Evening star., 1940-08-18

by tne hsSoClkIeo FIess.
DURHAM, N. c., Aug. 17.-Dr. J.
B. Rhine, the E. S. P. man. is look
ing for someone who can click
extra sensory perception on and of
like a radio. In fact, he's looking
for two or three such persons.
If and when these persons are
found, the Duke University psychol-
ogist expects shaking things.
Asked, for instance, what con-
trolled E. S. P. would do to Adolf
Hitler's war machine. he replied:
Take the secrecy and surprise out
of it, which might stop it; or would
have stopped 1t at one time
Extra sensory perception includes
the study of lunches, of telepathy,
dreams and second sight.
For 10 years DR.. Rhine has been
subjecting these psychic phenomena
to coldblooded laboratory examina-
ton.
One million card-telling tests have
been conducted at Duke during that
time, and the E. S. P. laboratory
now has compiled statistics on A.
900 900 tests conducted elsewhere
AS a result of the tests, DR.. Rhine
has reached these two general con-
clusions:
First, that certain persons possess
flashes of psychic ability; but,
second. the ability is erratic and
unstable and cannot as yet be re-
liabily used.
One subject examined in the Duke
laboratory. DR.. Rhine says. named
correctly Is cards in special E. S P.
deck, and the pure-chance odds
against such a feat were 298.023.-
223 3,876 ,953,125 to l. The subject
seemed sure that each card-cau was
right.
Mother Had Premonition.
As a more dramatic example of
the workings of E. S. P, DR.. Rhine
tells the story Of 9 mother who was
so sure something was wrong at
home that she broke up a party
and rushed to her house in time
to drag her child from smoke
filled bedroom.
But here is the trouble, DR.. Rhine
says, with using E. S. P. for such
practical occupations as locating
criminals, playing poker. beating
the stock market or discovering
Hitler's secret activities: A subject
just can't click on his E. S. P. when
he wants it. He has no control over
it. He doesn't know what he gets
nor when he has it. 1t comes and
goes without bidding
If we can train a subject to
detect with certainty when his
flashes of genuine e. S. p. are work.
ing, and when he is Just guessing
we can take the genuine flashes,
discard the rest, and piece the gen.
uine flashes together into a COM
plete picture of hidden things which
society needs to know" says the
psychologist. Thus we might de-
fend ourselves better against the
invader, the criminal, and other
scheming enemies Of society.
"Such pictures might have told us
what Hitler was preparing to do,
in time to have averted war. Hit
ler's attacks depended on surprise,
on the ignorance and indifference of
his victims"
More Scientific Than Practical.
But DR.. Rhine adds that he has
no idea when any practical conse-
quences Of his research may be ex-
pected, he believes his research will
have more scientific than practical
value.
Dr.. Rhine first published results
Of his E. s. p. experiments about
five years ago. At that time some
critics refused 10 admit the validity
of his conclusions, on grounds that
his mathematics are faulty.
DR.. Rhine's proof, they said,
hinged entirely on the allegation
that his subjects had beaten proba-
bility, or the law Of averages, in
naming cards. They added that
DR.. Rhine was a psychologist, not
a mathematician, and must have
blundered in figuring his probability.
An answer to these charges Is
contained in technical book.
Extra Sensory Perception After go
Years." which has just been writ
ten by DR.. Rhine and four other
members Of the Duke staff. One
of the four is DR.. Joseph A. Green
wood, an authority on probability.