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General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Questions Regarding the History of the Term "Psionics."
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<blockquote data-quote="Aaron L" data-source="post: 7897271" data-attributes="member: 926"><p>I was just re-reading this wonderful article about Gary Gygax and D&D's contributions to the English language: <a href="http://phrontistery.info/disq6.html" target="_blank">From the Dungeon to the Dictionary</a> </p><p></p><p>But it left me with wondering; in the article, it states " ...he [Gygax] is the popularizer of teleport and psionic, both of which feature prominently in Theodore Sturgeon's compelling 1953 SF novel <em>More than Human</em>... " Is this really the case? Does the prevalence of the terms <em>psionic</em> and <em>teleport</em> really pay a large debt to Gygax's use of the terms in D&D and their spread into popular culture due to their use by D&D players? I really have no idea about <em>psionics</em>, as the term has been in my vocabulary for literally as long as I can remember, but then again I have been a fan and heavy reader of fantasy and science-fiction also for as long as I can remember. </p><p></p><p>Does anyone know when these words became commonly established? Or recall a time when <em>psionics</em> was a novel term in the world at large? As for <em>teleport</em>, from what I understand the word is generally credited to Charles Fort as <em>teleportation</em> to describe things disappearing or inexplicably moving from place to place without discernible cause, and I'm pretty sure it was already in widespread use to mean "moving from one place to another without crossing the physical space in-between" in science-fiction in general at least since the 1950s or '60s; I do recall that in <em>Uncanny X-Men</em> #1 Jean Grey was said to be able to move objects with her mind through the use of <em>teleportation</em> rather than <em>telekinesis</em>, as I don't think those words had quite yet acquired their final, concrete meanings by that point in the '60s (or maybe they already had and Stan Lee just goofed and mixed up the terms, which is <em>totally </em>possible.)</p><p></p><p>I know that there was a popular trend of research into ESP and psychic phenomena in the '70s and '80s at various universities and government/military institutions, as an outgrowth of the general psychedelic ideas and "New Age" beliefs that were entering popular culture at the time (see <u>Altered States</u>, one of my favorite movies) but from what I understand in that research it was generally termed just <em>"psi"</em> and not the full <em>"psionic,"</em> but I could be wrong and the researchers could have just been using <em>"psi"</em> as shorthand for <em>"psionic."</em></p><p></p><p>Does anyone have any idea when the term <em>"psionics" </em>really started becoming commonly known? I'm curious. I assume that its use in comic books spread it further than anything else (no one can read any <em>X-Men</em> comic book for long without coming away with an understanding of what <em>psionics</em> or <em>psionic power</em> means.) Or are there any other D&D related terms that seem common to you but have baffled other people when you used them? I know that just recently my mom was baffled when I used the word "ichor" and she said she had never heard the word before in her life, which actually astonished <em>me</em> as she is otherwise generally quite well-read; I didn't think <em>ichor</em> was that obscure, either as a general term for "monster gore" or as the original meaning of the golden, <em>nectar</em>-infused blood of the Greek Gods. I also know that eldritch used to be obsuce until Lovecraft resurrected it, and even now it is still generally associated with him. Anyone else have any similar experiences?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Aaron L, post: 7897271, member: 926"] I was just re-reading this wonderful article about Gary Gygax and D&D's contributions to the English language: [URL='http://phrontistery.info/disq6.html']From the Dungeon to the Dictionary[/URL] But it left me with wondering; in the article, it states " ...he [Gygax] is the popularizer of teleport and psionic, both of which feature prominently in Theodore Sturgeon's compelling 1953 SF novel [I]More than Human[/I]... " Is this really the case? Does the prevalence of the terms [I]psionic[/I] and [I]teleport[/I] really pay a large debt to Gygax's use of the terms in D&D and their spread into popular culture due to their use by D&D players? I really have no idea about [I]psionics[/I], as the term has been in my vocabulary for literally as long as I can remember, but then again I have been a fan and heavy reader of fantasy and science-fiction also for as long as I can remember. Does anyone know when these words became commonly established? Or recall a time when [I]psionics[/I] was a novel term in the world at large? As for [I]teleport[/I], from what I understand the word is generally credited to Charles Fort as [I]teleportation[/I] to describe things disappearing or inexplicably moving from place to place without discernible cause, and I'm pretty sure it was already in widespread use to mean "moving from one place to another without crossing the physical space in-between" in science-fiction in general at least since the 1950s or '60s; I do recall that in [I]Uncanny X-Men[/I] #1 Jean Grey was said to be able to move objects with her mind through the use of [I]teleportation[/I] rather than [I]telekinesis[/I], as I don't think those words had quite yet acquired their final, concrete meanings by that point in the '60s (or maybe they already had and Stan Lee just goofed and mixed up the terms, which is [I]totally [/I]possible.) I know that there was a popular trend of research into ESP and psychic phenomena in the '70s and '80s at various universities and government/military institutions, as an outgrowth of the general psychedelic ideas and "New Age" beliefs that were entering popular culture at the time (see [U]Altered States[/U], one of my favorite movies) but from what I understand in that research it was generally termed just [I]"psi"[/I] and not the full [I]"psionic,"[/I] but I could be wrong and the researchers could have just been using [I]"psi"[/I] as shorthand for [I]"psionic."[/I] Does anyone have any idea when the term [I]"psionics" [/I]really started becoming commonly known? I'm curious. I assume that its use in comic books spread it further than anything else (no one can read any [I]X-Men[/I] comic book for long without coming away with an understanding of what [I]psionics[/I] or [I]psionic power[/I] means.) Or are there any other D&D related terms that seem common to you but have baffled other people when you used them? I know that just recently my mom was baffled when I used the word "ichor" and she said she had never heard the word before in her life, which actually astonished [I]me[/I] as she is otherwise generally quite well-read; I didn't think [I]ichor[/I] was that obscure, either as a general term for "monster gore" or as the original meaning of the golden, [I]nectar[/I]-infused blood of the Greek Gods. I also know that eldritch used to be obsuce until Lovecraft resurrected it, and even now it is still generally associated with him. Anyone else have any similar experiences? [/QUOTE]
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