Black Box and Global Consciousness
Do we share A Global Consciousness?
'When I was just a little girl, I asked my mother, what would I be, Will I be pretty, will I be rich, this is what she said to me: Que sera, sera, whatever will be, will be, the future is not for us to see Que sera, sera'
These are popular lines from a famous song.
Who wouldn't like to know more about his future? There was a time, when future seemed distant; wondering about it seemed an irrelevant thought. Peeping into future events and happenings seemed absurd. However, with technological advancements taking us into the fast lane, a quantum shift has taken place in our perception. We have started believing in what earlier seemed impossible. Perhaps, someday in the near future, peeping into our future may indeed become a reality.
A small black box, just about the size of two packets of cigarettes kept beside each other, lay in the dusty basement of a university library in Edinburgh. It throws up an never-ending stream of numbers, all random numbers.
On first thought, it seemed like an ordinary piece of equipment encased in a metallic box. Its core houses a microchip, which is no more intricate than the one used in a modern day pocket calculator. But, it is different. If an ever increasing group of modern day scientists are to be believed, this box holds amazing powers. This, they say, is the 'eye' of a device which is capable of looking into the future and predicting world events of major significance.
This extra-ordinary device, they say, sensed the attacks on the World Trade Centre on September 11. More surprisingly, it did so, four hours prior to the actual happening. However, according to the conflicting theories presented during that time, this claim was immediately rejected by skeptics and the 'doubting Thomas'. This was till December 2005, when this 'eye' also predicted the Asian tsunami, just before the deep sea earthquake, which ultimately resulted into the monumental tragedy.
Now, these doubters seem to have realized their folly and fallen in line, duly acknowledging that this small box does actually hold powers which are still inexplicable. Dr Roger Nelson, who is an emeritus researcher from Princeton University in the United States of America, and who is leading the research project on this 'black box' phenomenon, called it Earth shattering stuff.
Dr Nelson went on to add that they were still in the early stages of understanding what exactly they have found and what exactly was happening. They were still groping in the dark to find justifiable answers. The Global Consciousness Project, which was initiated by The Princeton University, is focusing on this unique and amazing experiment of our times. The effort is to detect whether the entire human race shares a common subconscious mind which we can all tap into.
Machines which are similar to the Edinburgh 'black box' have now thrown up exciting possibilities; that scientists may have accidentally discovered a method by which they could predict the future.
Even though many scientists believe the aim of this project is nothing more than fool's gold, it has still been able to attract an ensemble of 75 respected scientists from 41 different countries. Research scientists from Princeton, the university where Einstein developed his career, work along with scientists from other universities based in Britain, the Netherlands, Switzerland and also Germany. This project is also considered as the most painstaking, accurate and the longest investigation till date, delving into the latent powers of the paranormal.
Dick Bierman, who is a physicist in the University of Amsterdam, felt that quite often, the paranormal phenomenon disappears, when one studies it for long durations. But fortunately, this is not the case with the Global Consciousness Project. The effect is genuine. However, the only question-mark is about its meaning.'
This project was initiated with the path breaking accomplishments of Professor Robert Jahn from Princeton University during the later part of 1970s. He was amongst the first few modern day Scientists to treat paranormal phenomenon seriously. Fascinated and curious about things such as telepathy, telekinesis (a psychic power by which one can move objects, without using physical energy) and extrasensory awareness, he decided to study this phenomenon by using the most recent and advanced technological developments.
One of the instruments developed by this new technology was a humble-looking 'black box', known as Random Event Generator (REG). It used a computer to produce two numerical numbers, one and zero, in an absolute random sequence, like doing it with an electronic coin flipper.
A pattern of ones and zeros, that is, 'heads' and 'tails', could then be printed on a graph. Using the principle of probability, the generator should have thrown up an equal numbers of ones and zeros. This would have been represented by a straight line on a graph. Any deviation from the equal number would have got reflected as a slowly rising curve.
In the late 1970s, Prof Jahn decided to explore the possibility and find out as to whether the power of a human thought could in some way, interfere with the machine's normal reading. He invited total strangers, picked up from the street, and asked them to focus their minds on his number generating device. By doing so, he was actually trying to influence them to flip either more heads or more tails. The idea seemed outrageous then, but his findings were stunning and could never be satisfactorily deciphered.
