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Post by ausador on May 12, 2009 7:28:46 GMT -5
Looks sort of like another version of the cartesian diver trick... (google it) Oh, found another one here... <Edit: lol, now I'm getting an ad for a psychic with the video, targeted ads are amuseing sometimes. >
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Panthera
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Here kitty kitty...
Posts: 229
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Post by Panthera on May 12, 2009 11:44:07 GMT -5
Of course, IF humans could move things with their minds, and the most the average person would do was float dice or bend spoons, then the army would have to have a sub-army of several THOUSAND telekinetics, all working in unison, just to handle that one tank. Seems kind of wasteful and pointless when you look at it from that angle, doesn't it? I mean... why pay ten thousand people to flip a single tank, when a land mine or three will do the job that much more cheaply and efficiently? A little pressure on the carotid artery of a world leader, disconnecting a wire in a security system, flipping a pressure switch in a nuclear reactor, work in the 0 gravity of space. The black-ops potential for telekensis would be enormous, as long as it cold be done from a reasonable distance. Well, those kinds of things are whole other worlds, far removed from the idea of using telekinetics as combat weapons, which is what I was specifically addressing The jobs you described would, actually, be feasible undertakings for individuals or very small teams.
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Post by wackadoodle on May 12, 2009 11:49:22 GMT -5
the gun started pretty weak to, I think with alittle research we could have a person picking up tanks. I dont see how their could be a limit on the weight you can handle if your muscles arent involved.
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Post by Sigmaleph on May 12, 2009 14:25:26 GMT -5
I dont see how their could be a limit on the weight you can handle if your muscles arent involved. Assuming telekinesis is real, odds are it has to conform to conservation of energy like everything else
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Post by antichrist on May 12, 2009 22:17:45 GMT -5
Houdini made an elephant disappear. David Copperfield made the statue of liberty disappear.
A Youtube video does not impress me.
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Post by Dragon Zachski on May 12, 2009 22:25:57 GMT -5
The string explanation works for me.
I've kinda abandoned the whole subject, mostly because it's pointless. If Psionics were real... then what? We'd have an army of people who could spin paper. Whoopee.
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Panthera
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Here kitty kitty...
Posts: 229
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Post by Panthera on May 13, 2009 5:07:22 GMT -5
The string explanation works for me. I've kinda abandoned the whole subject, mostly because it's pointless. If Psionics were real... then what? We'd have an army of people who could spin paper. Whoopee. Well, in theory, if telekinesis were real, we would have an army of people who could disarm bombs, perform delicate tasks, defuse hostage situations, etc, all with little or no risk to themselves. For example, much as I hate to ever invoke 9-11 in the majority of contexts... imagine how things would have gone if there had been people on those planes who could've taken out the hijackers without so much as lifting a finger. It would be a useful ability to have - just not in the huge, flashy, X-Men-like kind of ways some people think.
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Post by Dragon Zachski on May 13, 2009 11:56:44 GMT -5
The string explanation works for me. I've kinda abandoned the whole subject, mostly because it's pointless. If Psionics were real... then what? We'd have an army of people who could spin paper. Whoopee. Well, in theory, if telekinesis were real, we would have an army of people who could disarm bombs, perform delicate tasks, defuse hostage situations, etc, all with little or no risk to themselves. For example, much as I hate to ever invoke 9-11 in the majority of contexts... imagine how things would have gone if there had been people on those planes who could've taken out the hijackers without so much as lifting a finger. It would be a useful ability to have - just not in the huge, flashy, X-Men-like kind of ways some people think. The people who do claim to do psychokinesis also claim to be very clumsy at it. Sometimes, it takes them a long time to even turn a piece of paper a few inches; and even then, they're not sure if it's because they breathed on it by accident. And that's with intense concentration. I'm sure in a dire situation, any psionicists' ability would be leaving straight out the window.
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Panthera
Full Member
Here kitty kitty...
