If you could read minds, would you use it against people?

I don’t think I’d use it at all. Imagining all of the negative things you could hear… No way, dude. I don’t think I’d ever leave my house.

If I could read minds, I’d use it for GOOD, not EVIL.

I hate to admit it but yes I would. I would also get a job as a day trader or a state crimminal defense lawyer.

I’d go straight to the casino and play blackjack. And I’m NOT a gambling man.

Of course.

If I could read minds, I would probably go insane or kill myself. Imagine being bombarded by all the worthless clutter, inane babbling, and self-centered whining that goes on in all the minds around you and not just your own.

I would not hesitate to use it against anybody.
Whenever I wish that I could get a superpower, I have to stop myself, because I know that I would definitely use it for evil

Even if I used this power for people, they would assume it was against them.

That’s why I use it against them, and make em’ think I’m for them.

I would use it to get ahead.

Imagine knowing if a girl was interested in you
Imagine knowing what to say in an interview
Imagine knowing what people really think about you.

I’m not sure if these are against people, or evil, but I would do them.

you bet your ass!

I’m with @Jeruba and @DrasticDreamer: I would hate it and probably either kill myself or lock myself up in a sensory deprivation environment. (It’s probably partly because of that BtVS episode, “Earshot”.)

@Jeruba Imagine being bombarded by all the worthless clutter, inane babbling, and self-centered whining that goes on in all the minds around you and not just your own.

Mel Gibson in “What Women Want”. He went nuts listening to the chatter.

I do a lot of evil things without even thinking about it.

I think it’s silly for anyone to say they would just do good. You don’t have enough information to make that call.

I was wondering if @shego meant a “What Women Want” style of mind reading (Honest, @DarkScribe! I wondered it as I read the title, before you mentioned it), or more like a Matt Parkman (from Heroes) style of mind reading. That is to say, if the voices just come into your head, or if you have to intentionally listen.

I’d use it for narcissistic reasons. I’ve always wondered what people think about me. I’d like to think that if I had an exciting life, I’d use it against people for good. Like, in the case of the Matt Parkman character in Heroes, he was a cop (or some kind of agent) and has the power. He can find out where the person is stowing the drugs, hostages, etc. Find out if they’re guilty, innocent. Find out where they planted the bomb, and which wire to cut.

For major things, I would use it for the betterment of society, not of myself.
I would still like to know what the girls in my classes think of me, though. Well, of course they think I’m super sexy/mega cute/ultra funny/way smart, but I want to know what specific words they’d use.

I would team up with @jackm and crush the world into submission.

@Sarcasm Honest, @DarkScribe! I wondered it as I read the title, before you mentioned it)

It happens to me quite often. I see something, start making a response – the phone rings – I finish the response only to find someone else has had the same thoughts and already posted.

@Sarcasm I meant you can hear anything and everything. Not just “What Women Want”, however if it was like that, then you guys can no longer say “I just don’t understand women”

I think 99/100 times I would dislike having this power because honestly, I don’t want to know what people are thinking. I’m content not knowing most of the things that go through the minds of people around me. Most thoughts are probably negative in general, or negative about me, or…yeah, just things I don’t wanna hear.

Knowing how bad my thoughts can be at times, I don’t want to know anyone else’s. I wouldn’t use it against people, just to help counsel the psychologically troubled.

I already do

@shego: knowing exactly what women are thinking and understanding why they are thinking it are NOT the same thing. I think if I could read minds, specifically women’s minds, I’d probably be even more confused than I am now…

Generally speaking, I think it would be virtually impossible to have this “power” and not use it for at least some sort of self-serving reasons from time to time. Whether you qualify that as evil, I don’t know.

@tb1570 if you could read the minds of women, why would you be confused? Or are we just complicated to a certain degree?

I’d have to be able to switch it on and off and mmm I don;t know if I would use it against people depends on hwo they were and what their thought was!! I certainly would use to help me through my job interviews at the momnet!

Passive-aggressively.

