J. K. Penberthy, H. G. Claro, Tevfik Kalelioglu, Caroline F Centeno, Ahoora Ladoni, E. Ragone, Christopher Rowley, Elizabeth Hanchak
{"title":"Impact of Meditation Versus Exercise on Psychological Characteristics, Paranormal Experiences, and Beliefs: Randomized Trial","authors":"J. K. Penberthy, H. G. Claro, Tevfik Kalelioglu, Caroline F Centeno, Ahoora Ladoni, E. Ragone, Christopher Rowley, Elizabeth Hanchak","doi":"10.31275/20242849","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31275/20242849","url":null,"abstract":"Background: Research indicates that meditation increases mindfulness and paranormal experiences of precognition, telepathy, clairvoyance, and synchronicities. There is limited knowledge about the prevalence or impact of these experiences on meditators and the general population. Aims: To compare self-reported well-being, mindfulness, connectedness, personality, paranormal experiences, beliefs, and performance on psi tasks in a meditation group versus an exercise control group. Method: This is a randomized trial that explored changes, including well-being, mindfulness, connectedness, psi, extraordinary experiences, beliefs, and ability to impact a random number generator in the participants, comparing a meditation vs. exercise control group. We collected data at baseline, “Mid” or halfway through the intervention (week 4), post 1, which is at the end of intervention (week 9), and post 2, which is two months post-intervention. Data was collected securely online with IRB approval. Results: Data from 72 participants (N=45 meditation/N=27 exercise) demonstrated improvement in some well-being measures (anxiety and general health). The study examined the effects of meditation versus exercise on various psychosocial measures and paranormal experiences. The meditation group displayed higher scores in openness and extroversion compared to the exercise group, which was unexpected and required further investigation. The meditation cohort also reported more paranormal experiences, with about half of them considering these experiences important or meaningful. However, the experiment exploring psychic abilities did not yield significant results. While the study had limitations, such as a predominantly non-diverse sample, it adds to the existing body of evidence linking meditation and exercise to positive psychosocial outcomes. Conclusions: The randomly selected meditation naïve cohort trained in brief structured meditation demonstrated increases over time in mindfulness, connectedness, extraversion, and paranormal experiences and beliefs compared to an exercise cohort. Performance on the psi tasks did not improve in either group over time, and these tasks may not be sensitive enough to detect significant changes.","PeriodicalId":32826,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Scientific Exploration","volume":"1 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140727198","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Ancientness of New Mexico Human Footprints Confirmed","authors":"Stephen C. Jett","doi":"10.31275/20243247","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31275/20243247","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":32826,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Scientific Exploration","volume":"90 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140723342","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Medicine, Money, and Media: A Case Study of How the Covid-19 Crisis Corrupts Disclosure and Publishing Ethics","authors":"Harald Walach, R. Klement","doi":"10.31275/20243249","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31275/20243249","url":null,"abstract":"The trickster concept has been proposed as a useful description of paranormal phenomena in response to nine decades of inconsistent experimental results and the inability to develop sustained practical applications of psi. However, the trickster of mythology is too diverse and ambiguous for scientific research. The term ‘psi-trickster’ is used here to refer to an active factor that makes psi effects inconsistent and unsustainable but can be investigated scientifically. My transition from optimism about psi experiments to reluctantly accepting the psi-trickster is described. The primary purpose of this essay is to describe strategies and options for research given the apparent psi-trickster. Strategies for dealing with the psi-trickster include: (a) hope that continued experimental research will overcome it; (b) accept the far-reaching implications of the usual assumptions for psi experiments and develop models of unconscious conflicting psi influences by many different people; (c) investigate the possibility that reliable psi effects occur in rare conditions, such as after many years of intense meditation practice; (d) propose physics-based models; and (e) consider that factors other than the motivations of living persons may be involved. Experimental psi research has the ultimate goal of converting psi to technology. Like other technologies, the most advanced development will be for military uses and for corporate profits. Spontaneous psi experiences tend to inspire a sense of meaning in life and a belief that the person’s life is watched over, similar to mystical and near-death experiences. The psi-trickster characteristics prevent psi from being converted to technology and preserve its mysterious, mystical aspects. An in-depth investigation is needed to understand how paranormal beliefs and experiences affect a person’s life and society as a whole. This is the first step in investigating the psi-trickster characteristics and should include the distribution of beliefs in the population for the full spectrum from skeptics to proponents.","PeriodicalId":32826,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Scientific Exploration","volume":"45 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140726584","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Deep Weird: The Varieties of High Strangeness Experience","authors":"Peter