Psychic Radio: Sound Technologies, Ether Bodies and Spiritual Vibrations

Abstract

This paper examines the impact of psychical research on the development of wireless technology as well as the influence of wireless on scientific interpretations of psychic phenomena. The invention of wireless was originally based on the notion that an invisible yet material ether permeated the universe, and this theory was employed to explain sensory perception as well as the transmission of thoughts as brain waves. Wireless thus inspired a radio model of consciousness, which exploded the limits of the body and encouraged scientists to conceive of the soul as material yet invisible vibrations. The theological implications of the ether appealed to Victorian scientists as it fulfilled the religious impulse described by Freud as an “oceanic” feeling of interconnectedness, which the modern world seemed to threaten. The concept of “continuity,” for example, seemed to compensate for the alienation of modern life by providing a reassuring image of the universe as profoundly interconnected, interrelated and interdependent. By tracing the connections between the study of perception, technology and psychical research this paper explores the ways in which the relationships between mind, matter and machinery were historically mediated by a new cultural understanding of vibratory movements.