Shell Pioneers the Art of Consumer Misdirection

Shell’s Nitrogen Enriched (V-Power) Gasoline!  Yay! We’re all saved from that menacing “gunk” that’s been making our lives miserable!  Yeah, maybe not so much saved as annoyed by pretentious acting, over-simplified explanations and borderline criminal consumer manipulations.  The above TV spot is one of the latest in a series continually introducing Shell’s Nitrogen Enriched Gasoline.

Right off the bat there are things that annoy the hell out of me about this ad series, not the least of which is Laurie (Naughton) Okin and her terrible acting skills.  If you’ll care to remember the first in this near reality based, information type commercial, Ms. Okin, playing a lab coat wearing pseudo-scientist (a gasologist possibly?), explained in her best and most scientific voice how “gunk” is robbing our engines of power (of course that was after she rudely cut off her male counterpart mid-sentence, for no apparent reason)…but have no fear, Shell is here!  They’ve got the answer and it’s Nitrogen Enrichment!

Not that this was the first use of such an unscientifically accurate technical term as “gunk”, as we saw in Castrol GTX Engine Oil’s little bubbles of unnamed “liquid engineered” goodness that saves us all from horrible engine “sludge” soakings, which as their commercial says: “is only funny when it happens to someone else”.

I’m not sure which offends me more; their use of the most ineffectually simplistic terms to describe what are actually complex but easily understood chemical reactions, all of course, in an effort to swindle you into thinking that their gasoline is more effective at…”fighting gunk”, than the next guys.  Or the notion that adding a nitrogen detergent to their gasoline was voluntary or even done with good intentions.

Warning – Science Content Ahead

Internal combustion engines burn gasoline inside engine cylinders to create controlled explosions from a finely tuned and compressed fuel and air mixture, which causes the piston in the cylinder to rise rapidly away from the explosion, which in turn causes a crank shaft to turn, vicariously transferring the power of each successive explosion into the continuous operation of the engine.  It’s not as complicated as one might think, and believe it or not “gunk” is an actual problem our engines have to deal with (though calling it “gunk” doesn’t do it justice, nor does it make it seem marketably cute).

A bi-product of these controlled explosions is -when you mix oxygen with a carbon based fossil fuel and burn it- the creation of carbon monoxide gas (CO), also known as carbonic oxide. The majority of the CO gas created through this chemical reaction is released into the atmosphere through the vehicle’s exhaust system (and subsequently remains in the atmosphere for more than a hundred years, interfering with photons (light and heat) from the sun and contributing to global warming), but because of the violent nature of the explosion small amounts of pure carbon are left behind, and over time these carbon molecules build up on the surfaces of the cylinder, piston and valves.  Too much build up eventually causes efficiency issues in the engine, such as blow-by and poor valve seating.

 

Laurie (Naughton) Okin

Ironically, the mechanical issues caused by carbon build up, make the production and release of CO gas even worse (thought of as engine inefficiency), which is why the EPA (the US Environmental Protection Agency) has mandated that all gasoline manufacturers (refiners) must include detergent agents in their gasoline mixtures, in order to reduce the amount of CO gas generated by the growing number of cars on the road.[1] This mandate has become an international standard, enforced by most developed nations.

What this means is, Shell isn’t doing anything that their competitors aren’t also doing by law, except for the notion that most fuel companies use other chemicals to do what Shell claims can be achieved with nitrogen.  Though there are scientific arguments against that idea, but which are too complex to cover here.

Here’s the coup in all this sideshow trickery; the number one reason that Shell International has invested so much time and money into the development and marketing of nitrogen based fuel detergents, is misdirection on a global scale.  Shell has declared their active opposition to the development of biofuels and solar and wind power generation, and in a concerted effort to make sure you don’t put two-and-two together, they’ve concocted this ad campaign complete with a deliberate attempt to fool viewers into thinking that they have the conservation of the environment, and your bank account in mind.[2]

Suffice it to say, the practised smiles, fake lab coats, and consumer buzz words flashing across your TV screen along side that ironically environmental Shell logo, are not for your benefit.  They are specifically for the benefit of Shell International’s profit margin and the satisfaction of their investors.

Think twice…please.


[1] U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. “Gasoline Detergent Additives Enforcement and Recordkeeping Requirements.” July 16, 2008. (April 6, 2009)  http://www.epa.gov/oms/regs/fuels/additive/fact7gda.htm

[2] Hadhazy, Adam. “Shell oil company bails on most alternative energy research.” Scientific American. March 20, 2009. (March 30, 2009)  http://www.sciam.com/blog/60-second-science/post.cfm?id=shell-oil-company-bails-on-most-alt-2009-03-20

Dell Computers and The Village People?

Ok, come on.  Am I the only one who’s wondering what those two “computer techs” were doing before they popped up singing Lollipop and putting their clothes back on?

All joking aside (ok, maybe not all joking), are we really supposed to be wooed into buying a piece of crap Dell laptop, simply because they’ve made them brightly coloured and, apparently, manufactured by the Village People in some futuristically automated factory?

Are general consumers really this stupid or is this yet another caricature of consumer fidelity?  I’d say both, but then, I didn’t fall for this ridiculous attempt to fool us into believing that Dell hasn’t been the pinnacle of overpriced personal computers and electronics for the last decade at least.

Realistically, this ad is targeted toward teens anyway, specifically, female teenagers.  Dell marketers have latched onto the notion that parents buy whatever their children ask (read tell) them to.  This has been a feature of Saturday morning cartoons for at least 30 years (and for those of you who are wondering what Saturday morning cartoons are, ask your parents what we had before the Cartoon Network), and near as I can tell, the psychology behind it is at least as effective as impulse product placement in grocery stores.

Dell is preying on two simple ideas that permeate the general consumer market; 1) kids don’t care how things work, they care only that they do, and that they look good while doing it. 2) Parent’s (at least the current generation who’s dishing out the money for these pieces of computer crap) won’t take the time to shop around for the best mix of affordability and quality.  This is opposed to the previous generation who was just baffled by the techno-babble that went along with computers, and who would just buy whatever the child/sales guy/TV talking head told them to.

At one point I questioned whether or not Dell was a division of Wal-Mart, but I think they’re just two entities taking advantage of the same concept…people are bloody lazy.  Doubt me?  Think about the online/call center nature of Dell Computers sales.  As easy as it would be to go out and actually compare the various brands, types and models of computer that are available, Dell customers would rather just take the easy way of ordering inferior components over the phone.

Well, any way you slice it, the information one needs when considering the purchase of a new computer is not equivalent to watching a gang of overall wearing weirdo’s as they oversee blobs of colour get transformed into laptops.  This alone should tell you that Dell is trying to manipulate you, rather than inform you.

I known, I know, what else is new with today’s commercials.

Mars Slim is Ridiculous

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Who can take a Mars Bar, and slim it into two?

Pretty much anyone I’d say.  Despite the epic Rocky-Horror-Picture-Show-esque musical nature of this ridiculous commercial, I simply cannot abide by the apparently transparent manipulation happening here.  When you take any particularly fattening food product, make it smaller and call it slim, there’s really no other way to see it, but that you’re trying to make people think the new version is healthier.

However, a chocolate bar, is a chocolate bar, is a chocolate bar.  Am I wrong?  There is no other difference between this new incarnation of a milk chocolate covered hunk of creamy nougat and caramel, and its older brother – the full sized Mars bar.  The fact that they cut it in half and put two of them together, means that there’s just as many ass-widening calories in the Mars Slim as any other chocolate bar.  Anyone who would be fooled into thinking, even subconsciously, that Mars Slim is somehow less decadent than the original, needs to open their eyes a little.  And even as I type this, I know that there are people out there using this little bit of marketing word play to justify their own dirty little habit.

