Approved For Release 2003/09/09 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000200090021-0 _ at all the sessions, subsequent study of written versions of the papers, and private conversations with nearly all of the personalities present. IT, ANALYSIS OF THE PURPORT OF THE CONFERENCE The reality of ESP was an accepted fact at this conference. When discussion of the reality of the phenomena oceurred, it was concerned only with methods of securing public acceptance and belief in paranormal cognition, Some doubt was expressed of the usefulness of pubLic demonstrations to "blue-ribbon panels", but all agreed on the necessity of more research support. It became clear that there exists at present no adequate theory of paranormal perception which can furnish a physical basis: for the. phenomena. The existing atteupts at physical theories are speculative, incomplete, at at best poorly substantiated; although some ideas were presented which might. furnish the seeds of fruitful investigation, These ideas are discussed in more detail below. The conference evidenced a rough division of attitudes toward parapsychology into two gchools:of thought, Researchers share @ general acceptance of the strangeness: of 1% all, but on the working level some believe: progress’ in understanding can be achieved through extension and use of existing scientific knowledge and methods, perhaps by some new synthesis. The others basically favor 4 more philosophical and mystical approach, and believe that nothing short of a complete revolution of thought, maybe into more spiritual directions, can cope with the challenge, The "mystics" characterize the. physical approach as Approved For Release 2003/09/09 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000200090021-0
Approved For Release 2003/09/09 : CIA-RDP96-00787R009200090021-0 naive reductionism. The *reductionists", for lack of a better tern, retain their faith in the efficacy of traditional scientific methods, These categories are a convenient simplification of complex attitudes and some individuals show traces of both orientations, In view of the conference topic it was surprising that the ‘mystics were strongly represented, The presentations of Chari, Firsoff, Whiteman, end Bastin seen to fall in the mystical category. Verbal comments of Arthur Koestler would place him also in this group. At the conclusion of the conference he expressed disappointment that the ideas were not terany” enough and voiced scepticism at seeking explanation of ESP in existing physical theorles, These contributions to the conference seem to offer n0 avenues of physical understanding and will not be discussed further. The remaining papers presented at the conference are more physical in content. Of the theoretical papers Costa de Beauregard gave the most general and perhaps the best formulated analysis of a possible physical basis for ESP, His presentation consisted of words, and not equations, but the concepts discussed were readily understandable by a theoretical physicist. No specific mechanism was proposed, but information theory was interwoven with some established physical principles to deseribe a franework within which ESP might be understood. The ideas of Costa de Beauregard are unifying in character, rather analogous to the unifying character of the enerey concept in conventional physics, and like the concept of energy could establish broad guidlines without supplying a detailed mechanism, For example, the idea discussed by Feinberg, that precognition is a memory propagated from the future, is subsumed in Approved For Release 2003/09/09 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000200090021-0
Approved For Release 2003/09/09 : CIA-RDP96-00787R00Q200090021-0 Costa de-Beauregard's thinking. Puthoff presented some speculations about apparent features of his PK experiments which are also consistent with the same overall picture, Indeed’ if any common thread emerged. from the physical side of the conference, it was that somehow information theoretic concepts mst play an important role in ESP, The connection is established through the equivalence of information theory with physical probability and its role both in quantum theory and in macroscopic entropy. & detailed and partially quantitative physical theory of ESP was presented ty Walker, This theory may err through its use of overspecific and poorly justified assumptions. Tt relies heavily on some explicit conjectures about neural activity in the brain, and also postulates ‘an essential function in consciousness and psi communication for the so- called “hidden variables" of quantum theory. A. simple empirical method of quantifying the results of ESP expériments -)- was_ proposed by Schmidt. This quantification, if appropriate, would pernit the various experimental manifestations of ESP ( precognition, clairvoyance, PK, etc.) to be interrelated, Experimental papers describing striking PK and remote viewing © experiments with gifted paragnosts were presented by Puthoff and Targ, In terns of normal standards of scientific conferences the gleanings of theoretical understanding from this conference are somewhat sparse, particularly ifa physical basis of ESP is the object. The phenomena of ESP have undergone a great deal of experimental verification, “but a basie understanding of paranormal perception is evidently still lacking. The material prosented at this conference only ifidicates a bare beginning of a rational, physical, interpretation of parapsychological phenomena. Approved For Release 2003/09/09 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000200090021-0
