Psychokinesis

“Telekinesis” redirects here. For other uses, see 1 Etymology

Telekinesis (disambiguation).
Psychokinesis (from Greek ψυχή “mind” + κίνησις The word 'psychokinesis’ was coined in 1914 by Amer-
ican author Henry Holt in his book On the Cosmic
Relations.[21][22][23] The term is a linguistic blend or
portmanteau of the Greek language words ψυχή (“psy-
che”) – meaning mind, soul, spirit, or breath – and κίνησις
(“kinesis”) – meaning motion, movement.[1][2]
The American parapsychologist J. B. Rhine used the word
'psychokinesis’ in 1934 in connection with experiments
that were conducted to determine whether a person could
influence the outcome of falling dice.[8][24]
The word 'telekinesis’, a portmanteau of the Greek τῆλε
(“tēle”) – meaning distance – and κίνησις (“kinesis”) –
meaning motion[4] – was first used in 1890 by Russian
psychical researcher Alexander N. Aksakof.[25][26]
'Psychokinesis’ in parapsychology, fictional universes and
New Age beliefs refers to the influence of human thought,
emotion or mental concentration on physical systems and
objects,[5][6][7] while 'telekinesis’ adds the factor of dis-
tance to the movement and/or levitation of physical ob-
jects by purely mental force.[27][28]

2 Belief
In September 2006, a survey about belief in various re-
ligious and paranormal topics conducted by phone and
mail-in questionnaire polled 1,721 Americans on their
Artist conception of alleged spontaneous psychokinesis from belief in telekinesis. Of these participants, 28% of male
1911 French magazine La Vie Mysterieuse. participants and 31% of female participants selected
“agree” or “strongly agree” with the statement, "It is pos-
sible to influence the world through the mind alone."[29]
In April 2008, British psychologist and skeptic Richard
“movement”),[1][2] or telekinesis[3] (from τῆλε “far off”
Wiseman published the results of an online survey he
+ κίνησις “movement”),[4] is an alleged psychic ability
conducted, entitled “Magicians and the Paranormal: A
allowing a person to influence a physical system without
Survey”, in which 400 magicians worldwide participated.
physical interaction.[5][6][7] Psychokinesis and telekinesis
For the question, "Do you believe that psychokinesis exists
are sometimes abbreviated as PK and TK respectively.[8]
(i.e., that some people can, by paranormal means, apply
Examples of psychokinesis include moving an object and
a noticeable force to an object or alter its physical char-
levitation.[9][10] There is no conclusive evidence that psy-
acteristics)?", the results were as follows: No 83.5%, Yes
chokinesis is a real phenomenon.[11][12][13][14]
9%, Uncertain 7.5%.[30]
Psychokinesis experiments have historically
been criticized for lack of proper controls and
repeatability.[13][15][16][17] Furthermore, some ex- 2.1 Subsets of psychokinesis
periments have created illusions of psychokinesis where
none exists, and these illusions depend, to an extent, on Parapsychologists divide psychokinetic phenomena into
the subject’s prior belief in psychokinesis.[18][19][20] two categories: macro-psychokinesis, which are large-

1
2 2 BELIEF

scale psychokinetic effects that can be seen with the

naked eye, and micro-psychokinesis, which are small-
scale psychokinetic effects that require the use of
statistics to be detected.[7] Psychic phenomena such as
telekinesis,[27] psychic healing,[7] and retrocausality[31]
are considered types of psychokinesis.

2.2 Notable claimants of psychokinetic

ability

Spirit photography hoaxer Édouard Isidore Buguet[32] (1840-

1901) of France fakes telekinesis in this 1875 cabinet card pho-
tograph titled Fluidic Effect.

