Blinded by Science - Page 5


She begins to study the strange history of Extrasensory Perception, including the work of Joseph Rhine at Duke University in the 1930s, who gave us the term ESP. She also recounts the "remote viewing experiments" conducted by the CIA, in which "sensitives" in quarantined rooms mapped Soviet military sites in Siberia--remotely viewing these bases from the deepest corners of their minds. Overseen by many competent researchers, the work, argues Mayer, was solid. Only later, did scientists and administrators turn their backs on these experiments because they were embarrassments. In the history of ESP research, she says, this would happen many times.

Still, intriguing work continues to be done, in spite of the bias against working in this field. Mayer points to Garrett Yount, a molecular neurobiologist studying the effects of Chinese qigong masters who try to influence the growth of cancer cells living in petri dishes. He's had some remarkable results; again, not every time, though: the problems in getting the atmosphere right for qigong practitioners means scientific replication still can be a problem. But Yount is a patient, scrupulous, and exacting researcher, and a number of study results show that something quite exciting may be going on.

Mayers repeats an old saying that ESP researchers like to use about the slow progress of science: At first, nobody believes you. Then they think it's possible. When the evidence is finally accepted, scientists say they always knew it was true. Could we be only in the early stages of this process with anomalous experiences?

Finally, you might ask, what does this all mean for working therapists?

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