Conclusion
"This has been an all-too-short presentation of parapsychology. The scientific journals contain over a century of material, and much more of it bears on the topics in this book. It's too vast to present it all here.
Both parapsychologists and their critics acknowledge that psi experiments are not fully repeatable. Psi is detected only intermittently, and the effects are usually weak. Some researchers succeed; others don't. If the results are were strong and robust, and anyone could easily replicate them, there would be no controversy, and this book would not have been written.
The replication problems signal psi's profound properties, but introductory texts give the implications scant treatment, and few researchers consider them at length. I presented some of the perplexities in this chapter because I don't believe they should be minimized in order to make the field appealing to other scientists or to a popular audience. If progress is to be made, the troubles must be confronted. I will summarize some of the key issues.
In any given psi experiment, it is difficult, if not impossible, to fully determine who causes any result. Experimenters, subjects, checkers, and others may all contribute some influence even without conscious intent. ESP is not blocked by distance or time. Retroactive PK suggests that persons in the future can influence the past. It is probably impossible, in principle, for a researcher to control all factors that affect an experiment. "Participation" may be far greater than an investigator envisions.
The future may show that these problems can be overcome, that clear limits can be demonstrated, and that high levels of replicability can be achieved. Indeed, progress has been made. Research demonstrates that a variety of factors affect psi including: belief in psi, personality traits, spontaneity, and altered states of consciousness among others*. So far, psychic phenomena can be influenced, if not fully controlled. Some believe that continuing experiments along traditional lines will solve the control problem, and I think progress will be made by such efforts. Nevertheless, everyone agrees that psi violates commonsense assumptions. Any theory must accommodate those violations.
One consequence of the research findings is that psi experiments must be understood as social processes. Many people potentially influence a result, even inadvertently and even in the future. Social forces must be taken seriously. They have an autonomy that cannot be comprehended reductionistically. So far, most parapsychological studies have focused on psychological variables, (i.e., characteristics of individuals). This is not sufficient; a final cause cannot be determined by summing the contributions of known individuals. There is a complex interplay, and a more sophisticated understanding of social processes is needed. This will be broached in the next chapter.
Boundaries and limits are two recurring themes in this book, and they help provide a broader perspective needed in considering psi. The trickster is central to this effort, for like psi, he is not easily constrained; he crosses and blurs boundaries. He is paradoxical, ambiguous, and causes problems for rational understanding.
Psi requires a broad perspective for understanding. Any comprehensive theory must accommodate RNG results as well as cultural trends in the paranormal. The commonalities must be discerned. The work of William Braud provides a beginning. Labile systems, i.e., those that readily change, are more amenable to psi influence than are stable systems. This is a general property. It appears at the micro-level with RNGs and tumbling dice. The same pattern is seen at higher levels. Persons who break out of routine, and who act spontaneously, find psi more likely to manifest. Small groups and larger cultures undergoing significant transition have elevated levels of paranormal activity. Liminality and anti-structure have properties of lability and randomness (by the way, Hermes** is the god of luck, and of dice).
Though psi and PK involve information, there is no reason to think that anything is transmitted. ESP is not like mental radio. Instead, more abstract ideas of information and communication are required for modeling it. Structuralism, semiotics, and literary theory provide some alternatives, and they will be discussed in the next two chapters. Briefly expressed, the ideas are: individually and collectively, we detect and impose pattern and order on our existence in myriad ways. Through classification, social structure, rational thought, and many other mechanisms, we bring order and intelligibility to our world.
Liminality and anti-structure break down established classifications and categories; they subvert culture; they allow new forms to emerge. It is under those conditions that information is created and destroyed. Those conditions are also the home of the trickster and of psi." page 342-343
