Why Study Psi?
Parapsychologists use the Greek letter psi to represent what many of us think of as psychic abilities. The three main categories studies are psychic phenomena (telepathy, precognition, clairvoyance), psychokinesis or PK (the ability to move or influence the physical world through our mental processes) and what is called survival research.
Survival research focuses on survival after death. This includes apparitions of the departed, near death experience (NDE) and reincarnation research. While some skeptics refuse to see it, there is strong evidence both inside and outside the lab that psi phenomena is real.
Parapsychologists take the position that psi is a human ability. Questions such as why psi occurs and how it can be applied are important and can only be answered through research.
It’s possible that psi abilities are growing stronger in the population or possibly diminishing and this is important information as well.
It's known (through evidence based studies) that belief in psi increases psi abilities (or at least the ability to demonstrate psi). If continued research into psi helps convince people that psi is real, it's very possible that psi abilities/phenomena will increase as a result.
Some Everyday Psi Application
I personally believe that ESP (especially telepathy and possibly some forms of PK) can be a valuable life skill. Unfortunately, in our society too many people are taught to doubt or discount their abilities. Being able to sense when something is off or read a potentially dangerous individual, for example, can save someone’s life. I think this is especially true for women and people who live or work in dangerous areas or professions.
I personally feel that I have avoided dangerous situations and at least one accident because of psi. I hope that someday people will be encouraged to make use of psi abilities instead of ignore them.
Another helpful use of psi is in business or various professions where hunches can lead to unexpected success. There are many other uses, obviously, but these are some of the most common and often taken for granted. It's worth noting that some parapsychologists believe that we use psi all the time and just aren't consciously aware of it.
I believe this is true for a lot of people.
I have always had some awareness of psi. Since childhood I've had experiences of feeling what other people felt to the point that it was like sensing an almost palpable field. At other times I've found that I was able to guess things well above chance which has saved me on more than a few tests.
I've also had the experience of tuning in on what people really mean in a conversation so clearly that it felt as if there were a surface conversation and a subtext or what I used to think of as the conversation beneath the conversation.
I've also had other occasional more evidential psi experiences.
Psi and Belief
I have never been a hardcore skeptic because I always wanted the paranormal to be "real" but I was skeptical in the sense that I wanted evidence. Sometimes the evidence I received was pretty compelling (things I couldn't have known otherwise, signs, etc.). At the time, I felt these experiences validated my beliefs.
Now as I learn more about parapsychology I'm seeing that there could be other explanations (ex. signs could be PK or revealed information could be precognition). This is something I'm still processing, to be honest. I would still like to think that some of my experiences were supernatural but it is interesting to consider what it might mean if they're not.
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If you're interested in learning more about psi, paranormal investigation or other aspects of parapsychology, I strongly recommend the Rhine Education Center!
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