[Leejohnston]

Could Two Minds Ever Share Information Directly?

Human communication is indirect.

Thoughts are converted into:
• sound
• symbols
• gestures
• electrical signals in machines

But a provocative question sits at the boundary of neuroscience and physics:

Could two minds ever share information directly — without language or sensory translation?

⸻

What “direct sharing” would actually mean

This does not mean:
• telepathy as portrayed in fiction
• magical mind reading
• thoughts jumping through space unaided

It means:
• neural information from one brain influencing another
• without passing through speech, text, or traditional sensory channels

⸻

What science already allows

We already know that:
• thoughts correspond to physical brain states
• brain activity is electrical and chemical
• neural signals can be measured and stimulated

Technologies already exist that:
• read simple neural signals
• stimulate specific brain regions
• restore lost sensory functions

This establishes that mental states are physically encoded.

⸻

Brain–computer–brain links

Early experiments have demonstrated:
• brain-to-computer interfaces
• computer-to-brain stimulation
• simple signal transfer between two brains via machines

In these cases:
• information is decoded from one brain
• transmitted electronically
• reintroduced into another brain

This is not telepathy — but it is a proof of principle.

⸻

The major obstacles

Direct mind-to-mind sharing faces huge challenges:

• Neural codes are highly individual
• Meaning depends on context and learning
• Brains do not use a universal “language”
• Conscious experience cannot be directly copied

Even if raw data were transferred, interpretation would differ.

⸻

Could physics allow something deeper?

Some speculative ideas ask whether:
• brains could synchronize dynamically
• shared rhythms could carry information
• coupling could occur through unknown physical channels

At present, there is no evidence for this.

But absence of evidence is not evidence of impossibility — only of limits.

⸻

What this does NOT imply

This does not imply:
• psychic powers are real
• minds communicate without physical interaction
• current physics is violated

Any real mechanism would still obey:
• causality
• energy conservation
• known physical constraints

⸻

Why the question matters

If minds could share information directly:
• communication would be fundamentally transformed
• privacy and identity would be redefined
• collective cognition could emerge

Even partial forms would change society.

⸻

Open question

Is the isolation of minds a fundamental feature of biology —
or simply a technological limitation?

And if minds ever do connect, what would still count as “you”?