Line #53 Main/ConvenientlyCoherentThoughts


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7	->''"The mind is not a book, to be opened at will and examined at leisure. Thoughts are not etched on the inside of skulls, to be perused by any invader. The mind is a complex and many-layered thing."''
8	-->-- '''Professor Snape''' [[DefiedTrope defying this trope]], ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix''
9
10	People do not always think in complete sentences, and often idly muse on trivial things for a few seconds before passing to the next thought. Some don't even think in words, but pictures or events. However, when {{telepath\|y}}s read minds, they don't have to sift through all of that 'mental' garbage. The thoughts that they read are usually incredibly coherent ([[ExactEavesDropping and relevant to the plot]]).
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12	This might be an AcceptableBreakFromReality; forcing the audience to hear a bunch of garbled thoughts might be entertaining [[note]]to the author, and often also to the audience[[/note]], but likely not in a way that contributes to the plot. Could also be considered a kind of TranslationConvention -- just as you can understand a guy speaking French if the character understands it, you can understand the garbled contents of someone's head if they're filtered through the mind of a trained or experienced telepath, who might also already have some sense of where they could find the information they are looking for.
13	----
14	!!Examples:
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16	[[foldercontrol]]
17
18	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
19	* ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'': Schierke can read people's thoughts at great distances. Unfortunately, the images he sees are either traumatic (when piggybacking on Guts) or embarrassing (Isidoro when he's staring at Isma's breasts).
20	* {{Averted\|Trope}} in ''Manga/KotouraSan''. Haruka eventually realized even with her {{telepathy}} she didn't get to pick up ''everything'', like her mom's [[spoiler:remorse for disowning her]].
21	* Averted in ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' with Nodoka: When she reads minds with her artifact she has to ask what she wants to know to cause them to think about it.
22	* Played with in ''Manga/SPYxFAMILY''. While Anya can read a person's mind and they read rather easily, she can still be overwhelmed if they think about too many things at once (like Twilight's fast, multiple-possibility thoughts of dealing with potential issues, Yuri's thoughts all revolving around his sister) and she can't keep up, even comparing the sensation being akin to heartburn. She can also read a person's mind while they are in the middle of an {{Angrish}} rant, but she obviously can't follow it very well. This includes thoughts that are too advanced for someone her young age -- for example, words that are too complicated for her or which she mistakes for similar words, or doesn't necessarily understand the emotional meaning behind (like not realizing that Damian's abrasive behavior towards her is because [[ObliviousToLove of his crush on her]]).
23	* Deconstructed in ''Manga/TokyoShinobiSquad''. Telepathy is a skill anyone can acquire. However, it typically takes at least a few years of practice to read people's thoughts coherently and without harming the other person, which is why other characters were astonished that KidSidekick En could pick up on it in only a matter of weeks. Even then, to read someone else's thoughts, the user has to place both hands on the subject's head in a specific way. [[spoiler:In the DistantFinale, when En has grown up and become the world's premier telepath, he is still needs to use this pose to access people's memories, suggesting this is a limitation that cannot be overcome.]]
24	[[/folder]]
25
26	[[folder:Comic Books]]
27	* [[SpiderManSendUp Swatto]] from ''ComicBook/TheBoys'' can only read minds at short distances; it merely becomes "there's someone in the room" at longer distances. Shortly before his death, he does pick up on Billy's overriding thought: "You're all ''fucked''."
28	* ''ComicBook/{{Empowered}}'' interestingly subverts this for Mindf██k when she ''projects'' her thoughts -- her subconscious associations etc. have a tendency to "bleed through", as in this telepathic conversation with Sistah Spooky:
29	-->'''Mindf██k:''' ''Mmmm''. Tasty (''No, delicious'')! Please, have ''another'' honey walnut (''cholesterol'') shrimp. I can't actually eat them ''myself'' (stupid ''shellfish allergy''), but I do like (''adore'') piggybacking ''your'' sensorium's exquisite appreciation of them.\
30	'''Spookums:''' Glpp Well, if it isn't ''Mindf██k''. GROANN You ''would'' have to telepathically ''burst in on me'', [[DropInCharacter wacky-sitcom-neighbor]]-style, while I'm ''binge-eating''.\
31	'''Mindf██k:''' I (in)sincerely (pseudo)apologize for the ''intrusion'', but this is the only point in our (lonely) orbit where my ''unaugmented thoughtstream'' can reach you.
