tolerable though, probably because its not clear, usually just a lot of randomness. At about 20 feet, its usable. For some unknown bizarre reason, I function best at telepathy while driving. Nobody ever said it would make sense, eh? ;D Intrepid
|
|
|
Post by wolfdancer on Oct 21, 2006 0:01:53 GMT -5
lol right.
That is a distinct difference in range.
My brain is rather malfuntioning now, so I will wait and see if DA has a response.
|
|
The Devil's Advocate
Author
Respected Member I will deflate your theories and claims with ye olde pointy stick of logic.
Est autem fides credere quod nondum vides; cuius fidei merces est videre quod credis.
Posts: 1,552
|
Post by The Devil's Advocate on Oct 21, 2006 15:47:14 GMT -5
Sorry this took so long... It’s going to be a long post as I have a great deal to respond to! Calculus grabbed me and interfered with details on this particular post and one other. Sorry for the delay in responding, life intervenes. Trust me I DO understand. Life’s rather ugly on my side this week (I officially despise calculus. And the Army isn’t treating me much better.) I’m a natural telepath. A natural/normal state of being as far as I’m concerned. Somewhere in my late thirties I became predominantly empathic. I began researching information about it on the web about four years ago. As far as I have been able to determine, the use of psi is so integrated into my life, that the line between psi/nonpsi functioning is not a line I can draw definitively. It’s always been there. Better at Thirty than 8! Try going through puberty with that much empathy. That aside, what have you discovered? There are a great many mixed results. I’m, personally at a half way point to where you seem to be at in accepting Psi. Psi is an inextricable part of my life, but I’ve spent so long fighting it, it’s hard for me not to tell, in most cases, what is psi and what is not. I would be interested in that. Of course I don’t reveal the finer points of my shielding either. I’ll PM on this subject. I’m a wide-band (slang) psi. Meaning that linear distance is of no real consequence. I actually receive better from those at a distance. Maybe because of less ambient noise, I havent given it much thought. As far as I can remember my development as a telepath came first. As a child I thought everyone was. I suppressed it to a great extent for several years, noticing heightened empathy later. My memory isn’t really clear on it, its always been there, sort of thing. I didn’t pay much attention to it until my sensitivity level became uncomfortable. Do you find intensity usually varies with range? This has not been the case with me but I don’t pretend to be an ‘average’ case. My own passive range can pick up the next big city down the line in either direction: roughly an hour to an hour and a half at highway speeds. (depending on the direction) Caveat: There are no cities within less than 3-5 hrs of travel of over 1 million from my present location. I spent 5 years in the military, first in a California tourist town then in Hawaii. (I know such hard locations, well, as is the military’s way I didn’t get to ENJOY much of either. ) Both were interesting, in retrospect and in different ways. California (You actually probably know the area I was at the Presidio of Monterey) was bad, empathically because of 1500 (roughly) stressed out soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines AND their stressed out teachers, and all the base support staff layered on the emotions of the residents and the tourists. It was a constant level of mental strain, on top of the reality that I WAS one of those 1500 stressed out students. Hawaii was a different set of circumstances. There was much more physical confinement. They RUN a marathon around the island once a year... it takes less than 24 hours. Plus the permanent resident population of Honolulu is somewhere around 1.1 million, with several major military bases on the island. In both cases I found myself reacting in ways that made no sense even interally, and in ways my own mind was telling me were blatantly wrong for what was actually going on in my head, yet the reactions and ‘second set of feelings’ were all equally real. At this time in my life I didn’t have a name for what was going on. I’d considered Empathy, but not on a practical level, even as I was using it on a daily basis, reading my coworkers to know how to properly react, projecting to get the emphasis on a point across. Knowing I could ‘read’ people well and doing so deliberately. Knowing I could use ‘force of personality’ to make my points all the more clear. (Empathy is wonderful for underlining points to higher ups when you can’t say “Sir, Your project is about as useful as a three dollar bill.” I can use both, though that tends to be a muddled mess for me. Since I began actively attempting to control psi input/output, I usually suppress empathy. Suppression of one or the other does seem to make for clearer perception. When not attempting to control the input, one usually overrides the other. There have been times when neither was clear, both were noticeably in use. Those were not happy times. Interesting, it is not a phenomenon I have observed directly. Then again my Empathy is consistently stronger than my Telepathy. They also come across, to me, as two clearly and distinctly separate TYPES of input... To be honest, I frequently don’t examine how I “know” something. The knowledge/impression is there. Unless it’s something I am certain I didn’t learn from conversation, reading, etc. I would be hesitant to label it psi input. Too much of life is predictable to assume anything more than vague memory, a reasonable guess, or the most likely probability. Even scanning for information, analytical overlay must be factored in. Indeed, though I have learned to recognize mental signals for both empathic and telepathic data that are surprisingly clear once I know what I’m looking for. I’ve tested several of the symptoms, shielded and unshielded, to hash out what is just normal mental disparity and what is actually external. Then I can go back and analyze my own memories, with several grains of salt, and apply what I’ve learned to my experiences. Agreed. I’ve never investigated my passive range. Learning to shield has been a phenomenal help. I’ve been told several times that I tend to hold an overly large number of links at any given time. I have learned not to automatically tune in to everyone in my surrounding area. The few contacts I am comfortable with identifing as passive listening, without being linked, and are consistent, are at a distance of eight and ten floors above my floor. (yes, I am the master of overloading) Sir? My passive range is measured in miles. I spent 5 years unshielded in the military. Trust me, I do sympathize with your issues with overload. Though links make it worse as they typically bypass shielding. Agreed By dominance, I mean that one ability becomes significantly more apparent/functional than the other. I can attempt it purposefully, but of late it seems to change without warning or easily discernable cause. I can see how that would be very aggravating. This may be something you’ve already attempted, but have you tried working with that middle state to see if you can hash out the input differences between the two... so you can /use/ that in the middle state? Or am I completely nuts and should I leave the issue alone? This came out much more rambly than I intended, I’ll clarify anything you need clarified, just ask. ~The Devil’s Advocate
|
|
|
Post by intrepid on Feb 19, 2007 14:36:58 GMT -5
And I return!
"...but have you tried working with that middle state to see if you can hash out the input differences between the two... so you can /use/ that in the middle state? "
I can now say that, yes I have. I used the between state, remaining in it intentionally for some time in order to observe. The amount of input gained doing this usually results in more information than you really wanted. And should be reserved for use with individuals you care to know that much about.
In the time since my last post, I have learned to 'get a feel' for the situation, then consciously choose a dominance. Mainly in my own self defense. It doesnt always go smoothly, and I'm sure will take a great deal of practise.
The control factor of using both, versus blocking one or the other, is spotty. I found that I got a lot more than I bargained for. For myself, I would say that I need much more practice in controlling both, before using them together.
|
|