Anomalous Cognition: Remote Viewing Research and Theory

Anomalous cognition involves the acquisition of information emerging from a distant point in spacetime that is blocked from the usual sensory systems by distance, shielding or time. From 1975 to 1995, Edwin May was a scientist and then program director for the U.S. government's psychic espionage program, known as STAR GATE. With the closing of that program, research has continued at the Laboratories for Fundamental Research, in Palo Alto, in the areas of methodology and analysis, neurophysiological studies, personnel assessment and selection, operations research, the physics of anomalous cognition, and psychokinesis.

The conclusions from this 35+ year research effort can be summarized as (1) ESP exists; (2) the gradient of Shannon entropy is the key factor influencing information transfer; (3) because of the innate nature of the ability, the phenomenon so far resists training for excellence (and replication studies will not yield results), and (4) evidence for psychokinesis (PK) is questionable.

This book presents the state-of-the-art, with 26 key papers on research methods, physiological research, decision augmentation theory, entropy, other research, and research challenges.

Edwin C. May, Ph.D. (Nuclear Physics), is a leading figure in psi research, and has authored more than 500 research and technical papers in this area. He was with the U.S. government's psi research program, Star Gate, from late 1975 to 1995, and was the research director from 1985 to 1995, at SRI International and SAIC. He is the president of the Laboratories for Fundamental Research in Palo Alto, California.

Sonali Bhatt Marwaha, Ph.D. (Psychology), is a research associate with the Laboratories for Fundamental Research. Her interests include a synthesis of the cognitive sciences and psi research which can lead to theoretical developments in the field. She lives in India.