Princeton University Mind-Matter Experiments Reported
Stanford, CA, December 15, 1992 --- An article published today
in the Stanford-based Journal
of Scientific Exploration
(Vol. 6, No. 4), published by the Society for Scientific
Exploration, reports on experiments carried out at Princeton
University
to investigate the possibility that the human mind can influence
random number devices in a way that can be measured in a
laboratory. Prof. Robert Jahn, an engineer and former dean in the
Princeton School of Engineering, and Brenda Dunne, also
of Princeton, released a detailed report based on nearly half a
million experimental trials carried out by Jahn, Dunne, and
coworkers at the Princeton
Engineering Anomalies Research (PEAR) Laboratory. The tests
demonstrate an extremely minute,
but statistically measureable, ability of the mind to skew the
output of electronic number generators and other devices.
As Brenda Dunne puts it, "Gamblers throughout history have
believed that they could affect the outcome of a random process
like rolling dice or shuffling cards. The phenomenon we're
measuring is a lot more subtle, but it's the same idea and we've
measured it in the laboratory."
Volunteer experimenters taking part in the PEAR experiments sit
in a relaxed environment and concentrate their attention on
an electronic device designed to generate purely random sequences
of numbers, in effect an electronic roll of the dice. The
task of the volunteers is to "coax" the machine into
yielding larger than average or smaller than average numbers. The
volunteers declare their intent ahead of time, high or low, and
then begin the experiment. And to rule out possible disturbances
in the equipment the experimenters sometimes make a null intent,
that is, state in advance that they will "coax" the
machine to
do exactly what a random machine should, going above and below a
mean an approximately equal number of times, yielding a
so-called baseline.for comparison.
The key to the success of the Princeton group lies in the
computerization of the experiment. By using fast electronic
devices
automatically recording the results directly into a computer,
thousands of microchip dice rolls can be recorded in an hour or
two. As this is going on, the computer displays the up or down
trends to the experimenter as a form of feedback. This gives
the experimenter a way to concentrate on influencing the machine.
The deviations achieved in any given run are practically
immeasurable but the results of half a million test runs show an
unmistakable signature of an effect the researchers attribute to
human consciousness. Detailed mathematical analysis suggests
that a minute perturbation of the "elementary binary
probability" is involved, as if the mind were ever so
slightly nudging the
electronic dice in the desired direction.
An even more puzzling result of the experiments is that the
effect can be produced even if the experimenter is several
thousand
miles away from the random device, and perhaps even over
significant intervals of time. In the most extreme case an
experimenter in Europe on Monday might concentrate on producing
the effect, but the actual measurements on the device are,
by prior agreement, not carried out until Friday in Princeton.
Speculating on the phenomenon Jahn states, "All forces known
to physics, like gravity for example, diminish with distance.
And no forces in physics operate freely across time like this.
It's as if consciousness is somehow able to direct its influence
directly across space and time, and understanding that certainly
poses a challenge for science."
And Dunne adds: "This is similar to what mystics have
claimed through the ages, but now we have scientific
evidence."
Are there any practical results from such miniscule influences?..
Maybe. With computers and microchips controlling the
operation of everything from automobile engines to the newest
passenger jets, the intrusion of consciousness at microscopic
levels, whether deliberate or unintentional could have very real
consequences.
As Jahn puts it: "It's something science cannot afford to
simply ignore any longer. And besides, it's such an exciting
challenge
to our whole way of thinking about the physical world."