Telekinesis

[11]: 149–161 Carl Sagan included telekinesis in a long list of "offerings of pseudoscience and superstition" which "it would be foolish to accept ... without solid scientific data".

[15] Felix Planer, a professor of electrical engineering, has written that if telekinesis were real then it would be easy to demonstrate by getting subjects to depress a scale on a sensitive balance, raise the temperature of a waterbath which could be measured with an accuracy of a hundredth of a degree centigrade, or affect an element in an electrical circuit such as a resistor, which could be monitored to better than a millionth of an ampere.

[16] Planer writes that such experiments are extremely sensitive and easy to monitor but are not utilized by parapsychologists as they "do not hold out the remotest hope of demonstrating even a minute trace of [telekinesis]" because the alleged phenomenon is non-existent.

[16] According to Planer, "All research in medicine and other sciences would become illusionary, if the existence of [telekinesis] had to be taken seriously; for no experiment could be relied upon to furnish objective results, since all measurements would become falsified to a greater or lesser degree, according to his [telekinetic] ability, by the experimenter's wishes."

[18] Science writers Martin Gardner and Terence Hines and the philosopher Theodore Schick have written that if telekinesis were possible, one would expect casino incomes to be affected, but the earnings are exactly as the laws of chance predict.

The claim that quantum mechanics allows for the possibility of mental power influencing randomizers—an alleged case of micro-[telekinesis]—is ludicrous since that theory respects the said conservation principles, and it deals exclusively with physical things.Physicist John Taylor, who has investigated parapsychological claims, has written that an unknown fifth force causing telekinesis would have to transmit a great deal of energy.

According to Stenger their paper is "filled with impressive looking equations and calculations that give the appearance of placing [telekinesis] on a firm scientific footing...

[13] Park pointed out that if mind really could influence matter, it would be easy for parapsychologists to measure such a phenomenon by using the alleged telekinetic power to deflect a microbalance, which would not require any dubious statistics.

He has suggested that the reason statistical studies are so popular in parapsychology is that they introduce opportunities for uncertainty and error, which are used to support the experimenter's biases.

[12] Bias towards belief in telekinesis may be an example of the human tendency to see patterns where none exist, called the clustering illusion, which believers are also more susceptible to.

But people want to believe, and so they find ways to believe.Psychologist Daniel Wegner has argued that an introspection illusion contributes to belief in telekinesis.

These include switching straight objects for pre-bent duplicates, the concealed application of force, and secretly inducing metallic fractures.

On this subject the magician Ben Harris wrote:[43] If you are doing a really convincing job, then you should be able to put a bent key on the table and comment, "Look, it is still bending", and have your spectators really believe that it is.

This may sound the height of boldness; however, the effect is astounding – and combined with suggestion, it does work.Between 1979 and 1981, the McDonnell Laboratory for Psychical Research at Washington University in St. Louis reported a series of experiments they named Project Alpha, in which two teenaged male subjects had demonstrated telekinesis phenomena (including metal-bending and causing images to appear on film) under less than stringent laboratory conditions.

[44] A 2014 study that utilized a magic trick to investigate paranormal belief on eyewitness testimony revealed that believers in telekinesis were more likely to report a key continued to bend than non-believers.

However, she was caught levitating a table with her foot by magician Joseph Rinn, and using tricks to move objects by psychologist Hugo Münsterberg.

[59][60] Polish medium Stanisława Tomczyk, active in the early 20th century, claimed to be able to perform acts of telekinetic levitation by way of an entity she called "Little Stasia".

The alleged Soviet psychic of the late 1960s and early 1970s was shown apparently performing telekinesis while seated in numerous black-and-white short films,[70] and was also mentioned in the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency report from 1978.

[71][ISBN missing] Magicians and skeptics have argued that Kulagina's feats could easily be performed by one practiced in sleight of hand, or through means such as cleverly concealed or disguised threads, small pieces of magnetic metal, or mirrors.

[72][73][74][75] James Hydrick, an American martial arts expert and psychic, was famous for his alleged telekinetic ability to turn the pages of books and make pencils spin while placed on the edge of a desk.

[76] Psychologist Richard Wiseman wrote that Hydrick learnt to move objects by blowing in a "highly deceptive" and skillful way.

"[78] In the late 1970s, British psychic Matthew Manning was the subject of laboratory research in the United States and England, and today claims healing powers.

Science writer Martin Gardner wrote that Parise had "bamboozled" Honorton by moving the bottle with an invisible thread stretched between her hands.

Massimo Polidoro has replicated Vinogradova's feats with acrylic surface, showing how easy it is to move any kind of object on it when it is charged with static electricity by rubbing a towel or hand on it.

[82][84] Stephen North, a British psychic in the late 1970s, was known for his alleged telekinetic ability to bend spoons and teleport objects in and out of sealed containers.

Randi wrote "I find it unfortunate that [Hasted] never had an epiphany in which he was able to recognize just how thoughtless, cruel, and predatory were the acts perpetrated on him by fakers who took advantage of his naivety and trust.

"[87] "Telekinesis parties" were a cultural fad in the 1980s, begun by Jack Houck,[88] where groups of people were guided through rituals and chants to awaken metal-bending powers.

They were encouraged to shout at the items of cutlery they had brought and to jump and scream to create an atmosphere of pandemonium (or what scientific investigators called heightened suggestibility).

"[11]: 149–161 Ronnie Marcus, an Israeli psychic and claimant of telekinetic metal-bending, was tested in 1994 in scientifically controlled conditions and failed to produce any paranormal phenomena.

[90][91] Telekinesis has commonly been portrayed as a superpower ability in comic books, movies, television, video games, literature, and other forms of popular culture.