legedly cause objects to move during séances. However,

she was caught levitating a table with her foot by the ma-
gician Joseph Rinn and using tricks to move objects by
the psychologist Hugo Münsterberg.[34][35]
The Polish medium Stanisława Tomczyk active in the
early 20th century claimed to be able to perform various
acts of telekinesis, such as levitating objects, by way of an
entity she called “Little Stasia”.[36] A photograph of her
taken in 1909, which shows a pair of scissors “floating”
Eusapia Palladino “levitates” a table while researcher Alexander in between her hands, is often found in books and other
Aksakof (right) monitors for fraud, Milan, 1892. publications as an example of telekinesis.[37][38] Scientists
suspected Tomczyk performed her feats by the use of a
There have been claimants of psychokinetic ability fine thread or hair, running between her hands to lift and
throughout history. Angelique Cottin (ca. 1846) known suspend the objects in the air. This was confirmed when
as the “Electric Girl” of France was an alleged generator psychical researchers who tested Tomczyk occasionally
of PK activity. Cottin and her family claimed that she observed the thread.[38][39][40]
produced electric emanations that allowed her to move
pieces of furniture and scissors across a room.[33] Frank Many of India’s "godmen" have claimed macro-PK abili-
Podmore wrote there were many observations which were ties and demonstrated apparently miraculous phenomena
“suggestive of fraud” such as the contact of the girl’s gar- in public, although as more controls are put in place to
ments to produce any of the alleged phenomena and the prevent trickery, fewer phenomena are produced.[41]
observations from several witnesses that noticed there Annemarie Schaberl, a 19-year old secretary, was said
was a double movement on the part of Cottin, a move- to have telekinetic powers by the parapsychologist Hans
ment in the direction of the object thrown and afterwards Bender in the Rosenheim Poltergeist case in the 1960s.
away from it, but the movements so rapid they were not Magicians and scientists who investigated the case sus-
usually detected.[33] pected the phenomena were produced by trickery.[42][43]
Spiritualist mediums have also claimed psychokinetic Swami Rama, a yogi skilled in controlling his heart func-
abilities. Eusapia Palladino, an Italian medium, could al- tions, was studied at the Menninger Foundation in the
2.4 Metal bending 3

1970s and today claims healing powers.[46][55] Magicians

John Booth and Henry Gordon have suspected Manning
used trickery to perform his feats.[56][57]
In 1971, an American psychic named Felicia Parise al-
legedly moved a pill bottle across a kitchen counter by
psychokinesis. Her feats were endorsed by the parapsy-
chologist Charles Honorton. Science writer Martin Gard-
ner wrote Parise had “bamboozled” Honorton by moving
the bottle by an invisible thread stretched between her
hands.[51][58]
Boris Ermolaev, a Russian psychic, was known for levi-
tating small objects. His methods were exposed on the
World of Discovery documentary Secrets of the Russian
Psychics (1992). Ermolaev would sit on a chair and al-
Magician William Marriott reveals the trick of the medium
legedly move the objects between his knees but due to
Stanisława Tomczyk’s levitation of a glass tumbler. Pearson’s
Magazine, June 1910 the lighting conditions a fine thread fixed between his
knees suspending the objects was observed by the camera
crew.[49]
spring and fall of 1970 and was alleged by some observers The Russian psychic Alla Vinogradova was said to be able
at the foundation to have telekinetically moved a knitting to move objects without touching them on transparent
needle twice from a distance of five feet.[44] Although acrylic plastic or a plexiglass sheet. The parapsycholo-
Swami Rama wore a face-mask and gown to prevent alle- gist Stanley Krippner had observed Vinogradova rub an
gations that he moved the needle with his breath or body aluminum tube before moving it allegedly by psychokine-
movements, and air vents in the room had been covered, sis. Krippner suggested no psychokinesis was involved;
at least one physician observer who was present at the the effect was produced by an electrostatic charge. Vino-
time was not convinced and expressed the opinion that gradova was featured in the Nova documentary Secrets of
air movement was somehow the cause.[45] the Psychics (1993) which followed the debunking work
of James Randi.[49] Vinogradova demonstrated her al-
leged psychokinetic abilities on camera for Randi and
2.3 Psychics other investigators. Before the experiments she was ob-
served combing her hair and rubbing the surface of the
The Russian psychic Nina Kulagina came to wide pub- acrylic plastic. Massimo Polidoro has replicated the feats
lic attention following the publication of Sheila Ostran- of Vinogradova by using an acrylic plastic surface and
der and Lynn Schroeder’s best seller, Psychic Discover- showing how easy it is to move any kind of object on top
ies Behind The Iron Curtain. The alleged Soviet psy- of it due to the charges of static electricity. The effect
chic of the late 1960s and early 1970s was filmed ap- is easily achieved if the surface is electrically charged by
parently performing telekinesis while seated in numer- rubbing a towel or a hand on it.[49] The physicist John
ous black-and-white short films.[46] She was also men- Taylor has written “It is very likely that electrostatics is
tioned in the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency report from all that is needed to explain Alla Vinogradova’s appar-
1978.[47] Magicians and skeptics have argued that Kulag- ently paranormal feats.”[59]
ina’s feats could easily be performed by one practiced in
sleight of hand, through means such as cleverly concealed
or disguised threads, small pieces of magnetic metal, or 2.4 Metal bending
mirrors.[48][49][50][51]
James Hydrick, an American martial arts expert and psy- See also: Spoon bending
chic, was famous for his alleged psychokinetic ability to Psychics have also claimed the psychokinetic ability to
turn the pages of books and make pencils spin around bend metal. Uri Geller was famous for [46]
his spoon bend-
while placed on the edge of a desk. It was later revealed ing demonstrations, allegedly by PK. Geller has been
by magicians that he achieved his feats by air currents.[52] caught many times using sleight of hand and according
The psychologist Richard Wiseman has written Hydrick to science writer Terence Hines, all his effects have been
[60][61]
learnt to move objects by blowing in a “highly decep- recreated using conjuring tricks.
tive” and skillful way.[53] Hydrick confessed to Dan Ko- The French psychic Jean-Pierre Girard has claimed he
rem that all of his feats were tricks “My whole idea be- can bend metal bars by PK. Girard was tested in the 1970s
hind this in the first place was to see how dumb America but failed to produce any paranormal effects in scien-
was. How dumb the world is.”[54] The British psychic tifically controlled conditions.[62] He was tested on Jan-
Matthew Manning was the subject of laboratory research uary 19, 1977 during a two-hour experiment in a Paris
in the United States and England involving PK in the late laboratory. The experiment was directed by the physi-
4 3 RECEPTION

