An eight-year stretch of intense research by psychologist Daryl Bem of Cornell University has produced results that suggest humans are capable of precognition, meaning we can see into the future. How? The how is a mystery, but thanks to a bizarre series of experiments Mr. Bem conducted involving a thousand college students, there’s now evidence to support psychic powers.
The Experiments and Their Implications
The willing test subjects were exposed to a priming exercise. In it, the words ‘beautiful’ and ‘ugly’ were fed to their subconscious, and afterwards, alternating pictures of puppies and maggots were shown. The result is predictable, with the students associating ‘beautiful’ with puppies and ‘ugly’ with maggots.
The next thing Bem did was run it the other way around: pictures first, then randomly generated priming words via computer. Funny thing is, the students associated the pictures with priming words faster after they matched with the computer. This suggests that the students were somehow able to anticipate the priming words before they were shown, indicating a form of precognition.
What this suggests is, well, we have a powerful subconscious. The implications of this are vast and could potentially revolutionize our understanding of the human mind. If our subconscious can indeed predict future events, it could explain phenomena such as intuition and gut feelings. These are experiences where people feel they “just know” something without any logical explanation.
Further Discussion and Skepticism
However, the scientific community remains skeptical. Precognition challenges the fundamental principles of time and causality. Critics argue that Bem’s experiments could be explained by statistical anomalies or methodological flaws. For instance, the random generation of priming words might not have been truly random, or the students could have been influenced by subtle cues.
Despite the skepticism, Bem’s research has sparked renewed interest in the study of psychic phenomena. Other researchers are now conducting similar experiments to either replicate or refute Bem’s findings. If these studies yield similar results, it could pave the way for a new field of psychological research focused on understanding and harnessing precognitive abilities.
To further explore this topic, why not check the Psychology Today source link for extra enlightenment? Done.
Actually, we’re having a difficult time putting two and two together here. Judging by the kind of tests undertaken, does this mean that we can discern word-picture associations because of an untested, unexplored ability? Or is it simply a quirk of our subconscious mind that we have yet to fully understand?
We’re now officially suffering from a headache.
Via Dvice, Psychology Today
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