Psi Powers

Jack Vance is good for older scifi.

“… a group feeling the saintliness of being a victim while also being superior to everyone else. ”

It continues in sci-fi/fanstasy literature/media: X-men, mutants, etc., being persecuted by the powers that be and the unwashed public who fear them.

It is also sometimes the theme of westerns (and Seven Samurai, etc) — the townspeople hiring a talented mercenary to defeat the bad guys, then demanding their savior-with-special-powers leave.

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Gospel parallel: we’re all supposed to have a correlate of psi-powers: spiritual gifts. Given to _all_ who qualify. And those who appropriately seek them in a gospel manner… have historically … been persecuted.

Is the fantasy-literature meme of supernatural powers (and the attendant stories about needing to responsibly use them for good) a satanic mimicry to mock such powers, or was it divinely inspired to point us to, to prepare us for, the real deal?

Or are “super powers” just metaphors for mundane skills and talents?

Were the supernatural dabblings that Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery (I think Oliver tried his hand at water dowsing) engaged in before their divine callings and settings-apart, inappropriate distractions, or were they a form of child’s-play / make-believe that points to adulthood, like school-yard play prepares and points to the grown-up world at large?

Is the “magical thinking” of childhood such a bad thing if it opens our mind to the possibility of true spiritual, gospel, and priesthood power? Perhaps not, as long as, as Paul said, childish things are put away, and replaced with adult things at the appropriate time.

This year one of my goals is to read everything from the original Dungeons & Dragons Appendix N. So far, so great! I think this group would really like it. Check out this summary: https://jeffro.wordpress.com/2015/10/12/appendix-n-survey-complete/

If you haven’t heard of it, look up the whole “fans are Slans!” movement. Exactly this.

I want to write in defense of the psi-enabled-and-immature-about-it.

The more you are a regular Joe, the more your effort matters, and the easier your decisions will be.

The reason is because your are (by definition) surrounded by examples of others much like yourself. You can see what they chose, how it worked out, etc.

However, change a few variables, and suddenly you have much less to go on. You will have problems others don’t know how to solve, or even that they exist. You have to figure that out all on your own. Then, whatever progress you make, you have to figure out how to relate:If you are a proud sort, you won’t explain yourself, and will offend; if you are more conciliatory, you will find that others are less so, and that you strain relationships with long explanations about foreign things.

In other words—there is a sort of “development uncanny valley”—you must learn to use your psi powers, learn how to integrate this new truth about yourself into your social behavior, *and* avoid the twin hazards of feeling resentful (for all the extra work) or dismissive (for those you might be tempted to think of as sheeple).

It’s very doable. But it can take time. Sometimes a lot.