perpetrated on him by fakers who took advantage of his

naivety and trust.”[66]
“PK Parties” were a cultural fad in the 1980s, begun
by Jack Houck,[67] where groups of people were guided
through rituals and chants to awaken metal-bending pow-
ers. They were encouraged to shout at the items of cut-
lery they had brought and to jump and scream to create an
atmosphere of pandemonium (or what scientific investi-
gators called heightened suggestibility). Critics were ex-
cluded and participants were told to avoid looking at their
hands. Thousands of people attended these emotionally
charged parties, and many became convinced that they
had bent silverware by paranormal means.[68]
PK parties have been described as a campaign by para-
normal believers to convince people of the existence of
psychokinesis, on the basis of nonscientific data from per-
sonal experience and testimony. The United States Na-
tional Academy of Sciences has criticized PK parties on
the grounds that conditions are not reliable for obtaining
scientific results and “are just those which psychologists
and others have described as creating states of heightened
suggestibility.”[68]
Ronnie Marcus, an Israeli psychic and claimant of psy-
chokinetic metal bending, was tested in 1994 in scien-
tifically controlled conditions and failed to produce any
paranormal phenomena.[69] According to magicians, his
Uri Geller was famous for his spoon bending demonstrations. alleged psychokinetic feats were sleight of hand tricks.
Marcus bent a letter opener by the concealed application
of force and a frame-by-frame analysis of video showed
cist Yves Farge with a magician also present. All of that he bent a spoon from pressure from his thumb by
the experiments were negative as Girard failed to make ordinary, physical means.[70][71]
any of the objects move paranormally. He failed two
tests in Grenoble in June 1977 with the magician James
Randi.[62] He was also tested on September 24, 1977 at a 2.5 In popular culture
laboratory at the Nuclear Research Centre. Girard failed
to bend any bars or change the structure of the metals. Psychokinesis and telekinesis have commonly been used
Other experiments into spoon bending were also negative as superpowers in movies, television, computer games,
and witnesses described his feats as fraudulent. Girard literature, and other forms of popular culture.[72][73][74]
later admitted that he would sometimes cheat to avoid dis- Notable portrayals of psychokinetic and/or telekinetic
appointing the public but insisted he still had genuine psy- characters include the Teleks in the 1952 novella
chic power.[62] Magicians and scientists have written that Telek,[75] Sissy Spacek as the title character in the
he produced all his alleged psychokinetic feats through 1976 film Carrie,[76] Ellen Burstyn in the 1980 healer-
fraudulent means.[60][63] themed film Resurrection,[77] the Jedi and Sith in the
Stephen North, a British psychic in the late 1970s, Star Wars franchise,[78] the Scanners in the 1981 film
was known for his alleged psychokinetic ability to bend Scanners,[79] and three high school seniors in the 2012
spoons and teleport objects in and out of sealed contain- film Chronicle.[80]
ers. The British physicist John Hasted tested North in
a series of experiments which he claimed had demon-
strated psychokinesis, though his experiments were crit- 3 Reception
icized for lack of scientific controls.[64][65] North was
tested in Grenoble on 19 December 1977 in scientific
conditions and the results were negative.[62] According 3.1 Evaluation
to James Randi, during a test at Birkbeck College North
was observed to have bent a metal sample with his bare There is a broad scientific consensus that PK research,
hands. Randi wrote “I find it unfortunate that [Hasted] and parapsychology more generally, have not produced a
never had an epiphany in which he was able to recognize reliable, repeatable demonstration.[12][16][17][68][81][82]
just how thoughtless, cruel, and predatory were the acts A panel commissioned by the United States National Re-
3.2 Physics 5

