#21: The "Gift" of Telepathy

If you had the gift of telepathy, the ability to read other people’s minds, would you use this gift or not? Explain. (Middle East Technical University/93)

I wouldn’t consider telepathy a “gift.” It seems more like a burden to me. At times, I really, really, really, want to know what other people are thinking about, but sometimes, I’m glad I don’t. People think about so many different things. I guess that’s what makes us all different, and I would want it to stay that way. Reading people’s minds and knowing their thoughts leaves me nothing original. Sometimes, when you hear someone saying something so interesting and so different from the usual, you can’t help but think the same way. If I knew what people were thinking about, I wouldn’t really be able to think for myself because I’d be so involved and engaged in someone else’s thoughts, and that would suck. I really like the feeling I get when I think up of something I don’t think others have thought of. I feel special, and it encourages me to help think outside the box. Reading other people’s minds would trap me in the box I so want to exit.

The thought of reading other people’s minds reminds me a lot of a quote my sister had. The quote was my Diego Marchi who said: “"In life we all have an unspeakable secret, an irreversible regret, an unreachable dream and an unforgettable love." When I think about it, these are all the things I would keep to myself. They’re all secrets that most people don’t tell. If I had “an unspeakable secret, an irreversible regret, an unreachable dream and an unforgettable love”, I really wouldn’t be able to tell anyone. I find them too personal. If I have a few secrets that I’m not willing to tell anyone, I’m sure there are others who have their own secrets, and as much as I would want to know them, I wouldn’t look into their minds to know such things. I believe in karma, and if I did something like that, I’d be pretty scared of someone intruding and finding out my secrets.

I would most probably not use this gift for myself. There are a few reasons that benefit others, but most of the reasons I have would be for me. Everyone has an opinion or impression of other people. I try to ignore what people say and think about me, and telepathy would only make it harder as I try. If there’s something that people are thinking about me, it’s very unlikely that it is something positive. I don’t like hearing negative things about myself, and reading a person’s mind would most probably be quite hurtful for me. Sometimes, it does better not know what people think about you. I like living in the state of obliviousness towards the impressions other people have of me. I am not always oblivious to everything, and I’ve found that such things can make a big impact on me. I think in cases like this one, it is true when people say,” What you don’t know can’t hurt you.” It’s very true.

Telepathy seems to be taking everything away from the mental list I have of everything good. I like good, and telepathy only brings bad, so I wouldn’t and I couldn’t use it, if not for my sake, at least for yours.