Virtual Telepathy - part 2

But take the next leap – maybe 20 years in the future. Back to the screen in your mind.

Now you can talk to anyone else on the grid with your thoughts.

The simple notion is that someone IM’s you, you have an IM session in your head.

See, we want to take existing patterns, existing technology and project what we know into the next wave. That’s why the early television shows were extensions of what had been on the radio. The Lone Ranger, What’s my line. Groucho Marx’s You Bet Your Life.

It took about a decade for TV to develop based on its own unique attributes, to become a more visual medium.

Ok – so you can IM someone. Big deal. How about skype? Visually communicating with your friend in another state. Silently.

Sounds like impossible science fiction from the fifties, right?

“Video brings the Internet to life,” said Chambers. “You are moving from a messaging platform to a video platform.”

Expand your thought. What would that bring that we don’t have now?

If you’re in an accident then you can call for help. Back to telepathy.

If you’re in a critical negotiation, you could communicate with your business partner. How many times have you said to someone – Man, I wanted to tell you but we couldn’t because the other guy was standing right there!

What else? Reverse it – how do you protect your thoughts. You don’t want the other side to sense your floor price. You don’t want your wife to know that you really don’t like the way she looks in the sunlight today. Or how nice the waitress looks.

So you have to protect your thoughts. Let’s say that’s a given, the technology will do that. Similar to the way you have DMZs on networks today.

So only your thoughts that go into the DMZ can be picked up on.

Again – is your spouse going to be OK with that? That now you’re hiding your thoughts intentionally? Could anyone be ‘totally honest’?

Could the authorities get a warrant to explore past the DMZ based on the Patriot Act?

The conspiracy crowd would have a heyday. Minority Report stuff. If you think about a crime most rational people would say you’re not guilty.

What happens when you’re planning a crime? Does probably cause enter the equation if the authorities found physical proof of premeditation only as a result of reading your thoughts?

Well, if they could prevent another 911 then of course you would want them to. Beats waterboarding.