Journal of Nonlocality, Vol. II, Nr. 1, June 2013 ISSN: 2167-6283 June 2013 Mind-Matter Mapping Project Round Table Series Colloquium #2 The tip of the iceberg: placebo, experimenter expectation and interference phenomena in subconscious information flow Appendix 1: Matti Pitkanen Appendix 2: Larry Dossey Appendix 3: Massimiliano Sassoli de Bianchi For Follow-up to this discussion go to JNL Panel#2 Open Commentary A multi-disciplinary dialogue on the experimental evidence for nonlocal bio-communication, its emergent characteristics, impact on mainstream sciences and future research directions. Invited panelists Remote Perception: Lyn Buchanan, Daz Smith, Marty Rosenblatt, Angela Thompson Smith Biomedical Application: Kean Hin Ooi , Hideyuki Kokubo, Margaret Moga, Larry Dossey Physics and Consciousness Anomalies Research: Roger Nelson, Brian Millar, Jean Burns, Ulrich Mohrhoff, Matti Pitkanen, Anna Aragno, Massimiliano Sassoli de Bianchi Moderators Lian Sidorov, Jean Burns, Brian Millar Biographical Notes Dr. Roger Nelson is the Director of the Global Consciousness Project, which grew out of the research that he, together with Robert Jahn and Brenda Dunne, coordinated at the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research (PEAR) lab for over two decades. His interests revolve around developing technologies and experimental applications to study consciousness, intention, remote perception and mind-matter interactions both in the laboratory and in natural situations. The most ambitious of these projects is the GCP, which exploits RNG technology “in a world-spanning instrument designed to monitor the effects of globally shared emotions or states of consciousness”. Journal of Nonlocality, Vol. II, Nr. 1, June 2013 ISSN: 2167-6283 Dr. Larry Dossey, M.D. is former Chief of Staff of Medical City Dallas Hospital, co-founder of the Dallas Diagnostic Association and a decorated battalion surgeon in Vietnam. He is the executive editor of the peer-reviewed Explore: The Journal of Science and Healing. He is the author of twelve books and numerous articles on the scientific evidence and implications of “non-local mind”, a term he coined in his 1989 book “Recovering the Soul”, and he has since lectured on the subject of nonlocality and mind-body medicine at major medical schools and hospitals including Harvard, Cornell, Johns Hopkins and the Mayo Clinic. Currently almost 90 medical schools in the US have implemented courses on mind-body medicine, many of which use Dr. Dossey’s works as textbooks. Lyn Buchanan is a former remote viewer, Database Manager and Unit Trainer for the US government’s Remote Viewing project and is the Executive Director of Problems>Solutions>Innovations (P>S>I), a data analysis company possessing the most complete body of data on real-world applications of remote viewing. He started his career as a military computer expert for the Nike Ajax/Nike Hercules guided missile systems, then took a break from service and went on to earn a BA in Psychology, a BA in Linguistics, and an MA in Linguistic Psychology. Re-entering the service in 1974, he became a military linguist, specializing in German, Russian, and Spanish and was assigned to a 4 year stint at the US Intelligence Field Station in Augsburg, Germany, then to the "psychic spying" unit at Ft. Meade, Maryland. After the CIA declassified the existence of the military RV unit in 1995, Lyn’s focus turned to public RV teaching and research, as well as developing civilian applications for the technology, including service to police and other public-funded investigative organizations and agencies. He has developed computerized analysis techniques for identifying, categorizing and predicting viewer error rates. He has also designed and written computer programs and techniques to enhance the results of organized CRV efforts and to aid and guide the student's progress through specific areas of CRV training. Lyn’s personal goal is to systematize the accumulating body of RV data in order to conduct meaningful research into the scientific basis of this technology. Dr. Margaret Moga is Associate Professor of Anatomy and Cell Biology at Indiana University School of Medicine - Terre Haute. Her research focuses on bioenergy healing, including both measurable physical correlates and subjective experiences of healer and client. Together with William Bengston, she co- authored the 2007 paper on resonance, placebo effects and type II errors referenced in this discussion. Hideyuki Kokubo has a degree in biophysics from Nagoya University, Japan. He is a lecturer at Meiji, Atomi and Toho Universities; researcher at the Institute for Informatics of Consciousness, Meiji University; Research Director at the International Research Institute; Director of the Society for Mind- Body Science; and Executive Editor & Managing Director, International Society of Life Information Science. He is also Former Editor-in-Chief & Director for the Japanese Society for Parapsychology. Dr. Brian Millar followed a PhD in Chemistry from Edinburgh University with a Perrott-Warwick grant at Trinity College, Cambridge (which allowed him to conduct parapsychology research under the tutelage of John Beloff in Edinburgh) and then with further experimental work at University of Utrecht, Holland. He has published more than 50 papers in major parapsychology journals such as EJP, RIP, JASPR and JSPR. His primary focus