The Parapsychological Association

Ed May suggests that those who wish to explain consciousness by invoking quantum mechanics are probably on the wrong track. Excerpt for wave-particle duality, he believes that quantum theory is well understood. Quantum entanglement within the brain cannot account for consciousness due to the problem of environmental decoherence. He describes himself as a physicalist who believes that psi phenomena will eventually be explained in terms of conventional neurophysiology and physics. However, he acknowledges that some very intelligent theorists disagree with him.

(Recorded on June 17, 2016)

Edwin C. May, PhD, was involved in the military intelligence psychic spying program, popularly referred to as Stargate, for over twenty years. During the last decade, he was the director of research for that program. In this context, he produced over a hundred scientific publications. His academic training was in experimental nuclear physics. He is coauthor of ESP Wars: East and West and also Anomalous Cognition: Remote Viewing Research and Theory. He is the coeditor of a two volume anthology titled Extrasensory Perception: Support, Skepticism, and Science.

Here he points out that entropy is intimately related to our macro-world perception that the arrow of time moves in only one direction. In the sub-atomic world, and even in the molecular world, it appears as if processes can move equally in either direction of time. Some physicists now believe that entropy is a physical force that can explain gravity. He describes his own research concerning remote viewing targets in which those with a high change of entropy are more readily perceived through clairvoyance or precognition. This finding is consistent with research in conventional sensory perception.

New Thinking Allowed host, Jeffrey Mishlove, PhD, is author of The Roots of Consciousness, Psi Development Systems, and The PK Man. Between 1986 and 2002 he hosted and co-produced the original Thinking Allowed public television series. He is the recipient of the only doctoral diploma in "parapsychology" ever awarded by an accredited university (University of California, Berkeley, 1980). 

(Recorded on June 18, 2016) 

Charles T. Tart describes the “decline effect” in parapsychology research as the result of a psychological “extinction paradigm”. Having subjects repeat a boring task without feedback, in many different disciplines, results in a decline of ability. His research involved training ESP using an automated system, involving forced choices with feedback. Subjects were pre-screened for ESP ability. As predicted, ESP scores did not decline. Tart then shifted to research on remote viewing, in which a single trial may take an entire half-day. Remote viewing subjects routinely receive feedback; and decline effects have not been reported among remote viewers. Tart also describes the difficulties of conducting psi research in a college setting with student subjects.

(Recorded on November 9, 2016) 

Charles T. Tart, PhD, is emeritus professor of psychology at the University of California, Davis, as well as the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology. He is a past-president of the Parapsychological Association. He has published over 100 scientific papers in parapsychology. He is editor of several anthologies including Altered States of Consciousness, Transpersonal Psychologies, Mind at Large, and Body Mind Spirit: Exploring the Parapsychology of Spirituality. Books that he has authored include Psi: Scientific Studies in the Psychic Realm, States of Consciousness, The End of Materialism, Learning to Use Extrasensory Perception, On Being Stoned, Waking Up, and Open Mind – Discriminating Mind.

Here he states that his interest in parapsychology arose from his desire to integrate scientific and spiritual approaches to life. He describes his association, in the 1950s, with researcher Andrija Puharich at the Roundtable Foundation in Maine. He successfully replicated Puharich’s research using a Faraday cage to enhance ESP abilities. He also reviews his own research in the area of precognition. He emphasizes his opinion that parapsychology research has shown that the human mind cannot simply be reduced to the activity of the brain. He suggests that the theologians of different religions could benefit from studying the findings of parapsychology.

New Thinking Allowed host, Jeffrey Mishlove, PhD, is author of The Roots of Consciousness, Psi Development Systems, and The PK Man. Between 1986 and 2002 he hosted and co-produced the original Thinking Allowed public television series. He is the recipient of the only doctoral diploma in "parapsychology" ever awarded by an accredited university (University of California, Berkeley, 1980). He is past-vice-president of the Association for Humanistic Psychology, and is the recipient of the Pathfinder Award from that association for his contributions to the study of consciousness. He is also past-president of the non-profit Intuition Network, an organization dedicated to creating a world in which all people are encouraged to cultivate and apply their inner, intuitive abilities.

(Recorded on November 9, 2016)

Stephen Braude, PhD, served as chairman of the philosophy department at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. He has also served as president of the Parapsychological Association. He is author of Crimes of Reason, The Gold Leaf Lady, Immortal Remains, The Limits of Influence, First Person Plural, and ESP and Psychokinesis. He is the recent recipient of the prestigious Myers Memorial Medal awarded by the Society for Psychical Research for outstanding contributions.

Here he suggests that a useful criterion in distinguishing between evidence for post-mortem survival as opposed to living agent psi is the motive for the mediumistic communication. If the communication seems to be of greater benefit to the deceased, this would count in favor of the survival hypothesis. For this reason, “drop in” cases are of particular significance. Braude describes one such case, from Iceland, in detail. Further discussion focuses on the accuracy of information provided by ostensible spirit communicators. Braude also argues that, in order to properly evaluate mediums, we need to know more about the nature of unusual human talent.

New Thinking Allowed host, Jeffrey Mishlove, PhD, is author of The Roots of Consciousness, Psi Development Systems, and The PK Man. Between 1986 and 2002 he hosted and co-produced the original Thinking Allowed public television series. He is the recipient of the only doctoral diploma in "parapsychology" ever awarded by an accredited university (University of California, Berkeley, 1980). 

