Precognition

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Premonition" redirects here. For other meanings, see Premonition (disambiguation).

In parapsychology, precognition (from the Latin præ-, "before" + cognitio, "acquiring knowledge"), also called future sight,[1] and second sight,[2][3][4] is a type of extrasensory perception that would involve the acquisition or effect of future information that cannot be deduced from presently available and normally acquired sense-based information.[5][6] A premonition (from the Latin praemonēre) and a presentiment are information about future events that is perceived as emotion.[citation needed]

The existence of precognition, as with other forms of extrasensory perception, is not accepted by the mainstream scientific community.

Scientific investigation of extrasensory perception (ESP) is complicated by the definition which implies that the phenomena go against established principles of science.[7] Specifically, precognition would violate the principle that an effect cannot occur before its cause.[7] However, there are established biases, affecting human memory and judgment of probability, that create convincing but false impressions of precognition.[8]

Belief

There are a number of organizations which collect self-reported "psychic" experiences from the public at large. Classifications of these (self-reported) experiences by type provide a sense of the prevalence of belief in particular kinds of parapsychological phenomena in the public at large.

In the particular case of precognition, belief is widespread. In one review of a U.S. case collection, submitted to Duke University's Parapsychology Laboratory, 75% of 1777 dream-based experiences were categorized as precognitive, as were 60% of 1513 wakeful experiences.[9] A similar distribution was identified for a separate collection of 157 cases reported by children; here, the largest category of reports was again of precognitive dreams (52%), followed by precognitive intuitions (52%).[10] A German case collection produced a similar figure: 52% of 1,000 cases were categorized as precognitive.[11] A British study of 300 volunteered cases showed 34% to be apparently precognitive.[12]

The mainstream scientific community does not take public belief in precognition (or any other phenomenon) as evidence for its veracity or even credibility, though widespread reports of interesting phenomenon might inspire scientific inquiry. Such inquiries are conducted using the scientific method, and the evidence collected in such methodological studies is used to determine the credibility of precognition and other psychic phenomena.

Case collections

History records many instances of apparent precognition (see Ides of March), and belief in its occurrence as a form of seeing into the future (this can be through visions, déjà vu or through dreams which is usually the cause of recognition).[13] The first thorough collection and critical review of such spontaneous cases was created by the British Society for Psychical Research (SPR). Reports of these cases were authored by Eleanor Sidgwick in 1888,[14] and Herbert Saltmarsh in 1938.[15] Sidgwick believed the evidence warranted further investigation as to the validity of the concept of precognition, and Saltmarsh offered that the evidence, if it did not scientifically establish the phenomenon, at least excluded alternative hypotheses. Nicol, however, in a later review, came to the conclusion that their evidence was not so suggestive, given, in particular, the long length of time between the occurrence of some of the most suggestive cases, and their first report to the SPR.[16]

J. W. Dunne, a British aeronautics engineer, recorded each of his dreams as they occurred to him, identifying any correspondences between his future experiences and his recorded dreams. In 1927, he reported his findings, in An Experiment with Time. In this work, at least 10% of his dreams appeared to represent some future event, pertaining to some relatively trivial incident in Dunne's own life, or some major news events appearing in the press a day or so after the dream. Dunne concluded that precognitive dreams are common occurrences: many people have them without realizing it, largely because they do not recall the details of the dream.[17] Also reported in the book was an experiment Dunne conducted with several other people who studiously recorded their dreams and sought to associate them with subsequent experiences. Dunne felt these confirmed his claims, but a 1933 independent experiment failed to replicate his findings.[18]

Experiments

Free-response studies

With free-response methods, experiments have been conducted in precognitive dreaming at the sleep laboratory of the Maimonides Medical Center,[19][20] in precognitive Ganzfeld hallucinations and visions.[21] While such experiments have produced some suggestive evidence for precognition, they have been somewhat limited to studies of selected participants, and have involved procedures that can be too expensive for other researchers to replicate, or too complex to theoretically interpret.[22]

Forced-choice studies

Most experiments on precognition have involved a forced-choice procedure.[citation needed] The first such ongoing and organized research program on precognition was instituted by J. B. Rhine in the 1930s at Duke University's Parapsychology Laboratory.[23] Rhine used a method of forced-choice matching in which participants recorded their guesses as to the order of a deck of 25 cards, each five of which bore one of five geometrical symbols. The test of precognition was based on the fact that these "guesses" were made before the deck was shuffled by the experimenter.[24] In an effort to distinguish between different parapsychological accounts of precognition, and to better understand its conditions, experiments were conducted in which the order of the target deck of cards was determined by hand versus machine, or by reference to macroscopic events, such as randomly selected meteorological readings, or by complex algorithms. Early experiments also sought to determine the temporal scope of precognition by organizing the target deck only 1-2 versus 10 days, or even a year, after responses had been recorded and secured.[25][26][27]

