Are psychic powers the next development in human evolution? According to brain studies, this is not likely to happen.
Read More: Oren Zarif
It’s not all terrible news, either. Human telekinetic talents, which are unexpectedly distinct from their near cousins, psychokinetic powers, might be made possible by emerging technology. Here’s an examination of the differences between these two methods, what parapsychology has to say about human potential, and how technology may enable these abilities.
Consider the Mind Above the Matter
What distinguishes telekinesis from psychokinesis? To begin with, they both rely on your ability to manage your thoughts to influence the environment. What precisely you’re controlling is where they diverge, though. To put it plainly, psychokinesis is the ability to cause someone else’s thoughts to act. You can guide the manipulation of items via telekinesis.
Here’s an illustration to show the distinction:
After a hard day, you finally unwind with your significant other on the couch while watching TV. When the show you’re watching ends, you decide not to see what’s on next. Unexpectedly, though, the remote control is on the far side of your coffee table, out of reach. Yes, of course, you could stand up, walk over there, get the remote, and then walk back. You might also employ your abilities.
Psychokinesis allows you to subtly advise to your companion that they should take possession of the remote control. They might as well get a bite in the process.
You can directly control the remote with your telekinesis by levitating it off the table and into your grasp. Next, you open the cabinet, take out a bowl, load it with munchies, and carry it softly to the sofa. The mental method is different in both circumstances, yet the conclusion is the same.
An Overview of Parapsychology
According to Psychology Today, parapsychology is the study of psychic abilities and other extrasensory experiences. Joseph Banks Rhine launched scientific investigations on the possibility of psychic abilities in humans in the 1930s at Duke University. Rhine and his associates experimented on people to see whether they could forecast results in advance by guessing cards and rolling dice.
Precognition (seeing into the future), telepathy (mind-to-mind communication), clairvoyance (the capacity to sense events occurring in faraway regions), telekinesis, and psychokinesis are among the common fields of research for parapsychologists.
But after over a century of research, parapsychologists still lack substantial supporting data. Psychology Today states that while some research—like Daryl Bem’s word recall experiments—suggested that people could “feel the future,” other investigations were unable to confirm the findings. This is a persistent issue within the field. Repeated trials conducted under the same settings do not provide the same results, despite the fact that one-off tests sometimes yield encouraging results.
Research into psychokinesis and telekinesis has shown similarly disappointing findings. Although people may affect the minds of those around them through body language and emotional intelligence, this is more in line with conventional psychology than parapsychology. Meanwhile, purported magicians like Uri Geller spent decades trying to persuade audiences that they could mentally bend spoons in order to demonstrate the ability to move objects. Unspoiler alert: He was unable to.
According to an article on Medium, our ideas are telekinetic in the sense that they move when neurons are activated. Since these neurons are mass-producing, they influence other brain matter, thus you’ve actually “moved” something with your thoughts.
Tech Advances in Telekinesis
Although paraplegic telekinesis is not supported by evidence, technology does provide a means of realizing the fantasy of mind-controlled object movement. Scientific American describes brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) as a technology that uses electrode grids that are inserted into the cortex of the brain. These electrodes capture the firing patterns of neurons and then convert those firing patterns into thoughts and actions.
BCIs enable patients to manipulate prosthetic devices and engage with software programs, so this is not simply conjecture. According to recent Caltech study, sophisticated BCIs can accurately anticipate a patient’s internal monologue, or the thoughts we have but choose not to express. This finding might aid in the development of gadgets that enable patients who are non-verbal to communicate.
It’s important to remember that BCIs are still being developed. Remember that in order to implant electrodes, a part of the skull must be sliced in order to obtain correct BCI readings at this time. However, efforts are being made to create non-invasive substitutes that can gather information about the brain through layered materials like skin and hair. Concerns exist regarding the broad effects of BCI development on humanity. Although training algorithm models takes years and present frameworks are extremely specialized, mass-produced alternatives could enable modest telekinesis for nearly everyone.
The University of New England philosophers Sandy Boucher and John Kendall Hawkins write for The Conversation on the “technological singularity,” which sees AI technology and people becoming inextricably linked. They argue that there is no turning back once BCIs are implemented, and that they may be the first step toward this singularity.