is on developing a physical theory of psi interactions. The Observational Theories (OT's) that he pioneered argue that the actual origin of Psi in a Rhine-type study may in fact be Journal of Nonlocality, Vol. II, Nr. 1, June 2013 ISSN: 2167-6283 the experimenter rather than the “subjects”, and he has recently (2012) proposed a series of quantitative analyses designed to test the source of the effect in successful psi experiments. Dr. Jean Burns is a physicist who is interested in the relationship of consciousness and psi to physical laws and in particular, in how consciousness may interact with the physical world. With respect to the latter topic, she has developed a model of consciousness in which it is shown that PK and free will can be carried out through the ordering of quantum randomness. She also has published numerous papers on the general subject of consciousness and physics, such as reviews of current models, of their relationship and discussion of the issues involved. She has been an Associate Editor for the Journal of Consciousness Studies since 1994 and is a Founding Editor. Matti Pitkanen is a theoretical physicist and former professor at the University of Helsinki. His primary research interest is Topological Geometrodynamics - a unified theory of fundamental interactions assuming that space-times are 4-surfaces in 8-dimensional imbedding space, inspiring a generalization of quantum measurement theory to a theory of consciousness. Since obtaining his Ph.D. in 1982 (on the subject of topological geometrodynamics), he has continued to lecture and publish books, articles and invited chapters on this topic and its applications to quantum mechanics, astrophysics and consciousness research. Anna Aragno PhD. A published author of many scholarly papers and of two books, “Symbolization: Proposing a Developmental Paradigm for a New Psychoanalytic Theory of Mind” (1997) and “Forms of Knowledge: A Psychoanalytic Study of Human Communication” (2008), Anna Aragno came to the US from Italy on a Fulbright in the late 60’s. With a background in the arts and languages, she now devotes her time to private practice specializing in the treatment of creative artists, presenting at conferences, and writing scholarly papers with a strong emphasis on metapsychological revisions. Her affiliations have now expanded to include contributions to the new scientific field of Biosemiotics. Ulrich Mohrhoff is a physicist affiliated with the Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education. His primary research interests lie in the foundations of quantum mechanics and the interface of contemporary physics and Indian philosophy/psychology – topics on which he has published numerous papers in peer reviewed journals. He was the founder and managing editor of AntiMatters (ISSN 0973-8606), a quarterly open-access e-journal addressing issues in science and the humanities from non-materialistic perspectives, which appeared from August 2007 till November 2009. His textbook The World According to Quantum Mechanics: Why the Laws of Physics Make Perfect Sense After All, was issued in 2011 by World Scientific Publishing. Angela Thompson Smith Ph.D. has 25 years experience in the parapsychology and remote viewing fields including 5 years working at the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research (PEAR) Laboratory and 20 years in the RV field as a trainer, researcher, and in applications work. Marty Rosenblatt holds a B.A. and M.S. in physics from University of California at Los Angeles. Marty has worked as a computational physicist and managed many projects in development and application of sophisticated computer programs for analyzing high-energy problems of interest to the U.S. Department of Defense and NASA such as hypervelocity impact and nuclear weapons effects. He was a founder, CEO and senior staff scientist of PhysiComp Corporation (1994) and its internet subsidiary. As current President of PIA (Physics Intuition Applications Corporation), Marty has designed, managed, and participated in numerous associative remote viewing (ARV) protocols. These Journal of Nonlocality, Vol. II, Nr. 1, June 2013 ISSN: 2167-6283 protocols involved trading in financial markets and were developed and improved over many years. In addition to his role at PIA, he currently teaches financial ARV workshops at the Monroe Institute. Daz Smith is an artist, graphic designer, author and active remote viewer who works with some of the most recognized operators and researchers in the field of RV on both public and private remote viewing projects. He also runs several large information websites on the subject of remote viewing and he edits and publishes http://www.eightmartinis.com/ - a magazine covering the latest breakthroughs in remote viewing from the standpoint of protocol, applications and analysis. In 2010 Daz graduated the Lyn Buchanan P>S>I Operational Certification Program. This certification program is designed to help viewers produce CRV work in a style and at level that meets or exceeds current field standards. Over the past six years Daz has worked for some of the most recognizable leaders in the field of remote viewing: Lyn Buchanan, Courtney Brown Ph.D., Paul H Smith Ph.D., Angela T Smith Ph.D., Alexis Champion and many others, on both public and private client remote viewing assignments. Kean Hin Ooi is a Zhineng Qigong Instructor and Therapist