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Date: 12/28/2000
Time: 4:30:03 PM
Remote Name: 207.144.212.184
The last three decades have seen a flurry of theoretical activity, as physics continues to grapple with the paradoxes of quantum mechanics and experimental parapsychology. Trying to visualize the range of proposed solutions feels, at times, like taking a crash course in cubism - the ways to decompose and reassemble reality appear endless and imagination functions at a feverish pitch.
However, while it is reassuring to see us continue to wrestle with our instinctive assumptions of spacetime, and while it is indeed our ultimate goal to uncover a fundamental theory of reality, we should probably remind ourselves at this point that the great advantage of parapsychology (over, say, mathematical or neurophysiological approaches to consciousness) is direct experimentation with the properties of consciousness. To abuse a well-known parable, instead of guessing the elephant's shape by groping for its tail or tusks, it might make more sense to kick it in the back and see the amount of damage it's capable of doing (just kidding, of course, no real elephants need take offense).
On a serious note now - when it comes to the nature of psi phenomena, we are probably even more at a disadvantage than the scientists in the fable: for while they know that they are dealing with a physical entity, we are nowhere near a consensus on the substrate of anomalous events. From those who postulate a fifth physical field to those who view matter as a by-product of consciousness, from mathematical arguments in favor of time symmetry and "informational gravity" to holographic models in which time becomes non-existent, the debate rages on. And yet, in the absence of conclusive experimental proof, are we any more serious than those contemporaries of Aquinas who fought over how many angels fit on the tip of a needle?
It is for this reason, I believe, that work like Spottiswoode's and May's is crucial if we are to make any progress in the decades to come. Investigating the nature of psi is not unlike analytical chemistry - it makes little sense to guess at its identity by merely examining its appearance, but lots of sense to run it through a battery of tests and see how it behaves.
Work by Radin, Spottiswoode and others has already pointed out some of these properties: for example, most studies indicate that anomalous cognition seems unaffected by the distance between subject and target, or by the time separation between target choice and its identification (1,2). Electromagnetic shielding seems to improve performance, as does a relatively low geomagnetic field activity (1,3). A local sidereal time of 13.5h showed peaking of anomalous cognition ability, which, according to the author of the study (4) could be a matter of Earth (subject) orientation, or of concurrent diurnal fluctuations in ambient geomagnetic/EM fields. Also, free response targets show a higher effect size than forced-choice ones, while among the latter, medium target bandwidth seems to facilitate identification of the target (see 5. for a very interesting discussion of these experiments and of the effects memory and unedited imagination play in target recognition).
As far as action-at-a-distance is concerned, studies by Jahn, Dunne and Schmidt (6,7) are by now as famous as they are tantalizing. Biasing the behavior of a random number generator has been tentatively explained (8) as a function not of field-like forces, but rather of clairvoyant anomalous cognition, of biasing the desired outcomes based on the already-selected results. Still, the question remains of how exactly the "channel" of information is established between target and subject -not to mention its apparent time independence. Finally, we have the matter of macro-scale PK (strain gauges, metal bending, etc - see 8.) which, although not as statistically consistent as micro-scale events, is still persistently reported both anecdotally and in the literature.
What we propose to do with this project is to form a database of potential variables that may affect psi ability. We are looking for published/unpublished studies, experimental models, anecdotal evidence, even simple questions or suggestions. While most of us do not have the means or expertise to conduct well-designed studies using this data, it is our premise that these ideas will help those who are active in the field. Also, by focusing on practical, experimental data, we hope to converge with studies in parallel fields (see Rupert Sheldrake, M.S. Benford, etc) and create a fruitful, cross-disciplinary dialogue.
As data accumulates here, we will try to organize this information on a new page in our web - subdivided perhaps according to proposed factors, or other, more suitable criteria. In the meantime, please prefix any entry related to this project with "Variables: ...", as instructed above.
We hope to hear from all of you soon, and if you haven't yet covered the references listed above - have an interesting read!
References:
1. "An assessment of the evidence for psychic functioning" Prof. Jessica Utts Division of Statistics, University of California, Davis
2. "Link theory and PSI" Richard Shoup
3. "Effect of ambient magnetic field fluctuations on performance in a free response anomalous cognition task: a pilot study" S. James P. Spottiswoode
4. "Apparent association between effect size in free response anomalous cognition experiments and local sidereal time" S. James P. Spottiswoode
5. "Managing the target pool bandwidth: noise reduction for anomalous cognition experiments", 1994 Edwin C. May, S. James P. Spottiswoode, Christine L. James
6. "Observation of a PK effect under highly controlled conditions" Helmut Schmidt
7. "Experiments in remote human/machine interactions" B. J. Dunne, R. G. Jahn, 1992
8. "Decision Augmentation Theory: Toward a Model of Anomalous Mental Phenomena" 1996 Edwin C. May, Jessica M. Utts and S. James P. Spottiswoode