PR_Princeton_92.html

From: MLIN Public Account <mlin_at_mlin.lib.ma.us>
Date: Thu Nov 5 18:19:54 1998

                     SOCIETY FOR SCIENTIFIC EXPLORATION
   
                               PRESS RELEASE
   
                     Embargoed until December 15, 1992
   
       CONTACT: Marsha Sims, Executive Editor, Journal of Scientific
                                Exploration
   
           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."
   
                                    ###
Received on Thu Nov 05 1998 - 18:19:54 GMT