We do imagine what life was like when technology and science were not really in place, or not this advanced. One of the things that draws our minds to such is the area of communication. Sending messages today is seamless, effortless and quick, compared to back then when a single message took enough time to have forgotten about it before it arrived. To us today it's a sad experience, but I think they had their adaptations to it. Well, that's not the discussion here.
The interesting thing for me is how technology has continually advanced and influenced the communication space. It's not just about sending messages quickly, fast and effortlessly, but it's now about a choice of which platform or medium offers the best option for what we need at that time and for the very purpose in place.
Now, it gets more interesting from what the prompt suggests. What if in our world today telepathic communication is a reality? I know I've seen this in movies. How about experiencing it in our world today, what would it mean? Would it alter the way we communicate? Would it be an advantage or would it be a beautiful setback to humanity?
First, my expression knowing that I can communicate telepathically; be it to speak or hear in such a manner would be mind-blowing. Like, it could make me feel something was wrong. I would have to ensure that there isn't something wrong with me or the universe. I would try to double-check with someone, especially one close to me. Also, I would find out if others experience such, to ascertain this is the order of things and not me turning something else.
Okay, I watched a movie which highlighted something similar. A teenage boy had issues when it came to expressing himself. In a bid to address this, he went to a place where a portion was given to him to drink. Afterwards, he couldn't stop saying things out loud, even his inner thoughts. It was difficult for him. Not totally leaning on the movie, but I think I picked one or two things concerning this discussion from there to.
I think this will affect privacy in a sense. Except there's an intentional effort to communicate with a particular person that one can listen. But if it happens to be in a general sense, then privacy would be lost. I know most of the movies we watched around this were based on a pact or a group of people with such abilities, so they used it among themselves. The bigger picture here is that everyone has this ability. Except for something otherwise, I see this as an issue.
However, let's look at the other side. Won't this mean that I don't have to struggle to express myself to another when communicating? Since we have this connection with our thoughts, this would make communication easier, faster and effortless. I look at the cases of those who stutter and the deaf and dumb. This would certainly address their disabilities. On the part of others, it would make communication more effective and efficient, I presume.
Having such an ability would mean a lot. I don't know if this telepathic ability would have a long-distance range or just a short range when we can see each other. Whatever the case may be I feel would determine more of the outcome. For now, I think it has its advantages and disadvantages, and since we don't have that ability, we'll continue communicating the normal way.
Images are AI generated.