What is telepathy and is it possible to learn to read minds
Miscellaneous / / December 02, 2021
It is possible, and there is no mysticism in this.
What is telepathy
Telepathy is calledTelepathy / Britannica unrecognized by official science the ability to transmit thoughts from one person to another or to receive them. In this case, any sense organs or devices are not involved in the process.
Telepathy is popular among supporters of pseudoscience and people who admit the existence of all kinds of inexplicable phenomena. Some consider this practice to be real because it seems to them that they can learn about other people's thoughts in advance. Some may be persuaded by the demonstration of supposedly telepathic abilities. Belief in the ability to transmit thoughts is reinforcedTelepathy / Britannica and several more or less successful experiments.
For example, back in the 1930s, classical tests were carried out with Zener cards. The person had to choose one of five cards with different images, and his partner had to determine which one. Statistically, the probability of success in this case is 20%, but the participants gave the correct answers more often.
Experiment with Zener maps, 1934. Photo: J. B. Rhine / Wikimedia Commons
Zener cards. Image: Mikhail Ryazanov / Wikimedia Commons
Also in the 1970s and 80s,T. Rabeyron. Why Most Research Findings About Psi Are False: The Replicability Crisis, the Psi Paradox and the Myth of Sisyphus / Frontiers in Psychology ganzfeld's experiments. For 20 minutes, the telepath had to transmit to another person thoughts about the selected image - usually one of four. After the session, the person who received the information had to find the desired picture. The average success rate was 33%. This is more than a 25 percent chance of guessing the correct answer by chance.
In 2005, the UK hostedR. Sheldrake, P. Smart. Testing for Telepathy in Connection with e-Mails / Perceptual and Motor Skills two experiments. Four and then five people sent emails to each other. Only one person sent the letter each time. A minute before, all participants were offered guesswho exactly it will be. Correct answers were received in 43% and 47% of cases. Such results are significantly higher than the probability of a random guess.
Why Telepathy Doesn't Work
Some researchers believeE. Cardeña. The experimental evidence for parapsychological phenomena: A review / American Psychologistthat the existence of telepathy is proven. However, it is not. And that's why.
Experiments by parapsychologists do not stand up to the test of science
Attempts to repeat the experiments under strictly scientific conditions were unsuccessful. In the case of Zener maps, participants could see translucent drawings and hear voice partner. When these flaws were eliminated and the experiments were re-run, the number of correct answers was significantlyJ. Alcock. Back from the Future: Parapsychology and the Bem Affair / Skeptical Inquirer decreased.
It turned out to be controversialD. J. Bierman, J. P. Spottiswoode, A. Bijl. Testing for Questionable Research Practices in a Meta-Analysis: An Example from Experimental Parapsychology / PLoS ONE and ganzfeld's experiments. They did not exclude direct and indirect prompts, and when analyzing the results, an overestimation of indicators by 2% was found.
In addition, none of these experiments used a sufficient number of subjects for reliable results.
Telepaths often cheat
Professionals who supposedly can read minds during their sessions canT. Rabeyron. Why Most Research Findings About Psi Are False: The Replicability Crisis, the Psi Paradox and the Myth of Sisyphus / Frontiers in Psychology use dummies and a special system of hidden signs. And if they have to work with really strangers, they use Barnum effect and cold reading. Telepaths tell a person the most general information that he can take personally, monitor his reaction and correct the story on the go.
"Telepathic abilities" are easily explained by mechanisms known to science
Our perception system can use mirror neurons to respond to intentions.M. Iacoboni, I. Molnar-Szakacs, V. Gallese et al. Grasping the Intentions of Others with One's Own Mirror Neuron System / PLoS Biology and emotionsM. Dapretto, M. S. Davies, J. H. Pfeifer et al. Understanding emotions in others: mirror neuron dysfunction in children with autism spectrum disorders / Nature Neuroscience other people. This happens unconsciously and so quickly that it seems to a person that he predicted the actions of the interlocutor, although this is not so.
If you suddenly think that a friend is about to call you, and this is really happening, you should not immediately enroll yourself in the ranks of telepaths. The true nature of this "superpower" canJ. M. Rudski. Hindsight and Confirmation Biases in an Exercise in Telepathy / Psychological Reports hide in confirmation bias - known cognitive distortion. Its essence is that people tend to adjust facts to fit their point of view.
False memories can also be to blame: this is when we are sure that we were thinking about something, although the thoughts appeared only after the fact. Moreover, it may be a mere coincidence.
Is it possible to read and transmit thoughts at all
Scientists are already learning how to do this. And there is nothing fantastic or mystical here - only science. It is enough to use the mechanism of synaptic transmission.
Its essence is as followsSynaptic transmission / Nature Portfolio: During any work of the brain (from controlling the body to remembering), the movement of chemicals occurs in the nerve cells, accompanied by small electrical bursts. These brain waves canEEG / MedlinePlus read using electroencephalography (EEG) and then converted to computer code.
Engineers and physicians, together with neuroscientists, create brain-to-computer and computer-to-brain interfaces based on the effect of synaptic transmission. They allow the power of thought to gainX. Chen, Y. Wang, M. Nakanishi et al. High ‑ speed spelling with a noninvasive brain - computer interface / Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America text or use bionic prostheses.
The most interesting thing is that these technologies allow transferring data between living organisms through brain-to-brain interfaces. To send signals in this way, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) machines are required. With the help of magnetic waves, they can excite neurons brain. At the same time, the technology is non-invasive, that is, it does not require the implantation of transmitters into the cranium. It is enough to put on a special "hat" with electromagnets connected to the computer.
Scientists have already managed to combine the brains of two animalsM. Pais-Vieira, M. Lebedev, C. Kunicki et al. A Brain-to-Brain Interface for Real-Time Sharing of Sensorimotor Information / Scientific Reports, couples of peopleR. P. N. Rao, A. Stocco, M. Bryan et al. A Direct Brain-to-Brain Interface in Humans / PLoS ONE and even the brain human and animal. In the latter case, the volunteer was able toS ‑ S. Yoo, H. Kim, E. Filandrianos et al. Non-Invasive Brain-to-Brain Interface (BBI): Establishing Functional Links between Two Brains / PLoS ONE to make a rat move its tail with the power of thought alone.
In 2014, scientists from France, Spain and the United States transmitted for the first timeC. Grau, R. Ginhoux, A. Riera et al. Conscious Brain-to-Brain Communication in Humans Using Non-Invasive Technologies / PLoS ONE information using EEG and TMS devices. Moreover, the sending and receiving test subjects were thousands of kilometers apart. The experimenters were able to transfer the words hola and ciao from France to India via the Internet. True, these were not the words themselves, but coded light signals. The long one meant hola, and the short one meant ciao. The sender saw the corresponding flashes on the screen, the technician read his nervous activity and sent the data to the receiver. The same under the influence of stimulation brain he seemed to see these signals too.
Four years later, researchers from the United States succeededL. Jiang, A. Stocco, D. M. Losey et al. BrainNet: A Multi-Person Brain-to-Brain Interface for Direct Collaboration Between Brains / Scientific Reports already something more. Three people, united in a "brain network" (BrainNet), played a kind of Tetris. Only one of them could rotate the pieces, but he did not see the entire playing field. Information about what to do was sent to him by two other participants: the third had the feeling that he was seeing a small luminous spot. The accuracy of the tasks was over 81%.
Of course, all this cannot yet be called real reading and transmission of thoughts. But work in this direction is underway. Perhaps someday we will truly become telepathic thanks to neurointerfaces.
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