<p>In part 1, chapter 7 (or, for a shorter version, episode 4), we learn the following from the false minoshiro:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It was only in the 2011<sup>th</sup> year of the Gregorian calendar that a scientist of a protohistorical civilization conclusively documented psychokinesis, hitherto thought to be a supernatural telekinetic phenomenon. [...]</p>
<p>Every prior experimental investigation of PK had been a disastrous failure, whether conducted in public or in a scientific facility. In 2011, however, a cognitive scientist from the Republic of Azerbaijan - Imran Ismailov - conducted an experiment in the nation's capital, Baku, that was a near-total success. At the time, the quantum-mechanical paradox in which the mere act of observing an object can induce changes in it was well known. Ismailov was the first to suggest that PK could be used to amplify this phenomenon to macroscopic levels. [...]</p>
<p>...The first person identified by Ismailov as possessing preternatural abilities was a 19-year-old girl by the name of Nona Mardanova. She could do nothing more than move a plastic ball, light as a feather, sealed inside a transparent tube. And yet, it is thought that it was she that caused mankind to undergo a transformation, as if she were a seed crystal in a solution, stimulating the formation of more like crystals. People from around the world followed in her footsteps, awakening a power that had 'till then lay dormant within them.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>So basically, this is how it went down: some people were &quot;inherent&quot; psychokinetikers, like Nona Mardanova - they had abilities that normal humans didn't possess. Their abilities were, however, very limited, and not at all on the level of the people in Saki's time.</p>
<p>Ismailov conducted experiments on these people (specifically, on Mardanova; I don't believe he conducted any other experiments). We don't know what the experiments exactly consisted of, for two reasons: much information was lost over the thousand years that separate Ismailov from Saki; and Ismailov himself went to great lengths to ensure that nobody but he would know the full scope of the experiments.</p>
<p>Whatever Ismailov did, it &quot;awakened&quot; Mardanova. From there, it spread. We don't know how that happened either - the false minoshiro doesn't address it. It seems that once PK exists (i.e. the experiments on Mardanova happened), it spreads. Somehow. Even in Saki's time, people don't really understand how it happens - children are sometimes born without PK, despite the existence of non-PK users being an existential threat to society.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-04-28T23:10:21.617Z
Quick question, what happened to those kids born without PK powers in the time of Saki?
Charlie Parker
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-04-28T23:11:29.967Z
They get killed off. That's what happened to Reiko at the very beginning.
senshin
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-04-28T23:12:24.320Z
Oh, how sad. Why is that? They don't even seem to be a threat of becoming ogres or the other thing monster (forgot the name, arghh...)...
Charlie Parker
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-04-28T23:13:30.463Z
I might be misremembering this at the moment, but I _believe_ the issue is that if you don't have PK, then you don't have death feedback. And if you don't have death feedback, there's nothing stopping you from going on a murderous rampage (with mundane weapons), since everybody _else_ has death feedback, and they can't stop you. This is sort of like being an akki/fiend/ogre, only not as bad, since hey - at least you don't have PK with which to slaughter people.
senshin
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-04-28T23:15:34.403Z
Well, that makes sense (even if its a guess), hahaha. Also, did you translate that portion of the novel yourself or is there an english version?
Charlie Parker
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-04-28T23:17:58.100Z
@Pinocchio I translated it myself. If you consult the great Google, you may or may not be able to find an English version out there.
senshin
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-04-28T21:43:52.763Z
2014-04-28T21:43:52.763Z
2020-06-17T09:17:53.303Z
senshin
<p>I finished watching the anime production of Shinsekai Yori (From the New World), but was a little unsure of how the telekinetic powers of humans were obtained in the first place. Were they obtained due to natural mutations? Or was it the fault of science and modern technology? Or was it war and nuclear radioactivity due to war?</p>

<p>How was it that they obtained this "kamisama" power?</p>

<from-the-new-world>
How did humans get telekinetic powers?
# How did humans get telekinetic powers?
Posted by: username_0 on 2014-04-28
I finished watching the anime production of Shinsekai Yori (From the New World), but was a little unsure of how the telekinetic powers of humans were obtained in the first place. Were they obtained due to natural mutations? Or was it the fault of science and modern technology? Or was it war and nuclear radioactivity due to war?

How was it that they obtained this "kamisama" power?
**Tags:** from-the-new-world
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## 1 answers
### Answer by username_1 on 2014-04-28. Score: 5 | Accepted answer
In part 1, chapter 7 (or, for a shorter version, episode 4), we learn the following from the false minoshiro:

> It was only in the 2011th year of the Gregorian calendar that a scientist of a protohistorical civilization conclusively documented psychokinesis, hitherto thought to be a supernatural telekinetic phenomenon. [...]
>
> Every prior experimental investigation of PK had been a disastrous failure, whether conducted in public or in a scientific facility. In 2011, however, a cognitive scientist from the Republic of Azerbaijan - Imran Ismailov - conducted an experiment in the nation's capital, Baku, that was a near-total success. At the time, the quantum-mechanical paradox in which the mere act of observing an object can induce changes in it was well known. Ismailov was the first to suggest that PK could be used to amplify this phenomenon to macroscopic levels. [...]
>
> ...The first person identified by Ismailov as possessing preternatural abilities was a 19-year-old girl by the name of Nona Mardanova. She could do nothing more than move a plastic ball, light as a feather, sealed inside a transparent tube. And yet, it is thought that it was she that caused mankind to undergo a transformation, as if she were a seed crystal in a solution, stimulating the formation of more like crystals. People from around the world followed in her footsteps, awakening a power that had 'till then lay dormant within them.

So basically, this is how it went down: some people were "inherent" psychokinetikers, like Nona Mardanova - they had abilities that normal humans didn't possess. Their abilities were, however, very limited, and not at all on the level of the people in Saki's time.

Ismailov conducted experiments on these people (specifically, on Mardanova; I don't believe he conducted any other experiments). We don't know what the experiments exactly consisted of, for two reasons: much information was lost over the thousand years that separate Ismailov from Saki; and Ismailov himself went to great lengths to ensure that nobody but he would know the full scope of the experiments.

Whatever Ismailov did, it "awakened" Mardanova. From there, it spread. We don't know how that happened either - the false minoshiro doesn't address it. It seems that once PK exists (i.e. the experiments on Mardanova happened), it spreads. Somehow. Even in Saki's time, people don't really understand how it happens - children are sometimes born without PK, despite the existence of non-PK users being an existential threat to society.
> **Comments:**
> **username_0** (2014-04-28): Quick question, what happened to those kids born without PK powers in the time of Saki?  
> **username_1** (2014-04-28): They get killed off. That's what happened to Reiko at the very beginning.  
> **username_0** (2014-04-28): Oh, how sad. Why is that? They don't even seem to be a threat of becoming ogres or the other thing monster (forgot the name, arghh...)...  
> **username_1** (2014-04-28): I might be misremembering this at the moment, but I _believe_ the issue is that if you don't have PK, then you don't have death feedback. And if you don't have death feedback, there's nothing stopping you from going on a murderous rampage (with mundane weapons), since everybody _else_ has death feedback, and they can't stop you. This is sort of like being an akki/fiend/ogre, only not as bad, since hey - at least you don't have PK with which to slaughter people.  
> **username_0** (2014-04-28): Well, that makes sense (even if its a guess), hahaha. Also, did you translate that portion of the novel yourself or is there an english version?  
> **username_1** (2014-04-28): @Pinocchio I translated it myself. If you consult the great Google, you may or may not be able to find an English version out there.  
---