This was tried repeatedly and the results proved, over and over again, that absolutely ordinary people could influence the machine with their minds and produce significant fluctuations on the graph. They could influence the device to produce an unequal number of 'heads' or 'tails'.
According to the prevailing laws of science, this was absurd and should not have happened. But it did, and kept happening again and again. Dr Nelson, who was also working at Princeton University, then decided to take up Prof Jahn's work further by taking the Random Number Machines to meditation conclaves, which were very popular in America during those days. Once again, results turned out to be amazingly impressive. These conclaves were collectively able to influence major shifts in the pattern of the numbers that were thrown up.
Thereafter, Dr Nelson got totally committed to this project.
Next, he connected 40 Random Event Generators, placed in different parts of the world, to the Main Frame Computer in his laboratory at Princeton. He used the internet to achieve this. These REGs ran 24x7 and generated millions of different readings. However, most times, the resultant graph showed more or less a straight line.
However, on 6th September, 1997, something very strange and unexpected transpired. The graph showed a sudden and major variation and moved upwards, recording a sudden massive shift in the sequence of numbers. Different machines, placed in different parts of the world, reported enormous deviations from the normal. This day turned out to be of historic importance for another, totally different reason as well. This was the day when approximately one billion people from all parts of the world watched Princess Diana's funeral and poured their grief. Thereafter, Dr Nelson got convinced that these two happenings were correlated in some way.
Could this be the discovery of a new phenomenon? Was it possible that the intense and consolidated emotional arousal of millions of people around the world influence the readings of his REGs. If it was indeed so, then how? Dr Nelson was at a loss to explain.
Resolving to find an answer, in 1998, he invited renowned scientists from all around the world to study and analyze his findings. The invitees too were stumped, and decided to contribute their mite to the work of Prof Jahn and Dr Nelson, in their very own way. It was then that The Global Consciousness Project was launched.
Since then, this project has taken many strides and expanded manifold. Sixty Five Eggs (name given to the generators) were recruited in 41 and made to work as 'eyes' of this project. And, it was not surprising, when he found that his findings were both startling and inexplicable.
During the course of these experiments, these Eggs traced a series of major world events even as they occurred. These included the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, the Kursk submarine tragedy and the hung elections of America in the year 2000. It detected them all. The Eggs also detected, quite constantly, whenever a huge global celebration took place, like on New Year's Eve.
But then, the project unveiled its biggest riddle on 11th September, 2001.
While the world stood still and watched the horror of the terrorist attack, as it unfolded across New York, the Eggs threw up some unexpected findings. Not only did they register these attacks even as they happened, the characteristic shift in the pattern of numbers had already begun four hours prior the two planes striking the Twin Towers.
They had detected an event of historic and international significance, even before it had actually happened. Strangely, even before the terrorists had boarded their fateful flights. Implications of this finding were enormous, to say the least. More specifically for the Western countries security services, which constantly monitor all the electronic 'chatter'. That's when Dr Nelson realized there was a great deal of work ahead for them.
What could have been happening? What could be its significance? Could it just be a freak occurrence and nothing more?
Apparently that was not the case, for towards the end of December last year, the readings on the REGs went berserk once again.
One day later, an enormous earthquake struck deep beneath in the Indian Ocean, which triggered a massive tsunami that went on to devastate South-East Asia and claim lives of an estimated one quarter million people.
The scientists wondered, could their Global Consciousness Project really predict the future?
The incorrigible cynics may quite rightly declare that there are numerous global occurrences taking place all the time. These could be used as an excuse to 'explain' the times when the Eggs behaved erratically. After all, there are no dearth of wars, disasters and terrorist attacks around the world. Then again, there were occasional global celebrations as well. So, were these scientists simply trying to project a certain pattern to justify their findings, when there was none?
The team of scientists, who have undertaken this research, do not agree. They say that by using scientific techniques along with mathematical interpolations, it is possible to separate any random inter-connections.
