by energy conservation (arbitrary scale).
If you were to ask me, “What is the defining property of energy?” I would answer the fact that it is conserved. If energy were not conserved, the quantity would be of little use in physics.
When one measures a quantity that is not conserved under conditions when it should be, then that can be taken as good evidence that what is being observed is not some form of energy. Qi does not look like energy. Indeed, it looks nonexistent.
ESP
One special ability of minds that is widely taken as real (especially in science fiction) would be
extrasensory perception
( ESP ), in which minds communicate with one another by some mechanism that is not at present part of established scientific knowledge. Another is
psychokinesis
(PK), or mind over matter, where thoughts are capable of moving objects or otherwise affecting physical phenomena—in the past, present, and future. If a disembodied soul can use some from of psychokinesis to move around brain molecules, then it should be equally well able to move around molecules outside the brain.
If these phenomena exist, then they should be readily detectable in controlled, scientific experiments. Since the midnineteenth century scientists have attempted to scientifically verify the reality of unusual mental phenomena. These included the prominent physicists Michael Faraday, William Crookes, and Oliver Lodge. Faraday, the greatest experimentalist of the day, found no evidence, while Crookes and Lodge convinced themselves that they had discovered what they called the
psychic force.
However, Crookes and Lodge did not control their experiments sufficiently to make them convincing 23 . They generally worked with spiritual “mediums” who were highly skilled at the various illusions that professional magicians and charlatans have developed over the centuries.
Crookes, Lodge, and other early psychic investigators made a fundamental error in allowing their subjects to control the protocol of their experiments. Even today we find this serious breach of commonsense methodology routinely made in psychic experiments. For example, consider the much-touted experiments conducted at the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research Laboratory ( PEAR )[24]. Scientists are no more capable of uncovering trickery than anyone else not specifically initiated into the magical arts—perhaps even less so since they are not used to the universe lying to them. Crookes and Lodge proved to be particularly gullible, possibly because of personal tragedies in their lives 25 .
The need for better controls in psychic experiments was recognized in the 1930s by botanist Joseph Banks Rhine of Duke University. Rhine coined the term
ESP
and made an honest attempt to find empirical evidence for the existence of psychic forces. He announced a number of claims that did not stand up to critical scrutiny and, after numerous rejections by established scientific journals, he started his own journal for which he could choose more sympathetic reviewers. Despite his failure to convince mainstream scientists of the reality of psychic forces, Rhine pioneered a field of study that continues to the present day under the designation of
parapsychology 26 .
Even parapsychologists must admit that they operate on the borders of conventional science.
As I have mentioned, there is no agreed-upon precise definition of science. So I will not press the point as to whether or not parapsychology is science. Parapsychologists continue to make claims that ESP has been observed in controlled experiments.
Some of these reports are peer reviewed, but the peers are generally other true believers who review manuscripts for special journals like Rhine’s that maintain different standards than mainstream scientific journals. The editors of these journals claim they provide a greater “openness” to new ideas. This is fine, but the publishing of poorly executed experiments, as exemplified by the qi experiment
If you were to ask me, “What is the defining property of energy?” I would answer the fact that it is conserved. If energy were not conserved, the quantity would be of little use in physics.
When one measures a quantity that is not conserved under conditions when it should be, then that can be taken as good evidence that what is being observed is not some form of energy. Qi does not look like energy. Indeed, it looks nonexistent.
ESP
One special ability of minds that is widely taken as real (especially in science fiction) would be
extrasensory perception
( ESP ), in which minds communicate with one another by some mechanism that is not at present part of established scientific knowledge. Another is
psychokinesis
(PK), or mind over matter, where thoughts are capable of moving objects or otherwise affecting physical phenomena—in the past, present, and future. If a disembodied soul can use some from of psychokinesis to move around brain molecules, then it should be equally well able to move around molecules outside the brain.
If these phenomena exist, then they should be readily detectable in controlled, scientific experiments. Since the midnineteenth century scientists have attempted to scientifically verify the reality of unusual mental phenomena. These included the prominent physicists Michael Faraday, William Crookes, and Oliver Lodge. Faraday, the greatest experimentalist of the day, found no evidence, while Crookes and Lodge convinced themselves that they had discovered what they called the
psychic force.
However, Crookes and Lodge did not control their experiments sufficiently to make them convincing 23 . They generally worked with spiritual “mediums” who were highly skilled at the various illusions that professional magicians and charlatans have developed over the centuries.
Crookes, Lodge, and other early psychic investigators made a fundamental error in allowing their subjects to control the protocol of their experiments. Even today we find this serious breach of commonsense methodology routinely made in psychic experiments. For example, consider the much-touted experiments conducted at the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research Laboratory ( PEAR )[24]. Scientists are no more capable of uncovering trickery than anyone else not specifically initiated into the magical arts—perhaps even less so since they are not used to the universe lying to them. Crookes and Lodge proved to be particularly gullible, possibly because of personal tragedies in their lives 25 .
The need for better controls in psychic experiments was recognized in the 1930s by botanist Joseph Banks Rhine of Duke University. Rhine coined the term
ESP
and made an honest attempt to find empirical evidence for the existence of psychic forces. He announced a number of claims that did not stand up to critical scrutiny and, after numerous rejections by established scientific journals, he started his own journal for which he could choose more sympathetic reviewers. Despite his failure to convince mainstream scientists of the reality of psychic forces, Rhine pioneered a field of study that continues to the present day under the designation of
parapsychology 26 .
Even parapsychologists must admit that they operate on the borders of conventional science.
As I have mentioned, there is no agreed-upon precise definition of science. So I will not press the point as to whether or not parapsychology is science. Parapsychologists continue to make claims that ESP has been observed in controlled experiments.
Some of these reports are peer reviewed, but the peers are generally other true believers who review manuscripts for special journals like Rhine’s that maintain different standards than mainstream scientific journals. The editors of these journals claim they provide a greater “openness” to new ideas. This is fine, but the publishing of poorly executed experiments, as exemplified by the qi experiment
Similar Books
