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Distant intentionality and healing: assessing the evidence
Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine
|February 12, 1998
Summary
Researchers investigated distant healing, analyzing 30 experiments where healers influenced distant individuals. Results showed significant biological variations during healing attempts, suggesting potential effects beyond suggestion.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Parapsychology
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Research since the 1950s has explored distant or "psychic" healing.
- Experimental protocols aim to test the distant healing hypothesis by measuring biological changes.
- Studies seek to rule out suggestion or self-regulation as explanations for observed effects.
Purpose of the Study:
- To provide an overview of "healing analog" experiments.
- To summarize and meta-analyze formal experiments on distant intentionality.
- To explore implications for distant healing mechanisms, mind-body relationship, and consciousness.
Main Methods:
- Meta-analysis of 30 formal experiments.
- Participants included self-reported healers and volunteers attempting to influence distant targets.
- Measurements focused on autonomic nervous system activity in the target person.
Main Results:
- A significant and characteristic variation was observed during distant intentionality periods.
- These variations were compared to randomly interspersed control periods.
- The findings suggest a potential effect of distant intentionality on biological systems.
Conclusions:
- The study provides evidence for anomalous effects in distant healing analogs.
- Alternative explanations for the reported effects were considered.
- Implications for understanding distant healing, the mind-body connection, and consciousness are discussed.