“The day science begins to study non-physical phenomena,
it will make more progress in one decade than in all the previous centuries of
its existence.” –
Nikola Tesla
If you google “parapsychology,” the
first thing that will probably pop up is a Wikipedia entry loosely (and, in my
opinion, rather offensively) defining it as a “pseudoscience.”
This is unfortunate, because it
distracts the reader from realizing that psychical research, also known as
‘psi’ (or parapsychology), is practiced by various scientists and reputable
institutions all over the world. This includes the study of paranormal activity
and extended human human capacities like precognition and telepathy, among
other things. As the University of Calgary points out, parapsychology is an
interdisciplinary field which has attracted physicists, engineers, biologists,
psychologists, and researchers in other sciences as well.
The Princeton Engineering Anomalies
Research (PEAR) project is a great example of this comprehensive approach to
the subject — a project that ran from 1979 until 2007, it aimed to examine if
there was factual basis for theories in mind/matter interaction, or
extrasensory perception (ESP). Highly significant statistical deviation, far
beyond what one could expect from chance, was seen there. Another example would
be the University of Virginia’s Division of Perceptual Studies, in which they
explore such phenomena as reincarnation, near death experiences (NDEs), and out
of body experiences (OBEs).
“Studies of the so-called ‘psi
phenomena’ indicate that we can sometimes receive meaningful information
without the use of ordinary senses, and in ways that transcend the habitual
space and time constraints. Furthermore, psi research demonstrates that we can
mentally influence—at a distance—physical devices and living organisms
(including other human beings). Psi research also shows that distant minds may
behave in ways that are nonlocally correlated, i.e. the correlations between
distant minds are hypothesized to be unmediated (they are not linked to any
known energetic signal), unmitigated (they do not degrade with increasing
distance), and immediate (they appear to be simultaneous). These events are so
common that they cannot be viewed as anomalous nor as exceptions to natural
laws, but as indications of the need for a broader explanatory framework that
cannot be predicated exclusively on materialism.” (source)
– Manifesto for a Post-Materialist Science
The examination of these types of
phenomena is vital to increasing our understanding about the nature of our
reality. A lot of new science is revealing how many, and how diverse, are the
factors are which influence the so-called ‘physical material world that we see
around us’. So what can we learn from this information? To keep an open mind,
to know that not everything we believe to be true, is, and that maybe there are
components of our reality that we have yet to understand. We can learn that
it’s okay to take topics like this seriously, because there is a wealth of very
compelling statistical data and observation that has many scientists interested
in it… and perplexed.
REINCARNATION
“There are claims in the
parapsychology field which, in my opinion, deserve serious study, [with one
being] that young children sometimes report details of a previous life, which
upon checking turn out to be accurate and which they could not have known about
in any other way than reincarnation.” – Carl Sagan
This topic has been studied by
numerous scientists who belong to various academic institutions from all over
the world.
One great example comes from
University of Virginia psychiatrist Jim Tucker, who in 2008 published a review
of cases suggestive of reincarnation in the journal Explore.(source)
In the article, he describes a
typical reincarnation case, where subjects start reporting a past life
experience. One common denominator of these cases is that they all involve
children, with the average age being 35 months when subjects begin to report their
experiences. The experiences described are often detailed and extensive, and
Tucker points out that many of these children show strong emotional involvement
when speaking about their claims; some cry and beg to be taken to what they say
is their previous family. Others show intense anger.
“The subjects usually stop making
their past-life statements by the age of six to seven, and most seem to lose
the purported memories. That is the age when children start school and begin
having more experiences in the current life, as well as when they tend to lose
their early childhood memories.” (source)
One example Tucker describes, an
American case, is of a child named Sam Taylor, who was a year and a half old
when he started revealing some remarkable information:
“He looked up as his father was
changing his diaper and said, “When I was your age, I used to change your
diapers.” He began talking more about having been his grandfather. He
eventually told details of his grandfather’s life that his parents felt certain
he could not have learned through normal means, such as the fact that his
grandfather’s sister had been murdered and that his grandmother had used a food
processor to make milkshakes for his grandfather every day at the end of his
life.” (source)
Again, this is one of hundreds of
cases. Children have also been taken to their previous families, describing the
qualities and characteristics of the families, and their own past lives, about
which there is no possible way the child could know. Here is
another specific case that was examined by Dr. Tucker, which we wrote about a
couple of months ago. And there are plenty more to choose from.
