Friday, October 22, 2010

Scientists find first real evidence you CAN see the future

Carol Pinchefsky - ... Ever think you could predict the future? The good news is, you're not crazy. The better news is—there's now scientific evidence that backs you up.

In a test that we wouldn't have believed had it not been documented, 100 Cornell students were shown 48 common nouns and given three seconds to observe and visualize each word. Then they were asked to type out as many words as they could remember. After that, a computer re-displayed half of those words, which the students then retyped.

You don't have to be psychic to know where we're going with this: It turns out that the students more likely recalled the words that they were later asked to retype.

In his original paper, Dr. Bem wrote, "The results show that practicing a set of words after the recall test does, in fact, reach back in time to facilitate the recall of those words."

... Einstein believed that the mere act of observing something here could affect something there, a phenomenon he called "spooky action at a distance."

Similarly, modern quantum physics has demonstrated that light particles seem to know what lies ahead of them and will adjust their behavior accordingly, even though the future event hasn't occurred yet.

The study will be published in an upcoming volume of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. But if you can't wait to read it, the adventurous among you can download the non-edited draft of Bem's paper for yourselves. ....

via Scientists find first real evidence you CAN see the future | Blastr.

3 comments:

oliver stieber said...

46 unreported nulls for every reported, I've watched ghost busters. I can believe that.

Cheng said...

I'm guessing scepticism is a necessary part of human existence. It stops us all joining mad cults and committing suicide, or wasting our time trying to turn lead into gold.
The sceptic has a place in society, if only to be the voice of dull reason. And of course, one man's sceptic is another man's believer.
As for Radin's angle on scepticism; he seems to be extolling the virtues of the emperor’s new clothes.

Cheng said...

I'm sure parapsychology experiences all 3 of your suggestions above. But it leaves itself open to unfair criticism too. A far more impressive test, than the one featured in this post, would be to have the students type out 48 nouns before they saw the original list and then see how the lists compared and how well they foresaw the future.

We are certainly in a cultural group that is participating in mass apathy. Our demise may or may not be the result, which is a hell of a thing to flip a coin on. If we can't say for sure (or at least improve the probability of) how it will turn out, then we have to hedge our bets and go for the worst case scenario.