Report on the Barnhouse Effect

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"Report on the Barnhouse Effect" is a Kurt Vonnegut short story that is part of the collection Welcome to the Monkey House. It originally appeared in 1950 in Collier's Weekly. It is also the subject of an Alexisonfire song.

The protagonist, Professor Arthur Barnhouse, develops the ability to affect physical objects and events through the force of his mind. He calls his power 'dynamo-psychism'. He makes the mistake of telling the government about his power. When they try to turn him into a weapon, Barnhouse decides that he is the first weapon with a conscience, and subsequentially goes into hiding. While in this reclusive state the Professor uses his 'dynamo-psychic' powers to destroy large quantities of weapons, and other things used in states of war. He realizes though, that he will die eventually and decides to pass down his "powers" to an ex-student. The story is told as a report by this man, hence the title.

[edit] References

• Mitchel Levitas. "A Slight Case of Candor", New York Times, August 19, 1968.