Move objects by thinking

[TENNWH]

This question may have been asked and answered somewhere else on his forum if so, anyone who participated in it could direct me to it and may save time, as I am seeking information. Not necessarily a discussion of my views.

Is there any scientific evidence that a person can use visualization and thinking to control objects outside of one's body.
I have seen on television where people could move some objects around simply by thinking about it.
Some years ago I saw a program were a person (China I believe) could create a defense energy force a round him for protection, no one could penetrate the force to harm his body.

[Natural ChemE]

It baffles me that people don't seem to realize how fast the scientific community would be all over it if any credible demonstration of supernatural power ever occurred.

Seriously, scientists can show all of the enthusiasm in the world for findings that most people couldn't care less about, so why would anyone think that scientists wouldn't be the first to shout it from the roof tops if there was a real case of supernatural power?

But anywho, no. There have been no reported, credible claims to supernatural power.

[kudayta]

Some years ago I saw a program were a person (China I believe) could create a defense energy force a round him for protection, no one could penetrate the force to harm his body.

I saw that too. Here's how it turned out:

[Fuqin]

Whoops-! SPLAT! - Looks like some one forgot to read the rule book with the 500yuan book marker.

[linford86]

Is there any scientific evidence that a person can use visualization and thinking to control objects outside of one's body.

Well, this hamburger I'm munching on here is certainly outside my body. And to lift my arm and insert it's meaty goodness into my face I need to think the command "arm: lift!" I also visualize eating it before I eat it. So yes, I can visualize and use thinking to control objects outside my body.

But wait -- you protest -- that's not what you meant! You meant telekinesis; i.e. manipulating objects using thought alone as opposed to any kind of physical force.

As a scientist, and I know speak for many of the others here as well, we would all instantly jump at any good data about supernatural phenomena. It would represent a break with all current scientific theories -- and that's precisely what we'd like to find. In my own research, we are trying to build a particular part of physics which breaks with several older theories. It is at these places where actual research happens, and we would all very much like to see any viable data concerning the supernatural. The sad part of the story is that the only data which exists points to telekinesis and so forth being impossible. There is no known physical mechanism by which the human body could do that, and people who have claimed to have those powers have often turned out to be somehow self deluded or simply fraudulent. You can talk about "energy fields" and so forth, but in this context those words hold very little meaning. The human body does indeed generate electromagnetic fields and gravitational fields on very small levels, and certain people like to point to that as evidence that telekinesis might be possible. What they neglect to mention is that the fields are so extraordinarily small that you need specialized equipment to detect them (and in fact the gravitational field generated by the human body is so small that it eludes our most accurate measurements) and that your body fails to have any kind of discernable mechanism for consciously controlling them. Indeed, things like tables and chairs also have small scale electromagnetic fields but we simply do not associate supernatural powers with those kinds of objects (or at least most people don't.) To be fair, the human body does generate larger fields than tables and chairs, but still very small. You can get a larger electric field going by connecting two dissimilar metals to an orange (this is a crude battery; several childrens' toy companies sell versions that utilize potatoes, but for various reasons I think oranges would probably work better.) And again, we don't associate oranges with supernatural powers.

At the end of the day, the reason that these charlatans talk about electromagnetic fields and so forth so often is simple: they, and their audience, do not understand electromagnetic fields. If they did, they'd realize that there is nothing altogether mysterious about electromagnetism (at least on the relevant energy and length scales.) Electromagnetism is one of those parts of physics which is so well understood and so well tested that its gone on to form the basis of our modern digital age. Likewise, the concept of a "field" is also well understood, though again not by psuedoscientists or their audiences. The present situation is that any undergraduate physics student can poke giant gaping holes in these kinds of crackpot theories with ease. I suppose the lesson is that a little bit of education goes a long ways in successfully navigating the world and avoiding fraud.

[BioWizard]

I saw that too. Here's how it turned out:

So he managed to beat the shit out of him, but he still missed out on his supporting actor paycheck. Very funny.

[CanadysPeak]

I don't know exactly what you had in mind. I hope it wasn't telekinesis; we're short on spoons.

But, Toyota showed last year a working prototype of a thought controlled wheelchair for paraplegics. The user has to only think "left" for the chair to turn left, and so on. The power of course comes from a standard battery. It's only the control that comes from the user's brain. Is that the kind of thing you're interested in?

[Heron]

Is there any scientific evidence that a person can use visualization and thinking to control objects outside of one's body.

Depends on how you define "visualization and thinking to control objects outside of one's body" .

There is another thread on the subject here.

And here are regurgitated links from that thread including the EEG wheel chair control link. (saves time)

Interesting, but I find the EEG research more practical.