(Recorded on July 9, 2016)

Stephen Braude, PhD, served as chairman of the philosophy department at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. He has also served as president of the Parapsychological Association. He is author of Crimes of Reason, The Gold Leaf Lady, Immortal Remains, The Limits of Influence, First Person Plural, and ESP and Psychokinesis. He is the recent recipient of the prestigious Myers Memorial Medal awarded by the Society for Psychical Research for outstanding contributions.

Here he suggests that in order to engage in the scientific study of post-mortem survival of personality, it is important to begin by clarifying exactly what is being studied. This requires an understanding of such terms as human identity and continuity. He notes that there are many ways, in daily life, that we ascertain the identity of other individuals without requiring the presence of a physical body. These same methods are applicable in survival research. He also discusses the philosophical issues associated with the living agent psi hypothesis as an alternative to post-mortem survival.

New Thinking Allowed host, Jeffrey Mishlove, PhD, is author of The Roots of Consciousness, Psi Development Systems, and The PK Man. Between 1986 and 2002 he hosted and co-produced the original Thinking Allowed public television series. He is the recipient of the only doctoral diploma in "parapsychology" ever awarded by an accredited university (University of California, Berkeley, 1980). 

(Recorded on July 9, 2016)

Jason Reza Jorjani is a philosopher and faculty member at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. He is author of Prometheus and Atlas, winner of the Parapsychological Association's 2016 Book Award.

Here he describes how he placed Jeffrey Mishlove’s study of Ted Owens, “the PK Man”, into a larger cultural and philosophical context. He defines Mercurial Hermeneutics as the art of interpreting the manifestations of the trickster archetype in the world. He suggests that this archetype, aka Hermes or Mercury, is the intelligence behind the psychokinetic demonstrations of Ted Owens and others (such as Uri Geller). He also maintains that the very same intelligence was behind the establishment of the Abrahamic religious traditions.

New Thinking Allowed host, Jeffrey Mishlove, PhD, is author of The Roots of Consciousness, Psi Development Systems, and The PK Man. Between 1986 and 2002 he hosted and co-produced the original Thinking Allowed public television series. 

(Recorded on June 27, 2016) 

Edwin C. May, PhD, was involved in the military intelligence psychic spying program, popularly referred to as Stargate, for over twenty years. During the last decade, he was the director of research for that program. In this context, he produced over a hundred scientific publications. His academic training was in experimental nuclear physics. He is coauthor of ESP Wars: East and West and also Anomalous Cognition: Remote Viewing Research and Theory. He is the coeditor of a two volume anthology titled Extrasensory Perception: Support, Skepticism, and Science.

Here he shares the progress he has made in developing a model of precognition based on our understanding of physics, neurophysiology, and psychology. He postulates a channel of information from either actual or possible futures to the present. This is a physics problem that could be addressed in the context of retro-causality. He also postulates that individuals who have a high degree of synesthesia are best able to integrate psi information into their normal processing of perceptual information, due to neural hyperconnectivity.

New Thinking Allowed host, Jeffrey Mishlove, PhD, is author of The Roots of Consciousness, Psi Development Systems, and The PK Man. Between 1986 and 2002 he hosted and co-produced the original Thinking Allowed public television series. He is the recipient of the only doctoral diploma in "parapsychology" ever awarded by an accredited university (University of California, Berkeley, 1980). He is a past vice-president of the Association for Humanistic Psychology; and is the recipient of the Pathfinder Award from that Association for his contributions to the field of human consciousness exploration. He is also past-president of the non-profit Intuition Network, an organization dedicated to creating a world in which all people are encouraged to cultivate and apply their inner, intuitive abilities.

(Recorded on June 18, 2016) 

Edwin C. May, PhD, was involved in the military intelligence psychic spying program, popularly referred to as Stargate, for over twenty years. During the last decade, he was the director of research for that program. In this context, he produced over a hundred scientific publications. His academic training was in experimental nuclear physics. He is coauthor of ESP Wars: East and West and also Anomalous Cognition: Remote Viewing Research and Theory. He is the coeditor of a two volume anthology titled Extrasensory Perception: Support, Skepticism, and Science.

Here he shares his hypothesis that precognition is the basic mechanism that can explain every other form of parapsychological information transfer. Macro-psychokinesis may be the only suspected paranormal phenomenon that is not always amenable to explanation as a form of precognition. He offers arguments for resolving the paradoxes posed by precognition – such as the apparent incompatibility of precognition and free will. He also maintains that precognition need not entail backward causality – as it is an informational process rather than a mechanical causal chain.
 

Joseph McMoneagle is a world-renowned remote viewer who has worked professionally in the field for almost four decades – both within the military and as a private contractor. He is author of Mind Trek, The Ultimate Time Machine, The Stargate Chronicles: Memoirs of a Psychic Spy, and Remote Viewing Secrets. He is also coauthor of ESP Wars: East and West. He is the recipient of a congressional Legion of Merit Award for his remote viewing work within the U.S. government military intelligence services.

Here he maintains that remote viewing is generally more successful when applied to an application that addresses real human needs and emotions, as opposed to pure research. He gives several examples of relatively successful applications. He notes, however, that accurate remote viewing does not necessarily lead to a successful application in many fields – unless there is some independent corroboration. He also suggests that successful remote viewers are capable of operating under a variety of adverse conditions. His most consistently successful remote viewings involved radioactive targets. This, he suggests, is related to a concept known as the gradient of entropy.

New Thinking Allowed host, Jeffrey Mishlove, PhD, is author of The Roots of Consciousness, Psi Development Systems, and The PK Man. Between 1986 and 2002 he hosted and co-produced the original Thinking Allowed public television series. He is the recipient of the only doctoral diploma in "parapsychology" ever awarded by an accredited university (University of California, Berkeley, 1980). 

(Recorded on June 12, 2016)