| What is mental telepathy? Telepathy is defined as | | | | some trials, and worse in others. |
| "communication through means other than the senses." | | | | This is normal. A coin flipped many times doesn't |
| Add the "mental," and you have the concept of minds | | | | alternate systematically between heads and tails, but |
| sending and receiving information without the senses, | | | | flip it enough times, and it will average about 50% |
| using something akin to radio waves, "thought waves," | | | | heads and 50% tails. That is, it will if you tally all the |
| or whatever the various theories claim. | | | | flips. Concentrate your mental powers on heads, and |
| Mental Telepathy - A True Story | | | | then don't count 100 of the flips that came up tails, and |
| One day, when we were children, my mother and | | | | you have a test that "proves" you can affect the coin |
| father were in another city an hour or two away, with | | | | using the power of your mind alone. |
| relatives. They were playing bingo at a church. | | | | Would scientists (or those that claim to be) do this? It |
| Meanwhile, near home, my brother Andy was thrown | | | | happens all the time, but it is usually more subtle. |
| to the ground by a bully. His collar bone was broken. | | | | Consider the card experiments. If the researcher |
| At about that same moment, my mother stood up in | | | | already believes strongly in mental telepathy, he might |
| the middle of the game, and announced to my father, | | | | unconsciously find reason to exclude non-confirming |
| "Andy has been hurt!" They immediately left for home. | | | | trials (the subject wasn't ready, the "sender" wasn't |
| Was this mental telepathy? It sure seemed like it at the | | | | concentrating, etc.). Only count trials with the results |
| time. Or is there another explanation? More on that in | | | | you want, and you make it look like the subjects are |
| a moment. | | | | indeed psychic. |
| The Evidence | | | | An Explanation Of Mental Telepathy |
| Let's review the evidence for mental telepathy. That | | | | A scenario: My mother knew that Andy was having |
| should take about a minute, because there is no good | | | | trouble with this bully. Earlier in the day she had been |
| evidence for its existence. Now, if we are to review | | | | nearby when Andy mentioned that he was worried, |
| what passes as evidence, we find a common pattern. | | | | because he had to deliver newspapers near the |
| Tests that "prove" this phenomenon are done in some | | | | house where this bully lived. She wasn't listening, but |
| way that is very flawed. | | | | the words registered in her subconscious mind. Finally |
| The "researchers" in ESP (extrasensory perception) | | | | relaxing at the bingo game, her mind finally processed |
| and related areas have less of an interest in the truth | | | | the information, and she "sensed" that her son was in |
| than in proving that these things are real (my opinion). | | | | danger. Mother's intuition we'll call it - but this wouldn't |
| This affects how they perform their experiments, | | | | be mental telepathy, right? |
| often not because of dishonest intentions, but due to | | | | Is that the explanation? No. It is one explanation. A |
| unconscious factors. The most common mistake | | | | more scientific approach than the one used by true |
| made in this type of research is that of "selecting" | | | | believers, is to leave questions open. Hypothesize, |
| results. | | | | perhaps, and test those hypothesis, but don't assume |
| For example, guessing what suit a playing card is, you | | | | an answer before there is good evidence. It better to |
| would - by the odds - be right about 25% of the time, | | | | leave things unexplained than to invent things and |
| because there are 4 suits to choose from. Suppose | | | | believe in them just because we want them to be true. |
| you try this with 10 trials of 20 cards each, and then | | | | We may never know what the explanation is for |
| repeat it with 30 other subjects, for a total of 300 trials. | | | | much of what is called "mental telepathy," but do we |
| The subjects will do better than the odds dictate in | | | | need to know right now? |