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

[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?