32	* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'': Averted in UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks:
33	** Despite ComicBook/WonderWoman's low level telepathy she cannot read minds unless the person in question is using a Mental Radio, she can only tell there are people nearby, make Mental Radio calls without one physically present on her end and occasionally tell when someone has nefarious intentions especially if they're lying about said intentions.
34	** Gail Young is a proper telepath but cannot read thoughts clearly unless she's in close proximity to the target and blocks out other distractions. She usually has to close her eyes or blindfold herself.
35	* Subverted a few times in ''ComicBook/XMen'' when a telepath catches random thoughts from a larger group of persons and often can't even pinpoint from whom they originate. Take two panels from ''X-Men Legacy'' #234, when Rogue absorbs telepathic powers from the Stepford Cuckoos and receives the following potpourri while walking among other mutants on Utopia (infuriatingly, [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse neither Rogue nor the readers ever find out who was behind the last line]]).
36	-->...wish I had an energy power instead of a...\
37	...waiting for a chance to say "X marks the spot"...\
38	...never knew the Creator/BennyHill tune even had a name...\
39	...told him the angle that subtends towards the vertical is called the...\
40	...so if we keep on going west we'll end up in...\
41	...can't see why you'd need lip gloss if you...\
42	...nine consecutive strikeouts. That's one less than Seaver managed in...\
43	[[AllLoveIsUnrequited ...wonder if you even know I'm here, Rogue. Still less how I feel about you.]] How I ''burn'' for...
44	[[/folder]]
45
46	[[folder:Film]]
47	* PlayedForLaughs in ''Film/AirplaneIITheSequel''. After the Mayflower space shuttle malfunctions, someone in the space traffic control room asks "What do your people think?" The audience is briefly granted the power of {{Telepathy}} so we can hear the controllers' thoughts.
48	-->'''Controller #1:''' They're screwed.\
49	'''Controller #2:''' They're dead.\
50	'''[[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Johnny]]:''' [[TheTriple Did I leave the iron on?]]
51	* Fitting with the ''Harry Potter'' example in the Literature folder below, the sister ''Film/FantasticBeasts '' film series defies this. American Queenie has a hard time reading British protagonist Newt's mind because the accent makes it hard for her to decipher. She also has a breakdown in the middle of Paris in the second film because she's overwhelmed with thoughts that are even more difficult to understand because they're in French and not English. She also can't read Grindelwald's (vaguely Central European) mind because English isn't his first language.
52	* Subverted in ''Film/TheLastJedi''. Snoke sees in [[spoiler:Kylo Ren]]'s mind that he has made up his mind and will ignite a lightsaber to strike down his true foe, [[spoiler:and is surprised when he gets [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe bisected]] instead of Rey]].
53	* In the UnratedEdition of ''Film/PrettyCool'', Howard reads his sister's friends' minds when he has sex with them, and hears them thinking about what they'd like him to do to them.
54	* ''Film/XMenFilmSeries'':
55	** ''Film/X2XMenUnited'': Played with when Jean Grey starts to lose control of her psychic abilities. Apparently, she can usually tune out the garbage and focus on the particular thoughts she's looking for, but when her [[PowerIncontinence powers start to malfunction]], she hears ''every thought of every person'' in the very crowded museum she's in. This gives her a headache, which causes her to involuntarily short out all the TV screens around her.
56	** ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'': A {{justified\|Trope}} case near the climax. Among the cacophony of thoughts at the White House, Xavier can distinctly hear Mystique's inner voice speaking, "This is for you, brothers and sisters." When you are Professor Charles Xavier, it's not convenience; it's skill.
57	[[/folder]]
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59	[[folder:Literature]]
60	* ''Literature/Afterglow2015'': Zig-zagged. Shannon can understand thoughts, but hears them in sentence fragments that she has to piece together.
61	* Zig-zagged in ''Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex''. After Accelerator's fight with Kihara Amata, he was left without use of his electrode and could barely think coherently on his own. However, when he's approached by telepathic Espers, he regains enough of his calculation ability to have a mental conversation with them. The only reason he's able to think coherently in the first place is because of the telepathic Espers giving him some of their calculating power.
