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The Urdu novel "[[Devta]]" is based on the character of Farhad Ali Taimur, a telepath involved in the fight of good and evil.
The Urdu novel "[[Devta]]" is based on the character of Farhad Ali Taimur, a telepath involved in the fight of good and evil.

⚫
See also a composite [[:Category:Fictional telepaths|list of fictional characters with telepathy]].


Television show [[The Listener (TV series)|The Listener]] centers around a telepathic paramedic.
Television show [[The Listener (TV series)|The Listener]] centers around a telepathic paramedic.

⚫
See also a composite [[:Category:Fictional telepaths|list of fictional characters with telepathy]].


==See also==
==See also==

Revision as of 19:05, 23 June 2013

For other uses, see Telepathy (disambiguation).
This article is about the paranormal phenomenon. For the magical act, see mentalism.

Template:Infobox paranormal term Telepathy or telepathically (from the ancient Greek τηλε, tele meaning "distant" and πάθη, pathe or patheia meaning "feeling, perception, passion, affliction, experience")[1][2] is the transmission of information from one person to another without using any of our known sensory channels or physical interaction. The term was coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Frederic W. H. Myers,[3] a founder of the Society for Psychical Research,[4] and has remained more popular than the earlier expression thought-transference.[4][5]

Scientific consensus does not view telepathy as a real phenomenon. Many studies seeking to detect, understand, and utilize telepathy have been done, but according to the prevailing view among scientists, telepathy lacks replicable results from well-controlled experiments.[6][7]

Telepathy is a common theme in modern fiction and science fiction, with many superheroes and supervillains having telepathic abilities.

Origins of the concept

According to Roger Luckhurst,[8] the origin of the concept of telepathy (not telepathy itself) in the Western civilization can be tracked to the late 19th century. In his view, science did not frequently concern itself with "the mind" prior to this. As the physical sciences made significant advances, scientific concepts were applied to mental phenomena (e.g., animal magnetism), with the hope that this would help understand paranormal phenomena. The modern concept of telepathy emerged in this context.

The notion of telepathy is not dissimilar to two psychological concepts: delusions of thought insertion/removal and psychological symbiosis. This similarity might explain how some people have come up with the idea of telepathy. Thought insertion/removal is a symptom of psychosis, particularly of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. Psychiatric patients who experience this symptom falsely believe that some of their thoughts are not their own and that others (e.g., other people, aliens, demons or fallen angels, or conspiring intelligence agencies) are putting thoughts into their minds (thought insertion). Some patients feel as if thoughts are being taken out of their minds or deleted (thought removal). Along with other symptoms of psychosis, delusions of thought insertion may be reduced by antipsychotic medication.

Psychological symbiosis, on the other hand, is a less well established concept. It is an idea found in the writings of early psychoanalysts, such as Melanie Klein. It entails the belief that in the early psychological experience of the child (during earliest infancy), the child is unable to tell the difference between his or her own mind, on one hand, and his or her experience of the mother/parent, on the other hand. This state of mind is called psychological symbiosis; with development, it ends, but, purportedly, aspects of it can still be detected in the psychological functioning of the adult. Putatively, the experience of either thought insertion/removal or unconscious memories of psychological symbiosis may have led to the invention of "telepathy" as a notion and the belief that telepathy exists. Psychiatrists and clinical psychologists believe and empirical findings support the idea that people with schizotypal personality disorder are particularly likely to believe in telepathy.[9]

Case studies

A famous experiment in telepathy was recorded by the American author Upton Sinclair in his book Mental Radio which documents Sinclair's test of psychic abilities of Mary Craig Kimbrough, his second wife. She attempted to duplicate 290 pictures which were drawn by her husband. Sinclair claimed Mary successfully duplicated 65 of them, with 155 "partial successes" and 70 failures. However, these experiments were not conducted in a controlled scientific laboratory environment.[10]

Another example is the experiments carried out by the author Harold Sherman with the explorer Hubert Wilkins who carried out their own experiments in telepathy for five and a half months starting in October 1937. This took place when Sherman was in New York and Wilkins was in the Arctic. The experiment consisted of Sherman and Wilkins at the end of each day to relax and visualise a mental image or "thought impression" of the events or thoughts they had experienced in the day and then to record those images and thoughts on paper in a diary. The results at the end when comparing Sherman's diary to Wilkins was that "Seventy-five per cent were found to be correct". A typical example was on 21 February 1938. On that day, both Sherman and Wilkins had recorded that cold weather had delayed their jobs, they both had witnessed that someone's skin had peeled off their finger, they both recorded that they had drunk alcohol with friends and witnessed boxes of cigars being brought and both recorded that they had experienced a toothache.[11][12]