Experiments by Samuel G. Soal ran forced-choice ESP experiments in which someone attempted to identify which of five animal pictures a subject in another room was looking at. Their performance on this task was at chance, but when the scores were matched with the card that came after the target card, three of the thirteen subjects showed a very high hit rate.[28] Rhine described Soal's work as "a milestone in the field".[28] Research chemist George Price who reviewed Soal and Bateman's book Modern Experiments in Telepathy for the journal Science in 1955.[29] It was suggested that the positive results not attributable to error were more likely the result of deliberate fraud.[29] This prompted several replies that Price's criticism was unfair, resting on the mere possibility of fraud rather than actual proof.[28] In 1978, the experiments were exposed as fraudulent. The statistician and paragnost Betty Markwick, while seeking to vindicate Soal, discovered that he had altered his data to create all the extra hits and give the study its statistical significance.[29] The untainted experimental results showed no evidence of precognition in the hits or the ratios.[28]

Other researchers, including Smithsonian Executive Secretary Charles Greeley Abbot and British psychologist R. H. Thouless, introduced the study of precognition in the displacement of guesses to targets. This involved a set of target symbols, and "guesses" as to their identity, but, rather than precognizing the order of a whole deck of symbols, scored for precognition by checking the correspondence between each response and the target assigned to one or more trials ahead of that to which the response was originally assigned. Several studies using this method have continually offered displacement as reliable evidence for precognition.[30][31]

Following these experiments, a more automated technique of experimentation was introduced that did not rely on hand-scoring of equivalence between targets and guesses, and in which the targets could be more reliably and readily tested as random. This involved testing for precognition with the use of high-speed random event generators (REG), as introduced by Helmut Schmidt in 1969[32] and further conducted, in particular, at the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research Lab (1979–2007).[33] In this procedure, participants indicate when they believe (by whatever means available to them) that the REG has produced an event that either conforms or differs from one of two target events. In comparison to the card-guessing type of experiments, this procedure permits much more data to be collected in an experimental session, while reducing the number of alternatives that need to be guessed.[citation needed]

Explanations

Psychological

Various psychological processes have been offered to explain experiences of apparent precognition. These include:

  • Selection bias where people remember the "hits" and forget the "misses," remember coincidences more often than other non-coincidences, or when they were correct about a future event rather than instances when they were wrong. Examples include thinking of a specific person before that person calls on the phone. Human memory, it is argued, has a tendency to record instances when the guess was correct, and to dismiss instances when the guess was incorrect.
  • Unconscious perception by which people unconsciously infer, from data they have unconsciously learned, that a certain event will probably happen in a certain context. As with cryptomnesia, when the event occurs, the former knowledge appears to have been acquired without the aid of recognized channels of information.
  • Self-fulfilling prophecy and Unconscious enactment in which people bring events that they have precognized to pass, but without their conscious knowledge.

Some psychologists have explained the apparent prevalence of precognitive dreams in terms of memory biases, namely a selective memory for accurate predictions and distorted memory so that dreams are retrospectively fitted onto subsequent events.[8] In one experiment, subjects were asked to write down their dreams in a diary. This prevented the selective memory effect, and the dreams no longer seemed accurate about the future.[34] Another experiment gave subjects a fake diary of a student with apparently precognitive dreams. This diary described events from the person's life, as well as some predictive dreams and some non-predictive dreams. When subjects were asked to recall the dreams they had read, they remembered more of the successful predictions than unsuccessful ones.[35]

In dreams

Louisa Rhine at the Parapsychology Laboratory at Duke University compiled the best-known and largest body of dream evidence.[36] Dr. Rhine collected over 7000 accounts of ESP experiences. The majority of these accounts were dream related and were seemingly precognitive in nature. The material for this work was collected by advertisements in various well-known popular media.[37]

David Ryback, a psychologist in Atlanta, used a questionnaire survey approach to investigate precognitive dreaming in college students. His survey of over 433 participants showed that 290 or 66.9 percent reported some form of paranormal dream. He rejected many of these claims and reached a conclusion that 8.8 percent of the population was having actual precognitive dreams.[38]

An early inquiry into this phenomenon was done by Aristotle in his On Divination in Sleep. His criticism of these claims appeals to the fact that "the sender of such dreams should be God", and "the fact that those to whom he sends them are not the best and wisest, but merely commonplace persons." Thus: "Most [so-called prophetic] dreams are, however, to be classed as mere coincidences...", here "coincidence" being defined by Aristotle as that which does not take "place according to a universal or general rule" and referring to things which are not of themselves by necessity causally connected. His example being taking a walk during an eclipse, neither the walk nor the eclipse being apparently causally connected and so only by "coincidence" do they occur simultaneously.[39]