with a BPharm (Hons) from the Science University of Malaysia. He is National Industry Expert (Qigong Therapy), and Internal and External Evaluating Officer of Qigong Therapy for the Ministry of Human Resource, Malaysia; a Panelist of Qigong Therapy National Occupational Skill Standards for the Ministry of Health, Malaysia; and Honorary Secretary of the Federation of Malaysia Qigong Associations. He is the author of several books and videos on Qigong and has been invited to lecture on qigong therapy and science at various university centers. Since 2000 he has been involved in experimental work ranging from external qi effects on cell cultures and other remote targets to the design of clinical trials on asthma therapy. Massimiliano Sassoli de Bianchi graduated in physics from the University of Lausanne (UNIL), Switzerland, in 1989. From 1990 to 1991, he was an Assistant in the Department of Theoretical Physics (DPT) of the University of Geneva (UNIGE). In 1992, he joined the Institute of Theoretical Physics (IPT) at the Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), as a PhD candidate. He received the PhD degree in physics from EPFL in 1995. Since 1996, he has been working in the private sector and as an independent researcher. His research activities are focused on the foundations of physics, quantum theory, and consciousness. He is the director of the Laboratorio di Autoricerca di Base (LAB) in Carona, Switzerland, a small research center aiming at the theorico-practical development of a multidimensional view of reality and consciousness evolution. He is also the editor of AutoRicerca, an Italian journal whose mission is to spread writings of value on the vast topic of inner research. For more information: www.massimilianosassolidebianchi.ch Journal of Nonlocality, Vol. II, Nr. 1, June 2013 ISSN: 2167-6283 The tip of the iceberg: placebo, experimenter expectation and interference phenomena in subconscious information flow ‘The experimenter effect is the most important challenge facing modern parapsychology. It may be that we will not be able to make too much progress in other areas of the field until the puzzle of the experimenter effect is solved’ Palmer, J. (1986). ESP research findings: The process approach. In H. L. Edge, R. L. Morris, J. Palmer. & J. H. Rush (Eds), Foundations of parapsychology (pp. 184–222). London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. Two comprehensive analyses of antidepressant trials have uncovered a dramatic increase in placebo response since the 1980s. One estimated that the so-called effect size (a measure of statistical significance) in placebo groups had nearly doubled over that time. It's not that the old meds are getting weaker, drug developers say. It's as if the placebo effect is somehow getting stronger.[…] After decades in the jungles of fringe science, the placebo effect has become the elephant in the boardroom. Silberman, Steve (2009) Placebos Are Getting More Effective. Drugmakers Are Desperate to Know Why. WIRED MAGAZINE: ISSUE 17.09 Background In a paper published in 2007 in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, Bengston and Moga describe a series of experiments in which mice injected with mammary adenocarcinoma were treated with “healing intent”. Although the typical mortality rate in such cancer models is 100%, the combined results of the 5 experiments showed a remission rate of 91.7% (Bengston and Moga , 2007), with an unusual healing process passing from a tumor ulceration stage to full life-span cure. What is even more remarkable is the fact that 80.5% of the control mice, who did not receive the healing-with-intent cure, also demonstrated remission – leading the authors to formulate the hypothesis that under certain conditions, macroscopic entanglement (“resonant bonds”) can form in an experimental setting, potentially resulting in a proliferation of Type II errors. Complicating the picture, however, it appeared that Journal of Nonlocality, Vol. II, Nr. 1, June 2013 ISSN: 2167-6283 additional psychological factors like expectation and fear came to play a significant role in determining which of the mice remitted and which did not. Going back almost eight decades, French chemical engineer and parapsychologist Rene Warcollier wrote in "La telepathie experimentale" (Warcollier, 1926) that his group telepathy experiments revealed, with surprising consistency, an “extraordinary observation”: “the percipients have very frequently shared identical spontaneous images (perceived visually or intuitively) whose origin remained unknown. […] Their lack of coherence seemed to indicate an origin external to the experimenters, but that was doubtlessly only an appearance. Our 1923 experiences [...] have revealed very numerous cases of analogous perception between the percipients, which were altogether independent from those that the agent intended to transmit. It was a true mental contagion of errors [...] probably [...] the transmission of a [...] fragmentary, subconscious thought of one of the percipients". This phenomenon, now widely recognized in the remote viewing research literature for which Warcollier’s studies laid the experimental foundation (Warcollier 1926, 1927, 1928, 2001), has yet to be adequately investigated. But is it just a glitch in an already marginal (and some would argue questionable) field of research, or an important aspect of consciousness? Other