62	* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
63	** Averted in ''Literature/SmallGods'' -- Om can't read minds because they're too chaotic, but he can get a feel for the general shape of them.
64	** Another example, when Granny Weatherwax's skill at Borrowing is discussed: birds and small animals have small, pointed minds tightly focused on feeding, mating, fighting, building nests, avoiding predators, seeking prey. Humans have a diffuse cloud of abstract thoughts and notions. This makes actually reading a human mind almost impossible, though Granny can pick up on thoughts that a large number of people are thinking at the same time, such as when she sensed the pervading fear in Genua in ''Literature/WitchesAbroad''.
65	* In the ''Literature/FirebirdTrilogy'', telepathic mind access provides coherent information to the accesser. This is somewhat justified, as the telepaths don't merely read the thoughts off the surface of the mind; they are actively directing what they see.
66	* Usually averted in ''Literature/HarryPotter'' with Legilimency, which is said to work by bringing up memories the legilimens wants to see. It takes great skill to sort through to the ones you want, and the recollections brought up tend to default to the victim's worst memories. In this case it was also shown to be a weakness as well as a strength, as [[spoiler: Voldemort inadvertently helped Harry find the horcruxes by thinking about them while trying to invade his mind.]] That being said, the Sorting Hat and [[Film/FantasticBeasts Queenie Goldstein]] are capable of sensing and even responding to a person's immediate thoughts.
67	* Averted in Rick Heller's "The Mind Field" (a ShortStory that appeared in the January 2001 issue of ''The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction''). A machine is invented that lets the French government read the minds of visitors to the French White House-equivalent. The machine reveals images they think of, not words and sentences, though the images are important clues -- e.g., where bodies are buried.
68	* Averted in Creator/CyrilMKornbluth's [[http://www.lesvampires.org/mindworm.html "The Mindworm"]]. When the telepathic title character picks up thoughts, they're almost always the standard "stream of consciousness" type. "Almost" always, but not quite, and played disturbingly straight in the main exception: the Mindworm snoops on someone solving a difficult calculus problem in their head, and withdraws in frantic haste when the math whiz somehow notices the Mindworm's snooping. So super-high intelligence includes ESP-proofing? Whoda thunkit?
69	* In the ''Literature/{{Relativity}}'' story "August Moon", Ravenswood is confronting the villain the story is named after and points his gun at him. Moon can read his thoughts clearly enough to predict when he'll pull the trigger, and dodges at just the right moment.
70	* Averted in ''Literature/TheSkinjackerTrilogy''. When 'skinjacking' a human, random disjointed thoughts just bounce around.
71	* In ''Literature/TheStrangeFateOfSamuelClemens'' by Jack Dunn, the first-person protagonist depicts a telepathic conversation this way, then in an aside to the reader explains that it was actually like a sequence of revelations that only lasted an instant, and apologises for [[YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm not being able to truly depict the experience]].
72	* Downplayed in '' Literature/{{Tadgifauna}}''. When Tadgifauna first meet a person, they can only communicate rough feelings. Telepathic communication only becomes clear after they've had time to form a bond.
73	* The novel ''Literature/TheTroubleWithJennysEar'' features an especially blatant example: the title character is asked to testify at the trial of a sleazy salesman, using her telepathic powers to determine whether he had committed intentional fraud in selling a local fisherman a useless "fish whistle". She listens in, and comes up with the ambiguous phrase, "You can always catch a sucker if you fish deep enough", which he naturally claims is an endorsement of his product rather than a comment on the gullibility of his customer.
74	[[/folder]]
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76	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
77	* In the ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' episode "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E18Earshot Earshot]]", the first thing the temporarily psychic Buffy reads from a boy in her school is "Man, one day these pants are gonna fall right off my ass." Coherent, but not particularly relevant or meaningful. As the telepathy gets worse, she starts "hearing" everyone around her at once.
78	* ''Series/Charmed2018'': Maggie's empathy is a subversion. The viewer hears coherent thoughts when she uses her power, but it's just TranslationConvention. She explains that she just gets flashes; she knows that Parker is keeping something from her, or maybe lying to her, or maybe just deceptive in general, but she can't tell when he's lying or what about.
