WORLD HISTORY

WORLD HISTORY
ABOUT | PERMISSIONS | SEBASTIAN

Zetes inhabits a world that is, at least on its topmost layers, not unrecognizable when set alongside this one--the year is the same, technology levels are comparable, the political landscape remains a mess ( although the president is not orange, thank christ ), etc. Where things start to diverge is that sometime in the 60s, a seemingly inexplicable phenomenon began amongst young adolescents: cases of extreme - often debilitatingly so - sensitivity to their immediate environment. Constant headaches, nosebleeds, social anxiety where none had existed before, even hearing voices--all symptoms reported in slow but steadily increasing frequency. It took years of testing and mistakes to establish links across seemingly unrelated incidents, and even longer to create a complete picture of what these conditions were and how to manage them.

The first "official" name given this class of neurodivergence was Lingenfelter's Disease - named for one of the prominent researchers who first hypothesized a 12 year old overwhelmed in a school assembly could be sharing experience with a older teen whose complete withdrawal from touch of any kind had her parents increasingly concerned. As the medical community developed more nuanced understanding, however, it became clear physical symptoms like headaches and nosebleeds were uniformly caused by pressure on a patient's mental state, and by the late 80s psionic disorder was the more accepted terminology, with more clearly delineated subclassification to follow. Type 1 encompassed those whose sensitivities were considered intrapersonal ( what might typically be referred to as telepathy, empathy or dreamwalking ), 2 hewed to those interacting much more explicitly with the environment ( causality perception, death perception ), and the third exhibited characteristics of both ( i.e. pre and retrocognitive, psychometry, mediumship ).

For some it was a relief to have a name to put to their struggles, an identity and sense of community, but others were apprehensive about the acquisition of a label that bore a certain stigma from the time its existence became common knowledge. Rather than finely honed abilities, these characteristics created new challenges in the already unwieldy task of navigating and interacting with the world.

By the turn of the century, the concept of the psionic disorder and those who suffered them had been somewhat uneasily integrated into the larger fabric of society. Legislature set a number of precedents, from the military ( restricted, but not entirely off-limits ) to the justice system, where questioning could be done in the presence of a psychic only with written consent, to the medical, where insurance coverage regarding prescription suppressants and related treatment remains a hotly contested topic right up to the present. The political arena found itself with new platforms to address as the religious right often adopted a position of either incredulity or wariness: surely such conditions could be managed with the power of prayer, and if not, their source was not to be trusted, making these individuals at best dangerous, and at worst - though this was an opinion held only by minority fundamentalists - demonic.

At the other end of the sociopolitical spectrum, pro-sci activists began to campaign for a shift in perception. Disorder became significantly more controversial as an appellation; though seen as less inherently negative than disease, the movement to view psionics as simply different rather than inherently maligned has been steadily gaining in momentum, though even within the community opinions are largely divided between two poles. Many share concerns that the former ideals, while well-intentioned, will set back progress in terms of best practice medical treatment and autonomy.

world history write-up courtesy of lynn ♥

code bases by tricklet