What I say to that is: people, if you want a damn Mars bar, have a damn Mars bar…don’t pussyfoot around, trying to fool yourself and everyone around you into thinking that a Mars Slim is a healthier choice.  In fact, if your going to indulge, why on earth would you chose the smaller version over the real thing.

 

 

Once Upon A Man’s Travels Through Time

As a cognitive exercise, and a visualisation of dimensional realities, I’ll ask that the reader take the necessary time and afford the necessary attention in order to fully appreciate the picture that I’m about to paint for you through my words.

According to the venerable and eminent Professor of Physics, and possibly the greatest scientific mind the world has ever seen, Albert Einstein, time travel is a theoretical impossibility in our universe.

That statement is subjective though, as Einstein meant it to be.  Think for a minute about the totality of that idea.  He said that it’s impossible to travel through time, whether backward or forward, but isn’t that exactly what you’re doing right now…and even now.

To travel through time, whether backward or forward (forward as in -at a faster pace than normal), one must be able to breach the continuum of space/time, and to do that, one must be able to travel faster than 299,792,458 miles per second (the speed of light).  And even then, it is only a supposition that time travel would be possible if one could breach light speed, which one cannot.

Before we get ahead of ourselves though, let’s lay a few things on the table, to be sure we’ve catalogued a full inventory of this discussion.

What, first of all, are we talking about?  Time Travel…It possesses two distinct concepts, time and travel.  Which may be injuriously obvious, but at the same time, this basic look at the term is often taken for granted by those who seek to either solve the problem(s) or add to them.  Taken alone, each concept presents it own problems for definition; what is time?  And what is travel as it might be associated to time?

Time, the word, is a component of the measuring system used to compare and sequence events.  It’s sort of an abstract filing system, a way for us to observe and quantify our reality.  So, as if it wasn’t already a silly idea, I’ll have you think for a moment about travelling through a filing cabinet.

As related to this discussion however, time has been termed as one of the fundamental quantities of the universe.  Which may be as useless a definition as could be possible for one trying to understand the concept, though of course, this is not a new problem; what is time, exactly?  Is it an invisible force contained in wrist watches?  Is it part of some weird science of LCD displays?  Is it the magic contained in the giant gears of England’s own Big Ben?

“When a man sits with a pretty girl for an hour, it seems like a minute. But let him sit on a hot stove for a minute — and it’s longer than any hour. That’s relativity” –Albert Einstein

To bring the idea into perspective, I’ll say that time is a feeble construct of the human mind, intended to offer us a primitive glimpse into a fourth dimension of reality.  While that may not help a great deal in the effort to simply define the word, it does take us nicely toward the real problem of time travel.

Consider for a moment, my good friend ‘2-d Jack’, Jack is afflicted with the unfortunate problem of existing only in two dimensions of reality (as opposed to our three dimensions of reality).  His life consists only of flat surfaces, he knows nothing of ‘up’ or ‘down’, he knows only backward and forward (and side-to-side).

Graphic representation of a Mobius Strip

Jack lives his life, his entire existence on a mobius strip; he happily and haplessly goes about his life, wandering back and forth along the surface of the strip, never coming to the end, never perceiving anything beyond what he can see immediately in front of him and/or behind him.[1]

Consider Jack’s mobius strip existence, with the help of the diagram; to Jack, his world is complete, it is infinite, it is adequate and it is representative of his reality.  But, since we look down from above, in the relative comfort of our 3-dimensional existence, we can plainly see that Jack is missing out.  It isn’t terribly difficult, from our perspective, to see the glaring difference between our reality and Jack’s reality, though from Jack’s perspective, it would be a stupendous undertaking to perceive a third dimension, as a two dimensional being.

Is this what we’re faced with when we consider what time is?  Do you think that Jack may have some abstract definition for ‘up’, an idea that is only barely perceptible to him, and which at times resembles both ‘up’ and ‘down’ and which is both subjective to his attitude in the environment he occupies, and entirely unquantifiable to him.  Sound familiar yet?

If you visualise Jack’s mobius existence, and with your imagination place a large rock obstacle along the strip in Jack’s path, and then a second rock further down the path, and then even further still, beyond the horizontal arch of the strip, you place a banana tree.  While Jack may appreciate the aesthetic additions to his world; he, unfortunately, would only be capable of perceiving each item one at a time.

As he comes upon the first rock, the experience would be a unique thing for him, exploratory and experiential.  Once past that rock and coming up on the next, Jack would not be able to look back along his path to observe both rocks simultaneously, and while his experience with the first rock is still cognitively present for him, it no longer exists in his current reality.  So, standing next to his second rocky discovery, Jack might wonder what lies ahead for him, and while one from our perspective might say he could simply look ahead and see that there lies a banana tree on the path, from Jack’s perspective, that simply isn’t possible.  He could surmise that since he encountered a rock on the path previously, and since there is one in his present reality, there could well be another rock ahead, though he would have no way of predicting that there was a banana tree instead.

For Jack, the potential of his existence is limited by the fact that he can only perceive two dimensions of reality.  It makes him no less valuable to that existence, and it makes his trek along the path no less poignant, unless you happen to be watching his trek from the position of a third dimension.  It might be an intolerably simple thing for you to bellow down from Jack’s heavens that the whole thing is a looping pathway, and that there will always be two rocks and a banana tree on the path both in front and behind him (though imagine how much of a surprise such a voice would be, coming from somewhere you didn’t even know existed, like ‘up’).

But even with our well intentioned interference, Jack would remain incapable of understanding the information and ideas we would try to relay.  For Jack, the only thing that matters is the exact point on the strip which he occupies at any given time (yes, I see the irony in using time to quantify Jack’s two dimensional existence), all else is, and may as well be, non-existent until he encounters it first hand.

This may be helpful in visualising the difference between dimensions, but while it may offer some insight into a cognitive reality for the fourth dimension (time), it does nothing to improve our perception of it.

A graphic representation of a time continuum affected by a worm hole

A graphic representation of a time continuum affected by a worm hole

To continue Jack’s two dimensional analogy, we should ask whether or not Jack could ever occupy two locations on his mobius strip at the same time?[2] Of his own doing, it would be ridiculous to think that Jack would posses the ability to manipulate the spatial structure of his reality, so as to occupy two locations at once.  There is only one Jack, and his reality is infinitely linear…or it is?

Consider the mobius strip diagram again; to Jack it appears linear, because Jack’s two dimensional perceptions require it to be.  He exists at a particular location on the strip, and though he is able to travel along it, he cannot remain in one location while travelling to another.  Though from our perspective, the entire strip could be collapsed causing multiple locations along the strip to not only come into contact with one another, but to remain so.  So what if Jack were occupying a particular space on the strip, when some force heretofore unknown to him, collapsed the strip for him, bringing another space into contact with the one he currently occupied?  He would effectively be occupying two spaces on the strip simultaneously (and likely would have completely blown his mind).

It isn’t terribly difficult to transpose this idea to our own reality, thinking of time along the same logic as Jack’s mobius strip; and in turn thinking of time travel in the same way.  However, this wouldn’t really be time travel would it?

So, what is time again?  Aside from the academic definition of the word, the concept is the perceptual representation of a fourth dimension, of which we are only barely able to detect and understand; awareness of which is the direct result of big brain evolution.

There has been a great deal of study devoted to the question of whether or not other animals in our environment are able to perceive time.[3] And in a large number of studies, it has been concluded that, while most animals can perceive time to a certain degree (via various memory mechanisms), none are able to do so with our own penchant for creativity and flexibility.  And as I’m sure some were wondering (as the above discussion is interesting, but isn’t specifically related to any paranormal subject in my usual cannon) how this might relate to a subject relevant to this paranormal genre, this entire word play has been brought forward to benefit our understanding of certain “psychic” processes involved in fortune telling.

