Is it possible that people can communicate by telepathy?

Telepathy has been the subject of controversy and debate in the scientific world for decades.. Although many people claim to have experienced it, mainstream science has refused to accept its existence.

However, some experiments have explored the possibility that telepathy is real and have found interesting, although inconclusive, results. In this article we will analyze the existence of this parapsychological phenomenon.

Telepathy and classical science

It was in the middle of the 20th century when people began to talk about telepathy. Until then, no document or vestige of antiquity refers to this phenomenon. However, it should be noted that to this day, science refuses to accept that this type of mental ability exists. At the same time, it is important to emphasize that testimonies about telepathic experiences continue to appear.

Telepathy is defined as the transmission of thought over a distance, without any technology that promotes said communication. It is a kind of “communication” “wireless connection” between two human brains. Thousands of people say they have experienced it, but until now this phenomenon has never been reproduced in a laboratory.

Scientists have indicated that telepathy, from the point of view of physics it is not plausible. There is no section of the brain that can act as a transmitter or receiver of remote communications. Nor does the electromagnetic power of the brain have the capacity to transport information and there is no known medium through which it could do so.

Within the framework of classical physics, telepathy is an impossibility. However, In the context of quantum physics things are different. In fact, many renowned physicists have referred to this phenomenon and do not close the doors to the possibility of telepathic communication existing. The topic, therefore, could not be more interesting.

Experiments on telepathy

Starting in the 20th century, several researchers speculated about the existence of telepathy and carried out various studies to verify them. Among the most significant we find:

Zener Letters

Faced with thousands of testimonies from people who say they have experienced telepathy, some scientists have set out to study the phenomenon. One of the most famous experiments was the one carried out by Karl Zener, using his famous letters.

In the research, 25 cards were used, each with one of the following symbols: circle, cross, square, star and wavy lines. Zener would pick a card at random and then ask the participant to guess what symbol it had.

Early findings suggested that some individuals could know which card was chosen more frequently than expected by chance. In this case, a rigorous statistical follow-up was carried out, however, The results obtained did not allow us to reach solid conclusions..

Critics argued that the experiment lacked control, which made it invalid. Also, they argued that the participants could have been suggested and the results biased by the experimenter.

Despite its rejection and the controversies surrounding it, this study is welcomed as one of the first scientific experiments on extrasensory perception (ESP). However, as the American Psychological Association points out, “ESP remains on the fringes of scientific research, with 96% of scientists at the National Academy of Sciences skeptical of the concept.”

The Zener card experiment was one of the first studies in the field of extrasensory perception.

Telepathic transmission during sleep

On the other hand, Montaque Ullman and Stanley Krippner of the Maimonides Medical Center of Brooklyn (New York) did experiments on telepathic transmission during sleep.

To carry out the study, one person (receiver) remained asleep in an isolated room, while another (sender), in a separate room, observed an illustration chosen at random from a collection and sent it “telepathically” to the receiver.

When the sleeper completed the REM sleep stage, the researchers woke him up and interviewed him. The findings of the study indicated that the image that the sender had in mind appeared in one form or another in the dreams of the receiver. Although these results from the sleep telepathy experiments were interesting, these were inconclusive.

It should be noted that the methodology of this research has received much criticism and has been vigorously questioned. Nevertheless, it remains a valuable study of telepathy and dreams.

Ganzfeld experiments

Other interesting studies have been the “ganzfeld experiments.” In total, 88 were made, between 1974 and 2004; and are among the most recent research in the field of parapsychology, with the aim of proving the existence of telepathy.

In a study published in the European Journal of Parapsychology, forty couples were chosen for ganzfeld sessions. Each session had three trials consisting of a “communication” phase and a “rating/reporting” phase.

In the ‘communication’ period, person A, of the couple, was exposed to the ganzfeld and reported what he saw. Meanwhile, subject B was memorizing a video clip. In the ‘rating’ stage, Participant A compared the video clip with the ganzfeld images. In parallel, individual B recorded the content of the video in writing.

The authors note that: “in 39 of 120 trials (32.5%) the presented target clip was successfully identified (p = 0.039). “Statistics based on the ratings of the four video clips revealed no significant deviations from the opportunity expectation.”

The above suggests that there is a possibility that ganzfeld telepathy may exist. However, several random factors may explain the results, so we cannot conclude that evidence in favor of telepathy was found.

The neural bases of telepathy

The defenders of telepathy have tried to find a neurobiological background, to this end they have developed various investigations. One of them was published in the International journal of yoga. The study aimed to investigate the neural bases of telepathy in a person with this ability, known as a “mentalist.”

To do this, the researchers examined Gerard Senehi, a person known as a “mentalist”, while he performed a telepathic task in a scanner. A control subject without this ability was also tested under the same conditions.

In the brain activity of the mentalist, a significant activation of the parahippocampal gyrus was found right, after having carried out his telepathic work. For its part, in the control person, no activation was found in that part of the brain.

This research has several limitations that call into question its results, so more research is needed. It is important to highlight that the findings should be taken with great caution, since they are not entirely conclusive.

Telepathy and quantum physics

The most controversial aspect of this topic is that telepathy contradicts the laws of classical physics and other sciences. The possibility that it exists would imply the rethinking of several axioms that are considered valid today. From the point of view of physics and neurology, it is impossible for a process to occur in the brain without a sensory stimulus. or internal that triggers it.

Some quantum theorists postulate that telepathy could be a possible phenomenon, but evidence is lacking.

For conventional science, thinking is a biochemical process. Consequently, it does not originate if there is no material stimulus. Telepathy is the absence of that material stimulus. Therefore, apparently, these concepts would be excluded. However, from quantum physics, hypotheses have been raised that talk about other forms of interaction in matter.

Roger Penrose, physicist and mathematician expert in the Theory of Relativity, has postulated the existence of a quantum biophysics of the mind. Stuart Hameroff, an anesthesiologist at the University of Arizona, has supported Penrose’s work. The Penrose-Hameroff hypotheses They open a way to understand telepathy from a scientific point of view. However, more than conclusions, what has been proposed is a new field of research.

Many people report experiences of telepathic communication. However, a good part of the scientific community is reluctant to accept and support new postulates that contradict current scientific knowledge, beyond the isolated studies that we have reported.

In this sense, telepathy brings other problems and it could be used for handling. Now, it will be science that will have to determine if it is an immature field of study, or on the contrary, it opens a new door to a room full of fascinating questions.

To conclude, the studies we have reviewed allow us to affirm that telepathy does not have sufficient scientific support to accept its existence. Therefore, we must be cautious with parapsychological discourses that promulgate it as a real fact.

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