Psionics

"Psions" redirects here. For other uses, see Psion (disambiguation).

Psionics is a type of alleged psychic ability that includes telepathy, psychokinesis, pyrokinesis, and others.[1] The term comes from psi ('psyche') and the -onics from electronics (machine).[1][2] Parapsychology is a pseudoscience that began around 1889 and aims to study psionics and other supernatural claims.[3] There is no scientific evidence that psionic abilities exist.[4]

Psionic abilities appear frequently in science fiction and provide characters with supernatural abilities.[5] John W. Campbell, an editor of a science fiction magazine, became excited about fringe science,[6] and went on to define psionics as "engineering applied to the mind".[7] His encouragement of psionics led author Murray Leinster and others to write stories such as The Psionic Mousetrap.[6]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Williams, William F. (2013). Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience: From Alien Abductions to Zone Therapy. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis. p. 279-. ISBN 9781135955229. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  2. ↑ "Online Etymology Dictionary". Etymonline.com. Retrieved 2014-01-29.
  3. ↑ Shepard, Leslie (1996). Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology (4th ed.). Detroit, Mich.: Thomas Gale. ISBN 978-0-8103-9487-2.
  4. ↑ Cordón, Luis A. (2005). Popular Psychology: an Encyclopedia. Wesport (Conn.): Greenwood. p. 182. ISBN 0-313-32457-3. The essential problem is that a large portion of the scientific community, including most research psychologists, regards parapsychology as a pseudoscience, due largely to its failure to move beyond null results in the way science usually does. Ordinarily, when experimental evidence fails repeatedly to support a hypothesis, that hypothesis is abandoned. Within parapsychology, however, more than a century of experimentation has failed to conclusively demonstrate the mere existence of paranormal phenomenon, yet parapsychologists continue to pursue that elusive goal.
  5. ↑ Anderson, Poul (1981). Fantasy (1st ed.). [S.l.]: Tom Doherty Associates. p. 270. ISBN 9780523485157.
  6. 1 2 Westfahl, Gary (2005). The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Westport, Conn. [u.a.]: Greenwood Press. p. 167. ISBN 0313329508.
  7. ↑ Bould, Mark (2011). The Routledge Companion to Science Fiction (Paperback ed.). London: Routledge. p. 410. ISBN 0415453798. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
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