Article By Dr. Edward Naumov
(Russian Biologist and leading Parapsychologist)
Dr. Edward Naumov’s interest in parapsychological problems began in 1960 when he met Bernard Kazhinsky, author of the well known book “ Biological Radio”, and Professor Leonid Vasiliev, whose work has laid the scientific foundations of parapsychology. Dr. Naumov has since become one of Russia’s leading exponents of parapsychology. He writes here of the work being done in Russia in this sphere.
Russian scientists began to study problems of parapsychology in 1919. By the end of the ’twenties research in this field was being stepped up and directed not so much towards a study of the dynamics of psychological processes in telepathic experiments as to an elucidation of the physical nature of telepathic phenomena.
The work done by Academician Vladimir Bekhterev, Academician Alexander Leontovich, Prof. Leonid Vasiliev and engineer Bernard Kazhinsky has laid the scientific foundations of this problem. One may speak of shortcomings in the methods used or dispute the objectivity of the experiments conducted, but one should remember the enthusiasm revealed by the trail-blazers in this field, who have accumulated a vast amount of experimental material of great value in elucidating the material vector of telepathic information.
The war inevitably slowed down these studies. This slow down continued following the way. It was a natural process caused by the arduous years of the war and the difficult time that followed.
However, since 1960 interest in parapsychology has soared in Moscow and other big Russian cities. In the early sixties a book by Prof. Vasiliev and engineer Kazhinsky came out which examined a number of theoretical problems of parapsychology and contained vast factual and experimental material. In 1965, a section of bioinformation was established at the Popov Scientific and Technical Society of Radio Communications and Electrical Engineering.
This section, of which I was a member until quite recently, began the regular study of parapsychological problems. Its main attention was focused on a study of telepathy. In the two and a half years of its existence, its laboratory has carried out a great deal of work, mainly along three lines:
1. Research into hypnotic conditions;
2. Research and experiments conducted in the state of normal wakefulness;
3. Experiments in long-distance telepathic communication.
EXPERIMENTS ON HYPNOSIS
Two series of experiments were conducted — awakening subjects from hypnotic slumber from a distance, and suggesting, from a considerable distance, to a hypnotised standing subject that he should fall down. In all, about 1,000 people came under study.
The first series of experiments was conducted as follows: the inductor and the hypnotised percipient were located in one and the same room. The former, who thought-conveyed the command to awaken, recorded with the aid of a stopwatch the exact time at which the signal was sent and at which the subject emerged from the hypnotic condition. These experiments have shown that there exists a stable time difference between the sending of the stimulus and the moment of wakening. It appears that as soon as the signal is sent, the hypnotic condition becomes less and less profound, wakening taking place in between 20 and 30 seconds.
The same results were obtained in more complex experiments, in which the percipient and the inductor were located in two different rooms at some distance. One room was sound- insulated and supplied with a screen.
The second series of experiments, that of inducing a hypnotised person to fall down following a telepathically communicated command from the inductor, was conducted as follows: the inductor suggested, not merely the act of falling but the direction in which it should take place — backward or forward, to the left or to the right. In an experiment conducted in two adjacent rooms, the fact of falling was established in 10 cases out of 10, the direction of the fall being predetermined in eight cases out of 10.
EXPERIMENTS IN STATE OF WAKEFULNESS
These consisted in the proper selection and recognition of certain articles. These experiments were more complex. Thus, 10 identical sheets of paper were placed on a table and it was suggested to the percipient — from a certain distance — that he should choose one of them. Only two experiments out of six were successful. These experiments were later made more complex, with the inductor being located in another room and reverse communication being effected by radio. Fifty per cent of these experiments were successful.
EXPERIMENTS IN LONG RANGE TELEPATHIC COMMUNICATION
The first extensive experiment in the telepathic communication of images was conducted in 1966. The sessions lasted four days, between April 19 and April 27, at intervals. The inductor was located in Moscow and the percipient in Novosibirsk. Two kinds of transmission were tested — Zener cards and visual images of random articles. In the former type of experiment it was found that the number of transmitted and faithfully received figures was higher than the number of possible random coincidences calculated according to the theory of probability.
In the experiments in telepathic transmission of images between Moscow and Dubna, Moscow and Leningrad, and Baku and Kotovsk, there were no ideal coincidences, the results being both positive and negative. In my opinion, these experiments bear out the existence of the phenomenon of telepathy.
Jointly with Professor Gennady Sergeyev I conducted a number of experiments at a Leningrad physiological laboratory to verify telepathic phenomena. Our aim was to ascertain whether regular features in the shifts in physiological parameters could be discerned in the process of telepathic contact. We examined the reactions of the brain, the heart and the motor organs.
The results reveal that in these conditions there take place distinct modiciations in the operative activities of the heart, the brain and the respiratory organs. During the transmission of emotional conditions the electro-encephalogram recorded characteristic noises caused by the adaptation of neuronic links at the moment of reception of biological information. Out of 21 cases of information transmission, biological contact was distinctly registered in 18 instances. At the moment of the establishment of biological contact the percipient pressed a special button, this act being recorded on the time line of the encephalogram. The time interval between the brain’s reaction as recorded on the electro-encephalogram and the moment of confirmation of contact was between 3 and 4 seconds.
