Figure 13
Figure 14
Approved For Release 2000/08/07
: CJIA
TO RECORDER
ACTIVE
PHOTOCELL
#-
^ID)
CONTROL
PHOTOCELL
&
EXTERNAL
LIGHT SOURCE
\
SHUTTER NSSHUTTER
VIEWING PORT
LUMINOUS DECAY EXPERIMENT
The luminous decay experiment, sketched schematically in Figure 13,
yields photocell records like that shown in Figure 14. The task of the
subject is to increase or decrease the rate of decay of the luminosity
on command.
forbidden transition of an atomic electronic configuration from a
metastable
triplet to a singlet state.39
Its decay time
is about five
minutes.
As indicated in Figure 13, the phosphor is initially illuminated by
a germicidal lamp. We then observe the spontaneous decay of the
phosphorescence with a photomultiplier, which yields the roughly
exponential response shown in Figure 14. (This is an overlay of five
such events, so we have some confidence in its reproducibility.) Our
next task will be to attempt PK interference that causes the decay
process to speed up or slow down, on demand.
We have several other ideas for high-gain PK experiments that
have not yet been implemented. These involve delicately resonant
mechanical
devices,
finely
tuned
electrical
circuits,
microwave
resonators, transition of a fluid dynamic jet from laminar to turbu-
lent flow, chemical reactions of very precise inception times, atomic
“clocks,” nuclear resonances, and others. By studying many of
these, we hope not only to be able to select the most stable, repro-
ducible, and effective devices for PK demonstration, but also to
identify common aspects of the interactions that may help
in the
general comprehension of the process.
The results we have in hand are typical of the experience of others
in this field: i.e. , we find suggestive anecdotal effects on isolated oc-
casions; but routine reproducibility has not been achieved. Experi-
ments that work well on one day work less well, or fail to respond at
all, on the next, under apparently identical conditions. By the stand-
ard criterion of scientific reproducibility, therefore, the effects ap-
Tiieoretical Models of Psychic
B
eyond the introduction of more sophisticated measuring
and data-handling techniques,
the second recent develop-
ment which holds some hope of leading psychic research out
of the dark ages is the growing interest of a number of theoretical
and applied physicists in formulating models of the processes. We
would need an entire article to represent any one of these models
adequately, and the cursory listing that follows can do little more
than
indicate
their existence, and the breadth of the various ap-
proaches.
One of the earliest physical models to be proposed invokes very-
low-frequency electromagnetic waves, of the order of 10 hertz (10
cycii^pFidM94sFi0raRetep^i(2QrQOiOfi/O7
I inQtA
approach,
classical
electricity
and
magnetism
and
information
theories are combined to compute the energy and information trans-
pear spurious; yet in the context of a given experimental protocol,
they are classically inexplicable.
At about this point in any of our presentations, the questions inevi-
tably arise; What is the ambiance of a successful PK experiment?
What is the strategy of the experimenter? How does itfeel to influence
the device? Regrettably, there seem to be no simple or general an-
swers. The experimenter’s interaction with a physical system is a
highly personal, subjective, delicate, and elusive experience that de-
fies articulation in straightforward terms.
The closest analogy
I can find — and it is an imperfect one — is
with the biofeedback process, wherein the patient is led to a degree
of control over certain physiological functions via a monitoring sys-
tem that displays his success, or lack of it, in the desired effort. So in
PK, the behavior of the display unit— whether it be a set of illumi-
nated numbers, the needle on a chart recorder, the position of optical
fringes, or any other indicator— leads the experimenter to select out
of his conscious and subconscious
repertoire of attitudes^those
which happen to be productive at the time for the task at hand.
Many of the gifted psychics we have met, far more effective than
we
at PK, speak
in
abstract terms of “resonance with the sys-
tem,” “becoming an element in the system,” “holistic attitudes,”
“global views," and “protoplasmic levels” — none of which ac-
quires meaning short of the subjective experience of a given experi-
menter in a specific task. The problem of instructing a person in PK,
I suspect, is akin to that of instructing him how to create a work of
art.
Phenomena
fer attainable in this mode. The low-frequency range is reflective of
certain biological frequencies— e.g., electrical potentials across the
human heart, and many of the brain potentials, which could provide
the mechanisms
for launching and receiving these waves
in
the
human physiology. In principle, this model should be experimen-
tally testable, but in practice that is difficult because at these extraor-
dinarily large wavelengths such effects as decay of the signal with
propagation distance,
diffraction and interference patterns, or
at-
tenuation in solid and liquid materials require almost global dimen-
sions before becoming detectable. Identification of a speed of prop-
agation
of psychic
information
consistent
with
electromagnetic
-RDR96»O07'87>R0©l9
l5QOO7OOO1'Jlbut no experiments
have yet established any definite velocity of propagation for psychic
effects.