To rule out any kind of fraud, each night Sherman had sent his impressions to Gardner Murphy, a psychologist at Columbia University. Murphy had studied the Wilkins-Sherman results and claimed that some could be explained by coincidence but that some exceptions were unexplainable. One such example took place on Armistice Day, 1937. Wilkins had attended a formal ball for the Army with the locals in Canada as his plane was forced to land due to bad weather, Wilkins recorded that he was worried about a dress-suit that he had to wear as the waistcoat was short in size.[13] On the same night, Sherman recorded in his diary "You in company with men in military attire-some women-evening dress-important people present-much conversation-you appear to be in evening dress yourself."[13] Wilkins was very impressed by the results and wrote that:

When we finally were able to compare notes, what did we find? An amazing number of impressions recorded by Sherman of expedition happenings, and personal experiences, reactions and thoughts of mine. Too many of them were approximately correct and synchronized with the very day of the occurences to have been 'guesswork'.[13]

The full results of the experiments were published in 1942 in a book by Sherman and Wilkins titled Thoughts Through Space. In the book both Sherman and Wilkins had written that they believed they had demonstrated that it was possible to send and receive thought impressions from the mind of one person to another.[14]

In parapsychology

Main articles: Parapsychology and Ganzfeld experiment

Within the field of parapsychology, telepathy is considered to be a form of extra-sensory perception (ESP) or anomalous cognition in which information is transferred through Psi. It is often categorized similarly to precognition and clairvoyance.[15] Various experiments have been used to test for telepathic abilities. Among the most well known are the use of Zener cards and the Ganzfeld experiment.

Zener cards

Zener cards are cards marked with five distinctive symbols. When using them, one individual is designated the "sender" and another the "receiver". The sender must select a random card and visualize the symbol on it, while the receiver must attempt to determine that symbol using Psi. Statistically, the receiver has a 20% chance of randomly guessing the correct symbol, so in order to demonstrate telepathy, they must repeatedly score a success rate that is significantly higher than 20%.[16] If not conducted properly, this method can be vulnerable to sensory leakage and card counting.[16]

When using the Ganzfeld experiment to test for telepathy, one individual is designated the receiver and is placed inside a controlled environment where they are deprived of sensory input, and another is designated the sender and is placed in a separate location. The receiver is then required to receive information from the sender. The exact nature of the information may vary between experiments.[17]

A physical model of telepathy, whether described as radiational or in other terms, assumes that transference is effected by means of a vibratory current linking one brain to another.[18] William Crookes proposed a "brain wave" theory in which he claimed telepathy might occur due to high frequency vibrations of the ether. Crookes had stated that there may be parts of the human brain that may be capable of sending and receiving electrical rays of wavelengths.[19] William Fletcher Barrett and Frederic William Henry Myers however pointed out problems in a physical theory for telepathy and instead advocated psychical theories.[20]

In the early 20th century, there were two other prominent concepts of telepathy: the spiritualist position which claimed telepathy was the result of external spirits, and a view claiming interactions between two or more subconscious minds.[21] The subconscious mind view was advocated by psychical researcher Thomson Jay Hudson who wrote that the mind is a duality and actually consists of two minds: the objective mind (conscious) and the subjective mind (subconscious).[22]

The psychical researcher John Arthur Hill wrote regarding telepathy "No physical theory of telepathy has been worked out — there are no "brain-waves" known, and no receiving stations yet discovered inside our skulls."[23] George N. M. Tyrrell also claimed that a physical basis for telepathy was untenable as ideas can not be transmitted from one mind to another by any physical means without being first translated into a code.[24] H. H. Price also suggested that telepathy was incompatible with any material explanation, as a physical theory of telepathy would reveal radiations detectable on physical instruments but none have ever been detected.[25]

