Psychic Ability: Is It Real? What Does It Mean?
abracad, · Categories: paranormal phenomena, psychic development, spiritualityThe term psychic power refers to any ability by which mind can interact with matter by means beyond currently understood laws of science.
Parapsychology, the scientific discipline devoted to the study of psychic ability and other paranormal phenomena has coined the umbrella term psi to refer to a number of distinct categories of psychic ability, namely:
- Telepathy - direct mind to mind communication.
- Clairvoyance (remote viewing) - direct knowledge of distant circumstances (clairvoyance also describes a form of mediumship).
- Precognition - knowledge of the future (above and beyond what might be reasonably predicted given present knowledge).
- Psychokinesis (pk) - direct action of mind upon matter.
- Mediumship - communication with the surviving consciousness of the deceased (as opposed to the general psychic 'ether'), associated with the Spiritualist movement. Mediumship may take the form of clairvoyance (seeing Spirit), clairaudience (hearing Spirit), clairsentience (intuitive awareness of Spirit).
Today, there is little doubt that psychic powers exist. Despite the continued stubborn denials of hardened skeptics, the existence of psi has been scientifically proven, over many years and numerous different experiments, to a degree of certainty well in excess of that demanded by more conventional disciplines.
Cambridge physicist and Nobel Laureate Brian Josephson has said: "there is now strong evidence for the existence of parapsychological phenomena." [Pioneer of the paranormal]
The authoritative Parapsychology FAQ (edited by Dean Radin, Ph.D. Senior Scientist at the Institute of Noetic Sciences with contributions by various learned individuals from prestigious institutions) says:
To be precise, when we say that "X exists," we mean that the presently available, cumulative statistical database for experiments studying X, provides strong, scientifically credible evidence for repeatable, anomalous, X-like effects.
With this in mind, ESP exists, presentiment (physical changes in skin reactivity, pupil size, heart rate, and other factors indicating precognition before a stimulus is applied) exists, telepathy (direct mind-mind communication) exists, and mind-matter interaction (previously known as psychokinesis or PK) exists.
Radin presents extensive and convincing evidence in The Conscious Universe.
Psychic ability manifests in two distinct ways - the spontaneous and the willed, with the spontaneous being by far the most common, ie most of our psychic experiences happen without us either trying for or expecting them.
The most frequently occurring form of spontaneous psychic manifestation is that of the meaningful coincidence. This phenomena was studied in depth by the revolutionary psychologist CG Jung, who famously termed it Synchronicity.
Like any human talent, psychic ability appears to be distributed throughout society in varying degrees. Thus there are psi superstars, as well as those who appear to manifest next to no ability.
Certain conditions appear to be more conducive for manifesting psi.
The Maimonides Medical Center's Dream Laboratory produced impressive results over several years of dreamers being able to identify pictures psychically "transmitted" to them whilst sleeping. Following a series of precognitive dreams English aeronautical engineer J.W. Dunne published the parapsychological classic An Experiment in Time which both describes his dreams and proposes a revolutionary model of time. Some personal precognitive dreams are described in Some Personal Psychic Experiences and their Implications.
Laboratory experiments using the "Ganzfeld" technique have also proven to be particularly fortuitous in producing psychic functioning, producing statistically impressive results. Ganzfeld involves the subject (receiver) undergoing sensory deprivation for a short time - around 30 minutes. This is achieved by placing halved ping-pong balls over their eyes, bathing them in a (commonly) red light, and playing white noise through earphones. The subjects speak the impressions which come into their mind through a microphone and, post-experiment, attempt to identify a picture that was being psychically transmitted to them.
It thus appears that psychic ability is strongest when conscious activity is minimized, suggesting that the mind may have access to a weak psychic input signal, that is generally lost against the backdrop of everyday noise, but becomes more discernible when that noise is attenuated, eg during sleep or sensory deprivation.
The extent to which we believe, or at least accept the possibility of psychic ability, affects the extent to which we manifest such ability. Believers are more likely to manifest psi, whereas skeptics tend to underperform, even making wrong guesses to a significantly significant extent! This so-called sheep and goats effect was first reported by Gertrude Schmeidler.
It is also likely that, as with other abilities, our individual psychic faculties may be improved with practice.
So, psychic abilities are real, but what are their implications?
The effects of all forms of psychic powers are weak. Though it would be nice for psychics to tune in to foresee the winning lottery numbers, in reality they appear limited to achieving just a few percentage points above the norm, albeit consistently and over the long run. It's as though there's some greater intelligence (God?) directing the show that hints at its existence through psi, but only inasmuch that it doesn't de-rail the greater plan. Thus using our innate psi to get rich probably isn't going to work, though developing and employing it to its full might give us a helping hand in making the most of life's great adventure.
But much more important is what psi reveals about the nature of reality. For several centuries we have placed our faith in the powers of science to eventually provide a theory of everything. Psi cannot exist under the current scientific paradigm. But countless personal experiences and the scientific discipline of parapsychology say psi does exist. Thus the current scientific paradigm is not a complete and accurate representation of reality.
In fact, modern scientific theory is beginning to recognize its own limitations. Einstein's Relativity suggests that space and time, and matter and energy, are not fixed and absolute as we perceive them but are actually interchangeable. Fundamental to quantum theory is the uncertainty principle which suggests a theoretical limit to the knowledge we can obtain about the universe. Quantum theory also assigns an essential role to the observer in making any observation, since we cannot observe anything without interacting with and influencing it.
The universe begins to look more like a great thought than a great machine. Sir James Jeans FRS
The stuff of the world is mind-stuff. Sir Arthur Eddington FRS
The existence of psi suggests reality is more (maybe far more) complex than that described by scientific law. If the physical universe is (to some extent) a giant machine slowly winding down, then there is a much greater reality that designed and breathed life into that machine, and makes it tick. And that greater reality will remain long after its current creation has ceased to function.
Far from being a subordinate and evolved product of the brain, the mind and consciousness are highly significant in shaping reality itself, to the point that the physical universe might be a mere product of mental activity. Might it be that psi is both a reminder from our source that we are fundamentally spiritual beings, and also the mechanism by which that source imposes its (and our) purpose upon the physical universe?
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Filed in: paranormal phenomena, psychic development, spirituality
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