If Channeling became possible in "Earthland"

[Elgee]

A while ago I made a thread over at the Warders titled So ... would you REALLY be a Warder in the here and now, which lead to a few thoughts about Channeling here and now.

 

Lets say Channeling becomes possible here on earth, right now. A few questions spring to mind:

 

1) What would be the usages of the OP in our times?

Things like Healing, Search and Rescue, Disaster Management, etc spring to mind.

 

2) What would you personally prefer to do with it?

 

3) How would the purposes of the Ajahs translate to our situation?

 

 

For the sake of the discussion, the following:

a) Channeling is possible for both sexes

b) There is no Taint

c) If you want to be able to do something, for instance Heal, you can

d) Those who are able to Channel would get organised into groups

 

Feel free to post more questions - I'll add them.

[charis sedai]

I personally would want to use the OP for traveling purposes. It would make life so very easy if I could Travel or Skim places.

 

I think in general, it would get used a lot in the medical field, probably some in politics, some in the creative world, etc.

 

As for the Ajahs, I think several of them are direct applicants

yellows, browns, grays, whites: I think these all have direct applications

Green does to, although instead of TG, we'd be fighting other wars

Blues I think might start towards being the "Altruistic Ajah"

Red: I can see the Reds teaming up with the Yellows- the Yellows doing bodily Healing, and the rEds Healing the mind

[theicewitch]

I see it being similar to what I do now. Most everything I do with my witchly ways, I do to help someone. I am not a classic healer but I do things to help with mood, human relations, and assist someone work through a question or with life problems. I could see it as an augmentation of skills or personality trait.

 

Just as in the book these woman/men would come from all walks of life and all professions. Our personalities would judge how we used it. I am sure organization would be required but more so a code of ethics and training and core group set to govern. I think that power gone rogue would be dangerous. I also think there would have to be a way to take it away or dampen it to the point uselessness in cases of abuse or where someone is dangerous to him/herself, those around them or even the planet.

[Millon]

See, Ice came close to the first thing that popped into my head. The problems. Lets say this ability to channel is in effect welllllllll after the initial floods of fear and chaos and angry mobs and cults of messianic lunatics realizing that Jebus is not reborn. After acceptance has occurred I think the Reds would best be interpreted as Channeling Police. They would hunt after un-licensed/un-sanctioned channelers and prevent them from causing any trouble. Blues would be like a Social Services type thing. Greens would be our generals. The only group I see as having the most problems would be the Greys. They would not be allowed into politics. I think if there were channelers they would HAVE to stay out of positions of governance. Maybe they'll become lawyers or something but I would see most populaces being very leery about channelers ruling.

[Elgee]

Would the logical (and extremely important) role for the Grays not perhaps be to act as the "PR" department for Channelers? Someone would have to quell the fears of the "oh save us! Witches!" mob, and work to ensure that Channelers are perceived as the "good guys".

[theicewitch]

Would the logical (and extremely important) role for the Grays not perhaps be to act as the "PR" department for Channelers? Someone would have to quell the fears of the "oh save us! Witches!" mob, and work to ensure that Channelers are perceived as the "good guys".

 

 

That is a actually a spectacular use for the Grays. But what would whites do then? But can you imagine the possibility of a Brown in a class room... to make learning come alive in a way never done before.

[Elgee]

Never mind teaching - just think of how you could REALLY study things using the OP!

 

I'm coming up a bit of a blank where the Whites are concerned. But then, they don't do anything with the OP in Randland either *shifts feet and wonders if a White's going to come and smack her*.

[theicewitch]

Never mind teaching - just think of how you could REALLY study things using the OP!

 

I'm coming up a bit of a blank where the Whites are concerned. But then, they don't do anything with the OP in Randland either *shifts feet and wonders if a White's going to come and smack her*.

 

 

Dear Whites, Please note... It was not me who made that statement.

 

Sorry to throw ya under the bus Elgee...self preservation ya know.

[Elgee]

Just for that, Ima make you go tell the Whites about this discussion *nods*

[Mystica]

awwwwww Charis, you see the Reds as Healers of the mind? That must be the most original use for Reds I've ever heard lol.

 

Whites... they are the phylosophers, the thinkers, the questioners, the ponderers, the theory buffs. They are the mathematicians, the reasoners, the objective observers. They would do well in justice, so long as they're not the onces passing sentence. They would be the truth seekers, the fact finders, the rational voice.

[Serick Kerani]

1) What would be the usages of the OP in our times?

