Consciousness Studies
Retropsychokinesis is the claimed ability of certain subjects to alter
random data generated, but not examined, prior to the time
the data are presented to the subject. Crazy, you say!
Well, there's certainly no mechanism in mainstream physics which could
permit such an effect, yet experiments conducted by a number of
different researchers over the last 20 years suggest, compellingly
according to some
analyses, that the probability of the results obtained in such
experiments being purely the result of chance is sufficiently low
that they would be considered evidence of a causal mechanism in most
scientific disciplines. The archives of the Project provide a
broad collection of research reports (reproduced with the permission
of their authors and publishers) and literature citations
related to this elusive but, if real, profoundly important
phenomenon.
You can explore the phenomenon of Retropsychokinesis (if indeed it
exists) through these on-line experiments. Each presents you with
a sequence of random data produced by the HotBits
radioactive random number generator which is presented by a
visual feedback program. The random sequence is
pre-recorded but not examined prior to your performing the
experiment. Results are logged in a secure and transparent fashion,
and a daily summary of results to
date is published on the Web. Complete source code is available
for all of the experiment programs.
Update: Twentieth
anniversary update adds HTML5/JavaScript visual feedback programs,
eliminating the need for Java.
An informal introduction to analysis of experiments to determine
whether results are significant or consistent with chance.
Independent binary processes such as coin flipping and the output of
hardware random bit sequence generators are the focus of the
discussion.
The “multiple worlds” interpretation of quantum mechanics
has entered the mainstream of physics, especially among studies of the
universe as a whole (quantum cosmology), the origins of physical law,
and the apparent “fine-tuning” of physical constants
which permit lifeforms like us to exist and speculate whence we
came.
This document, a work in progress, suggests a small modification to
the multiple worlds interpretation which might explain many so-called
“paranormal” phenomena, showing them as deterministic and
unitary across the multiverse of possible futures yet open to
perceived influence by conscious observers endowed with a weak ability
to “navigate” their multiverse world-lines toward a future
of their choice. Applications of this model to a variety of reported
paranormal phenomena are presented.
This paper, using Stephen Wolfram's
A New Kind of Science
and Frank Vertosick's
The
Genius Within
as points of departure,
suggests that reliable, robust, bulk digital memory is both the secret
of life and why computers so fascinate us.
Doesn't it seem like the world is getting dumber with
every passing year? Well, maybe it is! Combining
published data for the mean IQ of countries with historical
and forecast population figures permits estimating the
mean IQ for the entire world's population. Standing at 91.6 in
1950, global mean IQ is presently around 89 and can be expected
to fall to about 86.3 by the year 2050. This document presents
the analysis, provides access to the source data for your own
investigation, and discusses the many uncertainties in any
study of this kind.
The
Probability Pipe
Organ lets you run interactive experiments which demonstrate how
the results from random data approach the normal
distribution expectation as the number of experiments grows large.
Update: HTML5 animation eliminates the need for Java applet
support. (The Java version
remains available.)