Somewhat similar wave propagation models have beenipropo:
whereiAp^rax^diiornaeieaee^OOfi^QS/^ c
Tnunication 42 For example, infrasonic waves (sound waves of the
same low frequencies) may carry information through the atmos-
phere, or signals may be modulated onto the static electric fields in
the earth, the piezo-static fields arising from geoseismic activity, or
the cloud-to-earth electric fields like those that develop in lightning
storms. Similarly, magnetic anomalies of the earth may provide a
base for such communication, a process studied in the context of the
homing capabilities of birds.43
Models based on the concepts of statistical thermodynamics have
been attempted, with particular attention to the property called “en-
tropy."30 In essense, entropy is an index of the information content
or, equivalently, of the degree of order of a physical system. For
example, a large box containing many black marbles, all of which
are to the left of its center, and many white marbles, all of which are
to the right of its center, is a system of relatively low entropy: the
arrangement of marbles is highly ordered, and one may with cer-
tainty extract a black marble by reaching into the left side of the box.
If the box is steadily shaken, however, the black and white marbles
will intermix and eventually achieve a random distribution. Now the
operator has less information about the system: he cannot tell which
color marble he will extract, no matter where in the box he reaches;
the system now has higher entropy. Furthermore, its arrangement is
highly irreversible, i.e., no amount of shaking is likely to return the
marbles to their original, separated configuration.
The concept of entropy
is by no means restricted to such me-
chanical situations. The unfortunate fate of Humpty Dumpty
is an
example of a drastic entropy rise of quite a different system. His de-
mise from a highly organized whole egg to one that was completely
scrambled was also highly irreversible. In living systems, the process
of death and subsequent decay could be represented as a similarly
irreversible process of entropy increase.
This natural tendency of complex systems towards states of disor-
der, which is formalized in the Second Law of Thermodynamics, is
theoretically troublesome and
esthetically unappealing
in
that
it
lacks a specifiable inverse process. That is, no mechanism for spon-
taneous reduction of entropy of an isolated system has been iden-
tified. Yet many manifestations of psychokinesis involve just such
entropy reduction — a random generator which is caused to display
an excess of high numbers, a torsional pendulum that changes from
jiggling motion to a periodic oscillation, or the establishment of a
temperature differential between two previously isothermal thermis-
tors — all are proceeding toward more highly ordered states. Many
of the Biblical miracles display similar characteristics: the parting of
the Red Sea, the remote healing of the Centurion’s servant, the raising
of the dead, and, indeed, the creation of the universe itself are impres-
sive examples of “spontaneous” entropy reduction. Question: what
is the influence that drives such processes? Is it lurking somewhere in
our established thermodynamic formalisms, or can an appropriate
new ingredient be assimilated by them?
In a more mathematical vein, the general aspects of symmetry of
our established physical theories are being re-examined in a search
for previously rejected information.44 - 45 We have been in the habit
of taking only one class of solutions out of the differential equations
of physics. The classical wave equation, for instance, yields both a
retarded wave and an advanced wave solution, and we normally dis-
card the advanced wave because “it does not conform to experi-
ence.” This may be short-sighted; perhaps, for example, we could
represent precognition in terms of advanced waves.
There are also several “hyperspace” theories which contend that
our usual presumption of using only four coordinates to describe na-
ture, three spatial and one temporal, limits our deductive capacity.46
If we start all over again with five or six or seven, we may still ex-
tract the information needed
for our
traditional four-dimensional
world, while in addition representing phenomena that would be re-
garded
as paranormal on the basis of a
strictly four-dimensional
analysis.
the first class of scientific theory to depart significantly from strictly
osed
deterministic
representation
of cause and effect
in the physical
:cQlA-ROR9r6a(OQ^t87<ROOO5©fflOifE00O1l“11 mechanics deals
with “probability densities” and “expectation values,” which are in
turn expressed in terms of wave functions or matrices rather than
individual explicit quantities. One of the problems with which quan-
tum mechanics has labored for years is that of experimental observa-
tion.
It turns out not to be possible to observe any physical quantity
or process without disturbing it in some way; the system inevitably
reacts to any attempt to measure it. (Stated more formally, the quan-
tum mechanical state vector of a system is not specified until a suita-
ble measurement
is made upon
it.) This in turn leads to certain
paradoxes, as epitomized in various famous examples, such as that
of “Schrbdinger’s Cat,” or “Wigner’s Friend,” or the “Einstein-
Poldosky-Rosen Paradox.” (The Wigner referred to is Princeton’s
Nobel
Laureate and Professor of Physics Emeritus Eugene
P.Wigner.)
