I figured since this is the tagline of the book, I
should, for once, ask myself this question.
In Illuminated, Nikki has the power to experience
other people’s emotions, read their thoughts, and understand their underlying
beliefs. But it goes further than that: she can also influence them. Giving an
order within a thought can lead to the person actually doing the thing.
Manipulating feelings can make others feel safe or take away their anger.
Altering someone’s beliefs can affect their entire personality.
Initially, I think all of us will think, “No, of course
not. That’s wrong.”
And manipulating people is wrong. I think we can
all agree on that.
However, Nikki finds herself in situations where using
her powers in such a way might not be so bad. What if you could change a belief
that could take away someone’s insecurity? What if it would make them
self-confident? What if someone’s depressed and we could use our powers to make
them feel better? Or even cure them from their depression? Would it still be
wrong?
And that’s where it becomes more complicated, right?
When we think about the power to control people, we think it’s something to use
for selfish reasons. But when we can also use it to help other people, it
becomes a different story.
I personally feel it’s still not the right thing to do.
I always feel change isn’t truly change unless the person decides to change
things for themselves. If a change is forced upon them by someone else, have
they truly changed? They didn’t have the chance to learn and use their
experiences to change. And, when it comes to curing disorders like depression,
I think it’s similar to using medications. It will likely help, but because
it’s very complex, there will very likely be side effects. If you change one
belief, it affects others. And disorders like depression aren’t just rooted in
beliefs—it’s a complex interplay of chemicals. Let’s say it would be possible
to change those as well; there’s a very good chance something will go wrong.
I think the only justified reason to use these powers to
control someone, is when you’re in danger. If someone would threaten me—and I
mean really threaten me—I would use it as self-defense. I’d use it to
calm them down and make them walk away.
I always love these types of questions because, at first
glance, they seem very black-and-white. But when you think about it more, there
are always instances we can think about where it might be okay to use these
powers or perhaps even the right thing to do. It’s these questions that Nikki
struggles with in the book as well—rarely anything is ever truly
black-and-white.
I think in a best-case scenario, these powers should be
used to help people understand themselves and heal themselves. I always like to
compare it with an extreme form of empathy. It’s possible to use it to get
people to do what you want. But it’s much better to use your empathy to help
people figure out their issues and work through them. Or even if we could use
it to understand each other and where we come from. We don’t always have to
agree with each other. But if we can understand each other, I think it’ll be a
lot easier to have meaningful conversations and affect real change.
In that sense, I feel empathy truly is a superpower.
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Thank you for featuring my book and being part of this tour! :)
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