These are cases involving very young
children and they offer little reason to suspect a hoax. From a scientific
standpoint, however, even though these cases are intriguing, they still leave
us with a problem that plagues most parapsychological research today. As Tucker
points out, “the processes
that would be involved in such a transfer of consciousness are completely
unknown, and they await further elucidation.” (source)
PRECOGNITION
For a selected list of downloadable
peer-reviewed journal articles reporting studies of psychic phenomena, mostly
published in the 21st century, you can see here. At this link, you
will find a select group of articles under the “precognition &
presentiment” tab and more than enough scientific analyses to see why this topic
is taken very seriously by some scientists.
A recently published study (meta
analysis) in the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience titled “Predicting
the unpredictable: critical analysis and practical implications of predictive
anticipatory activity” examined a number of experiments, conducted by
several different laboratories, regarding this phenomenon.
These experiments indicate that the
human body can actually detect randomly delivered stimuli that occur 1-10
seconds in advance. In other words, the human body seems able to know of an
event and react to it before it actually occurs. This reaction takes the form
of physiological changes in the skin and in the cardiopulmonary and nervous
systems.
Quite fascinating, isn’t it?
TELEPATHY
Some of the most interesting results
come from something called “dream telepathy,” where human beings have the
ability to communicate telepathically with another person while they are
dreaming.
According to Stanley Krippner, Ph.D.
and professor of psychology at Saybrook University in California:
A wealth of anecdotal and clinical
material exist which supports the possibility of telepathic effects occurring
in dreams (Krippner, 1974). However, an experimental approach to the topic did
not become possible until psycho physiological laboratory technology became
available. It was discovered that sleeping research participants awakened from
periods of rapid eye movement (REM) activity were frequently able to recall
dream episodes. As a result, it was possible to request a “telepathic receiver”
to attempt dreaming about a target stimulus that was being focused on in a
distant location from a “telepathic sender.” (source)
THE ‘STAR GATE’ PROJECT
The “Star Gate” project was a Defence
Intelligence Agency (DIA) program that examined parapsychological phenomena for
more than twenty years before it was unexpectedly shut down.
One of the most interesting
revelations (imo) when it comes to science and the paranormal comes from its
remote viewing program.
Remote viewing is the ability of a
person to describe a remote geographical location up to several hundred
thousand kilometers from their actual physical location. It’s not just one
person who can do this — many people have been shown to have this ability, and
this is a verified fact. The CIA and NSA, in conjunction with Stanford
University, were involved in the scientific study of parapsychological
phenomena that lasted more than two decades; they delved into remote viewing as
part of this project.
In these experiments, multiple
individuals were able to describe distinct objects that were located in a
separate room and at other remote physical locations. (source)(source)
As reported by a publication in the
journal Scientific Exploration (linked above), one of the study’s participants,
Ingo Swann, was able to successfully describe and view a ring around Jupiter
that scientists had no idea existed at the time.
