You Might Have Psychic Abilities Thanks to a Collective Consciousness
Ever have the feeling that you know you’re being watched? Or the feeling of thinking about someone just before they call? Some believe these feelings are merely coincidental or just happenstance, but the fact that they are common and something everyone can relate to, leaves open the possibility that there could be a metaphysical mechanism at play. Now, researcher Rupert Sheldrake says he believes these occurrences are due to a psychic phenomenon that is evidence of a collective consciousness and he’s found this theory to show statistical significance.
Sheldrake is most famous for his theory of morphic resonance, a concept that revolves around psychic capability, which he believes is innate in humans and animals. Morphic resonance states that processes and behavior in nature, particularly learned behavior, can be inherited and transmitted psychically. This theory has made him somewhat of a pariah in the scientific community, which labelled him a heretic for entertaining such a seemingly nebulous concept. Nevertheless, he embraces the criticism and continues to pursue his research.
Sheldrake’s Evidence of a Collective Consciousness
In order to test his theory, Sheldrake conducted experiments on a group of subjects to see if they could accurately predict who was calling them on the phone. He ran the test with two groups of callers – one that was known to the subject and another who were complete strangers. The two groups tested against each other to see if there was a notable link between those with an emotional connection.
Sheldrake’s subjects in each test group consisted of four callers, providing for a one-in-four probability. In the group of callers with a strong personal connection to the subject, out of 332 trials among 37 participants, there was a 53 percent success rate of subjects correctly guessing who was calling — clearly better than mere chance. In the group where there was no familiarity, the subject predicted callers with a 25 percent likelihood – the same as chance.
Sheldrake noticed one area of the experiment that might have been flawed was that callers were given a schedule of when they would be calling and could potentially divulge when they’d be contacting the subject next. But when he looked at the results and controlled for this, he found no spikes in successful guessing. Does this hint at a psychic connection between people with a personal bond?
Sheldrake took the experiment a step further and decided to ask subjects to give their level of confidence on whether they would accurately guess a caller. They could either say they felt confident, not confident or just guessing. With this factor, results changed dramatically. When subjects felt confident, they responded correctly 82 percent of the time. When they were unconfident they were correct 35 percent of the time, and when they were just guessing their guess was only correct 25 percent of the time.
An interesting factor in the experiment is that subjects were sometimes thousands of miles away from their caller. Sheldrake found similar results when conducting tests regarding premonitions on email and text messages received. He also says he believes that while there might have been numerous factors skewing the results, intuition could have affected subjects who were told how they were doing. Overthinking can inhibit intuition and therefore in a scenario where a subject wasn’t being tested or didn’t know they were being tested, they would have possibly had a greater likelihood of knowing who was calling.
A Shared Consciousness with Animals?
Sheldrake conducted similar experiments testing the psychic intuition of dogs and whether they know when their owner is coming home. During one experiment to test this hypothesis, Sheldrake found that a dog went to the window looking for its owner four percent of the time she was out of the house, not intending to come home. However, once she started to make her way back home, the dog was at the window 55 percent of the time.
Sheldrake’s original theory of morphic resonance came from an experiment involving mice. The mice were put through a water maze before they progressively learned how to escape quicker. Their progeny, when put in the same maze, learned how to escape in fewer trials, and subsequently, mice on the other side of the world learned how to escape quickly when put through the same test. The experiment showed evidence that a group of mice could genetically pass down learned behavior and that this behavior could also be transmitted psychically throughout an entire species; almost as if it was being uploaded to the cloud where individual members could collectively download it. This is one premise of Sheldrake’s theory and he says he believes it to be inherent in all species.
What is the Collective Consciousness?
A commonly known theory that bears similarity to morphic resonance is the 100th monkey theory – an anecdotal observation showing signs of psychic learning among monkeys on various islands in the Pacific Ocean. Monkeys on one island purportedly learned behavior from monkeys on another island, once the 100th monkey learned the behavior. Sheldrake says this scenario is evidence of morphic resonance but based on an idea of having to reach a critical threshold. He says he sees the process as more gradual; the greater the number of individuals that learn, the easier a task becomes for the species.
Sheldrake’s theory has some basis in Carl Jung’s idea of a collective unconscious. Jung’s collective unconscious is essentially a foundation of archetypes and psychological motifs that are inherent in humans. It differs from our personal psyches and complexes that are developed individually. Jung even referred to it as a, “psychic system of a collective, universal and impersonal nature which is identical in all individuals.” Sheldrake expanded on this theory, by postulating that this collective psychic system is growing and learning in real-time.
Could this be evidence that as a species we are getting collectively smarter and that our collective consciousness is evolving? Or is the technology and the internet a physical extension of what Sheldrake is describing?
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Tiny Crystals In Our Brain Could Unlock Psychic Powers
Magnetite is one of the most magnetic substances on Earth. As you can probably guess, it has a diverse range of uses; from fridge magnets to generating electricity in power plants. But what you probably wouldn’t guess is that your brain actually synthesizes these crystals, and you have hundreds of millions of them inside your head. Much smaller ones of course.
