I think where I'm stuck is this:

Maybe it's a genetic mutation that mines some previously untapped aspect of the human brain and its abilities or something

If so, that doesn't translate to "holodeck" to me. I could see feeding a psychic certain data points and then waiting for them to envision the future outcome, but projecting it seems like it should require hardware.

And trust me, I'm a lot confused. Hence the trying to talk it out.

but projecting it seems like it should require hardware.

Hm. I see what you're saying, Amy-- especially if people are drawn into the scenario who don't have the ability themselves.

Maybe a combination of projecting an outcome and the ability to shift reality? Sort of like a psychokinesis on steroids?

OK not trying to understand how it works. Trying to understand what people with the power can and can't do.

OK say Koch pays a projector to project a world where Glen Beck is elected President in 2012. Which of the follow happens:

1) Projector twitches nose, and Glen Beck is elected President in 2012?

2) Projector travels to a "projection" where Glen Beck is elected President in 2012, and brings back information about how that helped Koch brothers can use to make it happen in reality?

3) Projector takes Koch brothers with him into projection and they come back with useful information, but at any rate got to experience the wonder of American ruled by President Beck?

And I would not worry about whether it requires hardware yet. I'm still trying to get what it can and cannot do.

Maybe a combination of projecting an outcome and the ability to shift reality?

That's ... an awful big power. Like in your example of a war scenario above: where is the projector when s/he imagines this outcome? Because what you're saying (I think) is that then s/he would be in the middle of a battle or something, yes? So the battle appears ... in that office? Or the projector goes to it?

Do you see what I mean?

I think what seems interesting is what you said about manipulating the situation. Like in Minority Report, but taking it a step farther. If someone can foresee an outcome based on whatever criteria are present *now*, the chance to change it is a powerful one. And a story might be in someone changing a situation for personal gain, but creating some kind of huge problem that they then have to fix.

Or something.

3) Projector takes Koch brothers with him into projection and they come back with useful information, but at any rate got to experience the wonder of American ruled by President Beck?

Yeah, I think this is the closest to what I was envisioning.

That's ... an awful big power. Like in your example of a war scenario above: where is the projector when s/he imagines this outcome? Because what you're saying (I think) is that then s/he would be in the middle of a battle or something, yes? So the battle appears ... in that office? Or the projector goes to it?

I know, right? Which might take it beyond the realm of my ability to portray it in any kind of convincing way. But yeah, you've got the gist of it down-- although I'm not certain either whether the projectionist could create the scenario is a big warehouse-y sort of edifice (again, ala a holodeck sort of thing) or they'd have to be taken to a location.

Which... actually... kind of presents an interesting scenario there. Being able to project/shift reality in a way that makes it seem as if a significant amount of time has passed, but then when the projectionist "comes back" only a few seconds have passed.

I dunno... it's a big, jumbled mess and like I said, it just literally flashed in my mind and I scribbled down everything I could think of.

I have to stop watching films like Inception late at night. It fucks with my mind way too much.

OK. One more question. Billionare wants a painting that is not for sale. Pays projector to visit projection where it is for sale and buys it. Can Billionare bring projection version of painting back with him to our world? If projected world has a cure for cancer we don't, can billionare visit projection hospital get cured and come back healthy? Can billionaire look up the details while he is at it, and bring back the secret of the cure to our own world?

Okay, that's different from what I was thinking.

I was thinking perhaps than for a brief period of time they could change the outcome of a probability. What if person A decided to say 'no' instead of 'yes' and, bang!, reality has shifted. But once manipulated a probability can never be shifted again and once the time window closes it's done with. Could get really strange if you have two of these people trying to accomplish different goals, reality could be changing all over the place.