I have not been an avid supporter of the “psychic” trades, even though I hold a full appreciation for what may be possible by psychic means.  In so far as I’ve struggled with the idea that a person can see into my future, a future filled with possibilities untold, all of which is predicated on an infinite number of choices, influenced by an infinite number of convergences with other people’s futures and choices.

It all seemed (and seems) much too complex to consider as anything more than a parlour trick, but here’s the ‘what if’ of this particular story.  Through the exploration of how we, and our animal neighbours perceive time, I have been stricken with the idea that the telling of fortunes is not a causal phenomenon, nor is it related to time at all.

Tossing aside all the obvious and not so obvious charlatans in this field, let’s consider my good friend Jack’s psychic cousin Jill.   If Jill, being of our reality, rather than Jack’s, can perceive a continuum of time (a mobius strip for the fourth dimension) to a greater degree than say, myself, and through that increased perception simply has the ability to see a little further along the path than I, is this not equivalent to some definition of time travel?

If we can accept that animals perceive time in a less evolved manner than we superior humans, can we suppose that our ability to provide a greater breadth of cognitive sequence to our memories, is equal to a greater ability to perceive the fourth dimension?  Furthermore, if we predicate our understanding of time on the ideas put forth about Jack’s two dimensional reality, can we see, not only the possibility of observing, occupying or travelling to alternate points of time, just as Jack did with spatial positioning on the collapse of his mobius strip, but also that some persons [Jill], who’s evolutionary development is (possibly) greater than others, can observe that temporal continuum and even possibly manipulate it to a greater degree than others both now and in the past?

Speaking personally about the issues of prophecy and clairvoyance, I had long been offended by the idea that seeing into my future was akin to manipulating my free will like a marionette string from the future, and during this convoluted thought process, I’ve come to reconcile the above ideas with a number of stickier subjects in the realm of the unknown: ethereal survival, ghosts, aportation, apparition, and several more concepts.  I don’t believe we will be capable of gaining any real understanding over these subject’s until we develop a furtherance of our understanding, and by proxy our perception of time.


[1] A continuous one-sided surface that can be formed from a rectangular strip by rotating (twisting) one end 180° and attaching it to the other end.

[2] In this case, ‘time’ is not representative of a linear placing of events, but rather a spatial placing of locations in Jack’s reality.

[3] One such study is summated here, with an interesting result indicating that Rats perceive time via episodic-memory in an altogether different way than humans. http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/320/5872/113

The Placebo Effect and the Engineering of Health

placebo_Since the year 2000, a time when prescription drug costs in the United States were recorded at $121.8 billion dollars, the annual increase in that number is estimated at approximately 15%, bringing that yearly value to somewhere near $400 billion by the year 2010.

The values talked about in the hotly debated healthcare reform discussion in the US are, quite frankly, inconceivable to the average person.  We’re talking about dollar amounts that would bankrupt most countries (and which may be threatening to do just that to the mighty US of A); a cost that puts a dire financial burden on the backs of all American’s, and in the name of what exactly?

There are those within and just on the fringe of the medical establishment of the modern world who are loudly touting the fallacy of the pharmaceutical empires of North America and Europe.  They argue, with a surprising amount of clarity and effectiveness against such a fiscally powerful entity, that the vast majority of modern pharmaceuticals are, for lack of a better term, entirely ineffective.  In other words, there are a growing number of medical scientists who believe that the projected multi-billion dollar annual cost of prescription drugs in the US is, well…for nothing.

How can that be?  Cancer medications, HIV and AIDS medications, diabetes medications, heart disease medications, and drugs that threat a host of other systemic, genetic and viral diseases and illnesses, all of which are the focus of much research and community fund raising, are actually less effective than a sugar pill.

I am of course talking about the placebo effect, crudely defined as the psychological effect of medical treatment, or the sense of benefit felt by a patient that arises solely from the knowledge that treatment has been given.  In this western society of hypochondriacally driven healthcare, a system which founds its philosophy of treatment on symptoms and ailments, rather than patients and causes, our medical science establishment is, as they have always been, focused on one thing only…financial gain based on the chemical manipulation of biological processes.

In a time when humanity knew less about the inner workings of the human body, than we did about the pharmacology of the world around us, doctors and scientists began to understand the subtle relationships between illness and ingested substance.  Through many years of trial and error research, a vast library of pharmacological knowledge led us into a position of medical complacency.  We as a society trust that the medical establishment has studied, tested and manufactured an effective defence against all that could possibly ail us.

But what if we were wrong in the first place?  The basic function of any pharmaceutical medication, is to manipulate and alter one or more chemical processes in the human body, and through that manipulation to alter the biological process that is causing the symptom of the ailment, and in turn, hopefully, correcting the ailment altogether.  There are a few unqualified assumptions that have long been forgotten when it comes to the function of these drugs however, not the least of which is the fact that within the human body, there are countless chemical interactions taking place at any given time, all of which are based on the combined relationships of only a few naturally occurring chemicals.  The addition, manipulation or alteration of any of those chemicals, for the purpose of treating an illness, can and does have catastrophic repercussions on other processes in the body, which rely on the same chemical process; hence, the vast array of medical side effects that plague western society today.

Here though, I will present to you a different idea of the science of side effects, wherein the placebo effect may be used as a much more active tool in the treatment of some common types of illnesses, to a much more drastic and even effective degree than anyone has previously discussed; the Engineering of the Placebo.

Since before the acceptance of Germ Theory, and prior to the late 19th century, medical minds have grown ever more aware of the interaction between environmental elements and disease, and it was this notion that spawned the very first chemical based pharmaceuticals known to man (not including old world homeopathic remedies).  That growth in knowledge was during a time of relative public ignorance toward hygiene, health and the impact of our environment on survival.  This was perhaps the best and only time that widespread pharmaceutical testing would be effective in the general populous, only due to the fact that those people partaking in drug testing were blissfully unaware of the potential impact of those drugs on their body, thus nullifying the potential for the placebo effect to impact the results of the drug being tested.

Unfortunately, as we now live in a world of instant connectivity, free flowing knowledge and financially motivated healthcare, the populous at large is much more aware of the intended effect of the drugs they ingest.  We are acutely attuned to the purpose of pharmaceuticals; we understand on a subconscious level, that by taking the blue pill we will experience a certain response, and by taking the red pill we will experience a different response.  We have been conditioned, in a disturbingly Pavlovian manner, to accept the grand knowledge and experience of the pharmaceutical empire, and to trust that they have our best interest at heart, and I’ll admit that the vast majority of those employed in the study of pharmaceuticals are doing so with at least some degree of humanitarian interest.

But here’s the “what if”…what if medical science has caught onto the fact that our collective expectation that the blue pill will solve our ills (and this is not a subtle endorsement of Viagra) is all we need to recover from even the most debilitating ailments.  What if they’ve caught on so well that they now engineer the most common drugs as a placebo with a kick?

There’s a duality to the placebo effect that makes it very difficult to work with and to predict.  If a person expects a certain drug to have a certain effect, in the vast majority of instances, it will have that effect in its use.  However, if that same person comes to believe that either the drug is ineffective or that the drug is not what it is purported to be, its efficacy will be drastically reduced.  And herein lays the modern medical problem.  How do you get a population of ever intelligent sick people, to accept that your drug is both completely effective and 100% genuine?  Simple really…you engineer side effects that make us believe its doing something it’s not.

Nearly all medical industry news pundits and journalists these days are elucidating the fact that the pharmaceutical giants in both North America and Europe are experiencing serious difficulty in bringing new drugs to market.  This is due to the relatively new Phase II placebo comparison testing that must be passed.  It surprises so many people to find out that so many new miracle drugs are scrapped before production because, through the Phase II testing, they are found to be no more effective than a placebo.

