Enterprise on VHS

[Narrew]

yes Narf, I was searching on the net for when the next season would start and came across "Save John Doe" ect... is sad, especially after the season ending cliff hanger

[oleg]

Originally posted by narf poit chez BOOM:
in which case, telekinisis shouldn't move non-ferious materials.

except i heard of one experiment where they managed to move a frog with a really large magnet. i'm kinda doubtfull, because it's seems that that amount of electro-magnetism should have done some bad things to the frog's brain. can anybody else confirm/deny this?

...

Nucler Magnetic Resonance (NMR) of biomolecules is what I do for living. So far, my brain is perfectly fine, fin. fi. f...

[QuarianRex]

Originally posted by Kamog:
Are there possible scientific explainations for other psychic abilities like telekinesis, levitation, foretelling the future, remote viewing, etc?

My psychology professor is somewhat of an expert in the paranormal. He usually gets called in to check out alien abductions, hauntings, and such. He has also done extensive research into various psi phenomena. One of the most interesting projects was when he invited a man named Ingo Swann (for those who don't know, Ingo is a remote viewer who gained much fame back in the seventies, and claims that he has been training operatives in the CIA to remote view for the past 20 years) to the university to do some testing. The data was quite amazing. The various remote viewing excercises were disturbingly acurate, and in some cases his perceptions seemed to go beyond strict remote viewing. Like I said, the data (not just anecdotes and such) was quite amazing.

Originally posted by narf poit chez BOOM:
in which case, telekinisis shouldn't move non-ferious materials.

Actually, telekinesis tends to affect objects in much the same way as electricity. Conductors (such as metals) tend to heat up, while non-conductors (such as wood) tend to move around. The energy output seems to be constant, whereas small objects move fast and large objects move slow. Telekinesis is 5x more likely to be expressed be women than men (and even then usually centered around the teen years), and is primarily displayed in a cone emanating from the back of the head. Also, telekinesis can be differentiated from haunting phenomena by the fact that it is not accompanied by a fear response.

Originally posted by Imperator Fyron:
Telekinesis generally works the same way as telepathy, just with a lot more energy. The rest of it is very tough to even begin trying to explain.

Actually they seem to work quite differently. And if you don't know how telepathy works why are you claiming that telekinesis works the same way?

Also, most psychics seem to be temporal lobe epileptics. Perhaps it is the abnormal brain activity that allows them to do such interesting things. Perhaps the abnormal brain activity is a side-effect of what they can do. Such things have not yet been determined.

[Fyron]

QR, telepathy and telekinesis and all of that stuff do not work in reality... I know how telepathy could work, if it was more than fiction.

[Ruatha]

Originally posted by oleg:

quote:

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Originally posted by narf poit chez BOOM:
in which case, telekinisis shouldn't move non-ferious materials.

except i heard of one experiment where they managed to move a frog with a really large magnet. i'm kinda doubtfull, because it's seems that that amount of electro-magnetism should have done some bad things to the frog's brain. can anybody else confirm/deny this?

...

Nucler Magnetic Resonance (NMR) of biomolecules is what I do for living. So far, my brain is perfectly fine, fin. fi. f...

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Ahh, almost a collegue. I do some MRT, have read some about NMR when studying. Will go to the canary Isles in january for another course on MR, will be fun!

[QuarianRex]

Originally posted by Imperator Fyron:
QR, telepathy and telekinesis and all of that stuff do not work in reality... I know how telepathy could work, if it was more than fiction.

And I am telling you that some people are capable of actions that are considered to be within the scope of what most consider to be telepathy, telekinesis, and such. I have seen the hard data.

Now perhaps your viewpoint is based upon a poor definition of such abilities. If you define telepathy as the ability to look into someone elses head and scroll through their memories like a big vcr (or take over their mind, using them like a meat-puppet), or telekinesis as the ability to levitate cars merely with the power of ones mind, then, yes, you are right, within that limited paradigm such things would not work in this reality.

However, our actual reality is a little bit more complex (and subtle) than that of a comic book. Strange things in this reality tend not to be as flashy as you might like (though even here they can be pretty spectacular). Just because they don't quite live up to our adolescent fantasies doesnt mean that they don't exist. We should try to keep disappointment from clouding our judjement.

[Atrocities]

Originally posted by Imperator Fyron:
QR, telepathy and telekinesis and all of that stuff do not work in reality... I know how telepathy could work, if it was more than fiction.

It might not work now or be considered a scifi exclusive thing, but evolution can never be ruled out.

[DavidG]

Originally posted by QuarianRex:

quote:

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Originally posted by Imperator Fyron:
QR, telepathy and telekinesis and all of that stuff do not work in reality... I know how telepathy could work, if it was more than fiction.

And I am telling you that some people are capable of actions that are considered to be within the scope of what most consider to be telepathy, telekinesis, and such. I have seen the hard data.

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I recently read an article that said the same thing. (ie that hard data exists) It revolved around a test were subjects were shown one of 4 cards with pics on them and another person in a separate room would say what they wwere. I think the test showed that people on average got like 33% right as opposed to the expected 25%. This was claimed to be "statistically relevant" It just made think "who the heck decided what 'statistically relevant' means. Also could it not also just prove something totally different? ie some people are just lucky.

'Course the reason most people are skeptical about telepathy is like you say, how they define it. I would think telepathy would be commonly thought of as being able to read ones mind fairly reliably not just geting slightly higher that average while predicting one of 4 pictures.

[QuarianRex]

Originally posted by DavidG:
It just made think "who the heck decided what 'statistically relevant' means.

Some musty old guys. They did it around the same time that they were hammering out the scientific method.

Originally posted by DavidG:
Also could it not also just prove something totally different? ie some people are just lucky.

There is some evidence that the most basic level of psi is the manipulation of probability. Luck, if consitent enough, could itself be a manifestation of psi. And when you look at most studies of the wierder aspects of human capability these usually take luck into account. These aren't averaged on 5 or 10 tests where luck could have a substantial effect. These results are averaged over hundreds of tests. If you can keep lady luck on your side that long, well... I think that in itself would qualify as an example of the paranormal.

[Fyron]

Where did adolescent fantasies come into this? That is fairly insulting.