Psychokinesis

Psychokinesis is the purported ability to influence a physical system without physical interaction.

 

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    psychokinesis

     

    Psychic Powers and Psychokinetic Abilities

    Psychokinesis experiments have been criticized for lack of control. There is no accepted scientific understanding of psychokinesis.

    Resonance.

    Assessment.

    There is widespread skepticism about parapsychology. An example of telekinesis (another word for psychokinesis) would be when a magician levitates.

    The Power to Move Objects and Matter with Human Minds

    There exists extensive evidence for the belief in haunted houses in the United States, "Our committee could find no science behind psychic phenomena such as extrasensory perception, mind over matter, or mental telepathy ... There is no evidence to support such phenomenon."

    In 1984, the US National Academy of Sciences (NAS) decided to have a scientific study regarding the existence of psychokinesis. During the research, some military applications of PK were investigated by NATO and the Department of Defense. The Board of Inquiry heard from officials in the military who believed in PK and visited two other laboratories that had successfully conducted micro-PK studies. The panel attacked macro-PK experiments due to the illusion of conjurers in them and said that virtually all micro-PK experiments " depart from good scientific practice in various ways." Their conclusion indicates that there is absolutely no scientific evidences to claim the existence of psychokinesis.

    Carl Sagan included telekinesis in his list of superstitions such as fortune telling and telepathy which shouldn't be "trusted until proven scientifically." The Nobel Prize laureate Richard Feynman as well demonstrates this idea.

    An engineering professor has written that if psychokinesis was real, we could measure it with a precision of a hundredth of a degree centigrade, or switch an element in an electrical circuit with a precision of a millionth of an ampere.

    In regards to Parapsychology experiments, planer states that they are reliable, easy to monitor but aren't utilized by parapsychologists because there's no evidence that such events are influencing other people. Planer stated that parapsychologists have to fall back on sloppy studies and defective research methodology.

    If PK exists, then we can't trust any scientific experiment because we can't trust any measuring apparatus. Planer concluded that the concept of psychokinesis is completely absurd.

    Other psychological theories of psychokinesis have also been applied outside parapsychological experiments. The opposition to the claim for the existence of psychokinesis is that if it existed, it would show up in everyday life, but no such effects have been observed.

    Various scientists and philosophers have written that psychokinesis can't happen and that people will earn exactly as the laws of chance predict.

    According to psychologist Nicholas Humphrey, the experiments conducted in psychology biology and physics assume that subjects do not physically deform the apparatus used. Humphrey also counts implicit replications as real PK happenings.

    Physics in Telekinesis

    The ideas of psychokinesis and telekinesis violate well-established laws of physics. Scientists have high expectations of PK because of its incredible claims.

    Occam's Razor always prefers the simplest theory which can explain a phenomenon.

    Philosopher and engineer Mario Bunge has also asserted "PK does not follow the rule that mind cannot directly influence matter. (Because he would not be sure if the instrument reading was accurate.) This action disobeys the conservation of energy and momentum. This claim is ridiculous since quantum mechanics (QM) respects the conservation principles, and deals exclusively with physical aspects."

    Physicist John Taylor, who has looked into paranormal claims, wrote that an invisible factor that causes psychokinesis would need a tremendous amount of energy. The energy would have to overcome the electromagnetic forces bound by atoms, because the atoms would have to behave more strongly to electomagnetic forces than electric forces. There should be another atomic force occurring only during alleged paranormal occurrences and not in non paranormal circumstances. According to Mr. Gary Taylor, there is no physical trace of such a force, thus physics should discard the idea of a fifth force. Smith concluded that there is no possible physical mechanism for psychokinesis and this is in contradiction to science.

    In 1979, Evan Harris Walker and Richard Mattuck published a paper proposing a quantum theory of psychokinesis. These explanations may rely on concepts not firmly supported by any scientific proof. According to their own research, they are at a "filled with impressive looking equations and calculations that provided sensible justification for the phenomena' efficacy... Look at how this has turned out for them. Scientists have found a useful rule, which results in measured value (the supposed speed of PK-induced motion). This is not science."

    To give an example, a spoon is made of atoms which can be manipulated by the strong nuclear force, the weak nuclear force, electromagnetism, and gravitation. Psychokinesis has been proven to occur due to known forces that have proved to have a billionth as much force of gravity. This leaves only psycho-kinesis as a possible explanation.

    It is highly suspect that an anomaly should only surface at the fringes of the techniques we can measure and detect. He discusses Langmuir's pathology. If mind really can influence matter, it should be easy for parapsychologists to test it by using the psychokinetic power to affect the size of a microbalance, which does not require any dubious statistics.