Other researchers in this area are more guarded in their reports on the value or use of dreams. In his book The Interpretation of Dreams, first published at the end of the 19th century, Sigmund Freud argued that the foundation of all dream content is the fulfillment of wishes, conscious or not and devoid of psychic content.[citation needed] On the other hand, Freud's view of precognition evolved. According to Jung, Freud's "materialistic prejudice" and "shallow positivism" lead him to reject the entire complex of questions relating to precognition and the occult as "nonsensical."[40] But years later, adds Jung, Freud both "recognized the seriousness of parapsychology and acknowledged the factuality of 'occult' phenomena."[40]

Dreams which appear to be precognitive may in fact be the result of the "Law of Large Numbers". Robert Todd Carroll, author of "The Skeptic's Dictionary" put it this way: "Say the odds are a million to one that when a person has a dream of an airplane crash, there is an airplane crash the next day. With 6 billion people having an average of 250 dream themes each per night, there should be about 1.5 million people a day who have dreams that seem clairvoyant."[41]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Beare, Hedley (2001). Creating the future school. Routledge. p. 192. ISBN 978-0-415-23868-7. 
  2. ↑ Campbell, J. G. (1974). Witchcraft and second sight in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. Originally published 1902.
  3. ↑ Cohn, S. A. (1999). Second sight and family history: Pedigree and segregation analyses. Journal of Scientific Exploration, 13, 351-372.
  4. ↑ Insulanus, T. (1763). A treatise on the second sight, dreams and apparition. Edinburgh, UK.
  5. ↑ Parapsychological Association (2006). Glossary of key words frequently used in parapsychology.
  6. ↑ Randi, James (1995). An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-13066-X. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Hyman, Ray (2007). "Evaluating Parapsychological Claims". In Robert J. Sternberg, Henry J. Roediger III, Diane F. Halpern. Critical Thinking in Psychology. Cambridge University Press. p. 217. ISBN 0-521-60834-1. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Hines, Terence (2003). Pseudoscience and the Paranormal. Prometheus Books. pp. 78–81. ISBN 978-1-57392-979-0. 
  9. ↑ Stokes, D. M. (1997). Spontaneous psi phenomena. In S. Krippner (Ed.), Advances in parapsychological research (Vol. 8, pp. 6-87). Jefferson, NC, US: McFarland.
  10. ↑ Drewes, A. A. (2002). "Dr. Louisa Rhine's letters revisited: The children". Journal of Parapsychology 66: 343–370. 
  11. ↑ Sannwald, G. (1959). "Statistische Untersuchungen an Spontanphänomene [Statistical analysis of spontaneous cases]". Zeitschrift für Parapsychologie und Grenzgebiete der Psychologie 3: 59–71. 
  12. ↑ Green, C. E. (1960). "Analysis of spontaneous cases". Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research 53: 97–161. 
  13. ↑ Dodds, E. R. (1971). "Supernormal phenomena in classical antiquity". Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research 55: 189–237. 
  14. ↑ Sidgwick, E. M. (1888). "On the evidence for premonitions". Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research 5: 288–354. 
  15. ↑ Saltmarsh, H. F. (1934). "Report on cases of apparent precognition". Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research 42: 49–103. 
  16. ↑ Nicol, J. F. (1961). "Apparent spontaneous precognition: A historical review". International Journal of Parapsychology 3 (2): 26–39. 
  17. ↑ Dunne, J. W. (1927). An experiment with time. Hampton Roads Publishing Co. I. ISBN 978-1-57174-234-6. 
  18. ↑ Besterman, T. (1933). "Report of an inquiry into precognitive dreams". Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research 41: 186–204. 
  19. ↑ Krippner, S.; Honorton, C.; Ullman, M. (1971). "A precognitive dream study with a single subject". Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research 65: 192–203. 
  20. ↑ Krippner, S.; Honorton, C.; Ullman, M. (1972). "A second precognitive dream study with Malcolm Bessent". Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research 66: 269–279. 
  21. ↑ Sargent, C. L.; Harley, T. A. (1982). "Precognition testing with free-response techniques in the ganzfeld and the dream state". European Journal of Parapsychology 4: 243–256. 