 

Traveling would be extremely beneficial. The Keeping weaves would come in extreme handy. Being able to make ter'angreal and angreal would be one of the most sought after Talents after Healing and Delving. I can see Power-wrought weapons becoming more and more prominent and people with the ability to channel the OP becoming something more than 'normal'. I think it would be a great deal like the Age of Legends after a while.

 

2) What would you personally prefer to do with it?

 

I would love to be able to create things. The Talents to make ter'angreal and Dreamwalk would be something I would love to possess. I would also use Traveling, prefering the instantaneous arrival over cars and planes. Healing..I don't see myself as a healer, unless it's with the mind. Cloud Dancing would be another sought after Talent. I would probably lock myself away for years in my lab and experiment with the Power, making things and testing the limits.

 

3) How would the purposes of the Ajahs translate to our situation?

 

I would see the Whites as more of a teaching Ajah in our world. They wold do more of Math, Science and the logical minded things while Browns taught English, History and things like that. Both would have researchers. Blues would definetly be the Causes Ajah. I think most Greens would be soliders, think of how our armies would benefit from Warders. The Reds would more than likely end up being a policing Ajah, keeping everyone in check and being more of the security than fighters. I can see the Greys becoming a PR or political Ajah, maybe meddling in both. The Yellows would definetly be doctors, nurses, EMTs and the like.

 

I would like to know, would you rather be very powerful in the OP or average or even weak? Like a rating from 1-10 with 10 being most powerful. I would like to be a 7 or an 8, that way I can do more than the average User and put it to work in Making.

[theicewitch]

Just for that, Ima make you go tell the Whites about this discussion *nods*

 

 

Ya want me to?

[Dwynwen]

There's no need for poking, I saw the discussion.

 

Actually, I agree with Elgee. We Whites really don't do much with channeling in the books, so if society changed, the White Ajah could just keep doing what it always does.

 

Given that I personally have more stripes than just White, however, I see ways in which I could use channeling in my life. As a psychologist, I would love to Heal the mental illnesses in my patients. As a person who has friends from all over the world, I would love to be able to use channeling to travel. As a person who doesn't much like clothes shopping, I would weave a Keeping weave on my clothes so they last even longer than they do now.

[charis sedai]

yeah, Myst, I can totally see Reds as psychologists of a sort: think about what they do book-wise- they try to keep men who can channel from going mad in the only way they know how: gentling. Gentling is the Electro-shock therapy or perhaps frontal lobotomy of our world. It isn't that they want men to be hurt, they want to protect them from themselves, and protect others from them. And it isn't their fault that this is the best their technology has offered (so far)I think their purpose bookwise has been perverted a little bit by Elaida, Galina, and some other craaaaaaaaazy ladies, but yeah, that's how I've always seen reds. :)

 

 

And I disagree with Millon. I think it would take hundreds of years, but if and when we came to accept Channeling, I think Channelers would be able to be in politics. but until we came to total terms, no, definitely not.

[Elgee]

Grays and Greens:

 

I've seen a few mention here of Greens joining in wars as "soldiers", but have any of you thought of the ethical implications of that? What wars would they be fighting in, and on who's side? The "right" side? Who is to judge that?

 

I was thinking last night (yeah couldn't sleep ) about the role of the Grays, and I wondered ... would they not be the ones to try and negotiate and end to the wars? They could be a truly neutral party, with no hidden agendas or political motivations.

 

If they do, they would be venturing into extremely dangerous areas and would need a little bit of help both keeping themselves safe, and keeping the warring parties apart long enough to negotiate peace. Enter the Greens. A few people who could wrap those trigger fingers in flows of Air, or suspend them from the trees, or even make a few pointed (and cabooming) examples would work even better than your "normal" peace keeping forces.

 

Blues:

Seekers after causes: Save the Panda, Preserve the Forests, Cleaning up Oil Spills. Dragging some Yellows to remote villages in Africa to Heal people who get no other medical attention. Disaster Management as a whole, really. There's no end to the Causes a Blue can think up

 

I'd quite like to see them being the "Point & Fix" Ajah, working closely together with the others. What I mean by that, is I can envision the Blues finding things that need doing, then assembling those Channelers with the needed skills to go and do it. Seems a much better application of their abilities than letting each trying to deal with those things on her own, or allowing the "Ajahs" to hang around the "Tower" sitting on their hands and staring down their noses

[theicewitch]

Add into this that the novice/accepted stages could be education like a specialized college.

