A woman of my acquaintance who writes young adult fiction professionally
mentioned a case where she and several other writers in that genre
simultaneously came up not only with the same plot but with very specific
details about the characters which were novelties in YA fiction at the time
- they were not collaborating. She also mentioned something that I have
noticed in my own attempts to write fiction: the feeling that a character
you created has taken charge of the plot and is writing his or her own
script. Sometimes it feels as if a real person is trying to make contact
with the writer telepathically though one would be dismissed as a crackpot
to suggest this actually occurs.

On Wed, Sep 2, 2020 at 1:33 PM Alan Kitty <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> I believe Twain referred to the phenomenon as “mental telegraphy.”
>
> A conversation begins about someone no one has seen for years, and
> suddenly that person walks into the room. You may think of someone for no
> particular reason and the next moment, the telephone rings and they are on
> the other end of the line. Or consider the strange reality of an invention
> being thought of concurrently in different parts of the world, followed by
> a rash of that device appearing on the same day at the patent office.
>
> Possible relevance here: https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/2142320.pdf
>
> These coincidences may be examples that prove the existence of a
> collective consciousness. Gene Roddenberry called it “The Borg.” A
> sociologist or philosopher might call it an applied example of Human
> Nature. Concurrent thoughts and deeds in different places may lead to
> inevitable events that we call coincidence, or “mental telegraphy.”
>
> Perhaps the simplest example occurs when close friends come up with the
> same thought simultaneously. The most mind-boggling example may be found in
> the idea that in an infinite universe, there are infinite possibilities.
> This means it Is possible that another you is thinking exactly the same
> thing at exactly the same moment a hundred billion light years away.
>
> If this is possible, as Astrophysicists claim it is, it is reasonable to
> expect someone you haven’t seen in twenty years to be calling you at the
> moment you think their name.
>
> Try it now. Sit quietly. Empty your mind. Think of a name. Focus. Wait
> five minutes. Then call them and ask if hey have been thinking about you
> too.
>
> Alan Kitty, Executive Director
> Mark Twain Education Society
>
> “Laughter can shatter the most colossal humbug; blow it to rags and atoms
> with a single blast.”
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> >> On Sep 2, 2020, at 1:14 PM, Martha Sherwood <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
> > Interesting article. I'm curious about people on this academic list who
> > personally believe in mental telepathy. I know I do - there are too many
> > instances in my own life for which it is the simplest common explanation,
> > though each individual incident has another possible explanation.
> >
> > Martha Sherwood.
> >
> >> On Wed, Sep 2, 2020 at 5:21 AM Hal Bush <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> >>
> >> Mark Twain’s religious beliefs may have changed over time, but there is
> >> one thing he always firmly believed in: telepathy. Chantel Tattoli tells
> >> the story<
> >>
> https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://micahmattix.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=09f1740da57f3d9169001129e&id=725abdcb28&e=bc9c5fd0d0__;!!K543PA!Y3ugyr6tBTzdvP78jSxG9f82CiKgsZ_VTIDvB-eE75rnHXTnP078smxhmI_tUc8$
> >
> >> in The Paris Review:
> >>
> >>
> >> https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2020/08/25/mark-twains-mind-waves/<
> >>
> https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2020/08/25/mark-twains-mind-waves/__;!!K543PA!fgtIWyDzJge-z4Yd1p78CJE51-UjJhCqByJ_zpYdFNin8A3kpp48Pl9oOUzQT5w$
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
> >>
> >>
> >> Dr. Hal Bush
> >>
> >> Professor of English &
> >>
> >> Director of the Undergraduate Program
> >>
> >> Saint Louis University
> >>
> >> [log in to unmask]
> >>
> >> 314-977-3616
> >>
> >> http://halbush.com
> >>
> >> author website:  halbush.com
>