Analysis of the electro-cardiogram showed that at the moment of biological contact complete synchronisation takes place in the cycle of cardiac activity in both inductor and percipient. Simultaneously there is an increase in arhythmia, a faster heartbeat and greater cardiac noises. Normal heart activity is restored after completion of biological contact.
During the latter we also observed changes in the frequency and spectral structure of the tremor registration curve. The frequency increased by 25-30 per cent following biological contact, and the amplitude of the force spectrum of tremor doubled. These results can be explained by the excitation of high-frequency motor-neurons which stimulate muscular reactions during telepathic contact. All this goes to show the real existence of the phenomena of biological impact whose adequate study is within the reach only of big scientific collectives equipped with up-to-date apparatus for laboratory analysis and with computers.
It is to be regretted that parapsychology has not yet won a firm place in science. There is no single school of thought in Russia on these unravel led phenomena of the human mind.
Some scientists think that the need exists for the extensive organisation of research which may lead to important scientific discoveries. Others are somewhat sceptical and doubt the reliability of the results obtained. However, they do not deny the possibility in principle that telepathic phenomena exist. Still others reject the very possibility of telepathic phenomena and are opposed to studies in this field, proceeding in this from certain a priori theoretical assumptions.
We often have occasion to hear such categorical statements “I don’t believe in telepathy”, or “I do believe in telepathy”. But surely this is not a matter of belief or non-belief. What is needed, in the first place, is that telepathic phenomena should be studied experimentally, scientifically and with the aid of objective methods. There may be objection to spending effort and money on such studies. But I believe that this field deserves both money and every effort.
Let us imagine that this kind of transmission has been carried out and that we have achieved repetitiveness in the findings. That will mean a revolution in communications, teaching, education and so on. That is why great harm is caused by empty philosophical arguments which hinder experimental studies. In the opinion of most Russian scientists working in different fields the question today is not whether or not telepathy exists; the question is how this problem should be investigated and how the results achieved are to be interpreted.
What are the reasons for the uncertain attitude towards parapsychology? One is that telepathy has been compromised as a problem. For many decades it has been treated in a religious and therefore idealistic manner, which has affected the development of the problem as a whole. The second reason lies in the complexity of the problem itself. Parapsychological abilities are linked with such complex mental processes as the subconscious activity of the brain. These processes have been studied so little that people have not yet learned to control them, in other words, to reproduce them.
The conviction predominates among scientists — both supporters and opponents of telepathy — that, in common with other parapsychological phenomena, these can be established and recognised only if they can be reproduced at will. This posing of the problem contains at least the demand that the phenomena should be mastered in such a way as to be controllable. That is why the problem of telepathy can today be formulated as one of the study of psycho-physiological conditions, their creation and control.
The third reason is that the problem of the physical nature of any vector of telepathic phenomena still remains open. There exist many theories, that of the electromagnetic hypothesis being the best studied and most widely recognised.
According to this hypothesis, telepathic communication is effected with the aid of electromagnetic waves. This hypothesis has come in for sharp criticism from specialists in physics and parapsychology. For a long time its unsound basis from the energy point of view stood out. One solution of the problem was found in 1966 by Prof. Ippolit Kogan, a Soviet specialist in radio engineering, who noticed that, in accordance with the Shannon theorem of the upper limits to the carrying capacity of a channel, transmission of information is possible (and moreover, without distortion) at even the smallest signal-noise ratio if the appropriate code is used and the speed of transmission does not exceed the channel- carrying capacity.
However, quantitative appraisals have not confirmed the possibility of long-range bio-communication. The extensive material accumulated in the sphere of spontaneous and experimental telepathy contains no mention of the electromagnetic nature of this phenomenon, but more than sufficient direct and indirect proofs to the contrary. All this has induced parapsychologists to advance new hypotheses, among them the fluctuation theory, which has been reflected in the works of Soviet scientists. As I see it, this hypothesis holds the greatest promise.
The fluctuation hypothesis is based on the assumption of the super-high velocity of spatial propagation of telepathemes or its elements. It may be assumed that such signals with velocities higher than that of light exist in Nature, if considered as processes of a fluctuation character. That accounts for the promising nature of an explanation of telepathic communication as an exchange of information between inductor and percipient through the excitation of a field whose fluctuations can spread in Nature with a velocity exceeding that of light. All current facts of experimental and spontaneous telepathy fit the framework of this hypothesis.
In February this year a symposium was held in Moscow on “Scientific Problems of Telepathy”, at which members of the section of bio-information reported on the work done. All the reports delivered dealt with methods. The numerous experiments carried out have enabled Soviet scientists to evolve methods of encouraging telepathic abilities and to promote methods of transmitting images over long distances.
