Telepathy

TelepathyCanhumanbeingscommunicatebythoughtalone?Formorethanacenturytheissueoftelepathyhasdividedthescientificcommunity,andeventodayitstillsparksbittercontroversyamongtopacademics.1Sincethe1970s,parapsychologistsatleadinguniversitiesandresearchinstitutesaroundtheworldhaveriskedthederisionofskepticalcolleaguesbyputtingthevariousclaimsfortelepathytothetestindozensofrigorousscientificstudies.Theresultsandtheirimplicationsaredividingeventheresearcherswhouncoveredthem.2Someresearcherssaytheresultsconstitutecompellingevidencethattelepathyisgenuine.Otherparapsychologistsbelievethefieldisonthebrinkofcollapse,havingtriedtoproducedefinitivescientificproofandfailed.Scepticsandadvocatesalikedoconcurononeissue,however:thatthemostimpressiveevidencesofarhascomefromtheso-called‘ganzfeld’experiments,aGermantermthatmean‘wholefield’.Reportsoftelepathicexperienceshadbypeopleduringmeditationledparapsychologiststosuspectthattelepathymightinvolve‘signals’passingbetweenpeoplethatweresofaintthattheywereusuallyswampedbynormalbrainactivity.Inthiscase,suchsignalsmightbemoreeasilydetectedbythoseexperiencingmeditation-liketranquillityinarelaxing‘wholefield’oflight,soundandwarmth.3Theganzfeldexperimenttriestorecreatetheseconditionswithparticipantssittinginsoftrecliningchairsinasealedroom,listeningtorelaxingsoundswhiletheireyesarecoveredwithspecialfilterslettinginonlysoftpinklight.Inearlyganzfeldexperiments,thetelepathytestinvolvedidentificationofapicturechosenfromarandomselectionoffourtakenfromalargeimagebank.Theideawasthatapersonactingasa‘sender’wouldattempttobeamtheimageovertothe‘receiver’relaxinginthesealedroom.Oncethesessionwasover,thispersonwasaskedtoidentifywhichofthefourimageshadbeenused.Randomguessingwouldgiveahit-rateof25percent;iftelepathyisreal,however,thehit-ratewouldbehigher.In1982,theresultsfromthefirstganzfeldstudieswereanalysedbyoneofitspioneers,theAmericanparapsychologistCharlesHonorton.Theypointedtotypicalhit-ratesofbetterthan30percent-asmalleffect,butonewhichstatisticaltestssuggestedcouldnotbeputdowntochance.4Theimplicationwasthattheganzfeldmethodhadrevealedrealevidencefortelepathy.Buttherewasacrucialflawinthisargument-oneroutinelyoverlookedinmoreconventionalareasofscience.Justbecausechancehadbeenruledoutasanexplanationdidnotprovetelepathymustexist;thereweremanyotherwaysofgettingpositiveresults.Thererangedfrom‘sensoryleakage’–wherecluesaboutthepicturesaccidentallyreachthereceiver–tooutrightfraud.Inresponse,theresearchersissuedareviewofalltheganzfeldstudiesdoneupto1985toshowthat80percenthadfoundstatisticallysignificantevidence.However,theyalsoagreedthattherewerestilltoomanyproblemsintheexperimentswhichcouldleadtopositiveresults,andtheydrewupalistdemandingnewstandardsforfutureresearch.5Afterthis,manyresearchersswitchedtoautoganzfeldtests-anautomatedvariantofthetechniquewhichusedcomputerstoperformmanyofthekeytaskssuchastherandomselectionofimages.Byminimizinghumaninvolvement,theideawastominimizetheriskofflawedresults.In1987,resultsfromhundredsofautoganzfeldtestswerestudiedbyHonortonina‘meta-analysis’,statisticaltechniqueforfindingtheoverallresultsfromasetofstudies.Thoughlesscompellingthanbefore,theoutcomewasstillimpressive.6Yetsomeparapsychologistsremaindisturbedbythelackofconsistencybetweenindividualganzfeldstudies.Defendersoftelepathypointoutthatdemandingimpressiveevidencefromeverystudyignoresonebasicstatisticalfact:ittakeslargesamplestodetectsmalleffects.If,ascurrentresultssuggest,telepathyproduceshit-ratesonlymarginallyabovethe25percentexpectedbychance,it’sunlikelytobedetectedbyatypicalganzfekdstudyinvolvingaround40people:thegroupisjustnotbigenough.Onlywhenmanystudiesarecombinedinameta-analysiswillthefaintsignaloftelepathyreallybecomeapparent.Andthatiswhatresearchersdoseemtobefinding.7Whattheyarecertainlynotfinding,however,isanychangeinattitudeofmainstreamscientists:moststilltotallyrejecttheveryideaoftelepathy.Theproblemstemsatleastinpartfromthelackofanyplausiblemechanismfortelepathy.8Varioustheorieshavebeenputforward,manyfocusingonesotericideasfromtheoreticalphysics.Theyinclude‘quantumentanglement’,inwhicheventsaffectingonegroupofatomsinstantlyaffectanothergroups,nomatterhowfaraparttheymaybe.Whilephysicistshavedemonstratedentanglementwithspeciallypreparedatoms,no-oneknowsifitalsoexistsbetweenatomsmakinguphumanminds.Answeringsuchquestionswouldtransformparapsychology.Thishaspromptedsomeresearcherstoarguethatthefutureliesnotincollectingmoreevidencefortelepathy,butinprobingpossiblemechanisms.Someworkhasbegunalready,withresearcherstryingtoidentifypeoplewhoareparticularlysuccessfulinautoganzfeldtrials.Earlyresultsshowthatcreativeandartisticpeopledomuchbetterthanaverage:inonestudyattheUniversityofEdinburgh,musiciansachievedahit-rateof56percent.Perhapsmoretestslikethesewilleventuallygivetheresearcherstheevidencetheyareseekingandstrengthenthecasefortheexistenceoftelepathy.Questions1Completeeachsentencewiththecorrectending.1)Researcherswithdifferingattitudestowardstelepathyagreeon______.2)Reportsofexperiencesduringmeditationindicated_____.3)Attitudestoparapsychologywouldalterdrasticallywith____.4)Recentautoganzfeldtrialssuggestthatsuccessrateswillimprovewith____.Athediscoveryofamechanismfortelepathy.BtheneedtocreateasuitableenvironmentCtheirclaimsofahighsuccessrate.Dasolutiontotheproblemposedbyrandomguessing.Ethesignificanceoftheganzfeldexperiments.Famorecarefulselectionofsubjects.Ganeedtokeepalteringconditions.2.Completethetablebelow.Choosenomorethanthreewordsfromthepassageforeachanswer.TelepathyName/DateDescriptionResultFlawGanzfeldstudies1982Involvedapersonactingasa5)_____,whopickedoutone6)____fromarandomselectionoffour,anda7)______,whothentriedtoidentifyit.Hit-rateswerehigherthanwithrandomselection.Positiveresultscouldbeproducedbyfactorssuchas8)_____or9)______.Autoganzfeldstudies198510)____wereusedforkeytaskstolimittheamountof11)____incarryingoutthetests.Thetestswerethensubjectedtoa12)_____.The13)_____betweendifferenttestresultswasputdowntothefactthatsamplegroupswerenot14)____(aswithmostganzfeldstudies).