I don't understand why Sylar needs to stick his arm out at the object he is trying to control. He is using his mind to control it, not the tips of his fingers or hands.

He does this when moving guns around, cutting peoples heads open, squeezing the throat of HRG and countless other times he acts as if he is using his hands when he is controlling it with his mind.

Is this just sloppy writing, or is the same way you open your own mouth when feeding a baby?

I can't think of the term for it, but it's basically a physical aid for focusing a mental ability. It's been used in comics, cartoons, tv, books and movies for a long time now.

He usually does that but not always, remember when he held Ando in Isaac's loft with a choking gesture, then sneered and dropped his hand, continuing the hold. He also slid Jesse up the glass wall of the bank with no gestures. My biggest thing with him is when he and HRG raided the Canfield house and he shouts "...I will shoot!" while holding his hand out...!

It's a cinematic device to denote an associated dynamic action. It's like having spaceships and weapons in outer space make noise. If Sylar never did anything while using TK, it would be visually dull. Having Sylar (or anyone with TK) make some kind of arm/hand movement, we know instantly that that character did something (like when Peter went invisible and then opened the door to Pinehearst instead of phasing). This is critical when there are two people with TK, and either one of them could have thrown a relative out an eight story building.

I think it's just something he does to gain a greater amount of control, like how baseball players put their arm out when aiming to throw.

And, also he doesnt always do it. Remember when Mohinder had him strapped to a chair after finding out he wasnt Zane Taylor? He didnt put out his hand to stop the bullet from going into his head.

Not purely cinematic. It's used in movies and television, certainly, but also in books and comics.

As mentioned earlier, it is a physical aid to concentration- sort of a "focusing" point.

i think it aids him in his ability a bit like in bleach an anime where a character byakuya says if he uses his hands, senbonzakura can move twice as fast by using his hands and in the case of sylar he has more control or maybe not just a theory

he holds his hands out to channel more of his tk energy into his target.
it's just like in karate, you don't have to shout when you're kicking or punching, but you do it to channel your energy.

just does it for dramatic effect

I don't think it's dramatic effect. I think it's how he controls it for the most part. Most telekinetics (Sci Fi/Fantasy/Comics) view it as a pair of hands- and they "guide" it with their own hands.

I think that it not only helps him focus his power on something, but lets the viewer know exactly what he's trying to do. For example, when he's holding someone up by their neck, he holds his hand out like he's actually touching their throat. I think it just helps the viewer know exactly what he's doing.

I talk with my hands. Does that count?

It's a combination: it is for visual effects, and also it provides the same support as aiming down the sights of a gun, rather than simply firing from the hip.

While agreeing with pretty much everything everyone has already said, I personally think it's for visual effect to help the audience know what's going on. Without it, there is too much ambiguity as to what Sylar is doing with TK; like in the episode where Doyle was holding Sylar in with his puppeteer ability, Sylar used his TK to knock out Doyle. But without any visual aid (hand movements) we didn't know what happened to Doyle (at the time) - was his neck snapped? Did Sylar do something to Doyle's brain? etc.

anyone ever read/seen Matilda by Roald Dahl, its about a young girl with telekenesis, she explains it as she can see a physican force, sort of like a stream of energy moving the object, I guess sylar uses his arm/hand to harness those psionic energies to channnel it to the object/person he is controlling.

This kind of thing is used a lot in movies/films, like peoples eyes changing color etc to indicate they are using abilities, much rather he sticks his hand out than his eyes turn black of some crap like in The Covenant.

matilda ROCKS a childhood fav xD oh and yeah prob due to assistance

it's nothing more than a visual guide for an invisble power to help with more precise control. Imagination is great, but a physical hand making the motions to guide ones thought is by far easier to accomplish.

The idea behind physical motions to create TK effects is a factor based on mental imaging of force being exerted on matter. While you could imagin flippling a car without any motion, using your hand as if flipping a matchbox hotrod toy car is by far a more effective way to visualize an effect in ones mind.

the mind itself is used to physical motions to move matter from one place to another, so it is only natural that such motions be used to augment focus in doing so without ever needing to touch the object in question.

youve put that nicely thecordler

Just noticed this thread... I just called it his signature move. Sorta the gimmicky deal to show he's usin' that ability.

Totally off topic random question - would you consider the power of the green lanterns in comics to be tellekenetic in nature?

actually the green lanterns energy is described as the strength of willpower.

THe lantern energy itself is mutable by willpower, so it is in essence 1/2 telekinesis. The other half is the unique energy wave itself. which can be manipulated by thoughts to the ring.

If anything a lanter's ring is the relay for TK, in that it is what interpret's thoughts into the unique lantern energy which is in itself a living energy of comprised of emotion.