Some parapsychologists still proposed that telepathy may have a physical explanation. The Italian neurologist Ferdinando Cazzamali in the 1920s had claimed that telepathic communication occurred due to a type of electromagnetic radiation.[26] However the neurophysiologist William Grey Walter in his book The Living Brain (1953) wrote that electrical 'brain- waves' are too weak to explain telepathy. Hans Berger also held this view but extended the theory by proposing that telepathy occurs when "electrical energy in the agent's brain is transformed into 'psychic energy' which can be diffused to any distance, passing through obstacles without attenuation".[27]

In 1974 Michael Persinger proposed that extremely low-frequency (ELF) electromagnetic waves may be able to carry telepathic and clairvoyant information.[28] Johnjoe McFadden has written "the em field outside the head is far too weak and it is highly unlikely that any other brain could detect it, and still more unlikely that the other brain could decode the em field information that was encoded by your brain".[29]

Gerald Feinberg suggested that telepathy may exist due to as yet undiscovered elementary particles which he called 'psychons' or 'mindons'.[30][31]

In recent years the parapsychologist Charles Tart has accepted the existence of telepathy but claims that it is nonphysical in nature and can not be fitted into any physical theory.[32]

Types

Parapsychology describes several different forms of telepathy, including latent telepathy and precognitive telepathy.[5]

Latent Telepathy, formerly known as "deferred telepathy",[33] is described as being the transfer of information, through Psi, with an observable time-lag between transmission and receipt.[5]

Retrocognitive, Precognitive, and Intuitive Telepathy is described as being the transfer of information, through Psi, about the past, future or present state of an individual's mind to another individual.[5]

Emotive Telepathy, also known as remote influence [34] or emotional transfer, is the process of transferring kinesthetic sensations through altered states.

Superconscious Telepathy, involves tapping into the superconscious [35] to access the collective wisdom of the human species for knowledge.

Skepticism and controversy

In 1979 the physicists John Taylor and Eduardo Balanovski wrote that the only scientifically feasible explanation for telepathy could be electromagnetism (EM) involving EM fields. In a series of experiments the EM levels were many orders of magnitude lower than calculated and no paranormal effects were observed. Both Taylor and Balanovski wrote their results were a strong argument against the validity of the paranormal.[36]

Although not a recognized scientific discipline, people who study certain types of paranormal phenomena such as telepathy refer to the field as parapsychology. Parapsychologists claim that some instances of telepathy are real.[37][38] Skeptics say that instances of apparent telepathy are explained as the result of fraud, self-delusion and/or self-deception and that telepathy does not exist as a paranormal power.[39]

Parapsychologists and skeptics agree that virtually all of the instances of more popular psychic phenomena, such as mediumism, can be attributed to non-paranormal techniques such as cold reading.[40][41][42] Magicians such as Ian Rowland and Derren Brown have demonstrated techniques and results similar to those of popular psychics, without paranormal means. They have identified, described, and developed psychological techniques of cold reading and hot reading.

A technique which shows statistically significant evidence of telepathy on every occasion has yet to be discovered. This lack of reliable reproducibility has led skeptics to argue that there is no credible scientific evidence for the existence of telepathy at all.[43] Skeptics also point to historical cases in which flaws in experimental design and occasional cases of fraud were uncovered.[43]

Research in anomalistic psychology has discovered that in some cases telepathy can be explained by a covariation bias. In an experiment (Schienle et al. 1996) 22 believers and 20 skeptics were asked to judge the covariation between transmitted symbols and the corresponding feedback given by a receiver. According to the results the believers overestimated the number of successful transmissions whilst the skeptics made accurate hit judgments.[44] The results from another telepathy experiment involving 48 undergraduate college students (Rudski, 2002) were explained by hindsight and confirmation biases.[45]

In popular culture

Telepathy is commonly used in fiction, with a number of superheroes and supervillains, as well as figures in many science fiction novels, etc., use telepathy. The mechanics of telepathy in fiction vary widely. Some fictional telepaths are limited to receiving only thoughts that are deliberately sent by other telepaths, or even to receiving thoughts from a specific other person. For example, in Robert A. Heinlein's 1956 novel Time for the Stars, certain pairs of twins are able to send telepathic messages to each other. In A. E. van Vogt's science fiction novel Slan, the mutant hero Jommy Cross can read the minds of ordinary humans.

Some telepaths can read the thoughts only of those they touch, such as Vulcans in the Star Trek media franchise. Star Trek science consultant and writer André Bormanis, has revealed that telepathy within the Star Trek universe works via the "psionic field." According to Bormanis, a psionic field is the "medium" through which unspoken thoughts and feelings are communicated through space.[46] Some humanoids can tap into this field through a kind of sense organ located in the brain; in the same manner that human eyes can sense portions of the electromagnetic field, telepaths can sense portions of the psionic field.

