Poll: Moral Dilemma thread #368

[Flutterguy]

There is a lot of heated discussion at the local tavern over a grouped of people called 'Telepaths'. They have been hired by certain City-State kings. Rumor has it these Telepaths read a person's mind and tell their lord whether a follower is telling the truth or not.

 

[God'sFist]

This thread seems familiar Did you or someone else do this thread a few years ago? I remember this and it was put in the same tone as this. Anyway I'd probably form some kind of secret group that would seek to remove the telepaths from the public and eventually stage a coupe to create a democracy. we would crate a anarcho-syndicalist commune and we would take turns to act as a sort of executive-officer-for-the-week

 

[Knight Captain Kerr]

Wasn't this a question when you were making your class in The Elder Scrolls games?

I don't like the government reading my e-mails or listening in on my phone conversations so no I don't want them hiring telepaths to read my mind.

 

[Queen Michael]

Is this a good idea, you ask? To quote every woman I've ever asked out: "Oh HELL no."

 

[sir neillios]

I remember this question from the class creation in Morrowind! Like literally identical.

And no, I'd rather have some privacy, I doubt that my information is of any interest to anyone, but still makes me uncomfortable.

 

[Flutterguy]

I remember this question from the class creation in Morrowind! Like literally identical.

And no, I'd rather have some privacy, I doubt that my information is of any interest to anyone, but still makes me uncomfortable.

Ah yes, we've been expecting you. You'll have to be recorded before you're officially released. There are a few ways we can do this and the choice is yours!

 

[Malbourne]

We're citizens for a reason! If we didn't trust our lords in the first place, what right do we have to demand that he get rid of this practice? Besides, the rulers only have our best interests at heart!

*rolls spy*

 

[Zhukov]

Well, it would certainly revolutionize the justice system.

Maybe if you could only do it to people who volunteer.

 

[zerragonoss]

The thing about telepaths is you have the classic problem of them being able to tell you whatever they want, so unless they come with a way to make what they see in other peoples head a matter of public record I don't think they could practically be used. unless to preventing imitate attacks or to do something such as find incriminating evidence. Their use as body guards seems fine as long as you make it known and bound them to some that is defined. Using them in criminal investigations after obtaining a warrant for their use or upon the request of the accused seem fine as well. Using them as evidence seems suspect however.

 

[Harpalyce]

If I was actually a person sitting in that tavern, I would probably do my best to never end up in front of any of these nobles. Then again, if I was actually a person sitting in that tavern, my goal would probably be that already but with additional panic now because the magical fantasy world does not have anti-anxiety medicine. And then I'd wonder if the Telepaths only can tell if the truth is being said, or if they can straight-up tell thoughts, in which case, I sure hope those Telepaths like porn given the content of most everyone's heads.

Truthfully I'd probably seek an answer that's not given - trying to set up a bunch of rules so that the Telepaths can be used in a situation-by-situation basis, either when someone specifically offers unimpaired consent (no being drunk, no being unduly pressured into it, etc etc) to having the Telepaths read their mind or when someone's rights have already been taken away to some extent (e.g. convicted criminals) or sufficient evidence has been procured for a warrant (treating 'their head' as a space much like 'their house').

A lot of the time the truth - and the best answer - is set somewhere in the middle instead of at either extreme.

I'd also probably want to know more about the Telepaths themselves. Is it something they can 'turn on' and 'turn off'? Could an amulet or the like be enchanted to signal when their powers are 'turned on'? If their powers are 'always on', they likely get a hell of a lot of noise they have to work through. And in that case, they basically need to be treated as having an illness as to keep them from mental harm or trauma. It's not going to be just if the needs of the Telepaths are ignored. This doesn't mean packing them all away to some monastery but perhaps not having a Telepath standing smack in the middle of somebody's court and instead working to ensure that they'll have the option to only ply their services in relatively small meetings.

People and societies are messy things, rarely able to be boiled down to a simple yes or no, after all.

 

[shootthebandit]

If these guys can read minds anyway they may as well make some coin out of it. Its not a good thing but if they can read minds anyway then its pretty unavoidable

Most people see Charles Xavier as an out and out good guy and this is pretty much his domain

 

[FPLOON]

Well, if I learned anything from the latest season on Legend of Korra is that

Spoiler: REDACTED

even someone who is your most trusted adviser on manners such as finding out if a particular person is telling the truth or not could honestly lead to them [almost] getting away with something akin to terrorism on a "kidnapping" level of deception... or something like that...

Overall, it sounds awesome in theory, but can backfire so hard that you wouldn't even see it coming until its too late... (Plus, that power is too OP for one set of people, let alone one person in particular, to have and be trusted to use it for just the greater good...)

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

For the realm!

*puts on tinfoil hat*

:3

 

[TheRiddler]

Well, you know. It's the whole "who watches the watchmen?" thing. Telepaths are people, too. Which means that a decent portion of them are going to be self-serving dicks.