apparently related observations dot the landscape here and there: case reports of patient-analyst dream synchronicities and the cross-telepathic dreams of Eisenbud’s patients - patients who had no other connection with each other except the fact that they shared the same doctor (Ullman and Krippner, 1973, p 30-42, 89-92, 116-124, 210-213; Mishlove, 1975); similar accounts of inadvertent dream telepathy in the Ullman and Krippner Maimonides studies (Ullman and Krippner, 1973); an apparent, critical-mass cognitive phenomenon (“100th monkey effect”) in which insights or learned skills appear to spread to isolated populations, as in Sheldrake’s controlled figure-recognition experiments, Arden Mahlberg’s Morse code study or Pavlov’s findings on hereditary transmission of acquired habits (Carter, 2007, p 30- 31, 74-82 and 146; Sheldrake 1987, 1995a,b,c, 1998a,b, 1999a,b, 2002 ; Gilman, 1985; Mahlberg, 1987; Borland, 2000). Cleve Backster’s pioneering work showing plant and cell culture polygraph responses to human thought (Backster, 2003) was followed by formal studies of distant mental interactions with living systems (DMILS) measuring the effects of consciousness on growth rates of plant, bacteria and cancer cell cultures, cell death, motility, conformational changes in DNA and proteins, cell membranes and colony architecture (Benor , 2001; Chen K, Sidorov L, Dossey L, 2005; Sidorov L. and Chen K., 2003). A recent meta-analysis looking at 131 DMILS experiments shows that 56 of them reported results with odds against chance of 100 to one or better, with a cumulative probability beyond a trillion to one (Radin, 1997, p 151-152). Focusing attention on a remote human subject was shown to statistically alter his/her galvanic skin response, muscular activity, heart rate and blood pressure, even when separated from the sender by thousands of miles. While these physiological responses were typically below the awareness threshold of the percipient, they were remarkably consistent over almost 2 dozen independent studies, with cumulative odds against chance of 3.8 million to one (Radin, 1997, p 152-156). Finally, there are over a dozen EEG and fMRI studies, published by journals such as Science, Nature, Physics Essays and Behavioral Neuroscience, which demonstrate statistically significant correlation between the brainwaves of sender-receiver pairs, with odds against chance ranging between 50 to 1 to 14,000 to 1( Radin, 2006, p 18-19, 75, 136-141) Journal of Nonlocality, Vol. II, Nr. 1, June 2013 ISSN: 2167-6283 Taken individually, none of these observations is a show-stopper: science carries on as usual, primarily because we either ignore or dismiss such data. Reports such as these are outliers and they conveniently remain outliers in the mainstream publishing world, because their implications threaten to undermine some of the most cherished beliefs powering the engines of our scientific progress. However, looked at as a set, these findings begin to self-assemble into a question that is all but unavoidable: assuming that even a fraction of these results are valid (and most of the researchers listed above have impeccable academic credentials), what do they tell us about the way in which conscious beings communicate with each other? How can information be transmitted without direct contact (and often without specific intent, as in Warcollier’s, Sheldrake’s or Bengston’s experiments)? And most importantly – if such subconscious, inadvertent information flow is part of the fabric of the universe, then how does it impact the way in which science conducts its business – namely, the gold standard of controlled experimental trials? Far from parapsychology alone, this question may indeed be at the heart of many scientific endeavors, including the effort to understand the effect of experimenter expectation and the quietly unfolding placebo crisis affecting controlled clinical trials (Silberman, 2009). We can continue to dismiss such results as questionable data relevant only to heretics patrolling irrelevant branches of fringe science; or we can stop to ask whether their knowledge (meticulously collected over a century of experimental studies) might contain some useful clues as we begin to tackle these uncomfortable but increasingly unavoidable challenges. The dialogue we have started brings together researchers and practitioners with very different perspectives on the problem. What all these participants share, however, is a suspicion that conscious beings are part of a vast information flow which goes beyond the direct mechanisms we currently understand, and a desire to explore the laws that govern this subconscious, apparently nonlocal phenomenon. In a previous article (Sidorov, 2003a ) we attempted to discuss such possible cognitive bridges in the context of quantum computing and nonlocal communication mechanisms proposed by Pitkanen’s Topological Geometrodynamics. But all such theoretical speculations have very limited value in the absence of adequate study replications and opportunities for further experimental testing. It is our hope that the present forum marks the beginning of a better collaborative effort in dealing with a phenomenon which may prove to be fundamental to both life and evolution. Specifically, what we wish to address here is the issue of interference: what determines which of the available information in a network of experimental