  22. ↑ Rhine, L. E. (1967). ESP in life and lab: Tracing hidden channels. New York, NY, US: Macmillan.
  23. ↑ Berger, Arthur S.; Berger, Joyce (1991). The Encyclopedia of Parapsychology and Psychical Research. Paragon House Publishers. ISBN 1-55778-043-9. 
  24. ↑ Rhine, J. B. (1938). "Experiments bearing on the precognition hypothesis: I. Pre-shuffling card calling". Journal of Parapsychology 2: 38–54. 
  25. ↑ Hutchinson, L. (1940). "Variations of time intervals in pre-shuffle card-calling tests". Journal of Parapsychology 4: 249–270. 
  26. ↑ Rhine, J. B. (1941). "Experiments bearing upon the precognition hypothesis: III. Mechanically selected cards". Journal of Parapsychology 5: 1–57. 
  27. ↑ Rhine, J. B. (1942). "Evidence of precognition in the covariation of salience ratios". Journal of Parapsychology 6: 111–143. 
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 28.2 28.3 Colman, Andrew M. (1988). Facts, Fallacies and Frauds in Psychology. Unwin Hyman. pp. 175–180. ISBN 0-04-445289-6. 
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 29.2 Hyman, Ray (2007). "Evaluating Parapsychological Claims". In Robert J. Sternberg, Henry L. Roediger, Diane F. Halpern. Critical Thinking in Psychology. Cambridge University Press. pp. 219–223. ISBN 0-521-60834-1. 
  30. ↑ Crandall, J. E. (1991). "The psi-missing displacement effect: Meta-analyses of favorable and less favorable conditions". Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research 85: 237–250. 
  31. ↑ Tart, C. T. (2002). Improving real-time ESP by suppressing the future: Trans-temporal inhibition. In C. T. Tart, H. E. Puthoff & R. Targ (Eds.), Mind at Large: IEEE Symposia on the Nature of Extrasensory Perception (pp. 125-156). Charlottesville, VA, US: Hampton Roads. Originally published 1979.
  32. ↑ Schmidt, H. (1969). "Precognition of a quantum process". Journal of Parapsychology 33: 99–109. 
  33. ↑ Odling-Smee, Lucy (March 1, 2007). "The lab that asked the wrong questions". Nature 446 (7131): 10–11. doi:10.1038/446010a. PMID 17330012. Retrieved 2007-06-29. 
  34. ↑ Alcock, James E. (1981). Parapsychology: Science or Magic?: a psychological perspective. Oxford: Pergamon Press. ISBN 0-08-025773-9.  via Hines, Terence (2003). Pseudoscience and the Paranormal. Prometheus Books. pp. 78–81. ISBN 978-1-57392-979-0. 
  35. ↑ Madey, Scott; Thomas Gilovich (1993). "Effects of Temporal Focus on the Recall of Expectancy-Consistent and Expectancy-Inconsistent Information". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 62 (3): 458–68. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.65.3.458. PMID 8410650.  via Kida, Thomas (2006). Don't Believe Everything You Think: The 6 Basic Mistakes We Make in Thinking. Prometheus Books. ISBN 978-1-59102-408-8. 
  36. ↑ Rhine, L.E. (1969). "Case study review". Journal of Parapsychology 33: 228–66. 
  37. ↑ Rhine, L.E. (1977). Research methods with spontaneous cases. In B.B. Wolman (Ed) Handbook of Parapsychology (pp. 59-80). New York: Van Rostrand Reinhold.
  38. ↑ Ryback, David, PhD. “Dreams That Came True”. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, 1988.
  39. ↑ Aristotle, On Divination in Sleep
  40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 Jung, C.G. (1989), Memories, Dreams and Reflections, New York: Vintage.
  41. ↑ Law of Truly Large Numbers

Further reading

  • Guiley, Rosemary Ellen: Harper's Encyclopedia of Mystical and Paranormal Experience, New York: HarperCollins, 1991, pages 465-466
  • Robertson, Morgan and Stevenson, Ian, M.D.: The Wreck of the Titan: The Paranormal Experiences Connected with the Sinking of the Titanic. Cutchogue, NY: Buccaneer Bks, 1991.
  • Spence, Lewis: An Encyclopedia of Occultism, New York, Carol Publishing Group Edition, 1996, pages 329
  • Stevenson. "A Review & Analysis of Paranormal Experiences Connected with the Sinking of the Titanic". Journal of American Society for Psychical Research 54: 1961. 
  • Barrett, Deirdre, PhD .”The Committee Of Sleep”. New York: Crown Publishers, 2001
  • Quinn, Adriene. “Dreams of History That Came True”. Tacoma: Dream Research, 1987.
  • Reed, Henry, PhD. “Getting Help From Your Dreams”. Virginia Beach: Inner Vision Publishing, 1985.
  • Thurston, Mark. PhD. “Tonight’s Answers To Tomorrow’s Questions”. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1988.

External links

Topics
Organizations
Parapsychologists
Publications
Skeptics
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.