Are we to accept though, that these financial superpowers are content to just sit back and lose their market shares to the weirdly metaphysical properties of placebo conditioning?  One thing that the medical science establishment has been consistently successful with is the creation and propagation of some of the strangest and most frustrating side effects you can imagine; and I for one think that they have been putting that skill to use in some rather ingenious ways.

In much the same manner as our knowledge and conditioning has hampered their efforts to cure us of our many woes, I believe that they have capitalised on our expectation that any effective drug, comes with side effects.  It seems almost dastardly simple; manufacture pharmaceuticals that continue to be only as effective as their placebo counterparts, or simply dispense with the competition and sell the placebo, but in order to make it believable to the masses, build in some designer side effects, and no one will be the wiser.

In effect, this is a much better business model than producing working drugs anyway.  It creates a perpetual cycle of illness and wellness, ensuring that your product is in constant demand; it creates only discomfort by way of the side effects and thus keeps your customers believing in its effectiveness, all the while failing to ever address the medical issues at hand.

This of course is only a conspiratorial rant, filled with conjecture and establishment paranoia, but somewhere in there is a line of logic that permeates to the heart of the problem.  Faceless pharmaceutical giants continue to make hundreds of billions of dollars in the face of a growing medical epidemic, otherwise known as old age, and those at the helm of this out of control vessel seem to have at least some idea of where we’re actually headed.  Maybe it’s time we started to take a critical look at what we’re willing to believe, as a society, as a culture and as a people.  In the end, there’s an old journalists credo that comes to mind with this issue; whenever you’re stuck in your efforts to uncover a conspiracy, just follow the money.  Well, in this case, that money trails leads right to the offices of some of the wealthiest drug lords on the planet.

Psychic Wars; The Good, The Bad and the Frauds

JoJo’s Psychic Alliance just called, they said they want their Frauds back.  What is with people these days?  Are we so far gone as an intellectual society that we can’t see through the twaddle of self-proclaimed and entirely incredible psychics?

Why do we give authority to people who declare their gifts without a single shred of evidence to back it up?  It might be one thing to make claims about ones ability to see spirits, or the future (though I have specific issue with that one), or to glean details about someone else’s life through “psychic channels”, but it’s completely another to actively seek out people to sell this “information” to.  There is a fine line of a difference that I want to delineate, but first, I should outline the focus of my rage at the moment.

I’ll start this off by saying, clearly and certainly; I believe in psychics.  Or rather, I believe in psychic abilities, but (and this is the biggest and most relevant but ever) I DO NOT believe the vast majority of people who claim they are psychic.  This not necessarily a case of a sceptic wanting evidence of ESP or clairvoyance or medium-ship, while I would revel at the opportunity to examine such evidence, I do recognize that such evidence is completely intangible, it is actually a case of a reasonably intelligent person who’s sick to death of metaphysical frauds taking advantage of good people in need of real solutions and advice.

So what is a psychic and how do these people get into a position of taking advantage?  For the purpose of this article, I really don’t care what the textbook definition of a psychic is, and I’m betting neither do you.  For my purpose, a psychic is anyone who claims they are one; it’s anyone who claims they can see the dead (or any variation thereof), it’s anyone who claims they can read minds, or see the future, it’s anyone who claims they can do any of the fantastic things the psychics of history and Hollywood can do.

Some call it a gift, some call it a curse, and others ignore it, hoping it will all just go away.  Having met my share of both genuine and fake psychics, I must admit that sometimes it gets a little tough to tell the difference.  For the genuine psychic, the issue of credibility and/or proof, is one that sorts itself out, for the other kind, it’s one that lingers in the air like the punch line of a bad joke.  I would bet that for the majority of “commercial” psychics, getting to where they are was a rather innocent and even accidental endeavour.  I’d even double that bet to say that the vast majority of “commercial” psychics started their career out of a desire to help, and even a good portion may believe they still do help.  But somewhere along the line, for more of these charlatans than I’m comfortable with, there came a choice, a choice to turn away and remain both impartial and innocent, or to draw the curtain across and move over to the dark side, where integrity, honesty and that caring attitude go right out the window.

Before I get too far into this and forget to pardon those who don’t deserve this lashing, I want to say that those who practise the craft of the psychic for honest and, shall we say…wholesome reasons, are fairly easy to identify.  In so much as we tend to not understand how they do what they do, we can see and understand they way that they deliver it to us.  The psychics table is no place for sensationalism, it’s no place for ego, and it’s no place for greed.  Those who operate with any combination of those three elements are, in my books, a fraud.

I’m certainly not saying that these commercial psychics shouldn’t be paid for their wares, but if they are true in their purpose, the money will not be their focus.

But I digress, this article is about those shameless bastards who call themselves psychic, and in the name of capitalism, endeavour to take the hard earned money of the people who come to them for help.  A few names come to mind, and how I would love to include them, in bold font with underlining and highlight to make sure they stand out, but I don’t want to marginalise the pain and suffering they ultimately cause to those who’ve bought their lies.

It should be said that the charlatans in question aren’t always the travelling carnival psychics, pitching a tent and waving their hand over a crystal ball (though I don’t exclude them either), no these frauds can, and usually are the one’s with the flashy websites, the hotlines, the printed testimonials.  I mean come on, testimonials like you’re selling some ACME product on late night TV? I’ve even seen one who offered financing!  You could almost say there’s a sliding scale to it, those who charge more, are less likely to be real.

It never ceases to amaze me the lengths these cretins will go to, to make a sale.  Email readings, long distance phone readings, MSN Chat readings.  Now, I’m not going to sit here and proclaim my expertise over the form and function of the psychic gift, some psychics may be able to use their gifts in this way, though when I see one such fraud booking back-to-back psychic readings via Facebook and Twitter, with no more than a flippant hello and away we go, I have to question their legitimacy, and so should everyone else.

I have a simple test that I’d like anyone and everyone to perform, who finds themselves in the company of a psychic for hire.  Simply ask them what colour your socks are (whether you’re wearing any or not, but providing they can’t simply look down for the answer).  You’ll get one of three basic answers.

1)   The wrong answer, in which case I recommend turning around and leaving before any money exchanges hands.

2)   The right answer, which really proves nothing, but at least you’ve let them know that you’re not sleep walking.

3)   They’ll tell you they have no idea and that their particular gift doesn’t work that way, which should lead into an honest discussion of how it does work, and ultimately should prove to you that they have your best interests at heart, or at the very least that they know enough not to get caught before the money’s on the table.

Remember that this psychic reading is supposed to be their gift, so avoid giving any information about yourself before the reading.  Make them work for it, and trust me, those who are real will not only live up to that standard, but they will appreciate your giving them the benefit of the doubt.

In closing, I’ll do something I very rarely do…and that’s beg; I want to beg you, all of you to open your eyes and see what’s going on in front of you.  Stop staring off into space, looking to the magic, or God, or whatever to give you the answers you need in life, just trust in yourself and use a little critical thinking, and eventually you’ll get where you want to be.

Robbie Thomas, The Angler Fish of Psychics (A Repost)

The following is a repost of a piece originally written for and published on the website www.stoprobbie.com, which is the newest effort in bringing fraudster psychic Robbie Thomas (Poulton) to justice.

As the opening of a previous article on this very subject goes: JoJo’s Psychic Alliance called, they want their frauds back…

It’s not entirely clear really, who’s at fault here, charlatans such as Mr. Robbie Thomas or the ever eager clientele of these predators.  Does Robbie Thomas, the Robbie Thomas who actively misrepresents his involvement in these various cases of missing and murdered persons across Ontario and into the US, exist out of his own design?  Is he the mastermind of a malicious plot to defraud millions of people out of their hard earned money?  Is he an evil genius, undertaking to consume the world in a psychic rage?