participants (principal investigator, subjects, experimental animals or other human subjects, etc) reaches the target and comes to dominate the outcome? Whether we are talking about remote viewing or placebo drug trials or healing studies on cancer-inoculated mice, we are dealing with a network of multiple conscious entities, each with its own beliefs, intentions and expectations, all joined together with a common purpose. How does information travel across such a network and what degree of control is achievable over this dynamic? How does meaning (hence emotional impact) emerge as a function of correlations and intent alignment (see McMoneagle discussion below)? How can we begin to isolate or quantify the impact of emotional significance, inter-participant bonding, expectation, attention and conscious intent (see Buchanan, 2003)? Are PK effects on the physical world additive – and to what degree? As Brian Millar and Adrian Parker have argued in recent papers (Millar 2012; Parker, 2013), experimenter expectation seems to be woven into the very fabric of psi – and indeed, knowing what we now know, it stands to reason that it should. Journal of Nonlocality, Vol. II, Nr. 1, June 2013 ISSN: 2167-6283 But is experimenter expectation equally significant in individual, bench top REG and field-REG/GCP* experiments; in external qigong healing and placebo-controlled drug trials; in remote viewing and group telepathy studies? What determines the overall information vector in a network of conscious entities – and how? This, we believe, is a question whose time has come. __________________ *GCP: Global Consciousness Project Question 1: What has your experience been with inadvertent information transmission in the context of remote viewing and telepathy? Specifically, are viewers susceptible to picking up the mental contents of analysts, taskers or other viewers, and which conditions are most likely to produce such “contamination”? Have you been able to identify conditions under which a tasker’s expectations came to dominate the data? ANGELA SMITH: Telepathy has been well researched, validated, and even, ironically, quoted by skeptics to explain other anomalous phenomena. Within the remote viewing field telepathic overlay is an accepted fact and provision for dealing with it is provided in the protocols. However, it takes a skilled, well-trained and seasoned remote viewer to recognize and report such extraneous data. As a viewer, there have been at least two occasions (once for a client, the other experimental) where I was accidently provided with the wrong target coordinate but managed to access the correct data. During the client project, I noted in the session that “something felt wrong” with the coordinate but went ahead to access useable information for the client. Telepathic overlay, in remote viewing, can result from inadequate client/customer/analyst education, from excessive frontloading, tasking viewers beyond their skill level, working with “sensitive” viewers, performance anxiety (fear of failure, fear of success), and group projects. It is my experience that group tasking, even under “blind” conditions, may increase the potential for telepathic overlay. This can actually prove to be a positive in group applications work. I don’t usually consider telepathic overlay “contamination” unless it is in the context of training or in experimental situations. The goal of remote viewing applications work is to access new and unknown data and a skilled, trained, and practiced viewer will aim for that and learn to recognize and utilize telepathic overlay. In my opinion, conditions such as “blind tasking” and “incognito viewers” have no place in applications work, where unknown information is sought. Such conditions might be necessary in experimental work and training but not in real-life projects. Doctors do not work “blind”, neither do the police: it should not be expected of remote viewers. The goal in application work is not to test the viewer for their accuracy (that should already have been done) but to apply their skills to solving real-time problems. In such cases, Journal of Nonlocality, Vol. II, Nr. 1, June 2013 ISSN: 2167-6283 telepathic overlay may be the vital link to solving a problem i.e. “seeing through the eyes” of a missing child to assess their location, circumstances, and condition. LYN BUCHANAN 1A: What has your experience been with inadvertent information transmission in the context of remote viewing and telepathy? Specifically, are viewers susceptible to picking up the mental contents of analysts, taskers or other viewers, and ... I have found this to be true, especially in classes where several people are learning the remote viewing process. For that reason, I always give each student a different target, rather than having them all work on a common target. In one class in Denver, though, we had 12 students, each sitting at different tables around the room, facing the wall. For some reason, every one of the students correctly identified the target which was given to the student next to him/her, and missed the target which was assigned. Question 1B: ...which conditions are most likely to produce such “contamination”? As mentioned above, the conditions which I have experienced as providing the most contamination are those where: a) multiple viewers are assigned the same target, (even in operational work, I will assign each