- Also called:
- PSI phenomenon
- Key People:
- Helena Blavatsky
- F. W. H. Myers
parapsychological phenomenon
-
What is a parapsychological phenomenon?
Parapsychological phenomena are events that seem to defy natural laws or knowledge gained through the usual senses. Parapsychology is the discipline that studies these phenomena, which include cognitive experiences and physical occurrences. Cognitive phenomena include extrasensory perception (ESP), such as clairvoyance, telepathy, and precognition. Physical phenomena involve instances such as telekinesis, where objects are moved seemingly by the mind. The term psi is used to describe all types of parapsychological phenomena.
4 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
What are some examples of parapsychological phenomena?
Parapsychological phenomena are events that defy explanation by natural law or sensory abilities and fall into cognitive and physical types. Cognitive phenomena include extrasensory perception (ESP), designating phenomena where knowledge is acquired without the use of ordinary sensory channels.
Examples of ESP include:
* Telepathy, or thought transference between persons
* Clairvoyance, or awareness of objects or events not necessarily known to others
* Precognition, or knowledge of the future
* Retrocognition, or direct or extrasensory perception of past eventsParapsychological phenomena may also be physical, such as psychokinesis, where objects are moved through mental influence.
5 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
How do scientists study parapsychological phenomena?
Parapsychology is the study of events that natural law cannot explain, including extrasensory perception (ESP) and psychokinesis. ESP encompasses telepathy, clairvoyance, and precognition, while psychokinesis refers to influencing objects through thought alone.
One method for studying ESP ability, developed by Joseph Rhine, involves using Zener cards to test if subjects can guess the correct symbol on the card. For studying psychokinesis, subjects attempt to influence the numbers rolled on a pair of dice using only their minds.
3 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
What is telepathy and how is it related to parapsychology?
Telepathy is the direct transfer of thoughts from one person to another without using standard sensory communication channels. It is a form of extrasensory perception (ESP). Telepathy falls under the umbrella of parapsychology, the study of mental phenomena that are excluded from or inexplicable by mainstream science.
While the existence of telepathy has not been proven, some parapsychological studies have shown positive results using methods such as card guessing. In these tests, a sender concentrates on a card while a receiver attempts to guess the symbol, separated by distance or obstacle. Rigorous testing has made scores significantly above chance rare.
2 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
Why do some people believe in parapsychological phenomena when others do not?
Parapsychological phenomena includes events that seem to defy natural law or knowledge gained without sensory abilities, such as extrasensory perception (ESP) and psychokinesis.
Belief or disbelief in psi (all types of parapsychological phenomena) may stem from interpretations of scientific evidence, personal experiences, or alignment with broader belief systems. The existence of parapsychological phenomena remains contentious, with opinions often influenced by personal experiences, values, and worldviews. The inconclusive nature of the evidence contributes to differing viewpoints.
2 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
What are some challenges in proving that parapsychological phenomena are real?
Challenges in proving the reality of parapsychological phenomena include the fact that discussion about them has sometimes been unsuitable to scientific discipline, and contradictory opinions are still frequently voiced. Also, some scientists have criticized parapsychology experiments for using poor experimental design and faulty statistical analysis. Because extreme and contradictory views are widely held, the evidence is not conclusive either way, and confident conclusions are unlikely to be supported by a survey of all the known facts.
3 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
parapsychological phenomenon, any of several types of events that cannot be accounted for by natural law or knowledge apparently acquired by other than usual sensory abilities. The discipline concerned with investigating such phenomena is called parapsychology.
Parapsychological phenomena of two types have been described. They may be cognitive, as in the case of clairvoyance, telepathy, or precognition. Here one person is believed to have acquired knowledge of facts, of other peopleās thoughts, or of future events without the use of the ordinary sensory channelsāhence the term extrasensory perception (ESP), often used to designate these phenomena. Alternatively, parapsychological phenomena may be physical in character: the fall of dice or the dealing of cards is thought to be influenced by a personās āwillingā them to fall in a certain way; or objects are moved, often in a violent fashion, by poltergeists (see poltergeist). The term psychokinesis is often used in this connection. The general term psi has become established to denote all kinds of parapsychological phenomena.
Scientific interest in the subject is of relatively recent origin, but belief in the reality of such phenomena has been widespread since the earliest recorded times. Before the rise of modern science the causation of all complex physical phenomena was very poorly understood, and hence appeals to nonmaterial agencies (ghosts, sorcerers, demons, mythological beings) took the place of a causal, scientific explanation. Even so, there were widespread debates about the reality of phenomena that obviously transcended the bounds of everyday happenings, such as veridical prophecies, as by the oracle of Delphi, or the revival of the dead.
" height="20" alt="HEW Logo">
The existence of parapsychological phenomena continues to be a subject of dispute, although societies for the study of psychic phenomena, made up of eminent scientists and laymen, have been in existence for over a century. In 1882 the Society for Psychical Research was founded in London, followed six years later by the founding of a similar society in the United States, partly through the efforts of psychologist William James. Such societies were founded later in most European countries, and active work is carried on, particularly in the Netherlands, France, Italy, Russia, and Japan. Universities have been slower to recognize psychical research as a serious subject for study. The activities of the parapsychological laboratory at Duke University, Durham, N.C., under the American parapsychologist J.B. Rhine from the 1930s to the 1960s attracted considerable interest. A department of psychical research later was opened at the University of Utrecht under W.H.C. Tenhaeff.
One of the reasons for interest in psychical research in the last half of the 19th century was the rise of the spiritualist movement that grew out of the acceptance of spirit communication as real and the use of this as the basis of a new religion. Some of the early psychical researchers were also spiritualists, as, for example, British spiritualist F.W.H. Myers and the British physicist Sir Oliver Lodge. Other psychical researchers (such as the French physiologist Charles Richet) accepted paranormal activity as real but rejected the spiritualist explanation, while others were not committed to either view.
Discussion about parapsychological phenomena has sometimes assumed emotional overtones, unsuitable to scientific discipline, and outspoken but contradictory opinions are still frequently voiced. Believers and nonbelievers in psi may base their belief or disbelief on what they consider to be the scientific evidence, on their personal experiences, or on some larger system of attitudes and values into which ESP does or does not fit. When such extreme and contradictory views are widely held, it is almost certain that the evidence is not conclusive either way and that confident conclusions are unlikely to be supported by a survey of all the known facts.