"Everyphenomenon Is
unexpected and most
unlikely unlit it has
been discovered—
and some of them
remain unreasonable
for a long time
after they have
been discovered
—Eugene P. Wigner,
Symmetries and
Reflections (1967)
After one concedes
that the person conducting an experiment
exerts an unavoidable influence on
it, and in this sense becomes an
integral part of it, the step to allowing a person to interfere in a de-
liberate way with a physical system
is not quite so unpalatable. A
number of attempts have been made to represent psychokinesis in
this way. Some have invoked previously neglected “hidden vari-
ables”
in
the quantum theory
to specify the human component.
Others have made analogy of the synaptic transitions in the brain fo
quantum mechanical “tunnelling” processes, such as the escape of
beta particles from radioactive nuclei.40 All of this clearly involves a
daring extension of mathematical physics to cover human charac-
teristics.
In
still another approach,
it
is claimed that psychic process can
largely be assigned to inadequate comprehension of random physi-
cal processes.31 The central point here is that a truly random process
is unattainable; all sources and all receivers in nature, because they
are finite in dimension and finite in time, must show some departure
from the truly random. That is, if enough correlations are examined,
biases will prevail in those sources and receivers. The proposition,
then, is that so-called paranormal communication is simply the res-
onant tuning of those very slightly biased sources and receivers. Left
unexplained is the specific mechanism of the resonance, thus defer-
ring the propagation problem to some other model.
Less analytical models propose empirical postulates for psychic
functioning. For example, there is the proposition of “conformance
behavior,” which assigns to living systems the ability to influence
the physical world to their own advantage.32 Some experiments have
addressed this concept, employing human subjects, monkeys, gold-
fish, cockroaches, and even seeds.33 Again, the details of the influ-
ence are not specified.
_ _
sh all make
neurophysiological
R EXE*
first because we
are not very well qualified to assess them, and second because we
have not seen any that help much with the physical side of the prob-
lehi. p^ppr^vted)tPoih<Re
>i
,eaf5f^
12^pOfOM^7d
:
,CHA-
brain ana right-brain perception capabilities. The
left brain deals
with the more analytic affairs of life;
it is the part that deduces, in-
terprets, counts, and reasons. The right brain, on the other hand,
handles the more esthetic perceptions and sensations. Interestingly
enough, those people who seem most adept at performing psychic
feats tend to be
right-brained; they are highly aesthetic and im-
pressionistic in their thinking and articulation. The people needed to
make sense out of it, however, are the analytical types who have the
more highly developed left brain. Unfortunately, there is some evi-
dence that each of these talents can interfere with the other. Those
who are predominantly analytic seem less adept at psychic demon-
stration. For example, Targ and Puthoff have reported that people
who have photographic memories are totally incapable of doing
their remote-viewing experiments .27
It should also be emphasized that the absence of good neuro-
chk process does not
h'Tny se^se'lmply’fta'Sis^ofn^iremor^ problem
is unimpor-
tant. On the contrary,
it underscores the difficulty of the entire mod-
eling effort. As Laurence Veysey puts
it: “The elusiveness of psy-
chic phenomena
is simply the elusiveness of the ordinary human
Finally, there seems to be a growing suspicion that psychic phe-
nomena may defy representation by any model drawn solely from a
single domain of established science. In other words, psychic proc-
ess may be fundamentally holistic, and any attempt to separate out
tlie physical, biological, or psychological aspects, either in the exper-
iments or in the theories, will inevitably obscure the phenomena.
Should this indeed be the case, the analytical tasks become even
more formidable, but this type of approach seems to be of growing
importance in many other fields of scholarship as well .55
Applications and Implications
I
f research like that outlined above is eventually successful in
advancing our understanding of psychic phenomena from simply
bemused observation to some capability for more regular and
controlled practice, then a wide range of applications can be seri-
ously considered, involving an equally wide range of personal and
social impact. For example, one can readily extrapolate from the
present abilities of gifted psychics who can perceive remote scenes
with remarkable precision,
identify equipment and documents
in
sealed rooms, describe geographical features of a location given
merely its map coordinates, and even now are called upon by police
and rescue units to locate lost persons or objects. The extent and ef-
fectiveness of such applications clearly depends on the number and
competence of people who can be found or trained to perform such
tasks, which again raises the fundamental issue of what degree of
psychic capability is latent in the human race, and susceptible to or-
tion as such. How do you handle a “scientific” field which seems
basically irreproducible, sensitive to the observer, evasive of close
scrutiny, strongly goal-oriented, and heavily interactive with do-
mains like theology and philosophy? In many respects psychic proc-
ess seems as much akin to art, and music, and creative process in
general as it is to analytical and replicable science. It has one foot in
the esthetic and one foot in the analytic.
