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