video | un: Crash Keys

[21stcenturyguy]

Hey. This isn't one of those 'let's all get to know each other and be best friends' posts. I wanna know what you guys know about telepathy.

[Aoi holds a picture up to the camera. 'Picture' is probably a generous description.]



First, anyone know what this picture is?

Snake, before you even start, I fuckin' KNOW you can't see it, so I'm not asking you.

Don't cheat, just tell me what you think it's supposed to be.

If you're not into pictures, tell me about Archetypes from your world. There was a psychologist on Earth who noticed the same ideas pop up in various cultures that had no contact with one another. I want to see if that collective unconscious spans worlds too. So, I dunno, talk to each other about the legends and fairy tales and holidays and shit from your worlds and lemme know what common threads you find

The Follow-Up Video

[A couple of days later, when it seems like the majority of the people who are gonna weigh in have done so, Aoi makes a follow-up post.]

Alright, I know you all think I was tryin' to psychoanalyze you with the picture I showed you the other day, but trust me, you guys aren't that interesting. There's a right answer to the picture. I'll show you.

[He holds up the original picture and the solution to the screen.]

Some crackpot psychologist did an experiment to test the transference of knowledge through unseen means. He showed a picture like this to a population of people, and the distribution of answers was pretty random, same as you guys'. Then he broadcast the answer to that population. When he went to a to a remote location that had no contact with anyone from Population A. When he showed the same picture, there was a statistically significant increase in the percentage of people who knew the answer.

Even though nobody had consciously shared the information, because more people knew it, the answer was somehow transmitted. So that's the theory of Morphic Resonance.

Comments

video | un: zevran

[agradecido]

[Give him a minute to squint at this weird thing.]

...Two lovers embracing passionately in a moonlit garden.

[That Is not correct at all, but you can probably see where his mind is headed. --Oh yeah, the other half of the post...]

As to telepathy, spirits and demons can read minds--it's how they talk to people in the Fade. It's also how they find victims there.

[In other words, not something ordinary people can do.]

[21stcenturyguy]

[Aoi raises an eyebrow.]

No, but good to know that horniness transcends time and space. I'm trying to test the brains in our heads, though, so I'm gonna excuse you from this exercise. Go get yourself laid, dude.

video | un: yusei

[planetary_bonds]

[Okay, fine. He'll play along. This reminds him a little too much of the strange duel Ruka had with the Profiler, but...the most Aoi can do is be annoying, right? Right. Besides, it's not like he can actually perform telepathy.]

It looks like a Duel Monster I've seen Security use multiple times back home. Not pleasant memories, that.

[21stcenturyguy]

Um, no. What the fuck is a duel monster?

[Welp, say goodbye to any sort of respect Aoi had for you with your tats and your hoverbike, Yusei. You tell him about those card game monsters. Tell him everything.]

text | un: tentacleTherapist

[knitpick]

I could tell you what the picture is, but I fear that could ruin your experiment for anyone that happens to glance at my response.
I wouldn't call it "cheating" necessarily, but I've seen it before and already know the answer.
You're not the only one who's dabbled in psychology.
Though this teeters on the precipice of pseudoscience with all your telepathy talk.
Still, I'm hardly one to spoil a psychological experiment for anyone.

text

[21stcenturyguy]

Just because it's pseudoscience doesn't mean there's not some grains of truth mixed in. The world's a strange freakin' place.

And besides, aren't you having fun knowing an answer that nobody else has come up with yet?

video; un: ashari

[zephrah]

[ ...SQUINTS. ]

Bats?

[21stcenturyguy]

No, but thanks for playing. Is there a reason bats come to mind?

audio | un: Gnorlands

[rampager]

[What the fucking fuck are you fucking talking about, my dude.]

An armored figure standing on a beach.

[Because talking about his own culture in that level of detail means I have to make shit up means more painful reminders than he feels like dealing with right now.]

[21stcenturyguy]

...that's new. Nope, it's not, but I like the creativity. You like long walks on the beach with armored figures, huh? If you're feeling lonely, maybe you should talk to this elf-guy.

text, un: gardenGnostic

[witchhooded]

hmmmm......
looks like a face carved into the bark of a pretty willow tree!!!!! :)

i dont really know what kind of legends you mean
but of telepathy, well!
i think you should play carefully with that

text

[21stcenturyguy]

Too late, my dude. My life's already gone to shit because of all this.