Hardly…

There is a notion among Evolutionists, that the prey of certain fish, namely the Angler fish, is actually the selecting factor in the natural evolution of that particular species (Richard Dawkins – The Greatest Show on Earth).  Angler fish are amazing creatures, living and thriving in the inhospitable depths of the ocean, where sunlight scarcely penetrates.  These gruesome Angler fish have adapted to their environment with a surprising and apparently efficient mechanism for attracting the smaller fish they prey on.  Anglers of different varieties have long “rods” protruding from their heads (presumably resembling fishing rods, and hence their apt name); on the ends of these rods are lures – small pieces of flesh resembling worms or deep sea insects.  Some species of Angler fish actually use bioluminescent bacteria to light up their “lure”, all in an effort to make this little death trap as attractive as possible for their prey.  They lurk in the dark depths of this unseen world, dangling their “lure”, aglow and wriggling, waiting for prey of a suitable size to take the bait, and with the horrific power of a Hollywood monster, the Angler opens its gaping maw of a mouth, sucking water into its body and swallowing whole anything unfortunate enough to have fallen for its trick.

It is said by these Evolutionists, that it is the prey who selects the most attractive and most effective individuals of this species (otherwise known as the fittest) for evolutionary advancement, by “taking their bait”, therefore allowing that individual a greater chance to survive and in-turn pass on their genetic material to future generations.

Is it the same with Robbie Thomas?  Is he the ugly Angler fish of the psychic ocean? Spreading his lies and half-truths as a lure to potential victims, all the while refining his methods, evolving his modus operandi into an ever more efficient means of separating fools from their money?  Is he the product of his own misguided sense of moral obligation, or is he the inevitable result of a society that is entirely too gullible?  This may be a variation of the chicken vs. the egg argument, but it does illustrate a point nicely.  Robbie is the product of his environment, that environment thus far rewarding him for behaving as he does.  It’s time for that environment to change, for the betterment of society at large, and as well for the betterment of this community of morally responsible psychics and paranormal enthusiast that he attempts to hide amongst.

A good deal of time and effort has been spent to determine and document the misdoings of Mr. Thomas, never failing to miss the sad fact that his misdeeds are many and far reaching.  This website [www.stoprobbie.com] is now dedicated to highlighting these egregious acts of fraud and misrepresentation, and in that vein it’s important to understand the legal nature of the situation at hand.

The Canadian Criminal Code provides us with definitions for fraud and false pretences (below), and as one would think that it should be enough to simply catch Robbie Thomas in a lie, the law, however, requires much more than that for prosecution.

False pretence (Definition)

s.361 (1) A false pretence is a representation of a matter of fact either present or past, made by words or otherwise, that is known by the person who makes it to be false and that is made with a fraudulent intent to induce the person to whom it is made to act on it.

Whether a seasoned veteran of the Canadian Justice System or a layman who’s never seen the inside of a court room, it’s relatively easy to see that Robbie Thomas is guilty of offering false pretence under this definition.  He actively misrepresents his involvement with various levels of law enforcement, as a key investigator or consultant in the investigation of missing persons, and in the recovery of remains in homicide investigations, even though in each case we can show that he either was not involved at all, or that his involvement was akin to an anonymous tipster.  Furthermore, he uses this false representation, deliberately and with full intent, as a lure to potential clientele for his fortune telling business.  As if it weren’t painfully obvious already, the key point here is simply that Robbie Thomas uses these various lies as advertising testimonials, in a vain attempt to add undue credibility to his services.

Unfortunately, finding similarities between the above definition and the actions of Mr. Thomas is not the same as finding his behaviour to be in contravention of law.  This definition is laid out by the Canadian Criminal Code for the sole purpose of defining the nature of false pretence, as it pertains to the offence of False Pretence (below).

False pretence or false statement (Offence)

s.362 (1) Everyone commits an offence who

(a) by a false pretence, whether directly or through the medium of a contract obtained by a false pretence, obtains anything in respect of which the offence of theft may be committed or causes it to be delivered to another person;

(b) obtains credit by a false pretence or by fraud;

(c) knowingly makes or causes to be made, directly or indirectly, a false statement in writing with intent that it should be relied on, with respect to the financial condition or means or ability to pay of himself or any person, firm or corporation that he is interested in or that he acts for, for the purpose of procuring, in any form whatever, whether for his benefit or the benefit of that person, firm or corporation,

(i) the delivery of personal property,

(ii) the payment of money,

(iii) the making of a loan,

(iv) the grant or extension of credit,

(v) the discount of an account receivable, or

(vi) the making, accepting, discounting or endorsing of a bill of exchange, cheque, draft or promissory note; or

(d) knowing that a false statement in writing has been made with respect to the financial condition or means or ability to pay of himself or another person, firm or corporation that he is interested in or that he acts for, procures on the faith of that statement, whether for his benefit or for the benefit of that person, firm or corporation, anything mentioned in subparagraphs (c)(i) to (vi).

As can be plainly seen, assigning any level of guilt to Thomas under this section –unfortunately the only section that could possibly apply to his circumstance– requires a bit more work.  In layman’s terms, the crime detailed above is simply: anyone who knowingly lies –whether in writing, verbally, or even through the symbolism of implied right– for the purpose of causing someone else to act, by way of handing over property (real or intellectual) or money (actual funds, credit, or even discounts) is guilty of an offence under this section.  This, as any reasonable person would agree, is illegal, and rightfully so.  It should follow that the same reasonable person would find the above description to be fundamentally congruent with the behaviour of Mr. Robbie Thomas.

It has been suggested that another section of the Canadian Criminal Code might be more appropriate, given the profession Mr. Thomas engages in.  The Criminal Code, through a section whose vintage is somewhat aligned with the 17th century witch hunts of early American and western European history (though is somewhat more restrained in its nature) provides the means to prosecute (as opposed to persecute) persons who offer so-called psychic or occult services in a fraudulent manner.  Unfortunately, and for many wide-ranging reasons, this section (shown below) is not applicable in this circumstance, and while it might have been an easier thing to simply call Mr. Thomas a psychic fraud and be done with it, the fact that he claims to be psychic has little to do with the current distain for his behaviour.  His actions would be viewed as morally reprehensible no matter his occupation, from psychic to refrigerator salesman.

Pretending to practise witchcraft, etc.

s.365. Every one who fraudulently;

(a) pretends to exercise or to use any kind of witchcraft, sorcery, enchantment or conjuration,

(b) undertakes, for a consideration, to tell fortunes, or

(c) pretends from his skill in or knowledge of an occult or crafty science to discover where or in what manner anything that is supposed to have been stolen or lost may be found, is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction. R.S., c. C-34, s. 323.

The reason for the discrepancy, or misunderstanding if you will, is simply that Robbie Thomas’ claim to being psychic is not necessarily in question.  Quite frankly, few people care if Mr. Thomas has any real ability as a psychic or not (personal opinions and anecdote aside), the fact that he fraudulently represents himself as being affiliated with both law enforcement and with the grieving families of the missing/deceased persons in these cases is more than fair reason to justify a public outcry, and we needn’t enter into an argument of semantics over his self-proclaimed abilities. He may proclaim any manner of silly and entirely ridiculous personal powers, for doing so only makes the case for rational thought all the more potent; what we, the supporters of this website and this movement, assert, is that he may not use the names of innocent and grieving people (often children) in his pursuit of notoriety and fame.

As illustrated by the Angler fish analogy though, is the simple and underlying notion that Robbie Thomas is not to blame, and in this regard we must be careful.  Robbie Thomas has wilfully and knowingly offered false pretence by way of his website and through various advertising mediums in conjunction with his website, time and again, and culpability for those actions is his and his alone.  Where the rest of us come into this bizarre and twisted picture, is in allowing the Robbie Thomas-es of this world to exist in the first place.  Like the prey of the Angler fish, we haplessly select these people for success by accepting their stories and lies without question, teaching them to be better flimflam artists along the way.  We allow Robbie Thomas to behave the way he does, and ultimately we, as a society, must be held accountable for this serious and potentially harmful oversight.  There is no time left for mulling and deliberation, Robbie Thomas and those like him must be made to atone for their transgressions, by way of law and by way of publicly exposing them for the charlatans that they truly are.

