You can't think a man to death . . . or can you?

[hbquikcomjamesl]

Just a crazy thought: in Catspaw, we have this exchange:

SYLVIA: . . . You wondered what killed [Jackson]. I made an image of him. In the essence of my thoughts the image was Jackson. And when I killed the image and knew that it was dead, he died.
KIRK: You can't think a man to death.

And yet, in Diane Duane's exploration of ancient Vulcan history, up through the Romulan Exodus, and of the Romulan Exodus itself (not to mention other writers' explorations of those periods), we find people who can think a man to death.

Any (preferably non-lethal) thoughts?

 

[Christopher]

Canonically, per "Gambit," Vulcans could "think a [person] to death" if their telepathy were amplified by the Stone of Gol.

It's worth noting that Sylvia was fudging the truth a bit; she and Korob needed their transmuters to turn their thoughts into reality. If anything, I daresay that it was the transmuter that killed Jackson; Sylvia's thoughts just provided its instructions, in the ultimate user-friendly interface.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Canonically, per "Gambit," Vulcans could "think a [person] to death" if their telepathy were amplified by the Stone of Gol.

There's also the ancient Kolinahr Master from The Lost Years. IIRC, he melted a guy with his brain. And he didn't need a stone to help him do it.

IIRC, there were more weaponized telepathy-enhancing stones in the Myriad Universes story Tears of Eridanus.

 

[Stevil2001]

Yep, that's right. I think it's the Pebble of Gol.

 

[Timo]

Quite possibly true masters scorn the use of artificial aids, while clever modern whippersnappers scorn the decades-long dedication to higher learning, ancient wisdom and other such nonsense... But both breeds go extinct easily enough, because masters are a rare resource on the verge of dying of old age already, while artificial aids may be difficult to manufacture unless you have some ancient wisdom at hand to help with the process! And unfortunately for the Romulans, they lost both their masters and their rock collection.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[E-DUB]

I'm going just from memory here, but didn't the "Battle of Betazed" have this kind of scenario in it?

 

[F. King Daniel]

Let's not forget the poor Husnock in Next Gen's "The Survivors"

 

[BillJ]

I'm going just from memory here, but didn't the "Battle of Betazed" have this kind of scenario in it?

Yep.

 

[Tiberius]

Canonically, per "Gambit," Vulcans could "think a [person] to death" if their telepathy were amplified by the Stone of Gol.

Technically, weren't the victims thinking themselves to death?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ If they had violent thoughts at the time, yes.

Which is why Surak's philosophy worked: since he preached emotional control, the Stone was useless against him and his followers, because they had no violence in their minds.

 

[chrinFinity]

There is also Kes.

 

[Timo]

And this mysterious but deadly group only known as the Writers...

Although the comparable group of the Audience has been known to attempt to kill by thought, Wesley Crusher still supposedly survives.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Deranged Nasat]

And this mysterious but deadly group only known as the Writers...

Although the comparable group of the Audience has been known to attempt to kill by thought, Wesley Crusher still supposedly survives.

Timo Saloniemi

Not only does Wesley survive, he actually ascended to a higher plane of existence. Which suggests that the Audience's efforts to kill him may have backfired. Their hatred only makes him more powerful!

 

[Greg Cox]

Well, to be fair, Kirk wouldn't necessarily know about any examples from the NextGen era . . ..

 

[rfmcdpei]

Well, to be fair, Kirk wouldn't necessarily know about any examples from the NextGen era . . ..

And it's not obviious, either, that Kirk wasn't in fact familiar with examples of lethal mentally-directed weapons and was simply engaging his captor.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ If they had violent thoughts at the time, yes.

Which is why Surak's philosophy worked: since he preached emotional control, the Stone was useless against him and his followers, because they had no violence in their minds.

There is also Kes.

I think the difference is that Kes, and others who used lethal mind-directed powers, employed them directly at their targets. Sylvia didn't attack Jackson directly, did she? She just thought about an "image" of him.