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Treecat isolation tanks

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Treecat isolation tanks
Post by penny   » Sun Jul 28, 2024 8:18 am

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Treecat isolation tanks


Whatever one chooses to call it — the isolation tank or sensory deprivation tank or flotation tank — it is said to enhance the senses. I have been wondering if it could enhance a treecat’s senses resulting in a very significant increase in their telepathic range.

I was thinking about an isolation tank produced out of an escape pod with a treecat inside floating in some solution determined to be optimal. These pods can be tested at various locations inside the hyper limit. The system might significantly increase the range of their senses. They might be able to detect LDs by detecting the malevolent mind voices. I don't think a treecat has ever been isolated from other mind voices and mind glows to that extent. Effectively isolated in an isolation tank.

However, weightlessness is a byproduct of being in space without floating in a solution. I wonder what HV technology and science could come up with as a variation on the theme.

Treecats don't particularly care about getting wet, so volunteers will be needed. LOL



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isolation_tank
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Re: Treecat isolation tanks
Post by penny   » Sun Jul 28, 2024 8:29 am

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The LDs might make Manticore desperate.
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Re: Treecat isolation tanks
Post by ThinksMarkedly   » Sun Jul 28, 2024 11:06 am

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penny wrote:Treecat isolation tanks


Whatever one chooses to call it — the isolation tank or sensory deprivation tank or flotation tank — it is said to enhance the senses.


Why do you think it isolates them? In vacuum they would hear no sound from the rest of the ship, but they should still see out of it. And I don't think it isolates their telempathic sense from the crew either.

I was thinking about an isolation tank produced out of an escape pod with a treecat inside floating in some solution determined to be optimal. These pods can be tested at various locations inside the hyper limit. The system might significantly increase the range of their senses.


You're talking about extending the senses outside of the pod, so it really is not a sensory-deprivation pod.

Treecat voices appear to be limited to a few tens of km on Sphinx, even for the strongest of them. But here's an interesting correlation: that's about the same range of the horizon on your typical rocky planet for a vantage point about two metres off the ground. So it could be that sense can't extend further because the other treecat would be below the horizon. That would mean in space, with unlimited direct-line vantage, they could sense and communicate at much longer distances.

It's not likely that a bit of ground and earth is more of an impediment than trees. And that mountains aren't.
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Re: Treecat isolation tanks
Post by penny   » Sun Jul 28, 2024 12:05 pm

penny
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penny wrote:Treecat isolation tanks


Whatever one chooses to call it — the isolation tank or sensory deprivation tank or flotation tank — it is said to enhance the senses.
Thinksmarkedly wrote:Why do you think it isolates them? In vacuum they would hear no sound from the rest of the ship, but they should still see out of it. And I don't think it isolates their telempathic sense from the crew either.

I am talking about a purpose-built escape pod that has a single treecat as an occupant. The isolation is a result of the treecat being beyond their maximum telepathic range.

Let's assume that a treecat's maximum range is the tens of km you gave as a reference. I would wager that no single treecat has ever been beyond that particular range of both another treecat or any other lifeforms's mind-glow, human or animal. Essentially being out of range of any other interference of any kind. Treecat, two-leg or animal.

There might have been a treecat out of range of other cats when the Mesan Alignment captured one and it died in captivity. The sensory isolation from another treecat might have played an integral part in it dying.

penny wrote:I am thinking about an isolation tank produced out of an escape pod with a treecat inside floating in some solution determined to be optimal. These pods can be tested at various locations inside the hyper limit. The system might significantly increase the range of their senses.
Thinksmarkedly wrote:You're talking about extending the senses outside of the pod, so it really is not a sensory-deprivation pod.

See above. You might have the wrong understanding of a sensory deprivation tank. The deprivation is a result of being cut off from as much outside sensory input as possible. Smell, sound, voices, people, etc. Being as isolated fom the world and its distractions as possible. It is a fact that losing one sense, like sight, causes the other senses to increase to compensate.

Thinksmarkedly wrote:Treecat voices appear to be limited to a few tens of km on Sphinx, even for the strongest of them. But here's an interesting correlation: that's about the same range of the horizon on your typical rocky planet for a vantage point about two metres off the ground. So it could be that sense can't extend further because the other treecat would be below the horizon. That would mean in space, with unlimited direct-line vantage, they could sense and communicate at much longer distances.

Very interesting. And brilliant correlation. That would be awesome if true. Imagine treecats being able to communicate with each other to relay commands in cases where communications are down. Like the situation Honor found herself in at Hancock. Or a truly incognito form of communication ship to ship that cannot be intercepted.

Thinksmarkedly wrote:It's not likely that a bit of ground and earth is more of an impediment than trees. And that mountains aren't.

Again, very interesting. I am surprised the RMN does not look into it. The benefit would be immeasurable. Especially if a treecat's empathic sense can detect malevolence in space. Specially built pods can assist the treecat with triangulating the malevolence.


P.S. Brilliant insight Thinksmarkedly.
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Re: Treecat isolation tanks
Post by ThinksMarkedly   » Sun Jul 28, 2024 9:33 pm

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penny wrote:I am talking about a purpose-built escape pod that has a single treecat as an occupant. The isolation is a result of the treecat being beyond their maximum telepathic range.


Ah, ok.

When you say "sensory deprivation tank" I assumed the tank would do the deprivation all by itself or with aid of the medium it's immersed in, like they do for us. That's not what you're saying: you're saying that the tank is transparent to the treecats' empathic sense, so it does not deprive them at all of that faculty, which is what I was referring to and misunderstood you on.