Approved For Release 2003/09/09 : CIA-RDP96-00787R00Q200090021-0 ITI, GENERAL CONCLUSIONS AND GUIDELINES The picture of ESP research derived from attendance:at this conference _ and supplemented by a study of publications in the open literature forms the basis. of the following general comments. 1. 1 Knowledge of normal perception and neural data processing in the brain is still Limited, even though the physical basis of normal perception . is well-founded. The wide area of ignorance or partial knowledge » surrounding even normal mental function is indicative of the possible impedinents to attaining a coherent understanding of paranormal perception. The physical paradoxes of ESP are severe, but even were a physical basis: of ESP established, much would remain unknown. In short, ” progress in this area may require not only increased understanding of the ‘physical basis of the phenomena, but also advances in cybernetics and neurophysiology as well. The ideas of Costa de Beauregard form the most auspicious point of departure for development of a physical understanding of ESP, These ideas are favored because of their broad physical base, their use of general information concepts, and because they contain a minimum of ad hoe assumptions, Although some elementary deductions are inmediately possible, this theoretical framework is, 4s yet, insufficiently articulated. Additional analysis and calculation is needed to explore detailed consequences of the basic general idea. Experimentally verifiable predtbtions and relations should be sought, and the theory should be serutinized for guidelines to meaningful. experimental efforts. Such Approved For Release 2003/09/09 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000200090021-0
Approved For Release 2003/09/09 : CIA-RDP96-00787R00Q200090021-0 a program would represent a firm physically—based attempt to understand some of the mechanism of ESP, but could not be expected to produce | imiediate results, he For practical purposes: the investigation and experimental verification of empirical regularities governing the occurrence, content, and reliability of paranormal events should not be disdained, Although theory is always valuable, it may not be absolutely essential. Tt is quite possible to know enough about a phenomenon to use it effectively, or to evaluate its use, without possessing any deep understanding of its nature. The human race used fire for thousands of years without understanding chemistry. Identification and quantification of physical, and psychological conditions for inhibition and enhancement of psi effects igs especially desirable. The apparent spontaneity of these phenomena and their independence of most referents poses the most gerious obstacle to their application, It is difficult to perceive the purpose served by research in parapsychology which does not attempt to relate the phenomena to controling conditions. Parapsychology may have’ application provided such relationships exist on some level, even the Level of total empiricism. | Regardless of the level of understanding of paranormal perception at 4g clear that information derived by this means is incomplete, subject to error and distortion, and sometimes completely erroneous. In many cases the accuracy is amazing, but complete errors are also frequent, A pereipient may be unable to reliably estimate his own accuracy. Approved For Release 2003/09/09 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000200090021-0
be Approved For Releagg 2003/09/09 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000290090021-0 18 LIFE AND QUANTUM PHYSICS V.A, Firsoff, Royal Astronomical Society, London, England SUMMARY: This paper uses the ideas expressed by Monod «(Jacques Monod, Chance and Necessity, 1972 ) as a framework for expounding the theme that mental proc- esses have a fundamental role in nature which cannot be understood on the basis of classical mechanism, logic of the excluded middle, cybernetic models, or any other conventional ways of thinking. Numerous dllustrative examples are cited to support this assertion, Life is too rare and strange a phenomenon to be explicable in terms of statisticel probability. Its characteristics of genetic invariance coupled with dynamic cvolution Miaptability indicate a dix rective force of mental type. Visual perception may use only a few photons, and neural processes in the brain are sufficiently sensitive to respond to quantum effects, In turn PK experiments have demonstrated mental influence upon radioactive decay, a quantum process, Thus there is a deep, and not understood, connection between life, mental processes, and quantum physics. CRITIQUE: Not precisely an objective paper, but rather expressive of the author's gense of awe and wonderment at the mysteries of nature, citing examples of in- explicable processes, and weaving some possible general implications from them. Basically a philosophical essay, more lucid than many, but offering no testable hypotheses nor firm points of departure for subsequent analysis. Approved For Release 2003/09/09 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000200090021-0
