If an unseen supernatural force suddenly gave everyone in the world telepathy, what would happen in the first week after?

There would be a sudden massive surge in divorces, murders and arrests.

Well it definitely wouldn’t be pretty. Just like what @downtide said.

The government would race to find a way to rid of it, because a power of that kind could be extremely dangerous to everyone.

I’d probably try to get as far away from other people as I could, for some peace and quiet.

@jeffgoldblumsprivatefacilities Russia’s hinterland is a great place to resettle! Moreover, most Russians won’t figure out your thoughts in English, so your thoughts will be safe in the meantime.

@downtide don’t forget suicides, lynchings (similar to murders, yes, but more group oriented), and general destruction and looting (because that’s just what we do when the shit hits the fan), oh and chaos and anarchy in every major city.

@EgaoNoGenki Are thoughts really in a spoken language?

@erichw1504 Written/typed/printed, too.

@erichw1504 GA! That sounds like a question in and of itself.

A lot of war.

We’d all be working frantically to put barriers into place, mental shields.

@EgaoNoGenki I meant just mental thoughts.

I think society would have an epiphany. People will suddenly realize what humans are really about and how similar our thoughts and feelings really are.

We would have to totally rethink our relationships, both familial and social.

The first thing we would find out is that there is nothing to be gained by lying, or dishonesty. The logic would be that if I know what you’re thinking, and you know what I’m thinking, our relationship (whether family, vendor/customer, whatever, would suddenly be based upon the truth. Any relationships based on deception or lies would be weeded out, and yes, the first few weeks there probably would be a bit of chaos, as society in general adapts to the changes. I think we would eventually learn to shield, or at least disguise, certain thoughts.

For example, let’s say the hypothetical Mr. Jones is a customer of mine who buys a lot of my products. He spends a lot of money when he comes to my place of business, but he is obnoxious, has bad breath, and just smells funny. In the current situation (we can’t read each other’s thoughts) he would be treated as a valued customer and encouraged to come back, and there would be no mention of his annoying or disgusting aspects. He would leave, apparently satisfied, and come back the next time he needs my product.

If we were telepathic, He would know I can’t stand him except for the money he spends. He would not be able to hide his thoughts that he thinks my prices are too high, my service is poor, and he buys from me only because I am the only vendor he can get the product from without having to travel 50 miles.

Would the telepathic information make us more judgmental or less?

there sure would be a lot of fighting. However I don’t think any wars and terrorist would be out of business. LOL I mean everyone would see them coming. They could only blow themselves up if they could get that far. Lazy ass doctors would be out of business. People would have to work harder than before because everyone will know when they are being lazy or indifferent. Guys and girls will have a harder time hooking up because they will know when the other person is lying. Like I said, wars would be difficult because you will see it coming and each will have a counter attack planned even before a plane got off the ground. However nuclear bombs may still be used from far away.

@Pandora It would open a veritable Pandora’s box for humanity~

Hehehehe! I guess we could all apologize to the guys walking around with tin foil on their heads!

We would quickly see if honesty really IS the best policy!

The world would be a bit more silent, since no one would have to talk. But everyone’s secrets would be out in the open. It’s a horrible thing to happen.

well, let’s just say that everyone else in the world would be gone (dead.) there can only be one person who has telepathy and it’s me.

@RAWRxRandy
Not necessarily. Douglas Adams speculated in The Restaurant at the End of the Universe that a race inflicted with telepathy would begin jabbering incessantly and inanely to keep what was in their heads from everybody else.

@Nullo humans do that already

“Do you know what would be the best way to wipe out all of humankind if you were a space alien with a special kind of mind ray? Make all women telepathic. Because if they suddenly found out about the kind of stuff that goes on in our heads they would kill us all on the spot.” – Jeff, Coupling

@Fyrius Wasn’t that a movie? (Dr. T and the Women) :-)

@Dr_Dredd
It’s a series, apparently. My brother once showed me the one episode that quote is from.

Someone brought up a good point, how would telepathy really work? Would you really just pick up an emotion or would you have full blown conversations with people? I think it would be more along the lines of emotion as to conversation due to natural language barriers (but we all feel the same emotions). I could see a lot of problems coming up, however I wouldn’t see it affecting my life drastically. Even if I knew what people were thinking about me, why should it bug me? They are allowed to think what they want.

I’d have to kill you all. As it is, I’m quite capable of experiencing mood changes from picking up on someone else’s emotions, so I’d rather not get an increase in any sort of empathic abilities.

Divorce rates would skyrocket.

@aprilsimnel Live out in the boonies in Montana or the Dakotas. You’ll be free of others’ thoughts there.

What would most probably happen is a group mind, like pigeons have. You see them flying in groups, they turn and swoop in unison, how do they do that? There would be, after an initial period of chaos, a settling into a sort of mutual comprehension. There may even be a loss of intelligence at the individual level. The society would be very very different.

EDIT: I also think that language, words, would be lost.

I have ADHD, which means I have a broken filter, I find it so difficult to think when there are other conversations taking place near me because I can’t shut them out.

The noise of other people’s thoughts would be totally disabling.

While I stick to telling the truth, I don’t speak aloud everything I think because most people would not have the patience to listen and my children are happier not knowing every thought that goes through my head when we talk.

I am not worried that my wife would know my thoughts, and I am not afraid to know hers.

I think there will be mass chaos and a very uncomfortable new reality of truth. This truth will undoubtedly cause real social problems until we get used to the new conditions. I don’t think we would self destruct but I do think there would be a world-wide break down of social services during this time of transition. It will bring those closest to you into a forced level of honesty you probably have never encountered.

In the first week, there will be chaos, with much violence, murder, suicide (I think). Then, as institutions change or break down, and as new ones form, it will be a much quieter world. There would be less need for speech and for the sake of simple survival, people would tend to live on two levels: sharing communications in groups of like minded people, and more detached relationships outside one’s groups.