search Council to study paranormal claims concluded that M. Hansel has written that a general objection against the
“despite a 130-year record of scientific research on such claim for the existence of psychokinesis is that, if it were
matters, our committee could find no scientific justifica- a real process, its effects would be expected to manifest in
tion for the existence of phenomena such as extrasensory situations in everyday life; but no such effects have been
perception, mental telepathy or ‘mind over matter’ exer- observed.[87]
cises... Evaluation of a large body of the best available ev- Martin Gardner has written that if psychokinesis existed,
idence simply does not support the contention that these then one would expect players to be able to influence
phenomena exist.”[81] the outcome of gambling games.[88] He gives the exam-
In 1984, the United States National Academy of Sci- ple of the “26” dice game played in bars and cabarets in
ences, at the request of the US Army Research Institute, Chicago: year after year the house takings are exactly
formed a scientific panel to assess the best evidence from those predicted by chance.[89] Likewise, casino owners
130 years of claims of parapsychology. Part of its pur- have not noted any decrease in profits:[90] science writer
pose was to investigate military applications of PK, for Terence Hines and the philosopher Theodore Schick have
example to remotely jam or disrupt enemy weaponry. written that if psychokinesis were possible, then surely
The panel heard from a variety of military staff who be- one would expect casino incomes to be affected, but the
lieved in PK and made visits to the PEAR laboratory earnings are exactly as the laws of chance predict.[91][92]
and two other laboratories that had claimed positive re- Psychologist Nicholas Humphrey argues that many ex-
sults from micro-PK experiments. The panel criticized periments in psychology, biology or physics assume that
macro-PK experiments for being open to deception by the intentions of the subjects or experimenter do not
conjurors, and said that virtually all micro-PK experi- physically distort the apparatus. Humphrey counts them
ments “depart from good scientific practice in a variety as implicit replications of PK experiments in which PK
of ways”. Their conclusion, published in a 1987 report, fails to appear.[17]
was that there was no scientific evidence for the existence
of psychokinesis.[68]
Carl Sagan included telekinesis in a long list of “offer- 3.2 Physics
ings of pseudoscience and superstition” which “it would
be foolish to accept (...) without solid scientific data”.[83] The ideas of psychokinesis and telekinesis violate sev-
Nobel Prize laureate Richard Feynman advocated a sim- eral well-established laws of physics, including the inverse
ilar position.[84] square law, the second law of thermodynamics, and the
conservation of momentum.[81][93] Because of this, sci-
Felix Planer, a professor of electrical engineering, has
entists have demanded a high standard of evidence for
written that if psychokinesis were real then it would be
PK, in line with Marcello Truzzi's dictum “Extraordinary
easy to demonstrate by getting subjects to depress a scale
claims require extraordinary proof”.[17][94] The Occam’s
on a sensitive balance, raise the temperature of a water-
razor law of parsimoniousness in scientific explanation of
bath which could be measured with an accuracy of a hun-
phenomenons suggest that the explanation of PK in terms
dredth of a degree centigrade, or affect an element in an
ordinary ways — by trickery, special effects or by poor
electrical circuit such as a resistor, which could be mon-
experimental design — is preferable to accepting that the
itored to better than a millionth of an ampere.[85] Planer
laws of physics should be rewritten.[14][16]
writes that such experiments are extremely sensitive and
easy to monitor but are not utilized by parapsychologists Philosopher and physicist Mario Bunge has written that
as they “do not hold out the remotest hope of demonstrat- “psychokinesis, or PK, violates the principle that mind
ing even a minute trace of PK” because the alleged phe- cannot act directly on matter. (If it did, no experimenter
nomenon is non-existent. Planer has written that para- could trust his readings of measuring instruments.) It also
violates the principles of conservation of energy and mo-
psychologists have to fall back on studies that involve only
mentum. The claim that quantum mechanics allows for
statistics that are unrepeatable, owing their results to poor
experimental methods, recording mistakes and faulty sta- the possibility of mental power influencing randomizers
tistical mathematics.[85] — an alleged case of micro-PK — is ludicrous since that
theory respects the said conservation principles, and it
According to Planer, “All research in medicine and other
deals exclusively with physical things.”[95]
sciences would become illusionary, if the existence of PK
had to be taken seriously; for no experiment could be re- Physicist John Taylor, who has investigated parapsycho-
lied upon to furnish objective results, since all measure- logical claims, has written that an unknown fifth force
ments would become falsified to a greater or lesser de- causing psychokinesis would have to transmit a great
gree, according to his PK ability, by the experimenter’s deal of energy. The energy would have to overcome the
wishes.” Planer concluded that the concept of psychoki- electromagnetic forces binding the atoms together, be-
nesis is absurd and has no scientific basis.[86] cause the atoms would need to respond more strongly
to the fifth force than to electric forces. Such an addi-
PK hypotheses have also been considered in a number
tional force between atoms should therefore exist all the
of contexts outside parapsychological experiments. C. E.
time and not during only alleged paranormal occurrences.
6 3 RECEPTION

