The Parapsychological Association

Ed May suggests that those who wish to explain consciousness by invoking quantum mechanics are probably on the wrong track. Excerpt for wave-particle duality, he believes that quantum theory is well understood. Quantum entanglement within the brain cannot account for consciousness due to the problem of environmental decoherence. He describes himself as a physicalist who believes that psi phenomena will eventually be explained in terms of conventional neurophysiology and physics. However, he acknowledges that some very intelligent theorists disagree with him.

(Recorded on June 17, 2016)

Edwin C. May, PhD, was involved in the military intelligence psychic spying program, popularly referred to as Stargate, for over twenty years. During the last decade, he was the director of research for that program. In this context, he produced over a hundred scientific publications. His academic training was in experimental nuclear physics. He is coauthor of ESP Wars: East and West and also Anomalous Cognition: Remote Viewing Research and Theory. He is the coeditor of a two volume anthology titled Extrasensory Perception: Support, Skepticism, and Science.

Here he points out that entropy is intimately related to our macro-world perception that the arrow of time moves in only one direction. In the sub-atomic world, and even in the molecular world, it appears as if processes can move equally in either direction of time. Some physicists now believe that entropy is a physical force that can explain gravity. He describes his own research concerning remote viewing targets in which those with a high change of entropy are more readily perceived through clairvoyance or precognition. This finding is consistent with research in conventional sensory perception.

New Thinking Allowed host, Jeffrey Mishlove, PhD, is author of The Roots of Consciousness, Psi Development Systems, and The PK Man. Between 1986 and 2002 he hosted and co-produced the original Thinking Allowed public television series. He is the recipient of the only doctoral diploma in "parapsychology" ever awarded by an accredited university (University of California, Berkeley, 1980). 

(Recorded on June 18, 2016) 

Charles T. Tart describes the “decline effect” in parapsychology research as the result of a psychological “extinction paradigm”. Having subjects repeat a boring task without feedback, in many different disciplines, results in a decline of ability. His research involved training ESP using an automated system, involving forced choices with feedback. Subjects were pre-screened for ESP ability. As predicted, ESP scores did not decline. Tart then shifted to research on remote viewing, in which a single trial may take an entire half-day. Remote viewing subjects routinely receive feedback; and decline effects have not been reported among remote viewers. Tart also describes the difficulties of conducting psi research in a college setting with student subjects.

(Recorded on November 9, 2016) 

Charles T. Tart, PhD, is emeritus professor of psychology at the University of California, Davis, as well as the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology. He is a past-president of the Parapsychological Association. He has published over 100 scientific papers in parapsychology. He is editor of several anthologies including Altered States of Consciousness, Transpersonal Psychologies, Mind at Large, and Body Mind Spirit: Exploring the Parapsychology of Spirituality. Books that he has authored include Psi: Scientific Studies in the Psychic Realm, States of Consciousness, The End of Materialism, Learning to Use Extrasensory Perception, On Being Stoned, Waking Up, and Open Mind – Discriminating Mind.

Here he states that his interest in parapsychology arose from his desire to integrate scientific and spiritual approaches to life. He describes his association, in the 1950s, with researcher Andrija Puharich at the Roundtable Foundation in Maine. He successfully replicated Puharich’s research using a Faraday cage to enhance ESP abilities. He also reviews his own research in the area of precognition. He emphasizes his opinion that parapsychology research has shown that the human mind cannot simply be reduced to the activity of the brain. He suggests that the theologians of different religions could benefit from studying the findings of parapsychology.

New Thinking Allowed host, Jeffrey Mishlove, PhD, is author of The Roots of Consciousness, Psi Development Systems, and The PK Man. Between 1986 and 2002 he hosted and co-produced the original Thinking Allowed public television series. He is the recipient of the only doctoral diploma in "parapsychology" ever awarded by an accredited university (University of California, Berkeley, 1980). He is past-vice-president of the Association for Humanistic Psychology, and is the recipient of the Pathfinder Award from that association for his contributions to the study of consciousness. He is also past-president of the non-profit Intuition Network, an organization dedicated to creating a world in which all people are encouraged to cultivate and apply their inner, intuitive abilities.

(Recorded on November 9, 2016)