Scientists are still unsure what role, if any, these crystals play in the brain’s function. Studies have inferred that it may play a role in long-term memory. In animals, like honey bees, homing pigeons, and dolphins, magnetite is believed to be associated with the ability to respond to the Earth’s magnetic field.
While similar studies have yet to be performed on humans, we do know that Earth’s magnetic fields effect everything from our mood to our ability to learn. Even stranger, research has begun to provide links between the electromagnetic field of our planet and psychic abilities. Could these crystals act like tiny antennas connecting our brains to each other and to the entire planet? It may sound far-fetched, but surprisingly, the evidence is there.
First, let’s look at what we know about the magnetite in our brains. To be honest, we don’t know much: In 1992, the first evidence of this mineral in the brain was published. It was shocking to uncover that this highly magnetic substance was actually synthesized by our bodies, and while we don’t know exactly what function it plays in brain activity, some interesting theories have emerged. A 2009 hypothesis proposed that magnetite plays a significant role in long-term memory. It suggests that cellular components of the brain communicate with each other through magnetic signals, with the magnetite particles acting as tiny antennas, simultaneously receiving information throughout the different parts of the brain.
Magnetite also acts as an antenna for external electromagnetic fields, including the geomagnetic field of the Earth itself. And this is where things start to get interesting. An enormous body of research is emerging that shows substantive links between magnetic fields and cognitive function.
Back in 1978, research physicist Dr. Robert C Beck published preliminary research on the effects of extremely low frequency magnetic fields on the moods of human subjects. ELF fields of 6.67 Hz, 6.26 Hz and lower tend to produce symptoms of confusion, anxiety, depression, tension, fear, mild nausea and headaches. On the other hand, oscillations of 7.8, 8.0, and 9.0 Hz produce anxiety-relieving and stress-reducing effects that mimic some meditative states.
More recently, magnetic fields have been used in successful clinical practices for eliminating depression and bipolar disorder, with over 1300 medical research papers published to date. The non-invasive treatment, known as repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, uses a wand-shaped gadget to zap away the effects of depression.
While all of this is interesting, and can pave the way for new therapies and treatments, a group of researchers at Canada’s Laurentian University are exploring the role of electromagnetic forces in more extreme cognitive functions. Dr. Michael Persinger is a neuroscientist who has argued that all phenomena, including consciousness, spiritual experiences, and even “paranormal events,” can be explained by physical mechanisms, and can be verified using the scientific method.
Since 1971, he has been researching electromagnetic field effects upon biological organisms, and some of his recent studies sound straight out of a sci-fi movie: Dr. Persinger has shown in the laboratory that magnetic brain stimulation can create metal states conducive to human telepathy. A recent experiment placed two people at a distance in different rooms, each surrounded by an identical, computer-controlled magnetic field. When a light was flashed in one subject’s eye, the person in the other room showed responses in their brain as if they saw the flash of light.
As Dr. Persinger stated:
“We think that’s tremendous because it may be the first macro demonstration of a quantum connection, or so-called quantum entanglement. If true, then there’s another way of potential communication that may have physical applications, for example, in space travel.”
On a much larger scale, correlation has been shown between the geomagnetic forces of the planet and a variety of effects spanning large populations. A 2003 study found “strong empirical support in favor of a geomagnetic-storm effect in stock returns” and “evidence of substantially higher returns around the world during periods of quiet geomagnetic activity.”
Other research has linked geomagnetic activity to suicide, heart-disease, and even birth rates. A particularly curious global effect is related to a standing electromagnetic wave that exists between the Earth’s surface and the ionosphere. Known as “The Schumann Resonance,” this wave has a frequency of 7.8 Hz, and is frequently referenced in alternative theories of consciousness. Measurements by Dr. Persinger have shown that the fundamental and harmonics of the Schumann Resonance were discernible in normal human brain activity, and in fact they correspond to Dr. Beck’s anxiety-reducing ELF fields.
Stranger still was Persinger’s study of the remote viewer Ingo Swann. “Remote viewing” refers to a technique used by “psychic spies” working for the CIA; they were able to see far off locations as if they were there; and they could even move through time. Ingo Swann was one of the first, and most accurate, viewers in this program. When Dr. Persinger measured his brain’s electromagnetic activity during viewing sessions, he found a spike in activity at 7 Hz which correlated with the most accurate viewings. Is it possible that Swann was able to project his consciousness by tuning into the standing geomagnetic waves of the Earth?
All of this adds up to a fascinating connection between our brains and the shared magnetic field not only of our planet, but potentially of the entire universe. It’s undeniable that the brain responds to magnetic forces on a local and a global scale. While no one has been able to prove the involvement of magnetite, it seems a likely suspect. If we learn to harness the power of these tiny antennas in our brain, who knows what kind of psychic superpowers we might unlock?