    This is actually evidence that the microbalance will not change.

    In his paper, he suggests that the popularity of experiments rests on their freedom from bias and misconceptions.

    The Explanations of Psychokinesis - Bias

    The study of cognitive bias has illustrated that people are susceptible to the illusion of PK. It also encourages individuals to try to control and influence others. People who believe in ghosts have a greater propensity to think they are in control of external factors such as weather and events.

    psychologist Thomas Gilovich explained that the interpretation of personal experience is biased. High numbers in a dice game mean success, and low numbers mean not enough concentration. This can be an example of the human tendency to see patterns where none exist, called the clustering illusion.

    This study tested for experimental error regarding the power of psychokinesis. Professor Kaufman of Yale University allows people to calculate their outcomes and report their improvements. They have been recorded secretly so that their records can be verified. Believers and disbelievers both made erroneous assumptions. A similar pattern of errors has been observed in several J. B. Rhine's experiments regarding chance phenomena.

    Davis and Warner found subjects in 1995 that witnessed an unedited videotape of a magician's performance in which a metal fork bent and eventually broke. Believers of paranormal phenomena were significantly more likely to misinterpret the tape as evidence of psychic phenomenon and had a higher likelihood of misremembering the details of the presentation. This shows the existence of confirmation bias to the decision making of this topic. Psychologist Robert Sternberg explains confirmation bias as one of the causes of continued belief in psychic phenomena.

    Confirmation bias exists even in scientific research of parapsychology. This field, like many others, is filled with unproved anecdotes. But people often search for ways to believe by themselves.

    Psychologist Daniel Wegner has argued that misperception contributes to the belief in psychokinesis. His view is that scientists do not have sufficient knowledge to allow awareness to influence action reliably. As a result, subjects believe they are acting of their own accord when in fact their actions are caused by the patterns of the thoughts that have preceded it. This theory of apparent mental causation incorporates David Hume's views about the mind.

    It is quite difficult to always be in control as a result of these processes of identifying responsibilities. External events can happen to certain thoughts that are similar and congruent. Wegner cites a series of experiments in which subjects behaved as if their actions really did influence the external world. In this experiment, subjects watched a basketball player on free throws. When they were instructed to picture him making his shots, they could not stop thinking that they had influenced his achievement. Other experiments designed to create an illusion of psychokinesis show that it depends on the person's prior belief in psychokinesis.

    According to meta-analysis of 380 studies, there was a small positive effect that could be explained by publication bias.

    Illusionists and Special Effects in Psychokinesis

    Magicists have demonstrated that we have all sorts of abilities. According to Robert Todd Carroll there are many different psychic powers which can be used by those who are not professionals. There are many ways to bend cutlery such as keys, forks, or paperclips.

    Wiseman affirms that there are number of ways for performing psychokinetic metal bending (PKMB). These include deliberately bending straight objects with pre-bent metals, concealing the application of force, and illegally causing metal fractures. Research has also shown that placebo pills can have powerful effects. That was from an essayist Ben Harris.

    If you give a convincing speech, you should be able to bend the pen in front of your audience's eyes. The effect is astounding and combined with an invitation, the technology really works.

    The McDonald lab is well known due to PK occurrences in past. James Randi soon revealed that the subjects were two of his associates Michael Edwards and Steve Shaw. The researchers mistakenly believed that the unusual results of these stunts were a result of subtle magic tricks.

    According to the 2014 study that used a paranormal belief in psychokinesis, the believers could not bend the key than non-believers.

    Rewards in regards to psychokinesis.

    List of paranormal prize

    International skeptics society are offering cash prize for people who can demonstrate the existence of extraordinary psychic powers or "PK." Prizes have been offered in this way to predict the future (PK demonstration) specifically: for example, businessman Gerald Fleming's offer of £250,000 to Uri Geller if he can bend a spoon under controlled conditions. The James Randi Educational Foundation offered 1 million dollars as a prize for any one who successfully managed to complete a paranormal event under agreed upon experimental conditions.

    Psychic Personalities

    Following the publication of Sheila Ostrander and Lynn Schroeder's best seller, Psychic Discoveries Behind The Iron Curtain, Russian psychic Nina Kulagina gained a lot of publicity in Europe. This alleged Soviet psychic was filmed in numerous famous videos during the late 1960s and 1970s.

    She is also mentioned in the report of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency from 1978.

    Skeptics and magicians have said that Gleb Kulagina's stunts could be done by a master of manipulation.