In the book "Eragon", Eragon can communicate through his mind with almost anyone, including his dragon Saphira, but it is possible to block people from one's mind with a barrier. In the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling, telepathy is a magical skill known as Legilimency. In the John Wyndham novel The Chrysalids, the main character and narrator David Strorm is one of a group of nine telepaths. In Anthony Horowitz's Power of Five series twins Jamie and Scott Tyler were born with telepathic powers that enable them to read people's minds and, ultimately, control them. They always know each other's thoughts, which earns them money doing tricks at a circus in Reno, Nevada, USA.

Some writers view telepathy as the evolutionary destiny of humanity. In Tony Vigorito's novel, Just a Couple of Days, telepathy emerges across the entire human species as a result of the Pied Piper Virus, which inadvertently eliminates humanity's symbolic capacity. In this instance, telepathy is seen as a latent ability that emerges only when the distractions of language are bypassed.

Some fictional telepaths possess mind control abilities, which can include "pushing" thoughts, feelings, or hallucinatory visions into the mind of another person, causing pain, paralysis, or unconsciousness, altering or erasing memories, or completely taking over another person's mind and body (similar to spiritual possession). Examples of this type of telepath include Professor Xavier, Psylocke, Jean Grey, Emma Frost, and numerous other characters in the Marvel Universe, along with Matt Parkman from the television series Heroes.

The radio crimefighter The Shadow had "the power to cloud men's minds," which he used to mask his presence from others.

The film Scanners concerns around people born with this kind of telepathy as well as those with telekinetic abilities.

The Urdu novel "Devta" is based on the character of Farhad Ali Taimur, a telepath involved in the fight of good and evil.

Television show The Listener centers around a telepathic paramedic.

See also a composite list of fictional characters with telepathy.

