Literary notes about Telepathy (AI summary)
Literature reflects a diverse and evolving usage of the term "telepathy," ranging from its exploration as a potentially genuine phenomenon to its critique as fanciful or symbolic. Early sociological and philosophical texts, for instance, raise the issue of genuine evidence for telepathy by comparing it to cases like that of Clever Hans, questioning whether such instances are misinterpretations of natural intelligence rather than true extrasensory communication [1]. This skepticism is echoed in discussions that deliberate if telepathy is fact or merely a fancy [2]. Meanwhile, in the realm of magical and symbolic thought, telepathy is often interwoven with broader mystical principles, as seen when it is likened to magical homeopathy and employed to explain both benevolent and malevolent forces [3, 4]. Furthermore, literary accounts sometimes use telepathy metaphorically to capture the fluid, weak-to-strong gradations of human belief, such as the comparison to a disjointed bundle rather than a coherent chain of evidence [5]. Intriguingly, its representation can even extend to social or gendered contexts, as when authors suggest a peculiar sex-linkage to telepathy [6], or portray it as a psychological quirk [7]. In more rhetorical treatments, telepathy is depicted as a mechanism of perfect communicative synergy, bridging the gap between speaker and audience [8].