Detecting psionics -- opinions sought

[Ran Targas]

So if there's no test for psionic abilities, what does the Psifinder General do when he goes looking for psionic adepts?


Hans

They have their own Psis, of course; ones with either something to gain by cooperating or, more likely, something to lose by not. If the Zhodani are really the boogie men then the 3I will throw civil liberties and inconvenient moralities to find them, even if it means enslaving their own citizens.

 

[Timerover51]

Okay.

So, my next question is why do you view a coherent anti-Psionic policy unworkable? Seems to me the Supressions worked pretty well (okay, way to well) and was coherent, why should that change?

Personally, I find all this fear of Psionics silly, one they aren't that big a chunk of the population, never were, and two, the 3I is missing some really useful tools especially when faced with a Psionic 'enemy' across the border.

The problem is the communications lag. The average speed of communication by express boat is 2.6 parsecs a week. In 26 weeks, your communication distance is approximately 68 parsecs, so 2 sectors or less. That would mean that at 68 parsecs from Capital, you have a one year time lag from when instructions go out to when a report, assuming instantaneous response, is received. The farther from Capital, the less critical Imperial pronouncements are going to be, unless you have a very strong Imperial nobility working to enforce decrees. Very strong Imperial nobles are apt to have their own ideas as to what should or should not be done, based on their own situation. The end result is that some areas are going to worry about psi talents more than others, if other problems are more pressing. In Asteroid Belt systems, given the diffuse nature of the population, enforcing any major policy is going to be a massive headache.