Taylor wrote there is no scientific trace of such a force in a dice game wishing for a high score can interpret high
physics, down to many orders of magnitude; thus, if a sci- numbers as “success” and low numbers as “not enough
entific viewpoint is to be preserved, the idea of any fifth concentration.”[81] Bias towards belief in PK may be an
force must be discarded. Taylor concluded that there is example of the human tendency to see patterns where
no possible physical mechanism for psychokinesis, and it none exist, called the clustering illusion, which believers
is in complete contradiction to established science.[96] are also more susceptible to.[99]
In 1979, Evan Harris Walker and Richard Mattuck pub- A 1952 study tested for experimenter’s bias with respect
lished a parapsychology paper proposing a quantum ex- to psychokinesis. Richard Kaufman of Yale University
planation for psychokinesis. Physicist Victor J. Stenger gave subjects the task of trying to influence eight dice and
wrote that their explanation contained assumptions not allowed them to record their own scores. They were se-
supported by any scientific evidence. According to cretly filmed, so their records could be checked for errors.
Stenger their paper is “filled with impressive looking Believers in psychokinesis made errors that favored its ex-
equations and calculations that give the appearance of istence, while disbelievers made opposite errors. A sim-
placing psychokinesis on a firm scientific footing... Yet ilar pattern of errors was found in J. B. Rhine's dice ex-
look what they have done. They have found the value of periments, which were considered the strongest evidence
one unknown number (wavefunction steps) that gives one for PK at that time.[101]
measured number (the supposed speed of PK-induced In 1995, Wiseman and Morris showed subjects an
motion). This is numerology, not science.”[97] unedited videotape of a magician’s performance in which
Physicist Sean M. Carroll has written that spoons, like all a fork bent and eventually broke. Believers in the para-
matter, are made up of atoms and that any movement of normal were significantly more likely to misinterpret the
a spoon with the mind would involve the manipulation of tape as a demonstration of PK, and were more likely to
those atoms through the four forces of nature: the strong misremember crucial details of the presentation. This
nuclear force, the weak nuclear force, electromagnetism, suggests that confirmation bias affects people’s inter-
and gravitation. Psychokinesis would have to be either pretation of PK demonstrations.[19] Psychologist Robert
some form of one of these four forces, or a new force Sternberg cites confirmation bias as an explanation of why
that has a billionth the strength of gravity, for otherwise belief in psychic phenomena persists, despite the lack of
it would have been captured in experiments already done. evidence:
This leaves no physical force that could possibly account
for psychokinesis.[98] “Some of the worst examples of confir-
Physicist Robert L. Park has found it suspicious that a mation bias are in research on parapsychology
phenomenon should only ever appear at the limits of de- (...) Arguably, there is a whole field here with
tectability of questionable statistical techniques. He cites no powerful confirming data at all. But peo-
this feature as one of Irving Langmuir's indicators of ple want to believe, and so they find ways to
pathological science.[82] Park pointed out that if mind re- believe.”[102]
ally could influence matter, it would be easy for parapsy-
chologists to measure such a phenomenon by using the Psychologist Daniel Wegner has argued that an
alleged psychokinetic power to deflect a microbalance, introspection illusion contributes to belief in
which would not require any dubious statistics. "[T]he psychokinesis.[103] He observes that in everyday ex-
reason, of course, is that the microbalance stubbornly re- perience, intention (such as wanting to turn on a light)
fuses to budge.” He has suggested that the reason statisti- is followed by action (such as flicking a light switch) in
cal studies are so popular in parapsychology is that they a reliable way, but the underlying neural mechanisms
introduce opportunities for uncertainty and error, which are outside awareness. Hence, though subjects may
are used to support the experimenter’s biases.[82] feel that they directly introspect their own free will, the
experience of control is actually inferred from relations
between the thought and the action. This theory of
3.3 Explanations in terms of bias apparent mental causation acknowledges the influence
of David Hume's view of the mind.[103] This process
Cognitive bias research has suggested that people are sus- for detecting when one is responsible for an action is
ceptible to illusions of PK. These include both the illu- not totally reliable, and when it goes wrong there can
sion that they themselves have the power, and that the be an illusion of control. This can happen when an
events they witness are real demonstrations of PK.[99] external event follows, and is congruent with, a thought
For example, the illusion of control is an illusory cor- in someone’s mind, without an actual causal link.[103]
relation between intention and external events, and be- As evidence, Wegner cites a series of experiments on
lievers in the paranormal have been shown to be more magical thinking in which subjects were induced to think
susceptible to this illusion than others.[18][100] Psycholo- they had influenced external events. In one experiment,
gist Thomas Gilovich explains this as a biased interpre- subjects watched a basketball player taking a series of free
tation of personal experience. For example, someone in throws. When they were instructed to visualize him mak-
3.5 Prize money for proof of psychokinesis 7