QUANTUM DOUBLE SLIT EXPERIMENT
In this experiment, a double-slit
optical system was used to test the possible role of consciousness in the
collapse of the quantum wave-function. The ratio of the interference pattern’s
double slit spectral power to its single slit spectral power was predicted to
decrease when attention was focused toward the double slit as compared to away
from it. The study found that factors associated with consciousness
“significantly” correlated in predicted ways with perturbations in the double
slit interference pattern. (source)
“Observations not only disturb what
has to be measured, they produce it….We compel [the electron] to assume a
definite position…. We ourselves produce the results of measurement.” (source)
“It was not possible to formulate the
laws of quantum mechanics in a fully consistent way without reference to
consciousness.” – Eugene Wigner, theoretical physicist and mathematician who
received a share of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1963
“A fundamental conclusion of the new
physics also acknowledges that the observer creates the reality. As observers,
we are personally involved with the creation of our own reality. Physicists are
being forced to admit that the universe is a ‘mental’ construction. Pioneering
physicist Sir James Jeans wrote: ‘The stream of knowledge is heading toward a
non-mechanical reality; the universe begins to look more like a great thought than
like a great machine. Mind no longer appears to be an accidental intruder into
the realm of matter, we ought rather hail it as the creator and governor of the
realm of matter. Get over it, and accept the inarguable conclusion. The
universe is immaterial-mental and spiritual.’ ” – R.C. Henry, Professor of
Physics and Astronomy at Johns Hopkins University , “The Mental Universe”;
Nature 436:29,2005)
This is a great experiment to show
the connection between consciousness and our physical material world.
OUT OF BODY EXPERIENCES & NEAR
DEATH EXPERIENCES
Below is a video of Dr. Bruce Greyson
speaking at a conference that was held by the United Nations. He is considered
to be one of the fathers of near death studies. He is Professor Emeritus of
Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Science at the University of Virginia.
In the video he describes documented
cases of individuals who were clinically dead (showing no brain activity) but
observing everything that was happening to them on the medical table below at
the same time. He describes how there have been many instances of this – where
individuals are able to describe things that should have been impossible for
them to have knowledge of. Another significant statement by Dr. Greyson posits
that this type of study has been discouraged due to our tendency to view
science as completely materialistic. Seeing is believing, so to speak, in the
scientific community. It’s unfortunate that just because we cannot explain
something through materialistic means, it must be instantly discredited. The
simple fact that “consciousness” itself is a non-physical “thing” is troubling
for some scientists; as a result of it being non material, they believe it
cannot be studied by science.
In 2001, international medical
journal The Lancet published a 13 year study on Near Death Experiences (NDEs).(source)(source)
Their findings were remarkable, to say the least:
“Our results show that medical
factors cannot account for the occurrence of NDE. All patients had a cardiac
arrest, and were clinically dead with unconsciousness resulting from
insufficient blood supply to the brain. In those circumstances, the EEG (a measure
of brain electrical activity) becomes flat, and if CPR is not started within
5-10 minutes, irreparable damage is done to the brain and the patient will
die.” (source)
Another study comes out of the
University of Southampton, where scientists found evidence that awareness can
continue for at least several minutes after death. In the scientific world this
was thought to be impossible. The study, published in the journal
Resuscitation, is the world’s largest of its kind. (source)
HEALING AT A DISTANCE
“Over the past thirty years,
significant scientific research has been conducted on the potential
effectiveness and value of distant healing practices. The practice of distant
healing is drawing increased attention as an important component of integral
medicine models that blend a range of approaches to health and healing. Many
leading health professionals and spiritual leaders believe distant healing
practices may significantly expand the capacity to facilitate healing.” (source)
Marilyn Schlitz, PhD, President of the Institute for Noetic Sciences (IONS)
Another study published
in the journal Explore in 2008, examined the effects of human intention on the
autonomic nervous system of a human “sender” and the distant “receiver” of
those intentions.
The design of the study went as
follows:
Skin conductance level was measured
in each member of a couple, both of whom were asked to feel the presence of the
other. While the receiving person relaxed in a distant shielded room for 30
minutes, the sending person directed intention toward the receiver during
repeated 10-second epochs separated by random interepoch periods. Thirty-six
couples participated in 38 test sessions. In 22 couples, one of the pair was a
cancer patient. In 12 of those couples, the healthy person was trained to
direct intention toward the patient and asked to practice that intention daily
for three months prior to the experiment (trained group). In the other 10
couples, the pair was tested before the partner was trained (wait group).
Fourteen healthy couples re- ceived no training (control group). (source)
The study concluded that a strong
motivation to heal another, and for one to be healed themselves, may enhance
this phenomenon. It concluded that directing intention toward a distant person
is associated with the activation of that person’s autonomic nervous system —
in this case, using measurements of skin conductance.
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