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Aug. 31st, 2008 04:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
manyberriesMr. Carlisle - Politician.
I want to have the bad guy of the Telempathy scenario (at least, the obvious one) be a politician because of the disastrous consequences that they can cause if they get into office on their own merits and persuasive powers - let alone what could happen if someone supernaturally persuasive put their minds to it. What if they were the wrong person? What if their ideas were dangerous? Even if they weren't, should the country be controlled by someone who affects other people's judgement to get his own way? Of course not; which makes the arbitrary 'heroes' of this story rather morally compromised as well, but at least they are trying to keep the playing field level, as it were. Mr. Carlisle is not obviously a bad man - he is reasonable, even tempered and sincere. He is, however, from a highly priviledged background to begin with, and this added to his gift of telepathy have pushed his self-belief into near pathological arrogance. He truly believes that it is right that he should control others - because he can. He is an interesting mirror to Miriam in this way, since she, at first glance, is also supremely arrogant and strong enough to affect everyone around her. However, the distance lies in their self-knowledge. Miriam's power and use of it is immensely destructive to her self-esteem, and she is intensely miserable because of it. Mr. Carlisle is the opposite, growing ever more confident and self-important each time he uses his power successfully. He believes what he does is right. Miriam knows that exercising her empathic projection at it's strongest is wrong, even though she still does it when she can see no other way.
I want to have the bad guy of the Telempathy scenario (at least, the obvious one) be a politician because of the disastrous consequences that they can cause if they get into office on their own merits and persuasive powers - let alone what could happen if someone supernaturally persuasive put their minds to it. What if they were the wrong person? What if their ideas were dangerous? Even if they weren't, should the country be controlled by someone who affects other people's judgement to get his own way? Of course not; which makes the arbitrary 'heroes' of this story rather morally compromised as well, but at least they are trying to keep the playing field level, as it were. Mr. Carlisle is not obviously a bad man - he is reasonable, even tempered and sincere. He is, however, from a highly priviledged background to begin with, and this added to his gift of telepathy have pushed his self-belief into near pathological arrogance. He truly believes that it is right that he should control others - because he can. He is an interesting mirror to Miriam in this way, since she, at first glance, is also supremely arrogant and strong enough to affect everyone around her. However, the distance lies in their self-knowledge. Miriam's power and use of it is immensely destructive to her self-esteem, and she is intensely miserable because of it. Mr. Carlisle is the opposite, growing ever more confident and self-important each time he uses his power successfully. He believes what he does is right. Miriam knows that exercising her empathic projection at it's strongest is wrong, even though she still does it when she can see no other way.