Honestly, I would use my powers for selfish reasons. I’ve always been very introverted and unconfident, so I would use my mind-reading abilities to navigate the world around me. If I knew what the people around me were thinking, I could say the right thing in particular situations, I would know what people thought of me, which would save me from a lot of the embarrassing scenarios I tend to land myself in.

Probably for a while, but all that negativity would get too much after about a week and I’d want to crawl into a hole.
Although in fairness it would be a good way to save people from commiting suicide, and also terrorists would be powerless if we knew what they were thinking.

@veronasgirl thats true but after so long everyone’s opinion of you would be fake, as all they would know about you is what you think they wanted you to say.

<=== best evil genius ever.

I’d always want to know, but I’m not sure what I’d do with the information. It would make buying a used car easier, though. Wouldn’t it?

If I could read minds I would ask people’s permission. Otherwise switch off my “sensory” organ responsible for it. Like a mental ear plug. Ideally my counterpart would be able to read my mind too. We could have telepathic communication. I guess it would be much faster. And more convenient when you have a sore throat or when you’re in a noisy environment.

Reading minds could become reality sooner than we might realize. It won’t be based on anything paranormal. It would involve technology either attached to our heads or chips to be implanted in them. There are successful experiments with paralyzed people commanding their tv or wheelchair.

Trouble will be privacy issues. Personal firewalls would literally have to protect our brains. Who wants to be compromised by a hacker? Finding out you’re in love with your teacher.

Reading minds could be fun. You would become hard to beat at things like tennis, some martial arts, you would make a great detective, win in poker competitions, (and never, ever forget a birthday or anniversary). But it would start to pall after a while – no secrets and no surprises.

@ABoyNamedBoobs03 I’ll have to contest that particular trait. I think I might be even more evil than you, given the chance to read minds.

I know what you’re thinking, and you’d better not try anything because I know where you live.

I don’t believe that other people have minds.

I don’t think that I could do it. when I am depressed, emotionally, I become a very nasty person. So I don’t want to know what others think of me, and I don’t want to know whats on their mind.

No, but I imagine I would masturbate twice as much.

@Blondesjon Something like “Ohhhh yeahhh aww yeahhh she’s thinking about getting her dry cleaning..ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh yeaahhhhhh” ?

i just hit GQ because i saw one of the tags was “rude”

dude! you read my mind!

Is dry cleaning really that frequent? Don’t most folks just buy clothes they wash themselves? Wouldn’t you rather be the warm towel she pulls out of the drier?

“This shirt is dry clean only. That means it’s DIRTY.” anyone, anyone?

I would use it for the betterment of mankind.

Depends if you can control it… P.S. I would be either a judge or detective :D

Idk because you never know how you’ll react to something until you’re actually there..

Everybody would use such a gift. And whoever says they would, is lying (I know because I can read their mind mwahahaha). I have a friend who can practically read minds. She has such a high EQ that she can practically know what you’re thinking.

Yes, it would be great if we could have mind-reading judges. Would save us a lot of time and money and the world would be a fairer place (assuming judges acted upon that knowledge).

@Jack79 I believe it is IQ, not EQ… facepalm

no, I did not mean she has a high IQ (that cannot help you read minds anyway). Actually her IQ is pretty average, perhaps even below average. But she has a high EQ.

There’s an Emotional Intelligence? Don’t tell people. I’d flunk that quiz

@Jack79 I have a high EQ also ;)

I’d use it for my own gain, by being nosy. But I wouldn’t use it AGAINST someone unless we were in a huge argument, and I wanted to really hurt them. Mostly, though, I’d use it for being nosy and curious about what people are really thinking.

@Jack79 I did not know that! Time to take another test :)

I’ve read the Sookie Stackhouse novels (better known as the now famous tv show True Blood), Sookie the main character can read minds. She however, chooses to turn her ability off. Unless it ends up helping her family and/or friends or just helping someone who is a generally good person. I’d like to think that’s how i’d be.