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Newsgroups: sci.skeptic
From: fbonsign...@beethoven.com (Fabrizio J. Bonsignore)
Date: 2 Aug 2004 21:22:33 -0700
Local: Mon, Aug 2 2004 11:22 pm
Subject: Possibility of telepathy (information theory)

Telepathy has been considered one of the phenomena for which science
can offer no explanation, and which therefore is relegated to the
category of superstition, though a very extended one. Most people have
lived at one time or another the `meaningful coincidence` experience
that leads to the belief in direct mind to mind communication; on the
other extreme there is the people who actually hear voices continuously
and who we consider `mentally ill`, or shizophrenics. Of coursse there
are serious teams around the world applying the scientific method to
the study of telepathy, with aparently little results, though it is
rumored that the military complex has also performed research on the
matter, with results being, of course, classified. People usually
resort to mystic beliefs to explain telepathy, while it
is argued that there is no physical support for it. I believe
otherwise. Brains are composed of interconnected `simple` information
processors that use and generate electric fields to propagate their
signals. The resultant field is so powerful that we can even measure it
*through* the crain to obtain an EEG. The measured signal is however
quite undifferentiated, even though we know there is an underlying
order to it. On the other hand we know that electric fields do have an
effect over other fields... If we live in a continuous reality we can
safely assume that a given signal will diminish continuously over time,
evetually integrating in the background noise but without losing its
caracteristics. It simply becomes too weak to be distinguishable,
though it will affect the whole electric field that surrounds us.

So it is just a matter of asking: has the brain enough computing power
to distinguish the effect on its own (generated) field caused by the
signals of other brains? We certainly go through life without listening
to others thoughts, but this may well be a learned (evolutively or
environmentally) response, maybe brough about by the developmentof
language. Sound is certainly a better, more reliable information
carrier than weak electric field interactions and so we rely on it, but
it is possible given the plasticity of the brain that under certain
circumstances groups of neurons `learn` to accept and interpret this
interactions and give them `meaning`, for instance, if the individual
is gradually losing aural acuity. It is even possible
to speculate on the organizaion of `resonator groups`, groups of
neurons that learn to fire when certain (analogous) signals affect the
brain`s field. This ability may well be the cause of the development of
certain forms of schizophrenia, like those that develop late in an
individual`s life, though it wouldn`t explain all schizophrenic cases.
We can even speculate that certain forms of schizophrenia become a
problem due to the `storm` of thoughts received and the inability of
the individual to deal with the new source of information. In fact,
many individuals may actually enjoy the benefits of telepathy without
suffering the ill consequences of schizophrenia because they are able
to process the increased quantity of information received through this
channel. I doubt telepaths would be anxious to tell the whole world
that they hear voices (sort of a secret society...), though many
psychics and entertainers around the world give this kind of shows.

The relation between the strength of the signals and the necessary
computing power to interpret and whether the brain can provide it is
amenable tom formal calculus. It may well be that Earth`s electric
field is more charged with meaning than what we usually think...

Food for thought...

8-D

[The anecdote is 2002 s. I guess that guy was impressed by my microfly
sunglasses that he managed to emit a question, why always sunglasses?
Lasik... through the door, but coming down I heard him hysteric telling
his mother that telepathy exists... So, how to explain? It shouldnt
matter, what matters is IF, it can happen at all...]

Danilo J Bonsignore previously Fabrizio J Bonsignore