Mentalic

Mentalic is a term Isaac Asimov's Foundation series uses to cover a range of unusual psionic capabilities. Not precisely telepathic, the Second Foundationers are able to sense and adjust the emotions of humans^[1]. Gaia, the group mind of Foundation's Edge and Foundation and Earth, considers the Second Foundation an embryonic form of collective consciousness. Gaians are also described as mentalic, although they have the added abilities of adjusting non-human life as well as converting usable energy into work through conscious will alone (thermokinesis). It is implied that the Solarians use a special organ to turn heat into some manner of energy, but whether it psychokinetic or telepathic in origin, if not both, is not wholly specified. R. Daneel Olivaw, along with R. Giskard Reventlov, shared a robotic mentalic ability caused by errant programming by Vasilia Fastolfe. Giskard gained these abilities first, and then "taught" (presumably transferred the programming) the secret to Daneel. Both of their abilities were implied to be staggering and only limited by the First Law: Daneel, for example, claimed to be able to nullify all of Gaia's psychic power, a claim that Bliss (a native of Gaia) took seriously. Daneel also manipulated galactic history for millennia, both during the Empire and Foundation eras.

Notes

1. ^ Second Foundation (1953) Götterdamerung.org