What are the Most Popular Examples of Psionics in Sci-Fi? (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 week ago by jaycifer@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

64 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Psionics involve the use of the mind to alter or command reality, typically through some understanding of a deeper truth about the universe or command over a fundamental law of reality.

It's pretty cool, but I have trouble thinking of media where it takes a prominent role. The few examples that come to mind are:

Star Wars - The Force Mass Effect - Biotics/Element Zero technology Stellaris - Spiritualist Ethos Warhammer 40k - Psykers/Orks

What are some other examples of psionics in Sci-Fi?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[-] madmantis24@lemmy.wtf 3 points 1 week ago

"More Than Human" by Theodore Sturgeon is a novel about a collective of psionic humans who have to work together because they have an unusual mix of powers and weaknesses. One of them is a forever-infant whose role is a living supercomputer, for example

"Ishmael" by Daniel Quinn is a bit of a stretch, but it's technically a conversation between the main character and a telepathic gorilla, if you want something a little different than the usual story about psychic humans

On the movie side, there's "Beyond the Black Rainbow," a somewhat trippy thriller and sort-of horror story about a psychic adolescent girl being raised by a scientist who developed a disturbing obsession with her. Might be a little rough to watch on that note, but it's good. I liked the way they portrayed how her powers worked and it was an interesting audio-visual experience besides

this post was submitted on 07 Sep 2026

71 points (98.6% liked)

Ask Lemmy

41430 readers

1400 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions

Rules: (interactive)

1) Be nice and; have fun

Doxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, toxicity and dog-whistling are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them

2) All posts must end with a '?'

This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?

3) No spam

Please do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.

4) NSFW is okay, within reason

Just remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].

5) This is not a support community.

It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.

6) No US Politics.

Please don't post about current US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world or !uspolitics@lemmy.world

7) No Hit-and-Run questions.

Please don't delete your post for no apparent reason. If you plan on deleting a question later, say so in the post, or if you feel that you have a good reason to remove it, message a mod beforehand. It's not fair to the ones who took their time to answer, and it's not in the spirit of the community.

8) No Bots.

Posts or comments from bots, LLM's, AIs, Neural Networks, Transformers, or Marvin the Paranoid Android are not welcome in AskLemmy. Real humans only please.

Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.