McCue","doi":"10.31275/20243345","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31275/20243345","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":32826,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Scientific Exploration","volume":"50 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140727962","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Binaural Beats and Music: A Preliminary Case Report","authors":"Elizabeth Krasnoff, Gaetan Chevalier","doi":"10.31275/20242799","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31275/20242799","url":null,"abstract":"We recruited subjects who reported feeling stressed and needing a break and were seeking an opportunity to experience relaxation. Inaudible binaural beats (BB) were used to measure the ability of BB to induce relaxation. Measurements included EEG, Menlascan (cardiovascular and ANS) (Menla Technologies, Independence, Missouri), and GDV (Gas Discharge Visualization/Kirlian Photography) (Korotkov et al., 2020). Further, a Big Five Character Assessment was administered, and individual Brief Mood Introspection Scales (BMIS) were collected for each condition. Subjects experienced an improvement in brain function, microcirculation or cardiovascular score, bioenergy, and a calmer brain after adding binaural beats to brown noise or to music plus brown noise, although the Menlascan scores and Big Five character assessment results were less conclusive. BB seems to have profound effects on the physiology of subjects, and since the beats were not audible, these effects could not be attributed to the placebo effect. These results are encouraging in terms of developing musical products incorporating BB to affect human neural rhythms and corollary states of consciousness and warrant further research with more subjects and different frequencies of BB and different music tracks.","PeriodicalId":32826,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Scientific Exploration","volume":"71 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140723854","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"In Memory of Friederike Schriever","authors":"Gerhard A. Mayer","doi":"10.31275/20243339","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31275/20243339","url":null,"abstract":"No abstract, obituary","PeriodicalId":32826,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Scientific Exploration","volume":"16 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140723164","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Journey to Credibility: 13 Rules for Maverick Scientists","authors":"William Beaty","doi":"10.31275/20243353","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31275/20243353","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":32826,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Scientific Exploration","volume":"6 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140727389","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Coming to Terms With the Psi-Trickster","authors":"James E Kennedy","doi":"10.31275/20242755","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31275/20242755","url":null,"abstract":"The trickster concept has been proposed as a useful description of paranormal phenomena in response to nine decades of inconsistent experimental results and the inability to develop sustained practical applications of psi. However, the trickster of mythology is too diverse and ambiguous for scientific research. The term ‘psi-trickster’ is used here to refer to an active factor that makes psi effects inconsistent and unsustainable but can be investigated scientifically. My transition from optimism about psi experiments to reluctantly accepting the psi-trickster is described. The primary purpose of this essay is to describe strategies and options for research given the apparent psi-trickster. Strategies for dealing with the psi-trickster include: (a) hope that continued experimental research will overcome it; (b) accept the far-reaching implications of the usual assumptions for psi experiments and develop models of unconscious conflicting psi influences by many different people; (c) investigate the possibility that reliable psi effects occur in rare conditions, such as after many years of intense meditation practice; (d) propose physics-based models; and (e) consider that factors other than the motivations of living persons may be involved. Experimental psi research has the ultimate goal of converting psi to technology. Like other technologies, the most advanced development will be for military uses and for corporate profits. Spontaneous psi experiences tend to inspire a sense of meaning in life and a belief that the person’s life is watched over, similar to mystical and near-death experiences. The psi-trickster characteristics prevent psi from being converted to technology and preserve its mysterious, mystical aspects. An in-depth investigation is needed to understand how paranormal beliefs and experiences affect a person’s life and society as a whole. This is the first step in investigating the psi-trickster characteristics and should include the distribution of beliefs in the population for the full spectrum from skeptics to proponents.","PeriodicalId":32826,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Scientific Exploration","volume":"89 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140725785","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Quantum Bullshit: How to Ruin Your Life With Advice From Quantum Physics & Farewell to Reality: How Modern Physics Has Betrayed The Search for Scientific Truth","authors":"Henry Bauer","doi":"10.31275/20242997","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31275/20242997","url":null,"abstract":"Two reviews of two books. Title to be changed.","PeriodicalId":32826,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Scientific Exploration","volume":"81 12","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140726410","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}