SUPERPOWERS AND THE STUBBORN ILLUSION OF SEPARATION

Abstract

Since the dawn of humanity, people have investigated the relationship between intention and the physical world through practices like prayer and meditation. Starting a half-century ago, science began to systematically explore these relationships in the laboratory. After briefly reviewing the history of this scientific exploration, I will discuss two recent experiments. Both were conducted to explore the nature of the mind's eye and its interaction with physical systems distant in space or time. In one, an eyetracking system was used to test whether seers could actually "see" future events. In another, meditators and non-meditators were asked to use their mind's eye to "see" a beam of photons in a light-tight optical apparatus. Both experiments provided intriguing glimpses of the role of the human mind in weaving the fabric of reality. I will also discuss an experiment that examined the effect of highly focused intention applied toward food by measuring the food’s influence on people who consumed it. Finally, I will touch on the predicatable stages of acceptance of new ideas.