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Global Consciousness Project

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The Global Consciousness Project (GCP, also called the EGG Project) is a parapsychology experiment begun in 1998 as an attempt to detect possible interactions of "global consciousness" with physical systems. The project monitors a geographically distributed network of hardware random number generators in a bid to identify anomalous outputs that correlate with widespread emotional responses to sets of world events, or periods of focused attention by large numbers of people. The GCP is privately funded through the Institute of Noetic Sciences[1] and describes itself as an international collaboration of about 100 research scientists and engineers.

Skeptics such as Robert T. Carroll, Claus Larsen, and others have questioned the methodology of the Global Consciousness Project, particularly how the data are selected and interpreted,[2][3] saying the data anomalies reported by the project are the result of "pattern matching" and selection bias which ultimately fail to support a belief in psi or global consciousness.[4] But in analyzing the data for 11 September 2001, May et al. concluded that the statistically significant result given by the published GCP hypothesis was fortuitous, and found that as far as this particular event was concerned an alternative method of analysis gave only chance deviations throughout.[5]: 2 

Background

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Roger D. Nelson developed the project as an extrapolation of two decades of experiments from the controversial Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research Lab (PEAR).[6]

Nelson began using random event generator (REG) technology in the field to study effects of special states of group consciousness.[7]

In an extension of the laboratory research utilizing hardware Random Event Generators (REG)[8] called FieldREG, investigators examined the outputs of REGs in the field before, during and after highly focused or coherent group events. The group events studied included psychotherapy sessions, theater presentations, religious rituals, sports competitions such as the Football World Cup, and television broadcasts such as the Academy Awards.[9]

FieldREG was extended to global dimensions in studies looking at data from 12 independent REGs in the US and Europe during a web-promoted "Gaiamind Meditation" in January 1997, and then again in September 1997 after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. The project claimed the results suggested it would be worthwhile to build a permanent network of continuously-running REGs.[10][non-primary source needed] This became the EGG project or Global Consciousness Project.

Comparing the GCP to PEAR, Nelson, referring to the "field" studies with REGs done by PEAR, said the GCP used "exactly the same procedure... applied on a broader scale."[11][non-primary source needed]

Methodology

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The GCP's methodology is based on the hypothesis that events which elicit widespread emotion or draw the simultaneous attention of large numbers of people may affect the output of hardware random number generators in a statistically significant way. The GCP maintains a network of hardware random number generators which are interfaced to computers at 70 locations around the world. Custom software reads the output of the random number generators and records a trial (sum of 200 bits) once every second. The data are sent to a server in Princeton, creating a database of synchronized parallel sequences of random numbers. The GCP is run as a replication experiment, essentially combining the results of many distinct tests of the hypothesis. The hypothesis is tested by calculating the extent of data fluctuations at the time of events. The procedure is specified by a three-step experimental protocol. In the first step, the event duration and the calculation algorithm are pre-specified and entered into a formal registry.[12][non-primary source needed] In the second step, the event data are extracted from the database and a Z score, which indicates the degree of deviation from the null hypothesis, is calculated from the pre-specified algorithm. In the third step, the event Z-score is combined with the Z-scores from previous events to yield an overall result for the experiment.

The remote devices have been dubbed Princeton Eggs, a reference to the coinage electrogaiagram (EGG), a portmanteau of electroencephalogram and Gaia.[13][non-primary source needed] Supporters and skeptics have referred to the aim of the GCP as being analogous to detecting "a great disturbance in the Force."[2][14][15]

Claims and criticism of effects from the September 11 terrorist attacks

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The GCP has suggested that changes in the level of randomness may have occurred during the September 11, 2001 attacks when the planes first impacted, as well as in the two days following the attacks.[16][non-primary source needed]