    James Hydrick, American martial arts expert and psychic, was famous for being able to spin pencils and turn pages of books with psychokinetic powers. It was later revealed that he didn't perform magic. The psychologist, Richard Wiseman has written that Hydrick learnt to move objects through a "extremely deceptive" skill. Hydrick admitted to Korem that all of his illusions were false "I wanted to see how stupid America was from the viewpoint of Singaporeans. How stupid the world is." A British psychic, Matthew Manning, was subjected to parapsychological studies of the United States and England in the mid-1970s and today has claimed supernatural powers. Magicians have suspected that Harry Manning used witchcraft to perform his acts.

    An American psychic named Felicia Parise was accused of psychokinesis in 1971. The testimony of Charles Honorton endorsing her claims contributed to her credibility. Gardner made a solid accusation that Monk had violated Honorton's privacy by moving the bottle while she was holding it by an invisible thread.

    Boris Ermolaev was famous psychic of Russia. His methods of training were revealed in the documentary Secrets of the Russian Psychics. Ermolaev would go into a room while holding objects between his thighs and would purportedly sit on a chair manipulating the objects between his thighs. This would be interpreted as levitation.

    Alla Vinogradova was supposedly famous for being able to move objects by the power of her thoughts alone. Stanley Krippner, a parapsychologist, observed how Ivan Petrovyak could move an aluminum tube with his mind. Krippner does not believe there was psychokinesis involved, only a static charge. Vinogradova was featured in the documentary Secret of the Psychics, which followed the work of Randi. Nix and Vinson presented her psychokinetic capability on camera to Randi and other investigators. Before the experiments she had combed her hair and "scratched" the surface of the acrylic. Massimo Polidoro succeeded in getting Vinogradova's clever act achieved by using acrylic as a plastic surface and showing how easily it is to move objects on it by using static electricity. This effect can be achieve simply by giving a potential charge to the surface. Physicist John Taylor has said that it is very likely that Alla Vinogradova's achievements are explained by electrodynamics.

    Metal Bending

    (Spoon Bending)

    Uri Geller was famous for his ability to bend spoons.

    Can psychics bend metal with their minds? Psychics claim the ability to bend metal. Uri Geller was known for his spoon bending demonstration, which is said to be caused by PK. Geller has been caught many times using sleight of hand and according to writer Terence Hines, all his tricks have been performed using a concealed magic trick.

    French psychic Jean-Pierre Girard claimed that he can bend metal bars by psychokinesis. In the 1970s, the psychical researcher James 'Girard was challenged but was unable to produce any paranormal effects in scientifically controlled conditions. This psychological experiment was conducted on January 19, 1977. The experiment was carried out by the physicist Yves Farge alongside with a magician. All experiments conducted by Girard about the Paranormal were failures. He failed two driving tests with the magician, James Randi, in June 1977.

    On September 24, 1977, he was examined at a laboratory of the Nuclear Research Centre. Girard failed to bend or cause the bending of the bars. Other objective experiments suggested that Lawrence could not bend spoons. Girard admitted later that he occasionally cheated to prevent people from being disappointed and at the same time insisted that he had genuine psychic power. It was revealed by the magicians and scientists that he achieved his telekinetic feats through fraudulent methods.

    Psychic, Stephen North, a British man, was known for his alleged psychokinetic ability to bend spoons and teleport objects into and out of sealed containers. The British physicist John Hasted examined North in a series of experiments in which he claimed to have found psychokinesis.

    North was inspected in normal conditions and the results were negative. According to James Randi, a test of a man claimed to have bended iron with his bare hands at Birkbeck College, North was performed. Randi complained that Hasted was not educated on the tricks that con artists had up their sleeves.

    The PK parties were a cultural fad of the 1980s which were begun by Dr. Jack Houck, who led communities of people through rituals and chants to awaken the powers of metal. They were told to race and scream at the objects of cutlery they brought to create an atmosphere of panic (or what scientific investigators called heightened suggestibility). Experts, including participants, were segregated and told not to look at one anothers' hands. Thousands of people believed to have been influenced by these ghostly events, and many became believers in ghosts.

    Paranormal parties such as PK have been criticized by atheists because no evidence has been shown of its existence. Since the fact that PK experiments do not produce reliable results, the American National Academy of Sciences has rejected them.

    Although Ronnie Marcus is an Israeli psychic, he failed in his psychic metal bending test. Magicians have claimed that the alleged phenomena of levitation are nothing more than sleight of hand trickery. Using psychokinesis, Marcus intentionally bent a letter opener from the concealed pressure exerted from his thumb.