Anomalous Information Reception by Research Mediums under Quintiple-Blind Conditions: Can the Mind Exist without the Body?
Julie Beischel
Continued investigations regarding the survival of consciousness beyond physical death are critical for our understanding of consciousness, the potential of the mind, and the nature of life in general. One of the main survival research methods involves studying mediums-individuals who report regular communication with the deceased. The current ongoing study addresses the research question at the heart of mediumship research: Can mediums report accurate and specific information about the deceased loved ones (termed discarnates) of living people (termed sitters) using anomalous information reception; that is, without any prior knowledge about the discarnates or sitters, in the absence of any feedback, and without using deceptive means? In order to control for all traditional, local, and sensory explanations for the accuracy of the mediums’ statements (e.g., cold-reading, cueing, generality, rater bias, fraud), Windbridge Certified Research Mediums (WCRMs) answer specific questions about discarnates during readings performed under quintuple-blind conditions which involve the blinding of the mediums, the sitter-raters, and three experimenters interacting with the participants at various stages of the study. In addition, the WCRMs are not provided with feedback about the scores sitter-raters give the readings in order to address precognition as an explanation for positive results. The item-by- item and whole reading scoring data collected to date as well as the implications of the findings regarding the relationship between the mind and the body will be discussed.
Julie Beischel, PhD, is Director of Research at the Windbridge Institute for Applied Research in Human Potential ( www.windbridge.org). She received her doctorate in Pharmacology and Toxicology with a minor in Microbiology and Immunology in 2003 from the University of Arizona. She is a full member of the Society for Scientific Exploration and the Parapsychological Association and serves on the scientific advisory boards of the Rhine Research Center and Forever Family Foundation. Dr. Beischel’s academic training in several interdisciplinary scientific fields allows her to design and apply traditional research methods to investigating more unconventional phenomena.
Recorded at the 30th annual SSE Conference in 2011 at the Millennium Harvest House in Boulder, Colorado, USA.
Join the SSE to support to support the Society’s commitment to maintain an open professional forum for researchers at the edge of conventional science: https://www.scientificexploration.org/join
The SSE provides a forum for original research into cutting edge and unconventional areas. Views and opinions belong only to the speakers, and are not necessarily endorsed by the SSE.
Published on November 12, 2018