So why, you may ask, has he been allowed to continue?  And this is indeed the million dollar question.  Why have authorities failed to take notice?  Why have the families of the deceased stood by while this cretin usurps their charity?  Why has the paranormal community at large not shunned his likeness from their various institutions and halls?  These are difficult questions to answer, except with a loud and deliberate call to arms in the name of morality.  We cannot confidently solve these puzzles here, but we can take ownership of the situation going forward, and demand a higher standard of justice for the victims of these brutal crimes and for their surviving families, and somewhere well down the list of priorities, we can demand a higher standard for the administration and self-policing of the paranormal community.

It is sincerely hoped that these words will be taken with the gravity and forthrightness with which they were offered.  This is a subject that demands and deserves our due attention and respect.

PSI…Where Does It All Come From?

If psychic ability is not rooted in the relatively new (in evolutionary terms) prefrontal cortex of modern man, then it must be housed in some older part of the brain.  If this is the case, then would psychic abilities have been available to prehistoric man?

dorsolateral-prefrontal-cortex3As we’ve come to find, through the many various studies of prehistoric hominid fossils such as Australopithecus Aferensis (‘Lucy’) and Ardipithecus Ramidus (‘Ardi’) [and others], bipedalism, which developed somewhere around 4.5-5 million years ago in hominids, was the catalyst for what may have been the most essential evolutionary divergence ever experienced by a large mammal.[1] This development meant many things for hominids, and by all indications, the most significant aspect of that development was the beginnings of our long evolutionary journey to abstract cognition, brought about through a highly developed prefrontal cortex.

To modern man, the prefrontal cortex is the most important part of what makes him (or her) human.  It offers us the ability to reason (whether we use that ability individually or not), or in the words of Jeremy Lent:

The prefrontal cortex (or “pfc�?) is that part of our brain that’s primarily responsible for our thinking and acting in ways that differentiate us from all other animals.  It mediates our ability to plan, conceptualize, symbolize, make rules, abstract ideas, and impose meaning on things.  It controls our physiological drives and turns our basic feelings into complex emotions.  It enables us to be aware of ourselves and others as separately existing, and to turn the past and the future into one flowing narrative.�?[2]

The prefrontal cortex may be the root of our famed sense of self, our individualised self-importance and, to the traditionally metaphysical/spiritual, the soul.  Though there has been an enormous amount of scientific, neurological, biological, anthropological, psychological and sociological study conducted with the intended purpose of defining exactly what it is that the prefrontal cortex does for us, as a species, and there are some who seem to take an ego-centric approach to the cannon of information available on this subject.

Among such theories as neurological harmony[3], collective consciousness, and various perversions of Unified Field Theory, there is a large (and growing) group of people who hold to a belief that the pfc is responsible for all things natural and supernatural (and even supernormal) that make humanity stand out against the crowd of biological diversity we share this spinning blue ball with.  And among that crowd, the metaphysical authorities have laid claim to the prefrontal cortex as the home of all psiability.

Before moving on though, we should probably define this term “psi�?.  Within the realm of parapsychology, psi is a catch-all term used to describe all of those strange and wonderful abilities certain people seem to possess, which are traditionally thought to be “psychic�?.  Moreover, it provides a non-theoretical reference to extra-sensory perception and psychokinesis (as an alternative to those terms and thus avoiding their inherent bias).  It is derived directly from the Greek alphabet and literally means ‘mind’ or ‘soul’.  It is in this definition that I wish to work today, and thus provide an alternative way of looking at what psi is and where it might come from.

Eminent French biologist Rene Peoc’h conducted an ingenious experiment in 1985, testing the ability of animals, specifically chicks (baby chickens), to display psi abilities, and ultimately to demonstrate psychokinetic ability.  His experiment was largely successful, though he, like any scientist, has his detractors.  The following is an abstract from Peoc’h’s findings from that experiment:

Peoc'h's famed "tychoscope"

Peoc’h’s famed “tychoscope”

“80 groups of 7 chicks were used to test their ability to influence the trajectory of a robot bearing a candle as the unique source of light in the room. The robot is driven, via telephone line, by a random generator located 23 kilometres away. When chicks are present, the robot moves preferentially into their direction (66.25% out of 80 trials). This is significantly different from the non specific displacement of the machine in the absence of chicks and observer (p<0.00001). The random generator being the source of movements, this result suggests that chicks are able to influence it over a long distance.�?[4]

The outcome of this experiment, which seems to have been conducted fairly cleanly, is such that there is statistical evidence suggesting that these chicks did indeed possess the ability to affect the ‘tychoscope’ through some form of psi.  Peoc’h went on to claim that this was achieved over a great distance of more than 23 kilometres, though this is where his detractors come in; but this issue is not relevant to my purposes here.[5]

Fight-ChicksDirectRobot-SheldrakeThis experiment, which has been repeated with similar success[6], doesn’t speak to defining what psi is, in any of its various forms, but it does seem to present a few things that may eventually become theoretical fact (with a caveat):

1)   Chicks have the ability to affect non-related entities without physical contact.

2)   Chicks require either an emotional/instinctual connection to the entity in question, or must perceive a survival advantage intrinsic to the entity, thus assigning importance to it.[7]

3)   Distance and locality is irrelevant to the effect.

This research is supremely interesting in-and-of-itself, and many have endeavoured to duplicate the effect with other animals, with varying degrees of success.  But there is an underlying significance to this research that may not be readily apparent.

If you were to compare the brain of a chicken (whether full grown or as a chick) to that of a human, there would be some glaring differences, not the least of which is the difference in size.  Though anatomically, there isn’t a whole lot separating these two brains; that is except for the presence of a prefrontal cortex in the human and none in the chicken (which likely comes as no surprise).  Though does this present a slight problem for the earlier idea that psi ability originates in the pfc?

BrainAnatomy

Brain_lateral_view

If the above is true, in either regard, then these ideologies cannot be reconciled, which means that one of the two must be false.  Since the results of Peoc’h’s experiment seem to be supported by statistical data, can we throw out the notion that psi originates in the prefrontal cortex?

I believe we can.  However, this presents new problems, specifically, if psi doesn’t originate in the pfc, then where does it come from?  I believe some light is shed on this issue by understanding the second point presented through Peoc’h’s experiment.

In later experiments from the same sequence, Peoc’h changed the tychoscop and included a lit candle on its surface.  Upon darkening the experiment environment, the chicks were drawn to the light of the candle (as all chickens naturally fear the dark).  You’ll note that in the initial experiment Peoc’h had to take care to imprint the chicks on the tychoscope, and in every case where he didn’t there was no effect between the chicks and the robot, except when he introduced the candle.

What this seems to show is, beyond merely attracting the attention and focus of the chicks, it is an emotional attachment or perceived importance that was most significant to the chick’s ability to influence the robot.  I believe this is our first indicator for tracking down where psi abilities originate in the brain.  Through neurological studies of epilepsy, as well as other such neurological disorders, science has come to understand that emotion is the product of the limbic lobe of the brain (the limbic system), which includes the hypothalamus.

The hypothalamus is a particularly powerful and central component of the brains of pretty much every animal on earth, it acts like a control module for the two parts of the autonomic system of the brain and is believed to be the source of instinct.[8]

So what does this mean?

There seems to be a suggestion hiding in all of this exploratory conjecture, that psi ability, along side emotion and instinct are generated or controlled by the autonomic systems of the brain, and moreover that psi ability is not a cognitive process.  It seems to be much more closely linked to instinct and baser emotions, in both chicks and humans, which in and of itself is quite an interesting conclusion, though I think there may be more to this idea than just an interesting point of conversation.