And no, you're wrong about the pic, but it seems like it made you happy, so you do you.

video / un: chocobro

[punshots]

Hang on, is this one of those magic-eye pictures where you're supposed to cross your eyes and count to five?

[ Give him a moment to squint at the picture again... ]

A-anyway, it's a...Dalmatian up close?

[ Nailed it. ]

[21stcenturyguy]

They say if you do that too much, your eyes will stick that way.

[It's not true, of course, but it doesn't mean Aoi can't troll.]

But no, looks like that didn't work, 'cause you got it wrong. Dalmation's not the worst answer I've heard all day, though, I'll give you that.

audio | un: fivestar

[coolerjunpei]

Seriously? Do you have a folder of these saved?

[He has no goddamn idea what that is, he didn't improve this skill in the past year.]

audio

[21stcenturyguy]

Just a couple. Look, I'm just tryin' to see if it's something we can use here. It might be useful.

[He can see the lack of improvement, Junpei. You improved your jacket, but not your mind. Actually, you probably made the right choice there.]

voice; un: theEND

[winddaughter]

Oh look, you're still alive. [She sounds amused.] I think it's supposed to be a dog. A pug, sitting up. And just... stuff around it.

video

[21stcenturyguy]

[Is that...murder chick? He thinks he recognizes the voice, and the edgy name confirms it.]

Heeey, yep, I'm still kickin'. But no. Pugs are the best dogs, but this isn't one. You'll have to try harder.

audio | un: prince

[ripvanwinkled]

I see a bunch of black splotches over a white sheet of paper held up by a very rude boy pretending to be smarter than everyone. It is probably resembles a butterfly.

Audio

[21stcenturyguy]

I want you to know that this picture looks the least like a butterfly of any picture ever.

[HMPH, like Snake can judge him for being rude. Mr. Superior Auditory Senses needs to slow his roll.]

voice; un: archer

[fakers]

[ he doesn't really like this exercise, but an answer does come to mind pretty much immediately. and he knows it'll probably lead to some psychoanalysis nonsense, but whatever. he's legitimately interested to see where this might go. ]

A fire.

Video

[21stcenturyguy]

[Aoi did way more of the talking last time around, but between the voice and the user name, he's got a pretty good idea of who he's talking to. He may straighten up in his chair just a little.]

Oh, uh...hey. You're wrong, but it's not a bad guess. way better than freakin' butterflies...

[He runs a hand through his hair. Here's hoping they're sticking to the 'name tag conversation never happened' thing.]

video

[totheno1]

[There's a scuff from someone.]

This type of 'test' is mostly considered pseudoscience from where I'm from...however considering my own experiences, there always seems to be a grain of truth, if enough people believe it to be true.

[He calculates his options before speaking.]

One could say that the Collective Unconsciousness is not only real, but is the reason I have my powers at all. Young man, I suppose if you speak such words, you must also be familiar with concepts such as Philemon, Persona and Shadows?

video

[21stcenturyguy]

Yeah, I know a little about 'em. Jungian, right? What kind of 'powers' do you get from that?

[He's not a fan of being called 'Young Man', but he'll deal until he finds out of this guy knows anything useful.]

[ private video | un: professor x ]

[axiomed]

[ Hmm. Charles locks the feed. ]

What would you like to know?

[private video]

[21stcenturyguy]

What, are you supposed to be some kind of expert, 'professor x'?

video | un: TeaOnRice

[gekkajuu]

Kurashiki-san? It's nice to talk to you again!

I know that people can have telepathy as an ability, though the only ability user I met in person who had something like it was more focused on mind control... I'm not sure whether that was a preference or the full extent of his ability, though.

As for the picture: it looks like someone took a black piece of paper and tore it up? Though it also reminds me of someone I know, a little... [Destruction and black. There's just no avoiding the connection once made.]

video

[21stcenturyguy]

Hey, kid! 'Sup?

[He tries to casually look Atsushi over, make sure he looks like he's been eating properly. It doesn't look like the kid's wasting away.]

So you know somebody who can control minds? [It that a thing? Aoi's heard of sending and receiving information, but not controlling someone else's actions.]

