Scottish Study Puts Psychic Volunteeers To The Test
[Original headline: Psychics to be put to the test in experiment]
Perhaps they already know it will be a success. Psychic volunteers are taking part in an experiment to discover whether people really can predict the future.
The psychic ability of 140 volunteers is being put to the test in the pioneering Scottish study.
The experiment, which will have bookies and criminals alike quaking in their boots, raises the prospect of the plot of Hollywood blockbuster Minority Report becoming reality. In the Steven Spielberg film, a team of policemen harness the supernatural abilities of psychics to stop crimes taking place.
In the study, volunteers who believe they have already had psychic experiences will be asked to visualise a picture on a random postcard which will be sent to their homes.
Last night Dr Fiona Steinkamp, who is leading the research at the Koestler Parapsychology Unit of Edinburgh University, said the storyline of Minority Report may not be as improbable as it seems.
She said: "At the moment, we are trying to find out if people can actually get an impression of the future.
"If this study proves successful, it would mean we would be able to predict disasters such as plane crashes and accidents. You might even be able to win the Lotto."
Volunteers will be isolated in a room where they will listen to relaxation tapes to help block out the world outside. They will then have to listen to white noise for 15 minutes while they try to visualise a picture that will be sent to them in the post. This fuzzy background noise is used to avoid the volunteer being distracted.
Next, they will be shown four pictures . The volunteers will choose the picture that most closely resembles the vision they had.
Two days later, a picture will be picked randomly with the help of a computer.
When the volunteers receive the pictures in the post, they will then know whether they have really had a genuine premonition. Unless, of course, they were just lucky.
Steinkamp admitted that the element of chance is not something that can be ignored.
"What we need is a significant number of volunteers to pick the correct picture before we can eliminate the possibility of chance," she said.
Steinkamps plans have been met with some scepticism in scientific circles.
Last night, David Concar, deputy editor of New Scientist magazine, said: "If we, as a species, really could do this, we would surely know about it by now. There is no way this study can impose on us an ability that we simply do not have."
Story originally published by:
Scotland on Sunday | Orla Heron - July 21.02
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