The term "extrasensory perception" (ESP) can encapsulate many abilities, but the main one I'd like to discuss is telepathy. Telepathy is
frequently seen in science fiction and is often viewed as the next stage in
human evolution. One of my favorite
shows of all time, Babylon 5,
featured telepaths. In Star Trek, we see telepathic races such
as the people of Betazed. We see Deanna
Troi, who has empathic abilities.
Having the power to read someone’s mind comes with all sorts
of problems. Concerns about privacy
inevitably arise. How can you keep
secrets from someone who can simply reach into your mind to look for the
answers? Governments may wish to use
those with telepathic abilities for their own purposes. In Babylon
5, telepaths are forced to choose between joining the Psi Corps, taking
drugs to suppress their abilities, or go to prison. The freedoms of telepaths are strictly curtailed
in order to protect the general population (that’s what people are told,
anyway). In the Star Trek Voyager episode “Counterpoint,” telepaths are put into
labor camps to keep them isolated.
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Which right should take precedence: the right of a person to
have their private thoughts protected from intrusion, or the right of the
telepath to have autonomy? There isn’t
an easy question to answer, though one can hardly help but cringe at some of
the rigid restrictions some fictional governments have placed upon people with
telepathic abilities. What kind of
restrictions would be appropriate? How
do you prevent government entities aimed at policing telepaths from using them
merely as tools? Is it possible that, as
humans evolve, we might have to answer these questions one day?