79	* Somewhat subverted in the ''Series/DoctorWho'' serial "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS9E5TheTimeMonster The Time Monster]]". When the Doctor makes telepathic contact with Jo Grant, she only hears a cacophony of voices at first. Then the Doctor gets her to concentrate on the "main" one, and we get a clear conversation about how to save the day.
80	* Played with in the ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' episode "[[Recap/FireflyE14ObjectsInSpace Objects in Space]]". When River is shown reading the minds of the rest of the crew, their thoughts come in the form of clear sentences. However, in most cases they are non-sequiturs or irrelevant to the current situation or conversation. Except for the thoughts River gets when [[DirtyMindReading Zoe and Wash are making out]]; those actually come in the form of crashing ocean waves and other ''sensations'' that cause River to sway and stumble.
81	* Generally the case in ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' with Matt Parkman's telepathy, to the extent that Noah Bennett is able to [[PsychicStatic foil him]] by ''thinking in Japanese''. Possibly subverted in the BadFuture episode "Five Years Gone" -- an older, more experienced Matt Parkman has no trouble reading the mind of a confused Hiro Nakamura, who at that point only speaks Japanese, suggesting that his powers developed to such an extent that they overcame the mental, linguistic barrier (though it's also possible that Matt learned Japanese in those five years).
82	* Used with Kelly's mind-reading power in ''Series/{{Misfits}}'', to the point that she can even understand a dog's thoughts in perfect English.
83	* Happens to varying degrees in ''Series/NoOrdinaryFamily'', as Daphne is a mind-reader. Usually, the person will think a clear sentence related to what she's trying to find out, but sometimes it'll just be random nonsense.
84	* In ''Series/{{Raven}}'', the ConfessionCam segments after each challenge and at the beginning of some episodes are supposedly the contestants' thoughts being read by the titular presenter via the Raven's Eye.
85	* ''Series/TrueBlood'' is a pretty straight example. There are occasionally a few stray thoughts that don't give Sookie exactly what she's looking for, but they still almost always fall into line with what we expect the character to think ("this jerk better leave right now" "Doesn't she look like a tasty little meal" etc..) and never anything random like "did I water my plants?" or "what a cute skirt, I could use one like that."
86	* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'': After the protagonist of "[[Recap/TheTwilightZone1959S2E16APennyForYourThoughts A Penny for Your Thoughts]]" gains the ability to read minds, he hears a disgruntled bank employee planning to rob the bank. After he denounces him, though, it turns out that the man's been idly ''thinking'' about robbing the bank for years, but he'd never actually go through with it.
87	* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1985'': In "[[Recap/TheTwilightZone1985S2E9 Private Channel]]", Keith Barnes is able to read Mr. Williams' mind using his Walkman and learns that he intends to blow up the plane because the company negligently caused a crash in which his wife and daughter were killed.
88	[[/folder]]
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90	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
91	* ''TabletopGame/TeenagersFromOuterSpace'' has a novel way of handling this; when a PC tries to use telepathy, the GM makes up three different things the target might be thinking, and the player rolls a die to determine what they pick up. Thus, you may be trying to find out if your cute classmate fancies you, only to stumble upon her plans for world conquest through absolute control of toilet paper supplies. This is entirely appropriate for the game.
92	[[/folder]]
93
94	[[folder:Video Games]]
95	* When you read people's minds in ''VideoGame/DestroyAllHumans'', they give you a succinct sentence. Not always a relevant one, though...
96	* Mind-reading in ''VideoGame/DivinityIITheDragonKnightSaga'' allows you to pick up a fully understandable sentence, which is always the same no matter when you do it.
97	* In ''VideoGame/GhostTrick'', ghosts don't have voices and communicate directly through thought. The once-dead whose deaths have been averted via TimeTravel can also communicate this way, and hear the thoughts of ghosts. This trope is usually played straight (justifiably for the ghosts; not so much for the living), with a few exceptions:
98	** 1) Although most thought takes place in English, the in-conversation "flashbacks" are implied (and all but outright stated) to be visual thought transferred in the same way as the rest of the conversation. The other member in the conversation sometimes comments on things they could not have possibly known if they didn't get to see the flashback. Even then, they're incredibly well-organized.
99	** 2) At one point, Sissel has to keep a secret from [[spoiler:Kamila]], and kind of fails utterly by ''thinking about the secret he's trying to keep.''
