jlg@lanl.ARPA (11/08/84)
The proponents of ESP often like to compare themselves to Galileo, saying 'They scoffed at Galileo, too'. In the mean time the proponents of ESP claim that it is a 'shy' phenomenon, and that overly controlled experiments make it go away. This is rather like the moons of Jupiter disappearing when a new, more accurate, telescope is built. Galileo would have accepted THAT as evidence that Jupiter had no moons and that his original observations were the result of bad optics. Interestingly, ESP experiments have been carried out in submarines (the small, cramped, two-man variety), spacecraft (that's right, the are some astronauts involved), under hot camera lights, etc. All these tests seemed successful. Seems like the only adverse conditions sufficient to chase away the 'shy' ESP effect are the ones designed to prevent cheating. To be sure, not ALL participants in the successful tests consiously cheat, but there is usually evidence of unconsious data selecting and other breaches in correct protocol which disqualify the experiment. The phrase 'They scoffed at Galileo, too' has one other interesting point. 'They' were the dogmatic, the superstitious, and the church. The scientists of the time either didn't know of Galileo's work (church censorship - in fact the word 'censor' comes from a device carried by churchmen to perfume the air), refused to discuss Galileo's work (fear of church reprisals), or they looked at the evidence and agreed with Galileo's position. Seems like the roles are reversed when it comes to ESP. (Modern supertitious church-goers don't like ESP but they believe in it, thinking it is Satanic.)