Dr Nelson is willing to accept mistakes, if there are any. However, neither have they found these nor anyone else. He says that the probability of their data such results by fluke is one million to one. That's a very significant statement. But still, many continue to remain skeptical.
Professor Chris French from the Goldsmiths College in London, who is a psychologist and a skeptic, agrees that The Global Consciousness Project has generated extremely intriguing results, which cannot be dismissed easily. He says he too is involved in similar experiments to see if he too can get similar results. However, they haven't been able to do so till date. But then, the experiment is still in its early stages.
It might seem strange, but there is nothing in the law of physics that excludes the possibility of mankind seeing into the future. Theoretically speaking, it is possible that time may not just move forward, but it may move backwards as well. Like tides in an ocean, if time flows-in and then recedes, it may also be possible to predict major happenings around the world, even before they actually occur. We may then, in effect, 'remember' events that are yet to take place in the future. Prof Bierman of the University of Amsterdam even goes to the extent of saying that there is plenty of evidence to prove time may indeed move backwards.
Prof Bierman believes that if it is possible to happen in physics, it can happen in our minds as well. In other words, we all have the ability to look into the future, provided we had the ability to utilize the inner power of our mind. And there is substantial evidence to support this theory.
Dr John Hartwell, who works at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands, was the first to discover evidence that people could predict the future. So, in the mid-seventies he used hospital scanning machines to study brainwave patterns of different people. He started by showing them a sequence of provocative cartoon pictures. The machines registered the person's brainwaves as they responded to the image before him. This was on expected lines. However, what was very intriguing and difficult to explain was that in many cases, these dramatic patterns began to register fluctuations; even before the next picture was flashed before the person.
It seemed as if Dr Hartwell's case study was somehow peering into the future and anticipating or detecting the next provocative image even before it was shown. This was really extraordinary and he found it inexplicable.
Thereafter there was a lull in the research. It was only after 15 years that Dean Radin took Dr Hartwell's research further. Dr. Radin was a researcher, working in America. He connected people to the machine which measured their skin's resistance to electricity. This usually fluctuates in tandem with a person's mood. As a matter of fact lie detectors work on this principle.
Dr. Radin continued on Dr Hartwell's 'image response' experiments. He did so, while measuring a person's skin resistance. Once again people started reacting a few seconds prior to being shown the images. This, he felt, was impossible and went on repeating these experiments. And he continued logging the same output.
Prof Bierman wouldn't believe it. So he too repeated the same experiments himself and surprisingly, he got similar results. He was shocked. Thereafter he began thinking about the nature of time more seriously. To complicate matters, Prof Bierman declared that other regular laboratories too had achieved similar results, but they were not willing to go public yet, reason being, they didn't want to be criticized. So, he tried persuading them to release their results in tandem. That way, the ridicule on individual labs would spread more thinly.
If Prof Bierman proves to be right, these experiments would not remain a laughing matter anymore. They might help provide a solid scientific proof for such strange phenomenon like 'deja vu', intuition and a lot of other curious happenings that we all may have experienced now and then.
This could further open up an even more interesting opportunity. Perhaps one day we might be able to enhance our psychic power by using devices that can tune into our subconscious mind. Devices like the small 'black box' lying in Edinburgh could help us doing so.
Like we have built mechanical engines, which replaced muscle power, we could perhaps, build a device one day, to increase and interpret the hidden psychic abilities in ourselves?
Dr Nelson shows optimism, but not for the near future. He feels that we may be able to forecast a world event of major significance, but it would be difficult to know what exactly it would be or where it would happen. To say it plainly, they still don't have a machine, which they could sell to the CIA.
However, Dr Nelson's priority is not to detect global happenings or terrorist attacks, which have much less significance for him, than the implications of his research on humanity.
The essence of these experiments demonstrates that while we all function as individuals, we do share something far more significant, A Global Consciousness. One can even name it as 'the mind of God'.
We have been taught to become individualistic entities. Our society also drives us to separate ourselves from others. But, that is not right. It is quite possible we may all be connected with one another far more closely than we have realized till date.
So, the time is therefore coming soon, when the future 'would be there for us to see'.