ing his shots, they felt that they had contributed to his then you should be able to put a bent key on the
success.[104] table and comment, ‘Look, it is still bending’,
A 2006 meta-analysis of 380 studies found a small posi- and have your spectators really believe that it is.
tive effect that can be explained by publication bias.[105] This may sound the height of boldness; how-
ever, the effect is astounding – and combined
with suggestion, it does work.”[110]
3.4 Magic and special effects
Between 1979 and 1981, the McDonnell Laboratory for
Psychical Research at Washington University reported a
series of experiments they named Project Alpha, in which
two teenaged male subjects had demonstrated PK phe-
nomena (including metal-bending and causing images to
appear on film) under less than stringent laboratory con-
ditions. James Randi eventually revealed that the subjects
were two of his associates, amateur conjurers Steve Shaw
and Michael Edwards. The pair had created the effects
by standard trickery, but the researchers, being unfamil-
iar with magic techniques, interpreted them as proof of
PK.[111]
A 2014 study that utilized a magic trick to investigate
paranormal belief on eyewitness testimony revealed that
believers in psychokinesis were more likely to report a
key continued to bend than non-believers.[20]

3.5 Prize money for proof of psychokinesis

Main article: List of prizes for evidence of the paranor-
mal

Internationally there are individual skeptics of the para-

normal and skeptics’ organizations who offer cash prize
money for demonstration of the existence of an extraor-
[112]
An advertising poster depicting magician Harry Kellar perform- dinary psychic power, such as psychokinesis. Prizes
ing the “Levitation of Princess Karnac” illusion, 1894, U.S. Li- have been offered specifically for PK demonstrations:
brary of Congress. for example, businessman Gerald Fleming’s offer of
£250,000 to Uri Geller if he can bend a spoon under con-
See also: Mentalism trolled conditions.[113] These prizes remain uncollected
by people claiming to possess paranormal abilities.
Magicians have successfully simulated some of the spe- The James Randi Educational Foundation offers the One
cialized abilities of psychokinesis, such as object move- Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge to anyone who
ment, spoon bending, levitation and teleportation.[106] claims to be able to produce a paranormal event in a con-
According to Robert Todd Carroll, there are many im- trolled, mutually agreed upon experiment.[114] To date no
pressive magic tricks available to amateurs and profes- one has been able to demonstrate their claimed abilities
sionals to simulate psychokinetic powers.[107] Metal ob- under the testing conditions.[115]
jects such as keys or cutlery can be bent using a number
of different techniques, even if the performer has not had
access to the items beforehand.[108] 4 See also
According to Richard Wiseman there are a number of
ways for faking psychokinetic metal bending (PKMB). • List of topics characterized as pseudoscience
These include switching straight objects for pre-bent du-
plicates, the concealed application of force, and secretly • Energy (esotericism)
inducing metallic fractures.[109] Research has also sug-
• Global Consciousness Project
gested that (PKMB) effects can be created by verbal sug-
gestion. On this subject the magician Ben Harris wrote: • List of psychic abilities