Posts: 229
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Post by Panthera on May 13, 2009 12:59:31 GMT -5
Well, in theory, if telekinesis were real, we would have an army of people who could disarm bombs, perform delicate tasks, defuse hostage situations, etc, all with little or no risk to themselves. For example, much as I hate to ever invoke 9-11 in the majority of contexts... imagine how things would have gone if there had been people on those planes who could've taken out the hijackers without so much as lifting a finger. It would be a useful ability to have - just not in the huge, flashy, X-Men-like kind of ways some people think. The people who do claim to do psychokinesis also claim to be very clumsy at it. Sometimes, it takes them a long time to even turn a piece of paper a few inches; and even then, they're not sure if it's because they breathed on it by accident. And that's with intense concentration. I'm sure in a dire situation, any psionicists' ability would be leaving straight out the window. *shrugs* Just like with any skill, using it effectively would take practice, practice, and more practice. You don't draw or write masterpieces the very first time you pick up a pencil, or skillfully play the piano as soon as you sit down at the keys, or deliberately and repeatedly hit the bull's eye as soon as you pick up a bow and arrow, nor do you learn any of these skills just by casually practicing every now and then; they take months or even years of routine practice to hone - why would this be any different? A trained telekinetic would no more "forget" their skills in a high-stress situation than a trained marksman or a trained martial artist.
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Post by Dragon Zachski on May 13, 2009 13:59:46 GMT -5
The people who do claim to do psychokinesis also claim to be very clumsy at it. Sometimes, it takes them a long time to even turn a piece of paper a few inches; and even then, they're not sure if it's because they breathed on it by accident. And that's with intense concentration. I'm sure in a dire situation, any psionicists' ability would be leaving straight out the window. *shrugs* Just like with any skill, using it effectively would take practice, practice, and more practice. You don't draw or write masterpieces the very first time you pick up a pencil, or skillfully play the piano as soon as you sit down at the keys, or deliberately and repeatedly hit the bull's eye as soon as you pick up a bow and arrow, nor do you learn any of these skills just by casually practicing every now and then; they take months or even years of routine practice to hone - why would this be any different? A trained telekinetic would no more "forget" their skills in a high-stress situation than a trained marksman or a trained martial artist. You may have a point there. Mostly, the average psionicist is a school kid who's doing this stuff for his own amusement. I'm not sure how long dedicated training would take, though. The other thing about psionics is that your subconscious has a large effect in how successful you are. Some people have said that, in an attempt to disprove their own psionics, their subconscious has actually done the opposite of what they want it to. Like the paper spins in the opposite direction or something like that. I can't remember.
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Post by Sigmaleph on May 13, 2009 18:47:04 GMT -5
I'm more concerned about the mechanism than the actual power of the technique, really. It would be a fascinating bit of insight into the brain and possibly physics. If it was true, of course. Also, very easy and hard to detect assassination. Just saying.
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Post by Esser-Z on May 14, 2009 8:11:06 GMT -5
Psionics are a complicated, but sometimes fun, addition to the core rules. They are also the power source that Monk belongs to in the new edition.
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Post by Distind on May 14, 2009 11:26:45 GMT -5
You may have a point there. Mostly, the average psionicist is a school kid who's doing this stuff for his own amusement. Then get one, just one, of these people to go in front of Randi, or anyone else who can supply a basic scientific scale, have them depress it to some extent with their mind, and suddenly we have a legitimate phenomenon on our hands. Plus the kid is up a million dollars. Until then we have crappy images of lense flare claimed to be psiballs and stage magic. If it worked, if it really worked, someone would have exploited it.
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Post by Napoleon the Clown on May 15, 2009 0:59:56 GMT -5
Psionics are a complicated, but sometimes fun, addition to the core rules. They are also the power source that Monk belongs to in the new edition. Fun fact: The WoC Char Op boards figured out a way to play as an inanimate object. Meaning you could play as the fighter's sword. Or belt buckle. Or armor. (And if he gets put out of commission for whatever reason, you survive unscathed! You can't sunder worn armor! In fact, you'd even be able to take over his body, more or less.) They figured out a way to achieve it using only core material+Expanded Psionics Handbook, when using a psion. Arcane casters can do it even earlier, though it requires a fair number of secondary but still official books. The psion's main advantage is that they can automatically cast their stuff silently and without gestures. So Mr. Belt Buckle can use disintegrate without extra effort.
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Post by Art Vandelay on May 15, 2009 6:42:48 GMT -5
A little pressure on the carotid artery of a world leader, disconnecting a wire in a security system, flipping a pressure switch in a nuclear reactor, work in the 0 gravity of space. The black-ops potential for telekensis would be enormous, as long as it cold be done from a reasonable distance. Well, those kinds of things are whole other worlds, far removed from the idea of using telekinetics as combat weapons, which is what I was specifically addressing The jobs you described would, actually, be feasible undertakings for individuals or very small teams. Considering that modern tanks and even things like small arms tend to rely on at least some electronics to work properly, even just a small amount of telekinetic energy applied in just the right way could quite easily render a tank useless. There'd be plenty of combat applications, if it could be harnessed and, you know, if it actually existed...
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