As mentioned earlier, it isn’t entirely known when our evolutionary development began working on a prefrontal cortex, but one thing is clear, the hypothalamus (which is literally one developmental step above the hindbrain) is much older in evolutionary terms.  Does that mean that psi ability is as old and physiologically intrinsic as say…fight or flight?

Whether psi, or its more popularly termed components -ESP and/or psychokinesis, are founded in a rational process of thought and desire, or that of a much more basic instinctual process is highly intriguing, and this brings me to one final suppositional question…is psi the remnant of a prehistoric ability intrinsic to all mammalian (or even all biological) life, that has, as a result of pfc development, become redundant and ultimately been replaced with human imagination and by extension, technology?

(As a side to the above, I want to point out the irony that such a supposition holds, not only in the fact that I would not be able to participate in this logic, had I not been afforded the benefit of a prefrontal cortex, but also as a challenge to the idea that many metaphysical enthusiast believe mankind is on the brink of some kind of spiritual/psychical awakening, otherwise known as transcendence; though if we’ve shown that psi ability is a discarded piece of old brain semantics, have we not shown that such an awakening would be a serious evolutionary step backward?)


[1] For a definition of bipedalism, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bipedalism; also see Paranormal People’s article regarding ‘Ardi’ here: [2] As found on Mr. Lent’s blog here: http://jeremylent.wordpress.com/2009/10/16/the-tyranny-of-the-prefrontal-cortex/

[3] See: http://www.astrology.com/livereadings/faq.php?id=4

[4] A narrative of the entire experiment can be found here (translated from French): http://gerp.free.fr/rpeoch-chicks.htm

[5] See the Wikipedia entry on the “tychoscope�? for more information (translated from French via Google Translate): http://translate.google.ca/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tychoscope&ei=RdQWS8_CBcuglAf0gtnEBQ&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CBQQ7gEwAg&prev=/search%3Fq%3DRene%2BPeoc%25E2%2580%2599h%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG

[6] See the work done by Rupert Sheldrake as presented by John “Birdman�? Bryant: http://www.thebirdman.org/Index/Fight/Fight-SheldrakeOnPresentiment&Psychokinesis.html

[7] See also Imprinting (psychology): http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Imprinting_%28psychology%29

[8] For an excellent and understandable breakdown of the importance of the hypothalamus, see: http://www.becomehealthynow.com/article/bodynervousadvanced/825

Encounters With the 5th Dimension; A Theorum

6a00d8341bf7f753ef00e54f09770b8833-800wiIf you navigate your way to the Wikipedia entry regarding the Many-Worlds Interpretation, upon opening the page in your browser you’ll be assaulted with words and terms you may never have believed exist.  You’ll be faced with ideas and theorems so complex, it often takes our greatest minds to understand what they mean, let alone work with them in relation to other equally complex ideas.[1]

Is it all a bunch of scientific mumbo-jumbo, or is there something worth sifting through the jargon for?  Indeed, I would say there is, something that could impact the paranormal research field in such a way as to change our thinking entirely.

This is the weird science of Quantum Theory, named so by none other than Einstein himself.  It’s an extension of String Theory, and a perversion of the Theory of Relativity, and it’s a mathematic enigma so complex it has baffled even the most learned men and women ever produced by our most prestigious scientific colleges the world over.

Many-Worlds, or MWI, aside from being a difficult concept to quantify, is something science fiction writers have been theorising about themselves for decades. Alternate dimensional realities, quantum realities, inter-dimensional beings, star gates; this is the stuff of television shows, of big budget feature movies and of the most fantastic science fiction novels of our time, right?

Not necessarily so.

In scientific terms, Many-Worlds Interpretation -called so as it is an interpretive theory of a paper written by Hugh Everett III (November 11, 1930 – July 19 1982) in 1957 titled �?Relative-State Formulation of Quantum Mechanics’- is an attempt to provide a “simple, natural and realist understanding of unitary quantum theory without invoking wave function collapse or any special role for measurement”.[2]  And while that explanation remains inscrutable, one need not hold a degree in the mathematics of physics to benefit from the work that has been done on the shoulders of men like Everett.

One of the simplest ways to wrap your head around the Many-World Interpretation is offered in the form of Schròdinger’s Cat, which is a well known and often misunderstood mental exercise in visualisation, pertaining to the weirdness of quantum theory, or more specifically, Quantum Entanglement.

Erwin Schròdinger (August 12, 1887 – January 4, 1961), a German born physicist of Einstein calibre, once postulated a paradoxical thought experiment to quantify the problem, as he saw it, with quantum entanglement.  Schròdinger proposed to think of a cat, entrapped in a solid cage, with a flask of poison.  A measurement device, such as a Geiger counter would accompany the cat and thus identify when the flask had released its poison, in turn either killing the cat or not.

The thought experiment then takes a twist, Schròdinger suggested that, prior to a person inspecting the inside of the box, the cat, after having been exposed to the poison would actually exist as a mixed form of both dead and alive cat; essentially holding its quantum potential for both outcomes simultaneously, and only choosing the correct state for this reality upon the cage being open and the conscious mind of the observer influencing the outcome.  He suggested that our perception of reality is what separated the dead cat from the living cat; as until the influence of our perception, the cat exists as both at the same time.[3]  His seemingly morbid and strange assertions were in fact, at least partially supported by a great deal of complex mathematics, and this particular thought experiment became a rather large thorn in the side of theoretical physicists the world over, and still to this day.

Through the extrapolation of this idea and its application to the world, galaxy and universe on the whole, you can see how the poor cat in the cage, carries big ramifications for the furtherance of quantum physics, not the least of which is how to reconcile the idea that all possibilities exist, simultaneously (four simple words with such enormous meaning).

By now you’re asking exactly what this has to do with ghost hunting, and I’m getting to that, I promise.

ghost7Essentially the concept being illustrated by Erwin Schròdinger was that, the way in which we humans perceive our reality (a 3-dimensional reality) is influenced by our perception.  The very particles that make up our reality are actually collapsed manifestations of our own perception from waves of future probability (the reality of the cat, dead or alive, is collapsed from the multiple possibilities inherent to the situation before perceptions influence).  That is to say that space-time is playing a trick on us, as we hurtle through time -time as perceived by our 3-dimensional consciousness- we are collectively presented with every literal possibility of reality in front of us, and it is our observance of that wave of possibility (which isn’t really a wave, but more like a stream) that causes what we see as reality to manifest for our perception.[4]

What if, though, we considered the idea that there are countless other dimensions of reality that we simply are not capable of perceiving?

This is exactly what the science of Quantum Physics is considering now, and has been for several years. Some have mathematically calculated that there are anywhere between 10500 and 10 to the power of 1010,000,000(which is 10 raised to a number ending with ten million zeros) separate universal realities or dimensions.[5]  A value few can even fathom is used to represent the possible number of alternate dimensions to our reality, yet, our brain is incapable of perceiving even a fourth dimension in an accurate way (time is considered the fourth dimension, but it is not linear, our brains simply perceive it that way).

So, to relate the above science to a subject that requires a great deal of illumination, ghosts, can we consider the idea that ghosts are simply an infringement or intrusion of a fifth or sixth (likely fifth) dimension of perception on our reality?  The separation between the fourth dimension (time) and an unknown fifth dimension could be as simple as the difference between the second and third dimensions of our known reality (�?up’ being that difference, or depth for the technically minded)

Electromagnetic radiation, as detectable by simple instruments, and even by the eyes of most living creatures on earth, may in fact be the one element of the multi-verse (if you will indulge) that permeates all of the countless dimensions that could possibly exist.  Light (though much more than the small swath of EM radiation spectrum than we can see), might actually be the unifying principal of existence.

