Journal of the Sociely for Psychical Resigrch veg For Release 2600/08) fs °°S1A-RDP96-00792R00070D830001-9 chology. In addition, there is much philosophical discussion on its possible participation in the constitution and operation of consciousness. However, this Note deals with a completely non-technical aspect of the relationship and consequently an understanding of quantum thgory is quite unnecessary, providing the conclusions drawn from quantum experiments are accepted. Some of these conclusions might seem to a layman ever more preposterous than the claims of parapsychology appear to a physicist, put there is no escaping their veracity. Quantum physics is one of the most ffrmly established branches of science and its validity has been confirmed by th¢ work done on it, which ranges from sub-atomic experinignts to many types of fndustrial application. The main types of parayormal mental actWity are telepathy and PK and included in the former are pQenomena suclf as crisis apparitions which are probably visual 3-dimensional Wyanifestations of it. The materialist maintains there is no indisputable evidence Yo suggestAhat there can be any communica- tion, apart from the established \yhysica¥ means, between two individuals separated by hundreds of miles. (Of \oursé, even Sir Isaac Newton in his day, would have agreed it was utterly impo\siple for somebody in Europe to hold a conversation with a person in the NeW World!). Little attention is paid to anecdotal accounts or the results of nofi\repeatable experiments. There is no answer to questions asking how a sign] elnanating from an agent in Brighton knows how to locate a recipient in Birfningham, and yet disregard every other possible recipient. Distance between And percipient does not appear to affect the signal’s effectiveness, therebh jng that telepathy must break one of the fundamental laws of science— é ever been discovered in the brain which could Be related to telepathy, and one cannot have an informatory radiatfon without some means of transmitting it. The scientific attitude is rather surprising in view of the fact that there exist in the physical world virtual duplicdtes of these ‘imposible’ criteria. If an atomic particle explodes into two fragmgnts, A and B, which\gre allowed to travel apart for a great distance, then an aftion, such as a meaXarement of one particle, immediately produces a reacfion in the second par\cle, irrespective of its distance away. (A detailed example of a particular form &f interference with the first particle A, and the reactigh of the second B, is describe by Davies,' but only the principle involved is relévant here.) There therefore \xists in physics the equivalent of the basis of telepathy. The first particle A \Yorresponds to the telepathic agent, and is abl¢ to locate and communicate with particle B without regard to the inverse squaye law and without affecting any other particles in its sphere of influence. In addition, the disturbance created in particle A induces a configuration in B whiclf is dependent on the type of influence exerted on A, thereby suggesting the/ transmission of an informatory signal. All this is indisputable, yet it raisfs exactly the same questions which it is claimed render telepathy an impossibil{ty. By what means does the first particle A communicate with B? How does it know where to find it and avoid extraneous particles? Particle A can be influéaced in various ways and B always makes the appropriate response, which suggests an informatory signal from A to B. The parallel with telepathy is obvious. : One of the most extraordinary characteristics of the quantum factor is that the act of conscious observation can affect the properties of the observed particles, N Fi Apqoroved For Release 2000/08/15 : CIA-R ! Notes being able, for example, to convert what is referred to as a ‘ghost’ electron into a concrete reality. It is sometimes claimed that this is confirmation of PK on the grounds that if consciousness can affect physical matters in one set of circumstances, then it can operate in PK £xperiments, although it does not necessarily follow that the behaviour of aAingle atom will be duplicated in the case of the immensely larger molecular frouping of a dice. More importantly>kawever, is the infplication of this situation for dualism and accordingly for parapsyc -Cartesian dualism presumes there is an interaction between a possibly physical consciousness and a material brain. This hypothesis has been unacc¢pf dle to many scientists for several reasons: it is impossible to conceive the non-physical entity, it is impossible to comprehend how anything could modify a physical system, it is impossible to suggest the ary energy and how it is utilised, and so on. In short, thé whole situation is tWterly impossible, yet quantum a . 4g not physical, nor does it indicate how the mjid might interact with the brain, o ven if it does so, but what it clearly proyés is that it could, and thus makes it impossible for responsible scientists to dismis&dualism and parapsychology out of hand on the grounds that mental influence on a physical body at a distance cannot exist in nature. Ashford, Kindlestown Hill. Delgany, Co. Wicklow, IRELAND REFERENCE 1. Davies, P. (1983). God and the New Physics. London: J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd. EXPERIMENTS WITH GOD. ESSAY REVIEW OF CORNELIS W. RIETDIJK’S EXPERIMENTEN MET GOD* by Joop M. HouTKoorer There may be as many as a few dozen SPR members that know the Dutch language, but this review is intended to be of interest, not only for them, but also for the general reader of the JSPR. We no longer live in a classical world. Like a hundred years ago, apples fall down, cannonballs follow parabolic trajectories, and planets move in a predictable way in the sky, but this no longer reflects natural law in a fundamental manner. Though we may not be aware of it, our daily lives are more and more shaped by the applications of quantum mechanics and the theory of relativity. . . We also live in an age which may be characterized as moral. The limits on pollution, natural resources are visible on a global scale. Economy develops ona global scale, and, as some say, the Third World War has just ended, having been fought by economic means. The most prominent question society has to deal * BRT Press. Brussels 1989 (In Dutch) 269pp. Dfl. 41.50. P96-00792R000700830001-9 36]