tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1485997200234349788.post6806011060552581733..comments2024-03-07T12:48:21.070+00:00Comments on MAGONIA REVIEW: EXTRASENSIBLE PERCEPTIONUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1485997200234349788.post-86217910692364882162013-09-02T13:05:55.111+01:002013-09-02T13:05:55.111+01:00I've always understood that the problem with u...I've always understood that the problem with using quantum entanglement as an explanation for telepathy is that the "information" transmitted can indeed apparently travel faster than light, but it isn't actually "information" in the usual sense. If you measure particle A and find it to have a particular spin, then particle B must have the opposite spin, even though it had no clearly defined spin at all until its sister particle was measured, and this must happen instantly, even if that seems to exceed the speed of light - in technical terms, the entire waveform collapses simultaneously, no matter how far apart its constituent particles are. But since the result of measuring particle A is completely random, this method cannot be used as, say, a way of transmitting instant messages in morse code over interstellar distances - all you can send is totally meaningless noise. Which isn't very useful. Even if the human brain can somehow transmit entangled quantum particles to other human brains in some as yet undetectable way (which isn't all that likely, to put it mildly!), there doesn't seem to be any way around this problem, even theoretically.<br /><br />As Albert Einstein pointed out when politely refusing to write a foreword for J. B. Rhine's pioneering book on ESP, a mysterious force detectable only through its results which does not diminish with distance, or indeed time (and can move backwards and forwards through time as it pleases), sounds one heck of a lot more like an experimental error than an actual thing. Especially if it's incredibly small, and sometimes disappears entirely for reasons as contrived as somebody in the room not having sufficient faith that the experiment will work!<br /><br />It should be added that, since ESP apparently has unlimited range without losing strength, the fact that I am actively doubting the existence of Psi as I type this logically ought to negatively influence the outcome of any ESP experiment going on right now anywhere in the world. And actually, since my quantum-entangled bad vibes can also travel through time in both directions without getting any weaker, I'm also putting the kibosh on any ESP experiment that has ever been conducted or ever will be! Can anybody explain to me why, if what currently passes for "Psi Theory" is correct, what I've just said is wrong?<br /><br />Really, the most interesting possibility seems to be that, just as medieval dowsers thought that because they found water exactly where their twitching twig said it should be, they had magical powers, whereas they were merely digging down at random and automatically reaching a water table that they didn't know about, these tiny results, assuming them to be genuine, prove that every seemingly random process in the Universe is ever so slightly non-random. The implications of this would be absolutely immense! Certainly a lot bigger than the claim, even if it's true, that some people can influence the results of a great many dice-rolls to a barely detectable degree, except for some reason when this would allow them to do anything the least bit useful, such as winning money in casinos.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1485997200234349788.post-22732422277004284122013-08-31T15:10:30.981+01:002013-08-31T15:10:30.981+01:00Thanks for your thoughtful review. I would just po...Thanks for your thoughtful review. I would just point out that there is no problem with using entanglement as part of a process to send information - this is done, for instance, in quantum teleportation - the problem comes if you try to use entanglement to send information faster than light, which seems impossible to do, even though the entangled particles do effectively communicate instantly.Brian Clegghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12723555872580740773noreply@blogger.com