| Global consciousness, as an idea, has been debated | | | | possible physical causes such as sunspots or cell |
| widely and fiercely. The theory that an event affecting | | | | phone interference. |
| a large number of people creates a scientifically | | | | Recently, I picked up on a podcast interview of Roger |
| measurable energy shift across the world sends many | | | | Nelson, a retired professor from Princeton University |
| skeptics into a frenzy. 'Pseudoscience,' they mutter | | | | where he answered these criticisms: |
| and dismiss it out of hand. Could group consciousness | | | | 1) As to whether the researchers were merely seeing |
| be a genuine and measurable phenomenon? The | | | | patterns that don't really exist, Nelson and Radin point |
| origins of the science of measuring this phenomena | | | | out that half of their predictions are published in |
| begin with the Global Consciousness Project. | | | | advance, and that the rest have clearly defined |
| The Global Consciousness Project, started by | | | | parameters. So, data mining doesn't seem to be a |
| Princeton University's Dr. Roger Nelson and Dr. Dean | | | | reasonable explanation. |
| Radin, has been running for more than 10 years. Nelson | | | | 2) Regarding interference, they point out the great |
| and Radin attached small industrial-strength random | | | | lengths they have gone through to prevent such |
| number generators to PCs and placed them at over | | | | contamination of the data. Most importantly, they point |
| 60 spots around the world. Next, they and set about | | | | out any such anomalies have not show up in the data. |
| monitoring them 24/7. These little boxes generate a | | | | For example, they have compared data from |
| random series of 0s and 1s (200 every second) which | | | | generators close to big cities with the data from rural |
| are recorded and analyzed. Under normal conditions | | | | areas in order to see if cell phone interference was |
| the numbers produce a random pattern as one would | | | | involved - it wasn't. |
| expect. | | | | 3) Finally, they point out that the ten years of data |
| However, researchers predicted that during an event | | | | collected is open to examination and analysis, and that |
| involving large groups of people, whether a positive | | | | while many skeptics have tried to find a smoking gun |
| one like a Live Aid concert, or a negative one like 9/11, | | | | of impropriety, none have succeeded. |
| a shift in our energy field would produce a measurable | | | | With this solid bank of data, and extensive testing and |
| change in the pattern of the data collected by the | | | | re-testing over the years, Nelson and Radin have |
| random number generators. This theory was based on | | | | convincing proof of the existence of measurable |
| similar results they had seen in the Princeton | | | | effects of group consciousness. The transparency of |
| Engineering Anomalies Research (PEAR) laboratory, | | | | their work, and their willingness to invite skeptics to |
| where they observed that certain people were able to | | | | perform their own analysis of their data is another |
| affect the output of similar random number generators | | | | argument in their favor. Several skeptics who have set |
| just by concentrating. | | | | out to disprove their theories have ended up becoming |
| Skeptics of the research have claimed the methods | | | | part of their project, conducting their own research into |
| used in collecting and analyzing the data weren't up to | | | | the data. All this seems to point to a strange, but |
| snuff. They claimed researchers were just looking for | | | | undeniable conclusion - we are all linked together in a |
| patterns after the fact, and that the data wasn't | | | | global consciousness. |
| checked to make sure it hadn't been affected by | | | | |