EM radiation, as all you ghost hunters are wondering, is precisely what your trusty EMF meter is detecting, albeit at much lower frequencies than even the eye can pick up; and though there are still literally hundreds of other possible explanations for what causes the EMF readings that most ghost hunters claim to gather as evidence of ghosts, this one should remain intriguing.

A deeper understanding of EM radiation and its effects on both our perceptions and our reality (if there is any difference between the two) is absolutely required before anyone can claim the effectiveness of EMF detection equipment in ghost hunting or paranormal research.  However, it is conceivable that a fourth dimension of reality, one which we are incapable of perceiving, is being revealed to us through EM radiation and the 5th dimension could be manifesting (due to our inability to perceive the fourth dimension) as ghostly visions and/or environmental anomalies of a paranormal nature.

farada4Though the above could be tested, in-so-far as identifying a catalyst which becomes excited when introduced to EM radiation or which excited the radiation itself, such as ionised potassium, and subsequently creating a controlled or EM shielded environment (a la Faraday shielding), and injecting the catalyst into the midst of an EM field of specific frequencies.[6]

If conducted cleanly (i.e. shielded from the interference of outside EM radiation from man-made sources), this experiment could show if there is a relationship between spontaneous EM spikes and an unseen entity, whether ghostly or inter-dimensional. If the catalyst excites the EM field the in the same manner with each successive experiment, then there would seem to be no relationship between EM radiation and either a 5th dimension or the perceptions of the observer; if there is a fluctuating and non-random pattern to the excitation reaction, then it is fair to say that there is an outside influence at play in either the methodology or the perceptions of the observer (by way of an incursion of 5th dimension elements?).   I would predict a non-random reaction from such an EM field in response to the introduction to the catalyst.  However, such an experiment would be dependent on the experimenter’s observance of the interactions between the catalyst and the radiation, thus skewing any results by interpretation.

Human cognitive development is an amazing process; the human brain goes through surprising and fundamental changes throughout its development in the skull of a child and eventually an adult.  Is it conceivable that children, and the lesser developed brains of certain other higher mammals are capable of perceiving EM radiation to a greater extent than fully developed adult humans? And would such a predilection for EM wave energy account for the popular notion that children and animals have the capacity to see ghosts where others can’t?  I admit that to answer in the affirmative to these questions is a stretch, but these are the questions so many seek to answer, and I would suggest that the better vehicle for providing an answer to these, and to the single most important question to the paranormal researcher -what are ghosts?- might be controlled experimentation rather than the collection of biased data in methodologically filthy conditions, by persons with less than even curious regard for the truth.

This is unstable ground to be treading on, but nonetheless I invite anyone and everyone to both try this and any other such experiment, and to post comments, ideas and criticisms of the above theorising.

 


[1] See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Many-worlds_interpretation

[2] Quoted from the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics website editorial of the recent 50th anniversary conference on Everett’s paper and theory: http://www.perimeterinstitute.ca/manyworlds/

[3] This is, of course, a very crude layman explanation of �?Schròdinger’s Cat’ thought experiment, for a much more detailed explanation see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schr%C3%B6dinger%27s_cat

[4] An excellent resource for understanding the complexities of this concept can be found here: http://www.tenthdimension.com/medialinks.php

[5] Source: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427323.700-multiplying-universes-how-many-is-the-multiverse.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=online-news

[6] This experiment was first developed by Dale Ave-Lallemant (A.K.Ahttp://twitter.com/OhioGrassman/)

Demons – From Hell and Beyond

 

The Demon known as Azazel

Devil spawn, stinking and festering creatures of brimstone origin, held at bay by the rules of faith and spirituality.  God toes the line, face-to-face with evil incarnate and all the while we sit in blissful ignorance, right smack in the middle of the ethereal battlefield.

The world behind the world, a thin veil of perception keeps the horrible visions of demonic torture and angelic war, rules of engagement drawn out by the words of the prophets and laid before us, the innocent bystanders, in the form of the holy bible.

Seems a little dramatic, and while I don’t agree with the Heaven and Hell mythology, many, if not most, people do.  The vast majority of public opinion holds that demons are the minions of Satan, and that we are the prize in an ongoing battle between good and evil.  Popular culture has painted a picture on the silver screen and in books that is contrary to the written history of the world.

Films like Constantine, Stigmata and End of Days have all glorified the notion that evil is an entity, hiding in shadow and smoke, waiting for an opportunity to exploit in the absence of the good shepherd.  Relatively modern literature has done the same; it has taken the religiously biased mindset of the public and manipulated consensus to make their story more appealing to those who seek excitement and trills in tempting danger.

I wish to present a new theory, a new consensus, to be taken up by the public and held in the light of reason to explain the entities we commonly refer to as the biblical dogs of hell…the Demon.

 

The Demon known s Bael

The idea of demons is not a new one, not by a long shot.  From the time of the great Philosopher ‘Homer’, the term was used to describe superhuman non-god entities that, until the biblical condemnation of the term, were considered to be benevolent. Interstitial and unrelated to our reality, they were believed to be a lower ranking of the beings known to them as The Gods.

It’s interesting to note that all major cultures on earth have, deep in the folk lore of their history, an entity or several entities that are represented by the Demon.  From each culture, there is now a direct link between demons, which are not reducible to humanity, and at least a part of human suffering on earth.

Before we get to what they are, lets examine who they are.  While technically, the term relates to beings or entities that are believed to enter into relations with humans, through a number of various means at their disposal.  This list would include angels, the souls of the passed (including ghosts, genii, familiars and revenants), as well as mythical creatures such as vampires, Incubi, Succubi and many, many more.  There is nearly as much misinformation on Demonic lore as there are Demons to classify.

For a reasonably comprehensive listing of theological Demons, Visit this Wikipedia page.

One thing is becoming relatively clear however, and that is that demonic interaction with humans is increasing in frequency, duration, intensity and effect.  Some see this as the result of our modern culture’s overall rejection of religious dogma and faith.  Other’s are beginning to see connections between humanity and the demonic shadows we encounter that go well beyond the boundaries of religion.

 

Saint Wolfgang & The Devil

It has been suggested that demonic relations cannot be initiated by the demonic unless a ‘door’ is opened for contact between our realities.  In some areas of the world it seems that not only was a door opened, but it was propped open and forgotten.

The new theory I wish to present is related to the connection between Demons and humanity, and the specifically non-religious nature of Demonology.

In spite of the glamour of Hollywood, the reality of demons is widespread, dangerous and overwrought with amateur paranormalists undertaking to rid their “clients” of demonic activity.  But what if the agenda of the demon is not what you think, what if their motives and reasoning are not rooted in a perpetual battle of good and evil for humanity?

I suggest that very idea, that demons (fitting into that definition only insofar as they are not of human origin) are an invading force of intelligent and malevolent entities from an alternate reality, possibly an alternate dimension of reality.  The torment suffered by those who encounter demons first hand, resembles the suffering often inflicted on insects and small animals by emotionally disturbed children, it resembles a preoccupation with amusement, control and anger, and often has only the single purpose of causing suffering.

Incubus

Incubus

This all seems less like the collateral damage of a war between Heaven and Hell and far more like the pass-time of overpowered and under-stimulated beings whose connection to this world is fleeting and one dimensional; more like a game or a way to amuse and find shelter from an eternity of boredom.  In short, Demons seem more to me like inter-dimensional bullies with too much time on their hands, and in my experience, the only way to stop a bully, is to stand up and refuse to take their abuse any longer.

In any event, the power a Demon can hold over you, is ultimately in your control. You can choose to accept their dominance and be tortured as long as they find amusement in it, or you can slam that so-called door in their face and refuse to take part in their juvenile fraternity games.

I don’t have all the answers, I hope I never do.  What I do have is the curiosity and reason to see things for what they are, and not for what I’m told to believe.