The physics of Psionics

[Blue Ghost]

Okay, I need some help with some research for a module. Are psionics based on any game physics like EM radiation, or is just pure hand-wave hokum; i.e. players have "brain powers" kind of thing?

Could you detect psionics with a "psionic wavelength detector" or similar device as opposed to being psionically talented?

 

[Cryton]

Okay, I need some help with some research for a module. Are psionics based on any game physics like EM radiation, or is just pure hand-wave hokum; i.e. players have "brain powers" kind of thing?

Could you detect psionics with a "psionic wavelength detector" or similar device as opposed to being psionically talented?

According to several Traveller supplements, in the OTU, there are devices that can detect Psionic talents that are in use, and testing equipment that can detect Psionic potential in individuals with no training.

From that, I would infer that there is some form of EM radiation band, or "Psion" particle that is being detected while a Psionic talent is in use.

Cryton

 

[Rigel Stardin]

NAS Sensor (going off memory) could detect intelligent life forms at great distances. Which indicated they could detect those with the capability of a Psion as well because of the brain activity.

Personally I thought this was to Trekish for Traveller and tossed it out of my TU.

 

[Blue Ghost]

Thanks guys. I guess my memory of the basic rules isn't as good. This is very much appreciated.

Rigel; you bring up a good point. I'm going to have to give this write up considerable thought.

 

[Shonner]

Okay, I need some help with some research for a module. Are psionics based on any game physics like EM radiation, or is just pure hand-wave hokum; i.e. players have "brain powers" kind of thing?

Could you detect psionics with a "psionic wavelength detector" or similar device as opposed to being psionically talented?

Was this about psionics in the Traveller universe setting? Or about how a specific version of Traveller handles psionics?

 

[Whipsnade]

Could you detect psionics with a "psionic wavelength detector" or similar device as opposed to being psionically talented?

Let me ditto Cryton's answer and let me also suggest you read the GM's section of TNE's Regency Sourcebook. Much of what your asking is answered there in general terms.

By general terms I mean you're not going to get a TL/Price/Weight/Range breakdown of psionic detectors but you are going to get an overview of the Third Imperium's psionic research efforts and capabilities. It's quite an eye-opener and one that went sadly unexamined with the end of GDW.

RSB and other TNE materials also hint at a jump space-psionics link of sorts.

 

[Blue Ghost]

Thanks, but I think I gave or sold my TNE/T4 stuff. I may still have the basic rules somewhere.

 

[atpollard]

Stuff that you might need to reference once in a while is a good application for the FFE Cds. Everyday use favors a real book* in your hand, but a PDF is perfect for a handy reference once in a while.

[*unless you are like me and generally prefer PDfs to books.]

 

[CosmicGamer]

Okay, I need some help with some research for a module. Are psionics based on any game physics like EM radiation, or is just pure hand-wave hokum; i.e. players have "brain powers" kind of thing?

Could you detect psionics with a "psionic wavelength detector" or similar device as opposed to being psionically talented?

From Mongoose Book 4 Psion

Psi Detector
For use by non-psionics, the psi detector is a hand-held device that
detects residual or active psi energy within a radius of 500 metres.
Where active psi energy is detected (in other words, psionic powers
under use), the detector can provide an indication of the amount of
psi energy involved; the indication is low, medium and high, relating
to the number of psi points invested in the particular power under
use.
For residual energy, the reading will always be low but retrograde
analysis on rates of decay can offer a general indication of how long
ago a power was used, with an accuracy of up to 3 hours.
Psi Detector Cost: Cr. 12,000.

 

[Blue Ghost]

Very cool Cosmic. That's exactly what I needed. You're awesome

 

[tjoneslo]

Just to keep things interesting, there is also a Psion Emitter to jam your sensor too.

 

[Timerover51]

Hmm, I think that one of James Schmitz's Telzey Amberdon stories also had a psionic "howler" in it, who wreaked havoc with a bunch of psis.

As for a distinction between psionics and magic, I would view psionics as a branch of magic, and not a totally separate mechanism.

 

[Shonner]

As for a distinction between psionics and magic, I would view psionics as a branch of magic, and not a totally separate mechanism.

???
Magic in which Traveller? And not a separate mechanism?

 

[Timerover51]

???
Magic in which Traveller? And not a separate mechanism?

I guess that it is a matter of view as to how you view Psionics. Aside from telepathy, there is a lot in psionics that I view as indistinguishable from magic.

 

[Carlobrand]

I guess that it is a matter of view as to how you view Psionics. Aside from telepathy, there is a lot in psionics that I view as indistinguishable from magic.

So, magic as in Clark's (3rd?) law: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

As of about 1890 or so, scientists believed they were getting close to understanding the universe. They had Dalton's atomic theory, they'd developed a periodic table, they were making advances in understanding the atom's role in chemistry. They believed that elements were unchangeable, atoms indivisible. There was no concept of fission, fusion, or nuclear radiation, no idea of atomic nuclei build up from smaller building blocks, not so much as a hint of the subatomic world other than the great mystery of how the sun managed to produce all that energy (and maybe the occasional inexplicable illness, but this was an era when a lot of illness was still inexplicable).

Then someone noticed odd effects when photographic plates were in the presence of certain elements, and all bets were off.

As near as we can tell, psionics is as hokum as it comes. It doesn't seem to survive the close scrutiny of science. Evidence under rigorous testing methods has bordered between equivocal and nonexistent. No known or suspected aspect of physics predicts people manipulating the universe or exchanging information by mind alone. We've made greater strides in understanding why some people believe in psionics - some neurological processes like to play tricks on us - than we have in identifying any real psionics.

However, it's a persisting topic of science fiction and many still believe (on little more than hope, apparently) that it's possible. If it is - if some aspect of scientific scrutiny has been inadvertently quashing it all these years - then it may be as it was with nuclear radiation: an unpredicted, previously unknown, and entirely new kind of physics, based on processes and mechanisms we can't even make an educated guess about, 'cause nothing we currently know indicates it's even real, much less detectable by current tools. In essence, from the view of current science, it's magic.

 

[Carlobrand]

"Aside from telepathy"?

 

[Whipsnade]

"Aside from telepathy"?

I think it's best not to ask for too much in the way of an explanation...

 

[aramis]

"Aside from telepathy"?

Telepathy could easily be bio-compatible self-replicating nanobots building a radio in everyone's head. As long as it takes them months to years, Whipsnade's favorite complaints about Grey Goo do not apply. (Lesser, more practical elements do, but that's more about plausibility than possibility.)

The others, well, Teleport would have to be a built in very short ranged jump drive.

TK, uh... a repulsor system, probably with the emitter in either center forehead or in the hands

Clairavoyance? Not so easy - your grey goo stores some very tiny nanodrones?

Awareness? Most of that can be done with biofeedback and/or hormone reservoirs.

 

[Timerover51]

Awareness? Most of that can be done with biofeedback and/or hormone reservoirs.

With respect to Awareness, and possibly, telepathy, you might want to read Jim Corbett's accounts of hunting man-eating tigers and also John Taylor's accounting of hunting in Africa. Both of those gentlemen possessed something very close to if not actual, Awareness.

 

[aramis]

With respect to Awareness, and possibly, telepathy, you might want to read Jim Corbett's accounts of hunting man-eating tigers and also John Taylor's accounting of hunting in Africa. Both of those gentlemen possessed something very close to if not actual, Awareness.

Biofeedback doesn't always require machines to make it work.