[Elgee]

Red

 

CJ mentioned that the Reds might become the Mind Healers. To quote:

 

yeah, Myst, I can totally see Reds as psychologists of a sort: think about what they do book-wise- they try to keep men who can channel from going mad in the only way they know how: gentling. Gentling is the Electro-shock therapy or perhaps frontal lobotomy of our world. It isn't that they want men to be hurt, they want to protect them from themselves, and protect others from them. And it isn't their fault that this is the best their technology has offered (so far)I think their purpose bookwise has been perverted a little bit by Elaida, Galina, and some other craaaaaaaaazy ladies, but yeah, that's how I've always seen reds. :)

 

I don't agree that the Reds were gentling men because of any desire to heal them in any way.

 

My premise is that the Reds and Greens are the security forces of Randland. They're both devoted to the safety of their "country" (planet, really). The Greens do that by fighting Shadowspawn and can therefore be considered External Security (ie Army/Navy/Airforce). The Reds take care of the "enemy within", ie other Channelers (in their case male) and can therefore be considered Internal Security (police, FBI, Mi5). The natural role for them here would then be dealing with "rogue" Channelers, if we follow that chain of logic.

[Serick Kerani]

Red

I don't agree that the Reds were gentling men because of any desire to heal them in any way.

 

My premise is that the Reds and Greens are the security forces of Randland. They're both devoted to the safety of their "country" (planet, really). The Greens do that by fighting Shadowspawn and can therefore be considered External Security (ie Army/Navy/Airforce). The Reds take care of the "enemy within", ie other Channelers (in their case male) and can therefore be considered Internal Security (police, FBI, Mi5). The natural role for them here would then be dealing with "rogue" Channelers, if we follow that chain of logic.

 

I can see that very much now that I think about it. The Reds were like a Special Task Force where the Greeens were more of a brute force that dealt with Shadowspawn.

[LisaMetzelBonnet]

A while ago I made a thread over at the Warders titled So ... would you REALLY be a Warder in the here and now, which lead to a few thoughts about Channeling here and now.

 

Lets say Channeling becomes possible here on earth, right now. A few questions spring to mind:

 

1) What would be the usages of the OP in our times?

Things like Healing, Search and Rescue, Disaster Management, etc spring to mind.

 

2) What would you personally prefer to do with it?

 

3) How would the purposes of the Ajahs translate to our situation?

 

 

For the sake of the discussion, the following:

a) Channeling is possible for both sexes

b) There is no Taint

c) If you want to be able to do something, for instance Heal, you can

d) Those who are able to Channel would get organised into groups

 

Feel free to post more questions - I'll add them.

 

1. Uses in our time - obviously healing, also rebuilding after disasters, maybe cheap durable construction in the developing world, law enforcement...

2. I think I would want to use it heal (especially the mind), and also to ease systemic suffering (like you see in the developing world) also invent way cool stuff, maybe clean energy type things?

3. I don't know about how the ajahs would translate! Yellow would pretty obviously stay the same. I see Reds maybe doing law enforcement (ya know, hunting down the criminals and making them powerless). I'm with everyone about the Blues working on social justice issues and stuff like that. Tell me why the Grays couldn't keep their purpose in politics and negotiating treaties? If they proclaimed their neutrality (maybe even took and Oath about it) they would be trustworthy and work for the good of the people rather than the politicians. I see browns and whites both teaching and researching and inventing. Greens? Maybe they could be special forces type people. That would be so cool!!

 

Jeneba

[poetstorm]

awwwwww Charis, you see the Reds as Healers of the mind? That must be the most original use for Reds I've ever heard lol.

 

Whites... they are the phylosophers, the thinkers, the questioners, the ponderers, the theory buffs. They are the mathematicians, the reasoners, the objective observers. They would do well in justice, so long as they're not the onces passing sentence. They would be the truth seekers, the fact finders, the rational voice.

 

I think it might be possible that the whites, and maybe some of the browns might team up to try to find a greater understanding of how it works, and what the limits are, basically the "science" behind the OP. If it were here, I think I might find myself looking into that type of thing. I've got a huge curiosity streak in me. :D Or I might become a yellow and learn to do healing. Though I could also see myself using it to help out causes and people in distress. I know I'd voluteer any time there's a national disaster because it's something I want to do in real life with emergency ham radio services. Just have to buckle down, study, and pass my ham radio license test eventually. :P

[Al Jenn Mael]

A while ago I made a thread over at the Warders titled So ... would you REALLY be a Warder in the here and now, which lead to a few thoughts about Channeling here and now.

 

Lets say Channeling becomes possible here on earth, right now. A few questions spring to mind:

 

1) What would be the usages of the OP in our times?

Things like Healing, Search and Rescue, Disaster Management, etc spring to mind.

 

2) What would you personally prefer to do with it?

 

3) How would the purposes of the Ajahs translate to our situation?

