Thing To Be Today: psychic.

(You say this word SI-kikk, the first syllable rhyming with hi.)

Being psychic involves receiving thoughts or impressions in a way unexplained by the rules of physics. That's not necessarily impossible because even physicists accept that some of their laws are mutually exclusive (ie wrong). 

Still, if breaking the laws of physics seems too hard, then you can instead receive a thought or impression that appears to fly in the face of the laws of physics. That just means it's very unlikely. For instance, as a example of my own psychic powers, I've just read two books in a row* which feature someone playing the aria from J S Bach's Goldberg variations. How amazingly psychic must I be to choose those two books out of all the books in the world?

(Well, as far as I'm concerned, not at all, but hey...I once did the same thing in reading two books in a row which mentioned Dorothy L Sayer's translation of Dante.)

As a further encouragement to flex your psychic powers, the standard for being deemed psychic can be astonishingly low. 

'Ooh, you've made me a cup of tea. I was just fancying some tea. You must be psychic.'

As that example shows, psychic powers quite often involve mind-reading. 

But is mind-reading actually against the laws of physics?

More about that tomorrow.

Word To Use Today: psychic. This word comes from the Greek psukhikos, of the soul or life.


*They were THE LIE OF THE LAND by Amanda Craig and GHOSTWRITTEN by David Mitchell. Both well worth exploring.