Telekinesis Definition

[Robo432343]

It says on our Telekinesis page that its, 'The ability to affect physical objects via thoughts only.' But there have been many instances in fiction where characters use hand gestures or other non physical means to affect physical objects. So maybe we can just change it to this definition:

The ability to affect physical objects via mental power or other non-physical means.

 

[MSahla]

This should be in Staff Discussion.

 

[Robo432343]

thought this was too uncontroversial to be put in staff discussion

 

[MSahla]

Anything regarding wanting to change things on an ability page must be in the Staff Discussion.

 

[Vietthai96]

Moved

 

[Robo432343]

Moved

do you agree with the thread

 

[Random-Helper323]

Moving things via non physical means could be achieved by any burst of wind or such though. But it is true that many characters with telekinesis do use hand gestures and commands.

 

[Antvasima]

Well, the hand gestures are usually just to help them focus what they want to happen.

 

[Robo432343]

Well, the hand gestures are usually just to help them focus what they want to happen.

Ok but that doesn't mean telekinesis should be defined strictly as thoughts only. If gestures or other non physical means are constantly being used to move and control objects around then that proves the ability isn't done through thought only. Even the Oxford definition states:

the supposed ability to move objects at a distance by mental power or other non-physical means.

 

[DarkDragonMedeus]

Telekinesis is better described as the ability to input/output kinetic energy without requiring collision. Typically to move objects without touching them or stopping speeding objects without touching. Typically done with the mind, though it can sometimes happen without realizing or by accident.

 

[Robo432343]

Telekinesis is better described as the ability to input/output kinetic energy without requiring collision. Typically to move objects without touching them or stopping speeding objects without touching. Typically done with the mind, though it can sometimes happen without realizing or by accident.

So would you agree our current telekinesis definition should be changed to something more detailed

 

[Random-Helper323]

One thing that helps understand is using examples people know. DB characters might not be the best choice ironically because many people forget the telekinesis. Psychic Pokemon work well, but I think Force users from Star Wars should be listed as the top example. Telekinesis is basically a core power in that verse, and it's even where the picture on the page is from.

 

[Robo432343]

Alien X is listed as having telekinesis and this is how he uses it. That does not look like thought based tk based at all

 

[Reiner04]

Well, the hand gestures are usually just to help them focus what they want to happen.

This. Sometimes they’re just expressing their thoughts. For example, if they want to move an object up and down, they imagine doing it and express it through gestures at the same time. It’s quite common in fiction for telekinesis users to use gestures, often to make things look more visually compelling. It’s the same reason why Power Rangers perform transformation dance (or whatever idk what word to use here), even though they don’t serve any real practical purpose.

 

[Phsccarvalho]

This. Sometimes they’re just expressing their thoughts. For example, if they want to move an object up and down, they imagine doing it and express it through gestures at the same time. It’s quite common in fiction for telekinesis users to use gestures, often to make things look more visually compelling. It’s the same reason why Power Rangers perform transformation dance (or whatever idk what word to use here), even though they don’t serve any real practical purpose.

I got permission from @Just a Random Butler to comment here.

Well, not always. For example, there's the character from The Boys below.

https://vsbattles.fandom.com/wiki/Kenji_Miyashiro

His main power is telekinesis, but it's not mind-based. It's through his hands, and when his hands are destroyed, he becomes unable to use the power.

 

[Reiner04]

I got permission from @Just a Random Butler to comment here.

Well, not always. For example, there's the character from The Boys below.

https://vsbattles.fandom.com/wiki/Kenji_Miyashiro

His main power is telekinesis, but it's not mind-based. It's through his hands, and when his hands are destroyed, he becomes unable to use the power.

Well i suppose such cases are rare atleast and shouldnt' be default unless shown as limiting factor of the character. Authors can introduce unique concepts with their own interpretation of powers sometimes.

 

[Antvasima]

I agree with Reiner here. Should we close this thread?

 

[Tanin_iver]

I agree with Reiner here. Should we close this thread?

You don't think a rewrite of the page is necessary to make it more comprehensive?

Telekinesis is better described as the ability to input/output kinetic energy without requiring collision. Typically to move objects without touching them or stopping speeding objects without touching. Typically done with the mind, though it can sometimes happen without realizing or by accident.

Like this?

The ability to affect physical objects via mental power or other non-physical means.

Or even just this?

 

[TheOrangeGuy09]

Got permission from @DarkDragonMedeus here (and from @Reiner04 here too, but I deleted it because I already got one from DDM).

I feel like it's actually fairly necessary to be precise in wording with telekinesis being “thought-based”, because in matchups the distinction between using gestures to utilize an ability (telekinesis in our case) or via mere thinking is crucial, and thought-based case is considered faster than with gestures and only inferior to passive abilities. Many users treat the abilities in a way that if character always uses gesture to use it, then it’s indeed necessary. And since we are going off examples, Sans is one of most known Telekinesis users (I’d honestly even suggest adding him to the page as an example of a telekinesis user, since telekinesis is associated with Sans for many as far as I know), and his ability to move soul clearly requires hand gesture since not only he always uses telekinesis to move Frisk’s SOUL around, but his telekinesis speed is also dependent on his hand speed. So leaving the wording only through thought-based would either mean that such characters don’t have “real” telekinesis, which I don’t think the intention at all, or we need to slightly reword it.

I personally like the idea of using “non-physical means”. I don’t think air manipulation is a good counterexample, since as DDM mentioned, it is done physically through molecules of air colliding with objects to move them, so it’s technically not non-physical. Non-physical in this case would be without physical contact. So I think better wording would be “without any direct physical contact like a thought” or “with a thought or likewise similar non-physical means”. Worst case, we can simply explain that air manipulation and similar abilities do not count as telekinesis for the reason I said above through a quick note.