Vae -- new sense organ

[sythyry]

And, if you were giving your entire species a new sense organ, what would you want it to be?

The sense organ I would give mine, I shall call the thlume.  The gleaming faceted short horn it would be in shape, curling under the chin like a goatee.  The correct perception of the emotions of people nearby would it provide, and --- this is the elemental fantasy --- it would allow us to be aware of them.  The unhappiness caused by some gift we make we could see and understand, and, if we wished, we could avoid making it worse.

And you?

Comments

[stryck.livejournal.com]

A set of tiny dots on the back of the arms and hands that sense electrical energy. (Some animals on our world have something like this already!) That way, we could brush our hands along a wall and feel the current running in the power cables inside it, or really sensitive people could get a new appreciation of circuitry. And imagine what a thunderstorm would be like! Tingles or thrums prickling at the skin to match the tension of humidity in the air and the smell of the storm.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

The joyful sense that sounds to be!

[bloofox.livejournal.com]

They have something like that you can have installed.

(With some downsides and not that sensitive, unfortunately.)

[kensaro.livejournal.com]

Gluing magnets to your fingertips instills some of this, but be careful with hard disks and bank cards.

[greenreaper.livejournal.com]

I am not entirely confident that knowledge of the surrounding emotions will be sufficient.

Indeed, I have a sneaking suspicion that any action taken as a result is likely to cause further problems. After all, if the problem arose because of spoken desires, why should action taken on unspoken ones be any different?

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

The bad idea it may be, for all my ideas are bad ideas.

[rowyn]

I'm pretty sure that any implemented version of it on World Tree would be not only Mentador-based but also resistable, making it quite hated by Prime cultures. Alas!

[rowyn]

Thin antennae growing from the forehead above each eyebrow, that detect the things other people want you to know about them but don't want to have to explain. Like, if your friend has claustrophobia from the time his abusove father locked him in a closet when he was six and now he doesn't want to ride elevators, you'll just know that and won't badger him about explaining. Or if a man wants another man to know that he's gay and single but only if the other man is also gay and single and actually flirting with him, then the antennae will transmit this information if the conditions are met.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

The very useful these things would be!

[ladyperegrine.livejournal.com]

Oooh, I like this idea.

[rowyn]

I am totally equipping some fictional race or other with this. O:)

[kris-schnee.livejournal.com]

Unusually tactful and discreet RFID, maybe? This is an interesting idea; I'm tempted to steal it for a story sometime.

[bloofox.livejournal.com]

I would like to give my entire species a sense that reaches far forward through time, so when they contemplate courses of action they can feel in broad outline whether they will work for ill.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

The far less doom that would provide for your species!

[fringe-worthy.livejournal.com]

Oh I don't know. It might be dangerous or maddening to find that that most actions will cause ill for someone. The end result might be that if all actions are immoral, then morality doesn't matter.

[ionotter.livejournal.com]

That would certainly make it easier to punish people for bad behavior. It would make crime a much more deliberate, and therefore malicious, act.

[kris-schnee.livejournal.com]

Or simply a sense for five minutes in the future so that you can fetch that comment you realize you should've made five minutes ago?

[kensan-oni.livejournal.com]

I just wish that there was such a thing as marital sense, that way people will stop coming to me with their fear and problems about relationships and sex.

[ladyperegrine.livejournal.com]

Ganglia that drape down from various areas of the brain, emerging out of the skin on the back of the neck and draping down as tentacle-like structures. They are often hidden by hair. When several or each are stroked or pulled in different ways - the manner in which this is done being best auto-demonstrated - different chemicals/endorphins are released into the brain and body.

(Having them touched or kissed is also very pleasurable apart from this.)

People with brain disorders can often find relief through special jewelry designed for them, or through rubbing the organ at various intervals.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

The very sweet and pleasant that change sounds!

[rowyn]

Oooh. I was thinking a new organ just for extra enjoyment would be nice, too. :)

[ionotter.livejournal.com]

The thlume is a good initial idea, but like any initial idea, it needs some refinement. Any unrefined idea being implemented straight away without proper testing is, almost always, a VERY bad idea.

As you present it, the organ is too unfocused. Being able to sense the emotions of all around you would eventually drive you mad, especially if you are trying to single out the one individual who of interest for whatever reason. Give it a bit more focus, and a bit less power.

That way, it only operates on someone you're speaking to, or focusing upon.

Now, take the ability of this organ and reduce it's power considerably. Such that in order to use it properly, one must converse or focus on the individual in question for a minute or two at the very least.

The objective of such changes to this organ would be to...

1. Reduce the potential for abuse, be it deliberate or inadvertent.
2. Increase the need to interact with the person, and not just be an instant answer. The initial awareness should be subtle, so you have a tiny clue that they are experiencing a certain emotion.
3. Reduce the potential for discovery of your ability, and the subsequent backlash of those around you. Such an ability would be considered Mentador, and the less obviously so you can make it, the better.

I would add one more aspect to this potential organ?

As you experience the emotions of others, the organ should release hormones in YOUR body that induce a feeling of calm and heightened awareness. The more intense the other person's emotions, the calmer and more aware you become.

This would enable you to experience their emotions without getting caught up in them yourself. In the instance of anger, you would be able to contemplate actions or words that might calm them, or reduce the tension of the situation. Or, alternatively, you could actively participate in those emotions, but with a clarity of purpose. Emotions that are focused are very, very useful indeed.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

The detailed proposal of well-thought is this!

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

I think I'd want a danger sense, so that people could look at something and know if it was a threat and what sort and how much of one. Or better yet not have to look at it.

Also, they'd know when something *wasn't* a threat, which might be just as useful.

Don't know what sort of organ I'd want it to be -- I guess I could just put it in a tail as an excuse to give everyone tails. Plus tails wave around to sense things at random but can be aimed to focus in, right? So it's practical.

Call it a tell-tail. n.n

[kris-schnee.livejournal.com]

Less interesting than the thune and the electric sense, but a sonar sense would be worthwhile too. Or... though I suspect this doesn't translate well due to World Tree physics, how about a fourth color receptor in the eyes? Our people have already tried adding a third to animals that normally have two, giving them a super-rodent ability to distinguish colors, and we know of animals with a fourth (or more) type. It shouldn't be that hard as species alterations go, to change humans this way.

[redbird]

Probably not; a very few humans have it already.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

The simple change perhaps is the best, and least destructive.

[sebkha.livejournal.com]

There's a Noun here called Neutrino that flows through everything but is almost impossible to catch. If we could sense it, it would probably have amazing shadows in it.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

And if it flows through everything, how could it have a shadow?

[sebkha.livejournal.com]

Like glass has a shadow: slightly, but very prettily!

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

The truth is this, that glass does have a pretty shadow. The new education-morsel have I received from you!

[galis.livejournal.com]

The 'Werdat' would be a small lumpy organ in the brain that remembers for you where you put that item you "just saw yesterday!" when you're looking for it and just can't find it, despite knowing you ran across it just recently while on a similar search for another item.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

The truly useful thing is the werdat!