psionics

Psionics refers to the purported ability to access or influence mental processes beyond ordinary sensory or motor function. The term covers a range of alleged phenomena collectively called psi, and is widely used in science fiction, fantasy, and gaming to describe disciplined powers of the mind.

Common psionic abilities include telepathy (direct mind-to-mind communication), clairvoyance (perceiving distant or hidden information), psychokinesis (influencing physical objects or events with the mind), precognition (knowledge of future events), psychometry (gaining information from objects by touch), and empathic or mood-reading abilities.

Historically, psionics blends ideas from early parapsychology and speculative fiction. In real-world science, the existence of psi is unproven and controversial. Parapsychology has conducted experiments such as Ganzfeld procedures and remote viewing studies, but results have not yielded reproducible evidence and the field remains outside the mainstream scientific consensus.

In popular culture and games, psionics is often codified as a system of rules and abilities. Role-playing games frequently feature psionic classes and disciplines that define how psions operate, while novels and films use psionic powers as plot devices to explore themes of perception, control, and ethics.

Overall, psionics encompasses a broad set of claimed mental powers that lack widely accepted scientific validation but have a lasting presence in fiction, gaming, and speculative discourse.