“If you are doing a really convincing job, • Magical thinking

8 5 REFERENCES

• Mind over matter [12] Vyse, Stuart A. (2000-03-01). Believing in Magic: The
Psychology of Superstition. Oxford University Press US.
• Psi p. 129. ISBN 978-0-19-513634-0. [M]ost scientists,
both psychologists and physicists, agree that it has yet to
• Human magnetism be convincingly demonstrated.

• Telepathy [13] “Psychokinesis (PK) - The Skeptic’s Dictionary”.

Skepdic.com. 2014-01-15. Retrieved 2014-02-02.
• Torsion field
[14] Hyman, Ray (2007). “Evaluating Parapsychological
Claims”. In Robert J. Sternberg; Henry L. Roediger; Di-
ane F. Halpern. Critical Thinking in Psychology. Cam-
5 References bridge University Press. pp. 216–231. ISBN 978-0-521-
60834-3.
[1] Random House (2005-07-12). Random House Webster’s
Unabridged Dictionary. Boston, Massachusetts: Random [15] Girden, Edward (September 1962). “A review of psy-
House Reference. p. 1560. ISBN 978-0-375-42599-8. chokinesis (PK)". Psychological Bulletin 59 (5): 353–388.
OCLC 48010385. psycho-, a combining form represent- doi:10.1037/h0048209.
ing psyche in compound words. ... (Gk, comb. form
of psyche breath, spirit, soul, mind; akin to psycheim to [16] Kurtz, Paul (1985). A Skeptic’s Handbook of Para-
blow). psychology ([Nachdr.]. ed.). Buffalo, Ny: Prometheus
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[2] Erin McKean, [principal editor]., ed. (2005-04-08). The
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[112] “Randi $1,000,000 paranormal challenge - The Skeptic’s

Dictionary”. Skepdic.com. Retrieved 2014-04-12.

[113] Hutchinson, Mike (1988). “A Thorn in Geller’s Side”.

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6 Further reading
• Thomas Gilovich. (1993). How We Know What Isn't
So: Fallibility of Human Reason in Everyday Life.
Free Press. ISBN 978-0-02-911706-4

• Henry Gordon. (1988). Extrasensory Deception:

ESP, Psychics, Shirley MacLaine, Ghosts, UFOs.
Macmillan of Canada. ISBN 0-7715-9539-5
• Terence Hines. (2003). Pseudoscience and the Para-
normal. Prometheus Books. ISBN 1-57392-979-4
• David Marks. (2000). The Psychology of the Psychic
(2nd Edition). Prometheus Books. ISBN 1-57392-
798-8
• James Randi. (1982). Flim-Flam! Psychics, ESP,
Unicorns, and Other Delusions. Prometheus Books.
ISBN 0-87975-198-3

• Richard Wiseman. (1997). Deception & Self-

Deception: Investigating Psychics. Prometheus
Books ISBN 978-1-57392-121-3

7 External links
• Psychokinesis at DMOZ
 13

8 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

8.1 Text
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ingToaster, Stvjns, Avillia, Kyouretsu, Erencexor, Liu Bei, Doctormatt, Cydebot, Hydraton31, JFreeman, Otto4711, Rracecarr, Dancter,
Doug Weller, Rsheridan6, Javsav, Ward3001, Ipkissian maskosis, Ender Wiiggin, Casliber, JamesAM, Thijs!bot, Epbr123, Barticus88,
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artist: ?

• File:Edouard-Isidore-Buguet-PK-spirit-photographer.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/

Edouard-Isidore-Buguet-PK-spirit-photographer.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: http://www.metmuseum.org/special/Perfect_
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14 8 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

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8.3 Content license

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