Researchers Look At Psychic Functioning
By James Donahue
It seems strange how it takes science a long time to catch up to things that most people already know. We are addressing that “prickly” feeling we get in the back of the neck when we sense someone is watching us from a dark alley, window, or even a closed circuit video camera. We’ve always sensed it. We don’t know why we know but we sense that someone’s eyes are watching us.
Knowledge like that defies logic.
Not long ago a team of researchers at Freiberg University in Germany, headed by Dr. Stefan Schmidt, looked at this phenomenon and team members say they found evidence that humans really do have a “sixth sense” about being watched.
It took two different experiments repeated a thousand times before the Freiberg team reached this conclusion. That sounds like a lot of unnecessary work when their findings compare perfectly to common mythology.
The experiments were done in two phases.
The first, called “remote staring,” involved two volunteers seated in separate rooms. One watched the other by way of a closed circuit television monitor that was periodically turned on and off by a third operator under controlled conditions. The person being watched did not know when the camera was on or off. The test subject was connected to electrodes that recorded changes to electrical activity of the skin.
The second part of the experiment, called “direct mental interaction,” was similar except it was done without the camera. In this experiment, the “antagonist” was required to simply use mental concentration to make the “victim” feel uncomfortable and then relaxed during specific times he or she was seated in the sealed room.
The team used a complex statistical scale to grade the studies based on the paranormal effect recorded. The electronic monitor proved repeatedly that in both experiments, the group recorded “a small but significant effect,” Schmidt wrote in an article published by the British Journal of Psychology.
Those of us familiar with the paranormal recognize the power of the human mind. When the brain is fully activated, that is with both left and right hemispheres of the bicameral brain in balance, it is possible for human thought to bend and move objects, effect human behavior or even help bring about healing.
To the opposite extreme, anger can sometimes send energies off that cause negative effects. I recall an incident where a person became so angry the energy shut off several strings of lights in a building. The power remained off for several hours in spite of attempts to repair any problems that might be causing the electrical failure. Later, however, the power returned as mysteriously as it left, and everything was back to normal.
A few years ago, my late wife Doris and I were experimenting with mind power. By working together, we made a hanging light in the closed room sway.
On another occasion, while Doris and I were being mentally bombarded with bad energy that we believed was coming from a woman in our building that practiced black witchcraft, we experimented with mentally shielding ourselves and sending the energy back to its source. It was not long before we heard this woman moan from an adjoining room. The sense of being mentally assaulted disappeared. We were quite sure the experiment worked.
Some years ago, Czech psychologist Milan Ryzl experimented with two telepathic people located many miles apart. The sender attempted to make the receiver uncomfortable with thoughts of being buried alive. The experiments ended when the victim developed a severe attack of asthma.
In yet another Czech experiment, it was noted that one person concentrating on another could also induce a rise in blood pressure.
All of this goes back to that old warning about karma. As the story goes, we need to be careful about our thoughts because the energy we send out can sometimes cause harm to others. It also can come back on us.
The experiments also appear to explain the power of collective prayer.
By James Donahue
It seems strange how it takes science a long time to catch up to things that most people already know. We are addressing that “prickly” feeling we get in the back of the neck when we sense someone is watching us from a dark alley, window, or even a closed circuit video camera. We’ve always sensed it. We don’t know why we know but we sense that someone’s eyes are watching us.
Knowledge like that defies logic.
Not long ago a team of researchers at Freiberg University in Germany, headed by Dr. Stefan Schmidt, looked at this phenomenon and team members say they found evidence that humans really do have a “sixth sense” about being watched.
It took two different experiments repeated a thousand times before the Freiberg team reached this conclusion. That sounds like a lot of unnecessary work when their findings compare perfectly to common mythology.
The experiments were done in two phases.
The first, called “remote staring,” involved two volunteers seated in separate rooms. One watched the other by way of a closed circuit television monitor that was periodically turned on and off by a third operator under controlled conditions. The person being watched did not know when the camera was on or off. The test subject was connected to electrodes that recorded changes to electrical activity of the skin.
The second part of the experiment, called “direct mental interaction,” was similar except it was done without the camera. In this experiment, the “antagonist” was required to simply use mental concentration to make the “victim” feel uncomfortable and then relaxed during specific times he or she was seated in the sealed room.
The team used a complex statistical scale to grade the studies based on the paranormal effect recorded. The electronic monitor proved repeatedly that in both experiments, the group recorded “a small but significant effect,” Schmidt wrote in an article published by the British Journal of Psychology.
Those of us familiar with the paranormal recognize the power of the human mind. When the brain is fully activated, that is with both left and right hemispheres of the bicameral brain in balance, it is possible for human thought to bend and move objects, effect human behavior or even help bring about healing.
To the opposite extreme, anger can sometimes send energies off that cause negative effects. I recall an incident where a person became so angry the energy shut off several strings of lights in a building. The power remained off for several hours in spite of attempts to repair any problems that might be causing the electrical failure. Later, however, the power returned as mysteriously as it left, and everything was back to normal.
A few years ago, my late wife Doris and I were experimenting with mind power. By working together, we made a hanging light in the closed room sway.
On another occasion, while Doris and I were being mentally bombarded with bad energy that we believed was coming from a woman in our building that practiced black witchcraft, we experimented with mentally shielding ourselves and sending the energy back to its source. It was not long before we heard this woman moan from an adjoining room. The sense of being mentally assaulted disappeared. We were quite sure the experiment worked.
Some years ago, Czech psychologist Milan Ryzl experimented with two telepathic people located many miles apart. The sender attempted to make the receiver uncomfortable with thoughts of being buried alive. The experiments ended when the victim developed a severe attack of asthma.
In yet another Czech experiment, it was noted that one person concentrating on another could also induce a rise in blood pressure.
All of this goes back to that old warning about karma. As the story goes, we need to be careful about our thoughts because the energy we send out can sometimes cause harm to others. It also can come back on us.
The experiments also appear to explain the power of collective prayer.