It's the distance that deprives them of contact. So "sensory deprivation pod" is a bad name.

See above. You might have the wrong understanding of a sensory deprivation tank. The deprivation is a result of being cut off from as much outside sensory input as possible. Smell, sound, voices, people, etc. Being as isolated fom the world and its distractions as possible. It is a fact that losing one sense, like sight, causes the other senses to increase to compensate.


Indeed they do. But that's usually when you lose your main sense, which for us is eyesight. Deaf people don't usually have better hearing or eyesight, nor do people who can't smell anything (my aunt lost her sense of smell in childhood due to smallpox, for example). For treecats, that would be their Voice.

And indeed we do see one treecat in A New Clan that lost his Voice due to illness (before Laughs Brightly a.k.a. Nimitz) and did expand his other senses somewhat. He was also interested in agriculture, to the point that he was almost a vegetarian treecat. Almost.

So I don't think depriving treecats of all senses other than the Voice in the pod is going to accomplish anything. But moving them out of contact with other sentients might.

Very interesting. And brilliant correlation. That would be awesome if true. Imagine treecats being able to communicate with each other to relay commands in cases where communications are down. Like the situation Honor found herself in at Hancock. Or a truly incognito form of communication ship to ship that cannot be intercepted.


Beware that correlation is not causation.

It could be a spurious correlations, like the correlation between the per capita consumption of margarine and the divorce rates in Maine.

Only RFC can tell us if this is true.

Again, very interesting. I am surprised the RMN does not look into it. The benefit would be immeasurable. Especially if a treecat's empathic sense can detect malevolence in space. Specially built pods can assist the treecat with triangulating the malevolence.


They might be now, or have been doing so for a few years since all treecats started using sign language and the conspiracy to hide their intelligence was brought down. Alfred had to study Nimitz and the treecats' telempathic senses to try and fix his Voice, for example.

By the way, has he succeeded? We know Laughs Brightly continues to use sign-language, but we have not heard any treecat's points of view since his return from Hades while in close proximity to him. I think the only treecat PoV we've seen since was Clean Killer, shortly before he adopted Harahap and changed his own name to Fire Watch.
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Re: Treecat isolation tanks
Post by penny   » Mon Jul 29, 2024 6:01 am

penny
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Posts: 1200
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ThinksMarkedly wrote:
penny wrote:I am talking about a purpose-built escape pod that has a single treecat as an occupant. The isolation is a result of the treecat being beyond their maximum telepathic range.


Ah, ok.

When you say "sensory deprivation tank" I assumed the tank would do the deprivation all by itself or with aid of the medium it's immersed in, like they do for us. That's not what you're saying: you're saying that the tank is transparent to the treecats' empathic sense, so it does not deprive them at all of that faculty, which is what I was referring to and misunderstood you on.

It's the distance that deprives them of contact. So "sensory deprivation pod" is a bad name.

See above. You might have the wrong understanding of a sensory deprivation tank. The deprivation is a result of being cut off from as much outside sensory input as possible. Smell, sound, voices, people, etc. Being as isolated fom the world and its distractions as possible. It is a fact that losing one sense, like sight, causes the other senses to increase to compensate.


Indeed they do. But that's usually when you lose your main sense, which for us is eyesight. Deaf people don't usually have better hearing or eyesight, nor do people who can't smell anything (my aunt lost her sense of smell in childhood due to smallpox, for example). For treecats, that would be their Voice.

And indeed we do see one treecat in A New Clan that lost his Voice due to illness (before Laughs Brightly a.k.a. Nimitz) and did expand his other senses somewhat. He was also interested in agriculture, to the point that he was almost a vegetarian treecat. Almost.

So I don't think depriving treecats of all senses other than the Voice in the pod is going to accomplish anything. But moving them out of contact with other sentients might.

Very interesting. And brilliant correlation. That would be awesome if true. Imagine treecats being able to communicate with each other to relay commands in cases where communications are down. Like the situation Honor found herself in at Hancock. Or a truly incognito form of communication ship to ship that cannot be intercepted.


Beware that correlation is not causation.

It could be a spurious correlations, like the correlation between the per capita consumption of margarine and the divorce rates in Maine.

Only RFC can tell us if this is true.

Again, very interesting. I am surprised the RMN does not look into it. The benefit would be immeasurable. Especially if a treecat's empathic sense can detect malevolence in space. Specially built pods can assist the treecat with triangulating the malevolence.


They might be now, or have been doing so for a few years since all treecats started using sign language and the conspiracy to hide their intelligence was brought down. Alfred had to study Nimitz and the treecats' telempathic senses to try and fix his Voice, for example.

By the way, has he succeeded? We know Laughs Brightly continues to use sign-language, but we have not heard any treecat's points of view since his return from Hades while in close proximity to him. I think the only treecat PoV we've seen since was Clean Killer, shortly before he adopted Harahap and changed his own name to Fire Watch.

And, after Nimitz lost his voice didn't his connection to Honor get stronger? (Subject to timeline verification.)

Dunno how Alfred's research and promise to Honor is coming. I think that question is in the back of every reader's mind.

I also wonder if the MA's research might yield how to repair the inability of some people to regenerate. It would be nice if at least research leading to that discovery was found on Galton.

Nimitz should also be a part of the isolation experiment.
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