See also

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Notes

  1. ^ telepathy. CollinsDictionary.com. Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 11th Edition. Retrieved December 06, 2012.
  2. ^ Following the model of sympathy and empathy.
  3. ^ Hamilton, Trevor (2009). Immortal Longings: F.W.H. Myers and the Victorian search for life after death. Imprint Academic. p. 121. ISBN 978-1-84540-248-8.
  4. ^ a b Carroll, Robert Todd (2005). "The Skeptic's Dictionary; Telepathy". SkepDic.com. Retrieved 2006-09-13.
  5. ^ a b c d Glossary of Parapsychological terms - Telepathy — Parapsychological Association. Retrieved December 19, 2006.
  6. ^ Jan Dalkvist (1994). Telepathic group communication of emotions as a function of belief in telepathy. Dept. of Psychology, Stockholm University. Retrieved 5 October 2011. Within the scientific community however, the claim that psi anomalies exist or may exist is in general regarded with skepticism. One reason for this difference between the scientist and the non scientist is that the former relies on on his own experiences and anecdotal reports of psi phenomena, whereas the scientist at least officially requires replicable results from well controlled experiments to believe in such phenomena - results which according to the prevailing view among scientists, do not exist.
  7. ^ Willem B. Drees (28 November 1998). Religion, Science and Naturalism. Cambridge University Press. pp. 242–. ISBN 978-0-521-64562-1. Retrieved 5 October 2011. Let me take the example of claims in parapsychology regarding telepathy across spatial or temporal distances, apparently without a mediating physical process. Such claims are at odds with the scientific consensus.
  8. ^ Luckhurst, R. (2002). The Invention of Telepathy, 1870-1901. Oxford University Press.
  9. ^ Pickup, G. (2006). Cognitive Neuropsychiatry, Volume 11, Number 2, Number 2/March 2006 , pp. 117-192
  10. ^ Martin Gardner, Fads & Fallacies in the Name of Science (Courier Dover Publications, 1957) Chapter 25: ESP and PK, available online; accessed July 25, 2010
  11. ^ Eric Lord Science, Mind and Paranormal Experience 2009, pp. 210–211
  12. ^ Stanton Arthur Coblentz Light beyond: the wonderworld of parapsychology 1981, pp. 109–110
  13. ^ a b c Simon Nasht The last explorer: Hubert Wilkins, hero of the great age of polar exploration 2006, pp. 268–269
  14. ^ Hubert Wilkins, Harold Sherman Thoughts through Space: A Remarkable Adventure in the Realm of Mind Hampton Roads Publishing, 2004, ISBN 1-57174-314-6
  15. ^ Glossary of Parapsychological terms - ESP, Parapsychological Association. Retrieved December 19, 2006.
  16. ^ a b Carroll, Robert (2006-02-17). "Zener ESP Cards". The Skeptic's Dictionary. Retrieved 2006-07-18.
  17. ^ The Conscious Universe: The Scientific Truth of Psychic Phenomena by Dean I. Radin Harper Edge, ISBN 0-06-251502-0
  18. ^ The Hibbert journal:a quarterly review of religion, theology, and philosophy, Volume 43 George Allen & Unwin, 1944, p. 249
  19. ^ Jill Nicole Galvan The sympathetic medium 2010, p. 10
  20. ^ Joseph Banks Rhine Extra-sensory perception pp. 36-37
  21. ^ W. W. Baggally Telepathy Genuine and Fraudulent 2003 Kessinger Reprint Edition, p. 9
  22. ^ Thomson Jay Hudson The Law of Psychic Phenomena 1892
  23. ^ John Arthur Hill Spiritualism, its history phenomena and doctrine 1919, p. 296
  24. ^ George Nugent Merle Tyrrell Science and psychical phenomena 1938, p. 119
  25. ^ David Lorimer Survival?: body, mind, and death in the light of psychic experience 1984, p. 149
  26. ^ Radio Waves from the Brain? Popular Science Nov 1925
  27. ^ John Raymond Smythies Science and E.S.P. Routledge & K. Paul, 1967, p. 201
  28. ^ Pamela Rae Heath Mind-Matter Interaction: A Review of Historical Reports, Theory and Research 2011, p. 156
  29. ^ The conscious electromagnetic field theory by Johnjoe McFadden
  30. ^ Andrew Tomas On the shores of endless worlds: the search for cosmic life 1974, p. 65
  31. ^ J. S. Zaveri Theory of atom in the Jaina philosophy critical study of the Jaina theory of paramanu pudgala in light of modern scientific theory 1975, p. 123
  32. ^ Charles T. Tart The end of materialism 2009, p. 111
  33. ^ Rennie, John (1845), "Test for Telepathy", Scientific American,V3#1 (1847-09-25)
  34. ^ Plazo, Dr. Joseph R., (2002) "Psychic Seduction." pp.112-114 ISBN 0-9785922-3-9
  35. ^ St. Claire, David., (1989) "Instant ESP." pp.40-50
  36. ^ Taylor, J.G. and Balanovski, E. (1979). Is There Any Scientific Explanation of the Paranormal? Nature, 279: 631-3
  37. ^ "What is parapsychology?" From the FAQ of the website of the Parapsychological Association. Retrieved February 3, 2007.
  38. ^ "What is the state-of-the-evidence for psi?" From the FAQ of the website of the Parapsychological Association. Retrieved February 3, 2007.
  39. ^ Skepdic.com on ESP. Retrieved February 22, 2007.
  40. ^ Eberhard Bauer: Criticism and Controversy in Parapsychology - An Overview[dead link]. European Journal of Parapsychology (1984), 5, 141-166. Retrieved February 9, 2007.
  41. ^ O',Keeffe, Ciarán and Wiseman Richard: Testing alleged mediumship: Methods and results. British Journal of Psychology (2005), 96, 165–17.
  42. ^ Rowland, Ian: The Full Facts Book of Cold Reading
  43. ^ a b See for examples, Randi, James. Flim-Flam! Psychics, ESP, Unicorns, and Other Delusions. Prometheus Books (June 1982) ISBN 0-87975-198-3 or
    Charpak, Georges and Henri Broch. Translated by Bart K. Holland. Debunked!: ESP, Telekinesis, and Other Pseudoscience. The Johns Hopkins University Press (March 25, 2004), ISBN 0-8018-7867-5
  44. ^ Schienle, A., Vaitl, D., and Stark, R. (1996). Covariation bias and paranormal belief. Psychological Reports, 78, 291-305.
  45. ^ Rudski, J. M. (2002). Hindsight and confirmation biases in an exercise in telepathy. Psychological Reports, 91, 899–906.
  46. ^ André Bormanis discusses telepathy in Star Trek

External links

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