I shall not deal in detail with all the reports. I think that the most interesting was by engineer Vladimir Fidelman on “Methods and Results in the Telepathic Transmission of Figures”. Fidelman’s group tested the possibility, in principle, of the telepathic transmission of numbers over distances ranging from several yards to several miles. The new element in the work was that instead of the image of a single figure which the inductor usually tries to retain in his imagination over a certain period of time by means of a definite effort, a number of consecutive depictions of one and the same figure were transmitted. The inductor effected transmission in impulses, as it were, at definite time intervals.
These experiments have shown that at the beginning of reception the image arising in the mind of the percipient very often does not agree with what has been transmitted, and the percipient’s reception is not very sure. However, the image becomes embedded in his mind after a certain period. This fact was well demonstrated with numbers: the percipient ultimately perceives the image only after the inductor sees the image fairly clearly seven to ten seconds after transmission has begun. Experiments have shown that any person can transmit number images.
All those who wished to were tested as inductors and it was discovered that the number of repetitions of one and the same number varies with different inductors. That is why each inductor must determine his transmission time. In Fidelman’s experiments this time factor varied between 10 and 90 seconds. During a transmission over a distance of more than one mile, only 35 out of 135 numbers were wrongly received. Such results again confirm the existence of the telepathic effect.
This method of transmission of numbers can be used as a model for the verification and study of telepathic phenomena. By using one and the same telepathic couple and locating inductor and percipient at various distances from each other, we can establish with a high degree of accuracy the influence exerted by distance and various obstacles on the transmission speed. During these experiments the possibility of interception by other percipients was verified.
Parapsychology does not mean telepathy alone. It includes telesthesia, proscopy and retroscopy as well as telekinesis. During last year I discontinued work in the section of bio-information, in which the study of parapsychological phenomena has been limited to the framework of telepathy, and continued my research in the section of technical para- psychology and bio-introscopy. This section’s programme includes investigation into the most varying phenomena of parapsychology.
In particular, I have recently engaged in experiments in telekinesis. Although it has amassed considerable experience in the field of telepathy, Russian parapsychology has never investigated the sphere of telekinesis. Before the war a man was discovered who possessed telekinetic abiIities but he lost his life in the war and the work was not completed.
A study of telekinesis opens up new opportunities in determining the essence of this phenomenon. Whereas in telepathy we have not been able to solve the problem of the repetitiveness of experiments (which is connected with a special regime for the brain which cannot be created at will) telekinesis is experimentally repetitive so that in principle it can always be displayed. This makes it possible to ascertain the psycho-physiological and experimental foundations of telekinesis, which will present tremendous practical interest.
I have no doubt that telekinesis can be used for man’s welfare and improvement. The biological energy of telekinesis will find application in the running of electronic machines and in physico-chemical processes. I hope that these new discoveries will not fall into the hands of those who may use telekinesis as a biological weapon.
The physiological and physical investigations we are now working on will help uncover the nature of telekinesis. The first results received from physical studies have not only confirmed the fact of the existence of telekinesis but also permit its physical interpretation.
In June, the section of technical parapsychology and bio-introscopy, in which I am now conducting research, is to hold a symposium with an extensive programme: first, the problem of the transmission of information in the physiological, mathematical and physical aspects. Then we shall deal with the bio-introscopic aspect (dermo-optical vision). Finally, there is the “man-to-man problem”. The latter is a new and major problem of man’s biological compatibility or incompatibility with a collective.
What we are dealing with is the biological, not the psychological compatibility of man and the collective. All of us have often noticed that in a group one somnolent man may make others feel sleepy. We are all familiar with the phenomenon of an instinctive dislike of some person. All this is linked with a manifestation of biological incompatibility, which is material in its foundation: changes in a man’s emotions, temper and conditions are reflected in the changing rhythm of the brain’s electrical activity. Transmission of emotional states from one person to another takes place because one person’s brain can impose on another’s its own rhythm of electrical activity.
All this has a direct bearing on parapsychology, which is in effect nothing but spontaneous telepathy in which emotions, not images, are transmitted. Proceeding from this theory, we shall deal, at our June symposium, with the problem of the relations between people in a single collective, the problem of selection of people for specific tasks, and the problem of the co-existence of various people in a single collective and of the selection of telepathic couples.
The highlight of our programme will probably be the unification of all supporters of parapsychology. During the period of preparation for the June symposium, we have dis- covered that people of the most varied specialities have come together with the emergence of parapsychology. These people want to study its phenomena, but each will be working on his own if he is unable to add his efforts to the common pool. The advance of science and technology is so rapid that it is no longer possible to work on one’s own.
We are also greatly interested in contacts with parapsychologists abroad. I think that parapsychology is an international problem, and not only in the sense of creative collaboration. Parapsychology must develop for the good of mankind, and it is an open secret that it can be used for both good and evil. The future wilI see the key problems of present day psychology revolving around parapsychology, such problems as that of the subconscious, of personality and of emotions.
