Seven Experiments That Could Change the World. - book reviews

The premise of Seven Experiments That Could Change The World by Rupert Sheldrake is that scientific endeavor should not be the sole jurisdiction of men in white coats tucked away in research laboratories. Sheldrake feels that it is possible for amateur scientists from all walks of life who are curious about the world around them to make discoveries that push back the current boundaries of knowledge. His reasoning is that institutional science has a tendency to ignore areas of research that may throw light on apparently anomalous phenomena. Therefore, in this "do-it-yourself guide to revolutionary science," the author attempts to persuade readers to take part in scientific discovery. Accordingly, he provides the background and methods for the average layperson to investigate seven questions that he feels have no satisfactory answers at present.

In Part One, Sheldrake looks at "the extraordinary powers of ordinary animals." Many pet owners will testify that their pets have uncanny abilities of one sort or another, and Sheldrake refers to a number of accounts in which dogs stop whatever they are doing and go to meet the often unexpected arrival of their owner. Possible cues from others at home with the dog are often ruled out on occasions when the dog's owner returned at an unusual time. Of course, the author recognizes that these are merely anecdotal accounts, but he contends that it would be extremely easy to test the notion that certain animals display such an ability. This is the basis of his first proposed experiment. He suggests, for example, that the owner should return home at an unusual time and by an unusual means while the animal's behavior is monitored by an observer (who is blind to the time and mode of the owner's return). By removing the cues, it should be possible to see if there is any ostensibly paranormal component to the phenomenon.

A similar approach may shed light on the homing abilities of pigeons. Although it is possible that pigeons rely, in part, on various normal cues (e.g., landmarks, the position of the sun, and their sense of smell) to orientate themselves, it is still unknown exactly how pigeons manage to find their homes after being released 50 or more miles away. Sheldrake posits that there may in fact be a direct connection between pigeons and their homes, and that this theory can be tested by training pigeons to home to a mobile loft. He notes that both J. B. Rhine and J. G. Pratt employed such methodology in the early 1950s in their study of ESP, but that the defenders of orthodoxy dismissed such ideas (of ESP) out of hand, confidently asserting that an explanation in terms of normal scientific principles was almost in sight (p. 50). He urges his readers to experiment with mobile lofts to test his theory that pigeons maintain a direct link with their home, by testing whether pigeons are able to find their way repeatedly to a mobile loft in a variety of arbitrary locations over long distances and in a reasonable time. In a similar vein, Sheldrake suggests how one can investigate the apparently coordinated organization of termite colonies.

Part Two explores the notion of the "extended mind." Two phenomena are discussed: the sense of being stared at and the objective reality of phantom limbs. Many people report the feeling of being stared at, only to look around to find someone staring at them. Is this simply an example of our sensitivity to subtle auditory and visual cues, or is it evidence of paranormal communication? Sheldrake's proposed experiment builds on the work of William Braud, Donna Sharer, and Sperry Andrews at Mind Science Foundation, a report of which was recently published in the Journal of Parapsychology (Braud, Shafer, & Andrews, 1993a, 1993b). Braud and his colleagues compared the electrodermal activity of subjects at times when they were being stared at by a hidden starer with activity at times when they were not being stared at. They found a significant difference between activity during these times, although subjects were blind to the times when they were being stared at. Sheldrake's version is to simply ask subjects to make a conscious guess as to whether they think they are being stared at, or not, by someone situated behind them. If subjects show an ability to detect the times when they are being stared at, controls can be added: For example, are they still capable of detecting a stare through a window, or via closed-circuit television when the starer and subject are situated in separate rooms?

Sheldrake argues that phantom limbs can be assessed in a similar manner. Are phantom limbs (i.e., the sensation experienced by amputees that the amputated limb is still present) a purely mental phenomenon, or do they have an existence beyond the body? To test this question, a design similar to that described for the staring experiment could be used in which an amputee who experiences the presence of a phantom limb could sit behind a subject an

COPYRIGHT 1994 Parapsychology Press
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