Minding the Matter of Psychokinesis: A Review of Proof- and Process-Oriented Experimental Findings Related to Mental Influence on Random Number Generators

A review of eight decades of experiments testing psychokinesis (PK), or 'mind over matter,' using electronic random number generators (RNGs) finds that proof-oriented research has accumulated considerable statistical evidence for microscopic PK effects, but process-oriented research—which explores physical, biological, and psychological factors that might moderate these effects—remains sparse. This leaves many open questions about underlying mechanisms and offers opportunities for novice and cross-disciplinary researchers to contribute.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Many experiments have been conducted over the past eight decades to explore whether the ostensible psychic ability of psychokinesis (PK, or "mind over matter") might be a genuine human potential, and the most extensive of these have involved attempts to mentally influence the output of electronic, binary-bit random number generators (RNGs). Research of this type can generally be divided into two lines: proof-oriented (concerned with the accumulation and statistical evaluation of data from controlled experiments designed specifically to test for the presence of PK effects on the microscopic scale) and process-oriented (concerned with conducting exploratory experiments designed to systematically vary certain test conditions in order to search for and identify any physical, biological, and psychological factors which might have a role in improving or moderating PK effects). To help orient novice investigators and cross-disciplinary researchers who may be considering work along these lines (as well as offer some initial guiding insight on possible directions for future research), this paper provides a general review of some of the notable proof- and process-oriented findings that have been obtained to date in experimental microscopic PK research using RNGs. The review generally indicates that although a considerable amount of proof-oriented data for micro-PK has accumulated over the years, the relatively sparse amount of process-oriented data available at present leaves a lot of open questions regarding the underlying factors involved, providing ample opportunity for novice investigators and cross-disciplinary researchers to make valuable research contributions in the future.