 

 

For the sake of the discussion, the following:

a) Channeling is possible for both sexes

b) There is no Taint

c) If you want to be able to do something, for instance Heal, you can

d) Those who are able to Channel would get organised into groups

 

Feel free to post more questions - I'll add them.

 

I don't know if I think of things differently because I am a guy, a member of the military, or a warder but...

 

I think the use of one power would see it's first greatest application in the art of war and crime. I mean until someone discovered how to stop traveling to certain locations bank robberies would go through the roof and war as we know it would be altered. I think the first thing it would be used for would be violence (Balefire anyone (Although it'd probably be like nukes)? Although wards/shields to prevent things would come in place and the NATO nations would follow the Aes Sedai rules of not using it for violence, just add it into the geneva convention) and then healing. All countries everywhere would have their own channelers I don't think those who could channel would band together across the globe and monarchs or rulers would use them and try to take 'possession' of them.

 

Once all the mayhem settled down I would see that the unique things would start to come out. Angreals, Sa'Angreals, Ter'Angreals. There would be hybrid technology. No reliance on your battery power anymore. A labtop that used the Age of Legends standing waves so non-channelers could 'channel'. Your cell phone could project images so everything would be more hands on. Flying cars would be a reality. But along with all these awesome things would be all the negative things like violence, manipulation, compulsion, torture without leaving marks, 'love potions', anything and everything...

 

 

 

I would use air like a madman. I would channel all the bloody time just for the fun of it. I would use air to make food put my clothes on, shower, read floating the book and turning it's pages. I'd clean while playing on my computer. I'd billow the wind around me all the time, jump really high, and just... well play. I'd not stay in the military and would probably become a farmer or just a traveling hobo.

 

 

1. Blues would be the Red Cross organiztion of the world. Traveling about healing, saving the forests, stoping dictators, and doing all the humanitarian issues that we have going on today. Feeding Ethiopia and restoring Hati.

 

2. The Greens would be the the soliders. They'd be the few females mixed with the male channelers in the military. I doubt there would be many vigilantee's. Channelers I believe would still be a rarity and someplace would have to teach people to channel.

 

3. The Reds. Now that the taint is gone in the books we have to wonder what their place is... it appears to be that it will be keeping the male channelers in line in a nice way now. As all women do with men already... >.> I think the reds would be cops, police, and mediators. They would be protectors... The difference between a solider and a policemen is the difference between greens and reds.

 

4. Browns. These are the biologists, the nature lovers, and the book worms. The veternarians, the cave explorers, the map makers, the writers, etc.

 

5. The whites are the reasonsers. Those who study the nature of the universe, why and how we have magic in the first place. Mieren was a 'white' if you will or lanfear if you prefer. They will find how the world came into existence, they will reason on philosophy and persue science. They will be the crafters and the engineers discovering the standing weaves and the ter'angreal.

 

6. The Grays would be a necessity as Elgee said keeping people from burning the witches especially in the middle east and certain places of the world. They'd also have to be the ones telling nations not to use the One Power as a weapon or slaughtering each other. They'd try to bring peace to the middle east.

 

7. Yellow. Healing. Period.

[Elgee]

Don't know about anyone else, but if I found out I could channel, the last people I would run to and tell would be any kind of government organisation

 

Nuh uh ... I would keep it quiet and go looking amongst my friends for fellow channelers first.

 

Has anyone read Anne McCaffrey's Pegasus series?

[Al Jenn Mael]

Nope I haven't.

 

And I agree Elgee, though I don't know if I'd organize with others. I'd just go all lone wolf and play and play and play and play and play... well you get the point. Test it all out, see what I could and couldn't do. Probably get burned out within the first 24 hours :(

[theicewitch]

Don't know about anyone else, but if I found out I could channel, the last people I would run to and tell would be any kind of government organisation

 

Nuh uh ... I would keep it quiet and go looking amongst my friends for fellow channelers first.

 

Has anyone read Anne McCaffrey's Pegasus series?

 

I read it eons ago. I have many of McCaffery's stuff but mostly the Pern set. I cannot remember much about the book I read... I think it was "To Ride a Pegasus".

[Elgee]

That's the one, Icey. They're

1) To Ride Pegasus

2) Pegasus in Flight

3) Pegasus in Space

 

They're actually the prequel to the Talent series, I think. Anyway, they're set just slightly in the future on earth, and is about the emergence of people with "mental" Talents, like empathy, tele-kinesis, etc and their formation into an organised group. One of my favourite reads, that.

 

Al, one would assume that most people would start with the "little" things, but I think that anyone who's read WoT and especially those who belong to some kind of WoT community, would see the implications and head on over to their nearest group looking for others. If only to confirm that they've not finally gone over the deep end ... lol