Sounds like hell on Earth.

I'd rather watch the developments from their start; as in now. I also don't like the idea of people seeing what goes on in my brain, mostly for their own sake.

It would be at first, but then we would adjust and come to appreciate ourselves for what we really are. I think it would ultimately be extremely beneficial.

But a society full of everyone's thoughts being shared with everyone else wouldn't be anything like our society now, where we constantly lie to each other, withhold our true feelings and thoughts, and are unable to share all of our knowledge. It would be like a glorious internet-brain hive mind. Unfiltered truth and the knowledge of the entire society would be part of every human's consciousness. It would be mind-expanding.

You make it sound nice but the way I see it the mind has been the only thing in human history that has been impossible to take away or pry into. Even slaves and prisoners have their mind to themselves. It is the foundation of humankind, and it's privacy is not something that should be taken away. To share ones thoughts and feelings should be a choice for the individual to make. I can't even imagine how an evil dictator would take advantage of this ability, anyone with a slight thought in their head of dislike/opposition would be found out immediately. No thanks.

You don't think unfiltered honesty throughout the human race would be a good thing? It wouldn't be taking away the mind. It would be unifying it with everyone's mind.

I kinda of see what you mean, people wouldn't have a choice to act the same as they currently do, they wouldn't be able to lie. Everyone would be forced to change personality, however, not everyone would be willing to do so and things would go bad...

No I really don't think it would be a good thing. Like I said, a person's mind is his own. Unifying it with others would be the definition of taking it away, because then you wouldn't have it anymore.

The more I think about this the more frightening it sounds, I wouldn't want to be forced to take in the thoughts of someone who is insane for example. This idea might work in some sort of place where everyone is good, it sure wouldn't work on Earth, where the vast majority of people are stupid, greedy, and brainwashed.

There would definitely be complete chaos to start with, but I think we'd come out of it better than ever before. There would hopefully be better ways to implement it than to just throw it into society as it is right now and just hope for the best.

You would take in the thoughts of someone who is insane and be able to rationalize them with everyone else's sane thoughts. And the insane person would most likely be able to correct his own thoughts whenever he can't justify his paranoia anymore.
And no one would be stupid, greedy, or brainwashed if everyone's mind was opened up. You wouldn't be losing your mind, it would be just as much there as it is right now, it would just be joined with everyone else's, and then improved upon.

Our brains have a built-in auto-correct system. It would be bad at first, but we would adjust into a more uniformed state of consciousness where, when all of our minds are unified, we have to work together. It would be the manifestation of "one for all and all for one."

If I base my perception of history on popular HBO series, 1920's New Jersey seems like a ball.

Pretty much just this. I find myself wanting to have been born in early to mid 1940's and grow up from there, a lot. I'd much rather have done that, I'd only miss some friends and family.

Dress up as borg at Star Trek conventions?

Have you seen the RIcky Gervais film Invention of Lying? It is an interesting film on the topic of honesty.

Personally I think lying (or at least the absence of telling the truth) is a good thing, for example if your bored at a funeral for someone you never really knew you don't stand up and announce it, and you don't tell someone they are fat.

In a romantic way yes, in a practical sense of-course not. You'll seldom find a young person more genuinely out-of-touch with the popular culture than I, but just because I seek to emulate the culture of a by-gone era doesn't mean I'm so niave as too imagine it a utopia. I'll stick with being an outcast for now thanks, when Bobby Darin and Fedora's are back in-style let me know.

oh i'd be so disgusted with everyone, and everyone would hopefully be disgusted by my thoughts. And all the stupid things you would have to hear! Its bad enough when have to deal with a motor mouth (or a dumb drunk) but imagine everyone being that! constant streams of boring jibbering details pouring forth into your mind, enough to break down even the most resilient wills.

Sorry just had to throw my mini rant about telepathy in.

This could only work if there was an absolute truth for everything and there isn't... so really, it's just brainwashing on a global scale. A hive mentality would also erase individuality which would strip us of compeition, desire, and ambition - all three which drive the human race forward to invent, create, correct, and grow.

No thanks.

I wish I were born in the 50's or 60's when smoking and art deco were big. It was such a lovely time.

Though I wouldn't be able to handle the lack of useful technology. I need modern technology, so an era that mixes 50's with modern tech would be perfect for me.

Not really. I'm pretty happy with when I was born. I was a kid in the 70's ...which was a pretty good time to be a kid, a teenager in the 80's...although personally, I thought the 80's svcked, once the 90's came along I thought we were rolling along pretty good...and some of my favorite music of all time was made then (excluding P.F. of course).

And it was then that you learned the truth about yourself, the world, and humanity as a whole. It was on that day you became complete.

Floyd:Heh, as a 90s kid, for some reason I always thought the 60s,70s and 80s would have svcked, but I thought the 90s were alright. I just don't know why I look down so poorly upon that time period though. I know I hate the 60s for certain, but the 70-80 I can't put my finger on.

"the 80's svcked" sell out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gonKhSIBP54

The clothes. The clothes of the 70's and 80's were god awful. (And they're actually bringing it back. Why?!) I just miss the times when kids could go out and play, ride their bikes all over god's green earth, all without parental supervision and not have to worry about someone trying to snatch them. The world just seems a great deal more messed up than it ever has been before.

Youd've had to have been there to understand why it was such a good time to be a kid. Of course since I was a kid back then, I might be a little biased in my thinking.

The 70's: No cable, no internet, you've only got maybe 4 channels on the tube, and when you want to change the channel, you have to get up and turn the dial. It was also a time when we used to go outside and play...something that doesn't seem to happen as much anymore, at least in my neighborhood they don't.

I had a no remote TV when I was a kid.

No, it's just the media's spin on things. Crime has been on a decline for a long time now, at least in the U.S. Crime was significantly higher in the 70s, more so in the big cities.

After just getting over a nasty stomach flu virus? Bring on the future!