6. Te Approved For Release 2003/09/09 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000290090021-0 ad PHYSICS, ENTROPY AND PSYCHOKENESIS Fiedler am a lO a aaa Harold Puthoff and Russell Targ, SRI, Menlo Park, California REMOTE VIEWING OF NATURAL TARGETS Russell Targ and Harold Puthoff, SRI, Menlo Park, California SUMMARY : Both of these papers deseribe experimental tests with gifted paragnosts. The first describes PK experiments influencing sophisticated physical instru- ments, and the secotid describes extrasensory perception of renote targets in such detail as to imply high rates of data transmission. No detailed summary is necessary since the papers are experimental and the descriptions are clear. Some general features of PK and speculations about its nature are given in the first paper, to wit: 1. PK phenomena are close to noise level and appear to derive their en- ergy from mobilization of random thermal energy. 2. Results seem to appear as a result of coincidence rather than of specific cause. 3, PK phenomena are intrinsically spontaneous and hard to produce on cue. 4. Close control and observation inhibit the phenomena. 5, Phenomena are known to occur on the microscopic quantum level which are similar to observed PK phenomena. CRITIQUES Belief in the experimental results dépends upon confidence in the integ- rity and skill of the experimenters, The results deseribed, if valid, estab- lish the existence of the phenomena and are a first step toward establishing its patterns. Approved For Release 2003/09/09 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000200090021-0
Approved For Releage 2003/09/09 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000200090021-0 Some of the features observed are compatible with the general ideas ex- pressed in the paper of Professor Beauregard. Approved For Release 2003/09/09 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000200090021-0 20
8, Approved For Release 2003/09/09 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000200090021-0 aL PARAPSYCHOLOGY AS AN ANALYTICAL=DEDUCTIVE SCIENCE JH.M. Whiteman, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa SUMMARY: Iam utterly unable to understand this paper. It appears to outline a complete logical-mathéematical system, which is also expressive of an entire philosophy or world view sufficiently rich in structure to permit parapsychol- ogy and much else besides, CRITIQUE: I am neither a philosopher nor a logician, but as a physicist I doubt whether such artificial constructs, however beautifully articulated, sare fruit- ful unless narrowly constrained by experimental fact. Such is apparently not the case here, Approved For Release 2003/09/09 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000200090021-0
Qe Approved For Releage7003/09/09 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000290090021-0 22 A_ LOGICALLY CONSISTENT MODEL OF A WORLD WITH PST INTERACTION Helmut Schmidt, The Institute for Parapsychology, Durham, North Carolina SUMMARY : An empirical description of psi phenomena is proposed wherein a psi source strength is defined as a multiplicative factor applied to the ratio of apriori probabilities for random events. Thus psi can change relative probabilities of events. Different experiments can be conceived as chains of random events, and whether an event occurs in the chain or not can depend upon previous events in the chain. Various experimental structures are proposed which could serve to test the consistency of this model. Psi sources could be superimposed to test the Linear addition of weak psi effects, multiple stimulation of the psi sources { an animate object ) eould be tested, and various logical connectivities can be constructed to test equivalence of PK, precognition, ete. CRITIQUE: This empirical approach to the quantification of psi effects is moti- vated by Dr, Schmidt's successful experiments in the psi control of random quantum events. The approach furnishes no deep mechanism or understanding, but can be very valuable for sorting the logical consistency of models, Whether these specific ideas prove consistent by surviving further experimen- tal cheeks or not, the general approach of empirical quantification in the context of a simple logical structure seems quite appropriate and reasonable at the present stage of understanding of psi phenomena. Approved For Release 2003/09/09 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000200090021-0