100	** Early in the game, Ray interrupts Sissel's InternalMonologue and finishes it for him. It's still incredibly coherent, but there is no barrier between any form of thought and anyone else, making this an odd combination of Conveniently Coherent Thoughts and PowerIncontinence that is [[PlayingWithATrope played with]] in a way that can't quite be defined.
101	** Ray manages to keep quite a few secrets for quite a long time, including his appearance (he appears as a desk lamp for the entire game), because [[spoiler:he has been a ghost for over ten years, and has a lot of experience]]. This even extends to (MASSIVE SPOILERS) [[spoiler:outright lies; he convinces Sissel that he is the man in red, and tells him that he will cease to exist by morning]].
102	* Mind-reading in ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'' [[WelcomeToCorneria functions much the same as speech]], typically providing a clarification or amusing aside to whatever an NPC says when addressed.
103	* Mind-reading in ''VideoGame/LiveALive'' gives out fully constructed sentences.
104	[[/folder]]
105
106	[[folder:Visual Novels]]
107	* All characters in ''VisualNovel/{{Melody}}'' think in complete sentences all the time. This is especially prominent with the protagonist, who has expository monologues in his head every week (basically to summarize each chapter).
108	* ''VisualNovel/MuvLuvAlternative'': Defied. While telepaths do exist, to hear one of them describe it, telepathy is extremely confusing and open to interpretation. They can get vague memories out of the person they read, and while they can sense emotion, they perceive emotions as colors, rather than feeling the emotion themselves. One telepath outright says just talking to someone normally will give you better information than any amount of mind-reading will.
109	[[/folder]]
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111	[[folder:Webcomics]]
112	* ''Webcomic/{{Morphe}}'' [[PlayingWithATrope plays with this trope]]. Experienced mind mage Malloy is able to pluck complex thoughts from Asia and Adrestia in the first chapter. In recent chapters novice mind mage Asia attempts to read another student's mind and is assaulted with a barrage of disjointed images without any context.
113	* Played with in ''Webcomic/MousouTelepathy''. While Nakano is able to hear consistently coherent thoughts when she listens to other people's minds, it's implied later that she actually filters them out to hear the thoughts she wants to hear from who's sitting nearby (among strangers, usually the ones who [[HeroicSelfDeprecation don't like her]]). Averted in a WhatIf strip dealing with Toda getting the powers, where ''none'' of the thoughts he hears (save Nakano's) are coherent, and even then, it's implied in that strip that he's projecting his own feelings onto her.
114	* ''Webcomic/SleeplessDomain'': Vedika, a MagicalGirl with the power to form a PsychicLink with her allies, downplays this -- while the thoughts she and her partner consciously send and receive are mostly coherent, Vedika notes that it can be difficult to juggle her incoming and outgoing thoughts without getting overwhelmed. This is [[PaintingTheMedium represented visually]] when Vedika converses telepathically with Cassidy: the thoughts that Cassidy consciously projects are featured in the foreground thought bubbles, while fragments of her subconscious thoughts appear as background noise.
115	[[/folder]]
116
117	[[folder:Web Originals]]
118	* ''WebVideo/FreemansMind'' and a bunch of its spinoffs have characters whose thoughts are consistently coherent. Most people think with pictures or develop feeling and occasionally think with actual words when they are in deep thought, but the main character ALWAYS thinks in full sentences that are easily understandable.
119	* ''Roleplay/{{Glowfic}}'':
120	** {{Justified\|Trope}} with the Bells' mind-reading powers in Effulgence; Stella designed hers specifically for the sake of ensuring a coherent output, and the rest of them copied Stella's version.
121	** Osanwe, the Elves' telepathy from Silmaril is this - partially justified in that the characters are usually deliberately sending thoughts to each other, and sometimes there is a convention of coherently summarizing what the character conveyed without going into the "exact wording" of their thoughts.
122	[[/folder]]
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124	[[folder:Western Animation]]
125	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': Parodied in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS5E20TheBoyWhoKnewTooMuch The Boy Who Knew Too Much]]" when Bart is [[InnerMonologueConversation randomly able to hear Principal Skinner and Homer's inner monologues]]. Skinner's monologue is played straight, but [[TheDitz Homer]]'s thoughts suddenly trail off into the Meow Mix jingle.
126	[[/folder]]

Context Main / ConvenientlyCoherentThoughts