Daryl Bem remains skeptical but can't argue with validity of experiments
Daryl Bem used to be a stage magician.
His show would consist of tricks designed to make viewers think extrasensory perception was taking place. But now, Bem is trying to prove to people that ESP is real.
"I find it peculiar that I was doing fake ESP, because now I am doing the opposite. During my shows I was not using any type of ESP; it just appeared that way. Now I am working to convince others it is real," Bem said.
Bem, professor of psychology emeritus at Cornell University, completed nine experiments with 1,000 participants that show humans have some capacity for ESP, or psi, as Bem calls it, using the Greek letter that refers to information or energy transfer unexplained by known physical or biological mechanisms. His study will be published in the American Psychological Association's Journal of Personality and Social Psychology in May, he said.
Across all nine experiments, such as one in which test subjects were asked to predict an image generated at random by a computer, odds are 74 billion to one that the results are merely chance, Bem said. The number of experiments and subjects makes chance almost impossible.
"I am persuaded I have found genuine psi. I was always optimistic and was already convinced, but there is nothing like seeing it happen," he said.
...Statistics: Posted by quantumparanormal — 29 Dec 2010, 00:49
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