It occupies an interface re-
gion like those Willis Harman has identified as the most urgent for
society to develop
if
it
is to extract itself from
its present socio-
technological predicament .57
The fourth level, once again personal in nature, concerns the in-
dividual “world-view” that derives. This was expressed rather well
by our ex-astronaut, Edgar Mitchell, who has been for some time an
advocate of this field, and who carried out psychic experiments on
board his Apollo mission:
derly development.
With regard
to applications of psychokinesis
in
particular, the
prognosis is even more clouded, pending more definitive basic ex-
periments and serviceable theoretical models. Disturbing negative
applications,
such
as
interference
with
deiicate
technological
equipment, jump to mind — and have concerned various public and
private agencies .56 More profound and significant, however,
is the
spectrum of potential
personal
applications whereby
individuals
might advantageously modify
their immediate environment, and
themselves, by
this capacity. Already there
is a small group of
psycho-physiologists who feel that the early cognitive processes of
control of body function— muscles, vision, blood flow, etc. — in-
volve a significant component of trial-and-error self-PK, which by
maturity has long since become routine and imperceptible. The prac-
tical distinction between this view and the more conventional models
of infantile learning may not be of major consequence, but in matters
of rehabilitation, some useful techniques might evolve.
Rather than belabor the unavoidably speculative applications per
se, it might be better to turn to more general musing about the impli-
cations of psi, i.e., the effect on the individual, and on society, of
such talents if they could be more broadly and routinely developed.
From this point of view, there seem to be at least five levels of chal-
lenge:
First, there are the phenomena themselves, which, if valid, pose a
very serious question, namely: are we facing a basic modification of
our physical laws, or are we simply looking to identify new forces
arid new energy transfer processes to insert in the established physi-
cal formalisms?
Second, there is the level of personal discipline with which one
must approach the field. One has to be critical enough to insist on
rigorous fact, but not so stubborn that information
is rejected be-
cause it does not conform to previous conceptions. One must distin-
guish between
high
vision
and
naive
delusion; between
open-
if i
this is a science at all. If it is,
it has some difficulties in representa-
The profundity of the
issue
lies
in the implications
to our system of
thought about the nature of man, the universe, and reality. In spite of the
relative rarity of these events, the question must be asked, "Could
it be
that we, each one of us, everyday, by our thoughts are subtly influencing
our environment, our reality, our Universe, without consciously knowing
it, or is this type control strictly the province of a few rare individuals who
possess this unique capability?”58
Finally , there are the personal and collective reactions of cithers
— the people to whom you try to explain all this, on an airplane,, in a
corporate meeting, in a sponsor’s office, or in a report like this.
What has been your reaction to this article? How much of a threat,
or a challenge, has it been to you? Out of the sum of such reactions
comes the sociological and political acceptance or rejection of the
field. At present I suspect that the major portion of society still finds
the business somewhat incredible, and hopes that it will quietly go
away. But there
is a minor fraction, possibly a growing fraction,
which has a zest for this as a new frontier, and for whom the search
for links between the mundane and sublime experiences of life have
a numenistic appeal.
The present majority opinion does inhibit establishment of care-
ful, disciplined research that could settle the issues of validity rather
directly. As a consequence, the scholars and investigators tend to be
a rather defensive and hunted group, in some cases actually perse-
cuted by their peers for association with a field which admittedly has
had more than
its share of tawdry and fraudulent exploitation. For
the same reason, the financial support of psychic research
is minus-
cule; there is less spent on it per year in this country than the cost of
one modem tank or one fighter aircraft.
I had occasion to discuss
this issue recently with a well-placed officer of the Department of
Energy. Let me quote two sentences from a letter he sent me: The
first says, “.
.
. As I have mentioned on several occasions to you and
your staff, this subject is a personal interest to me
.
. .” and later in
the letter. “w
. but the national energy problem
is an urgent one,
to be a dilution of
our national efforts. ...”