viewer a different aspect of the task in order to prevent "telepathic overlay"). b) viewers are told that another person will be working the same target. For example, if I tell a viewer that this question will also be worked by a viewer they highly respect, he/she has almost always produced data which is very much like that produced by the other viewer. If the viewer is told that a person they don't like or don't respect will also be working the same target, the information is most always different and even opposing to what the other viewer finds. When two viewers work the same target and each is kept ignorant of the other's participation, they are not as prone to produce as much contamination. Question 1C: Have you been able to identify conditions under which a tasker’s expectations came to dominate the data? I have seen the work of other viewing disciplines produce such contamination. In Controlled Remote Viewing, however, we try to always keep the viewer blind to the target and especially to the wishes of the customer (in operational CRV, this is the tasker). MARTY ROSENBLATT The best example of "inadvertent information transmission" that I know about was reported in "Precognitive Telepathy, Emotion, and Displacement". This documented example illustrates the mystery of the communication of information between sub-consciousness and the conscious minds of two participants in a precognitive applications group. The two people involved had almost no contact before this precognitive telepathic event. Consciousness appears to be the fundamental reality. The non-local subconscious reality entangles, in a complex fashion, with conscious reality in the space-time physical world. The tasker or experimenter viewpoint becomes less appropriate as we explore the basic manifestations of non-local consciousness. This appears to be especially true within precognitive consciousness. There is a perception of "contamination" when the tasker receives information from remote viewers that is apparently not relevant, or perhaps apparently wrong. From the tasker's perspective, this is indeed contamination or noise. From the perspective of 'consciousness is the fundamental', there is no contamination and the RV information supplied makes perfect sense...but not to the tasker or the rest of us, yet. This viewpoint is important, I believe, because the subconscious dominates in precognitive tasks Journal of Nonlocality, Vol. II, Nr. 1, June 2013 ISSN: 2167-6283 and we can peek inside this mysterious consciousness universe. It is as if the tasker, viewer and others involved all have their subconscious minds entangled in the predictions to some degree. We do not have the appropriate perspective on the "physics of non-local subconsciousness". Viewers have potential access, at the subconscious level, to all the mental and emotional contents of analysts, taskers and other viewers; the issue is communication between non-local subconsciousness and conscious minds. This communication process is where expectation, intention, attention, attitudes and beliefs become dominant factors. DAZ SMITH It's been my experience that I now believe that at times, in participating in remote viewing projects, I am only giving data across that the project tasker wants/expects and not information direct from any 'actual' target - in some kind of connectedness with all the people involved in the projects from taskers, to analysts, to people later viewing the results. I also participated in a remote viewing project for HRVG whereby the actual target did not exists other than in the mind of the tasker - yet we ALL as participant remote viewers still described what felt like a real location (the imaginary target was a location, a dam with a whole village, people, trees and much more - but all this only existed in the mind of the tasker and none of it was real in any way) - we, as remote viewers ALL could not tell the difference and it was just as easy for us ALL to describe a target that existed as imagination as it was a real 'physical' target. This showed me that there is a lot going on here we still do not know. KEAN HIN OOI Depending on the ability of the practitioner, generally it is rather easy for one to lose the focus unintentionally and pick up the wrong info (including the info of the tasker himself), particularly at the early stages of developing such ability. In nonlocal diagnosis or scanning, the condition of the patient is felt by the tasker. Specifically, are viewers susceptible to picking up the mental contents of analysts, taskers or other viewers, and which conditions are most likely to produce such “contamination”? Again, it is the ability of the viewer to remain mindful and focused which is related to the mental and physical condition. Have you been able to identify conditions under which a tasker’s expectations came to dominate the data? Again, it depends on the ability of the viewer to remain mindful and focused. ANNA ARAGNO Given the very short amount of time I have to compile my responses and, more importantly, the fact that I am not an experimentalist nor an expert in this field, nor am I as well read in this area of research as are all the other illustrious panelists, I will limit myself to offering some general comments that come directly from my experience practicing the psychoanalytic method. Before addressing specific questions, as I go along, a few prefacing words: