Opposite of an empath?

I'm working on a story where there is a community of near humans where everyone is an empath - can read/sense emotions, or a ?????, who can project their emotions onto another, or some combination of the two. It's the ????? I'm missing.

Some of the ????? can use their abilty to compel others to a certain extent, e.g. to make people believe them.

I outlined this puppy about a month ago and wracked my brain for a word then, couldn't do it. Started working on the actual story over the weekend, finally hit the point where I have to give this thing a name, and again I am just stuck.

I'm about to give up and give both abilities a name in a different (imaginary) language, which would work, but I was wondering if anyone had any great ideas.

Thanks,

J.

cptwentworth said:

Do you mean one who is not an empath (passive), or one who can resist, block or repel the empaths (active)?

Click to expand...

Interesting question:

These people range between pure empath and pure (projector/sender/Sensapath? lol that's an interesting one) senders. Most people are some of both, some leaning one way, some the other. Being very strongly one way or another is pretty rare. Being completely Empath and no sender or vice versa is almost unheard of.

The senders can project what they are feeling onto another person. So if they're sad, they can project that sadness on to another.

Empaths can't read empaths OR senders without permission, usually. Senders can't send to empaths or senders without permission, usually. So generally speaking, they don't need to block. (Humans can be read or sent to/compelled very easily, but they live separately from pure humans.)

Senders can also sometimes compel to a certain extent, in the sense that they can make absolutely sure that someone knows they are telling the truth, they can calm someone down, etc. - not all of them, just some of them.

All of these guys can walk all over humans if they want.

The story revolves around sort of an aberration - a pure sender (or whatever), no empathy, who doesn't have to actually be feeling the emotions he's projecting, and who is insanely good at compelling. It's not like this combo hasn't happened before, but this guy is also a real butthead. He's got a real nasty sense of what's entertaining, and he escaped the community and is wreaking havoc in human cities.

So there's another guy hunting him, an *almost* pure empath, and he's also a bit of an aberration - he can read without permission.

(Those who can and do read or project without permission are practically considered rapists by this community. It just isn't done.)

Anyway, that's the setup. It's a weird story.

J.

Boy, you guys are fast - lol.

OK, let me give you an idea of what kinds of things this guy finds entertaining, maybe that'll help think of an appropriate name.

He sees an apartment fire. He projects ecstasy to all of the people who are trying to get out of the building, so they all decide to hang, and burn to death, loving it all the while.

He's in a night club and he's bored, especially with all the stupid little human pick up games that are going on. He makes the whole roomful of people feel lustful, so that they start having sex in public. The cops think someone slipped drugs into the water supply.

He goes to an amusement park and makes sure that all the little kiddies on every ride are absolutely terrified. One of them is so scared that she jumps out of the top car of a ferris wheel.

He thinks this is fun.

Most projectors/senders/compellers/whatevers *could* do this with humans (and not with each other) but absolutely wouldn't. Besides, they can only project their *own* emotions.

I've been toying with the idea of making this guy butt ugly, and it wouldn't matter. He's so in love with himself, he'd project that self-love to everyone around him, and they'd all think he was great.

Tanner, my protagonist, is one of the few people of either race who is immune to Gabriel, the bad guy. Doesn't really matter though, because wherever Tanner goes, if he's near Gabe, Gabriel makes people hate him. That's how Tanner knows he's getting closer...the more people are trying to kill him, the more he's reading hate from them, the closer he is to Gabe, and the harder it is to get to Gabe, because so many people affected by Gabriel's powers are trying to stop him.

He's been trying for over 30 years.

(I'm just at the beginning of this story, so sorry if that sounds vague and confusing.)

J.

alleycat said:

You didn't like telempath?

Click to expand...

I like the term, but:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/067131825X/?tag=absolutewritedm-20



J.

benbradley said:

And totally unrelated to your question, but from the thread title I was thinking psychopath (as in can't read emotions when they're spelled out and doesn't care anyway). But it sounds like you don't want to use THAT word or concept.

Click to expand...

Interesting, actually - the antagonist is most definitely a psychopath, I just never thought of him that way.

alleycat said:

Just glancing at the wiki article, it looked like telempath was a generic term, so it wouldn't bother me that someone had written a book using that title.

Click to expand...

I might if it were someone other than Spider Robinson - lol. Like Harold Bartholomew Flibbertygibber or something, e.g. someone totally unknown.

The book Telempath was based on a Hugo-awardwinning novella that he wrote. Can't step on that!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telempath

alleycat said:

If you want to make up your own term:

tele + some Greek word for emotions, feelings, ideas, direction, etc.

Click to expand...

I may to that. It could be teleSOMETHING.

benbradley said:

So you DO have a psychopath in the story, ane he's one of the MC's!

Click to expand...

Yep. (look up about three posts - I commented on your post )

Yeah, Gabriel is a total whack job. Complete lack of empathy, totally self centered. Lives to keep himself entertained, and that's bad, because he's a sadistic SOB. And all the little humans around him absolutely love him, because he loves himself so much. The ones who are around him too long become permanently twisted.

Ah. And he's bored, when the story starts. That's very bad.

No, telepathy is the ability to read minds.

These guys can't read minds; they can project emotions.

Eh, if I can't think of anything specific, I'll make up a language. I have for a couple of words anyway, for a tracking artifact and such. I might use a made up word and then explain it in context of one of the examples suggested here.

This is more urban fantasy that sci fi, btw.

Eh, I take that back. It really doesn't strike me as either Scifi OR fantasy; this just seemed like the most appropriate forum.

J.

In the wiki link Ben provided was also the term "telempath". That sounds like just what you're looking for.

Click to expand...

This was going to be my suggestion. I know I've heard it used multiple times before.

Click to expand...

Yeah, though as I said, Spider Robinson has a book, Telempath, that's based on his Hugo-Award-winning novella. It's one thing if it's a generic term that's used a lot of places, but it's Spider. lol.

I don't think Asperger's prolly but that did give me a whole 'nother story idea.

J.