Reflections
W
HERE DOES all this leaves? At the start we promised a
complex fabric of many implausible threads, and I think
that has been fulfilled. Also sustained
is our promise to
advo.cate nothing, save possibly that we keep our eyes and minds
and hearts open to this very new, yet very old, field. Certainly, the
experiments are no more than suggestive, the models only Vaguely
promising, the applications and implications highly speculative. Ul-
timately, of course, the choice— and in a field such as this, it has to
be a personal choice —- must be between the assignment of all the
inexplicable to mere chance, which is somehow bedazzling hyper-
romantic minds to delusion of order where there
is none, or the
acknowledgment of a legitimate,
potentially coherent and useful,
albeit very elusive, phenomenological domain.
Some 45 years ago, Albert Einstein confessed this same dilemma
in his preface to Upton Sinclair’s book, Mental Radio:
.
.
. The results of the telepathic experiments carefully and plainly set forth
in this book stand surely far beyond those which a mature investigator
holds to be thinkable. On the other hand,
it is out of the question in the
case of so conscientious an observer and writer as Upton Sinclair that he is
carrying on a conscious deception of the reading world; his good faith and
dependability are not to be questioned.
.
.
- 18
One might turn to historical analogies for insight, for there are
certainly many examples of
originally
inexplicable phenomena
gradually congealing into an established science and then into a use-
ful technology. Take the field of electricity and magnetism men-
tioned earlier. At the same time the Greeks were consulting their
Delphic Oracle, they were also rubbing amber to get static electrical
effects, using lodestones fo navigate their boats, and observing an
occasional lightning bolt in the sky. They had no Maxwell s equa-
tions, not even a Coulomb’s law, let alone television sets or hydro-
electric generators. Those came much later.
Again at Princeton, the physicist Joseph Henry was repeatedly
criticized by his peers for undertaking experiments that violated es-
tablished scientific principles and common sense, yet we now live
by many implementations of those same unreasonable ideas.
The choice between assignment of the mysterious to thoughtless
chance, or to a more purposeful higher order, has occupied many
thinkers and authors through the ages. One of my favorite opinions
on the subject is voiced by Schiller’s epic hero Wallenstein
at the
time of his impending tragic death:
Es gibt keinen Zufall; und was uns blindes Ohngefdhr nur diinkl, gerade
das steigt aus den tiefsten Quelten. (“There
is no such thing as chance,
and that which seems to us blind accident, actually stems from the deepest
source of all.”)53
etA
proper and productive for a university such as Princeton to involve
itself to any significant degree in so slippery, soggy, and suspect a
field as psychic research, and there will doubtless be many opinions
on this. My own is not at all fully formed, but there has hung on my
wall for the past six years a statement which may have some rele-
vance at that time:
In the long history of civilization there are always strong pressures in favor
of low-level sorts of conformity — pressures against unorthodoxy, indi-
viduality, and self-won responsibility. And
all the while from
left and
from right aggressive voices proclaim that truth and virtue are theirs alone.
But there is one place above all where it is (or should be) possible for men
to think and act as their own reasoned judgment and best conscience dic-
tate — namely, a university. Here it is that the willingness to think other-
wise, to dream, to question, and to dare should flourish.
If an utter stranger to our civilization should ask: "Where in your soci-
ety can a person disagree with impunity with accepted practices, dogmas
and doctrines?” the answer should be, “The universities. That is part of
their being. Their role is to conserve the best of the past and to look for-
ward from
it. On both counts they are committed to freedom for the indi-
vidual, the dignity of the human person, and tolerance toward dissent
within broad and agreed upon limits.”
This
is signed by
the U.S. Ambassador
to India and
president
emeritus of Princeton University, the Honorable Robert F. Goheen
>40.60
At the very least, Carol and I do hope that you have enjoyed shar-
ing our own brief exposure to the psychic tapestry; that the colors
have not been too garish for your taste, or the pattern too bizarre;
and that some of you may now care to hold the cloth in your own
hands, and attempt your own interpretation of its message.
Robert G. John ’51, *55 has been dean ofPrinceton’s School
ofEngineering and Applied Science since 1971. At the invita-
tion of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, he visited several re-
search centers in the U.S.S.R. this pastfall to lecture on his
principalfield: pulsed, high-power plasma discharges, which
are of interest for deep-space propulsion, plasmadynamic
lasers,
basic studies
in arc phenomena,
materials testing ,
and other industrial processes. He is a member ofthe Univer-
sity Research Board and serves as chairman of the Council
on Environmental Studies, chairman of the Committee on
Athletics, and faculty adviser to the football program. His
extra-Princeton assignments include heading the Executive
Committee of the Board of Trustees of Associated Univer-
sities,
Inc.
(the oversight and policy-making body for the
Brookhaven National Laboratory and National Radio As-