That's weird. And no, you're wrong about the pic. [He mentions that almost as an afterthought.]

video! un: romanée-conti

[vacuum]

Looks like shattered glass.

Are you even qualified to be psychoanalyzing everyone or whatever?

[21stcenturyguy]

Wrong. And I'm not psychoanalyzing anyone. You guys aren't that interesting, if we're bein' honest.

video; un: ROCKET

[beatupgrass]

It looks like you sneezed on a piece of paper. How the hell could anyone cheat?

[21stcenturyguy]

[Um, what. The fuck's this rat doing questioning him?]

Let's see. Just off the top of my head, you could check out other people's responses, reverse search the image on space-google, try to hack my inbox and see if the answer's there.... There's ways you could cheat if you tried, if your fuzz-brain had the creativity for it.

Video ; un: Nocturne

[melodiouspacifist]

Black patches on white paper.

[What, is he supposed to see something?]

[21stcenturyguy]

Wow, somebody give the boy a prize.

[Your prize is Aoi's unimpressed face, judging your lack of creativity.]

I think you're disqualified from this test. You gotta have a brain in order to send or receive ideas.

video ; un: REDLIONRIGHTARM

[emblazes]

It looks like an explosion.

[21stcenturyguy]

[Wow, that's some username, kid.]

Man, I'm getting a lot of fires and explosions and violence today. Guess I should've known.

You're wrong, and you may need therapy. I dunno, I'm not qualified to diagnose.

video

[kissintime]

Wow nerd. [she snerks.] Looks like a cowboy riding a horse to me. The largest splotch on the top is the hat and the horse is in the middle.

video

[21stcenturyguy]

[Aoi raises an eyebrow. Clever girl.]

You ever see this picture before? Are you guessing, or do you feel like you know?

[He and Ermes are chill, so she gets a pass on calling him a nerd.]

video | un: BishopRunout

[poolhall_killer]

It's one of those ink blots used by some doctors. Apparently you can interpret it in many ways, and I see a lion.

As for telepathy, I am not fond of anyone walking around in my mind.

[He speaks a little harshly due to a past experience. But he tries to stay cordial and consider any kinds of legends or tales he's come across.]

Anyway, I cannot think of many legends. I only read about a few standard ones in books, mostly ghosts and the like.

video

[21stcenturyguy]

Actually it's not, but it's got a similar look. There's an answer, and you didn't get it.

[He shrugs.]

Don't worry, I don't give a shit about what you've got goin' on in your head. That's not the point of this. I'm just testing out a theory.

[b0mbshell]

You know someone named Snake?

[He realizes it's too much to hope for that they know the same one, especially since the context is skewed.]

Archetypes, huh? Give me an example of yours first so I can think on it.

[21stcenturyguy]

Yeah, Snake's that loser that was asking about music the other day.

[Aoi sighs. He's already done so much talking, but looks likes he's gonna be doing some more.]

Archetypes are like the wise old mentor or the madonna or the trickster figure. They pop up in stories and legends across cultures.

Audio, un: Yousoro★

[ayes]

Uh... some sort of archipelago?

[She is ignoring the whole "telepathy" thing.]

[21stcenturyguy]

No, that's wrong.

...well, I guess if you subscribe to the theory that there are infinite alternate universes, it's possible there's a world somewhere with an island chain like that. But for the purpose of this exercise, nope.

video | un: tracer

[quevalry]

At first, it looks like a dog, a big dog, but now that I look at it more... it's like a cowboy and a horse! Reminds me of one of my friends, or someone I used to know. He was a cowboy!

I think. He looked like one and had a fancy hat like one. [ nodnod. ]

[21stcenturyguy]

Well, that was a lot of backstory, but you got it. Gold star.

video | username: xXx_trueblue_xXx

[competing]

Isn't talking to each other about common pop culture pretty much getting to know each other...

[ aoi, you hypocrite! not that lance is complaining... ]

Anyway, that looks like the old macaroni art project I made my mom and dad and the third grade. [ it was great, it got framed and everything. ]

What's that gotta do with telepathy?

[21stcenturyguy]

It's an unfortunate side effect.

[It's not like Aoi wants friends or anything. He's got...important psychic stuff to work on.... Yeah.]

Your old artwork's got nothin' to do with telepathy, and is also sad, but this picture is part of an experiment testing a type of telepathic connection.