Independent scientists Edwin May and James Spottiswoode conducted an analysis of the data around the September 11 attacks and concluded there was no statistically significant change in the randomness of the GCP data during the attacks and the apparent significant deviation reported by Nelson and Radin existed only in their chosen time window.[5] Spikes and fluctuations are to be expected in any random distribution of data, and there is no set time frame for how close a spike has to be to a given event for the GCP to say they have found a correlation.[5] Wolcotte Smith said "A couple of additional statistical adjustments would have to be made to determine if there really was a spike in the numbers," referencing the data related to September 11, 2001.[17] Similarly, Jeffrey D. Scargle believes unless both Bayesian and classical p-value analysis agree and both show the same anomalous effects, the kind of result GCP proposes will not be generally accepted.[18]

In 2003, a New York Times article concluded "All things considered at this point, the stock market seems a more reliable gauge of the national—if not the global—emotional resonance."[19]

In 2007, The Age reported that "[Nelson] concedes the data, so far, is not solid enough for global consciousness to be said to exist at all. It is not possible, for example, to look at the data and predict with any accuracy what (if anything) the eggs may be responding to."[20]

Robert Matthews said that while it was "the most sophisticated attempt yet" to prove psychokinesis existed, the unreliability of significant events to cause statistically significant spikes meant that "the only conclusion to emerge from the Global Consciousness Project so far is that data without a theory is as meaningless as words without a narrative".[21]

Petter Bancel reviews the data in a 2017 article and "finds that the data do not support the global consciousness proposal" and rather "All of the tests favor the interpretation of a goal-oriented effect."[22]

Roger D. Nelson

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Roger D. Nelson is an American parapsychologist and researcher and the director of the GCP.[23] From 1980 to 2002, he was Coordinator of Research at the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research (PEAR) laboratory at Princeton University.[24] His professional focus was the study of consciousness and intention and the role of the mind in the physical world. His work integrates science and spirituality [citation needed], including research that is directly focused on numinous communal experiences.[25]

Nelson's professional degrees are in experimental cognitive psychology.[25] Until his retirement in 2002, he served as the coordinator of experimental work in the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research Lab (PEAR), directed by Robert Jahn in the department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, School of Engineering/Applied Science, Princeton University.[26]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "| Institute of Noetic Sciences". Archived from the original on 2016-09-14. Retrieved 2016-07-23.
  2. ^ a b "Terry Schiavo and the Global Consciousness Project". Skeptic News. 27 April 2005. Archived from the original on 2016-09-15. Retrieved 2008-05-05.[self-published source]
  3. ^ Larsen, Claus (1 January 2003). "An Evening with Dean Radin". Skeptic Report. Archived from the original on 2009-12-01. Retrieved 2008-05-05.[self-published source]
  4. ^ Carroll, Robert Todd. "Global consciousness". The Skeptic's Dictionary. Archived from the original on 2010-01-02. Retrieved 2010-01-05.
  5. ^ a b c May, E.C.; et al. "Global Consciousness Project: An Independent Analysis of The 11 September 2001 Events" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 January 2019. Retrieved 13 January 2018.[self-published source]
  6. ^ Carey, Benedict (6 February 2007). "A Princeton lab on ESP plans to close its doors". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2008-03-07. Retrieved 2007-08-03.
  7. ^ "Roger D. Nelson". Archived from the original on 2011-05-30.
  8. ^ https://www.psyleron.com/reg1_overview.html [bare URL]
  9. ^ Bierman, 1996; Blasband, 2000; Nelson, 1995, 1997; Nelson et al., 1996, 1998a, 1998b; Radin, 1997; Radin et al., 1996.[full citation needed]
  10. ^ Nelson, Roger; Boesch, Holger; Boller, Emil; Dobyns, York; Houtkooper, Joop; Lettieri, Arnold; Radin, Dean; Russek, Linda; Schwartz, Gary; Wesch, Jerry (1998). "Global Resonance of Consciousness: Princess Diana and Mother Teresa". The Electronic Journal for Anomalous Phenomena. Archived from the original on 25 December 2015. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
  11. ^ "The EGG Story". Noosphere.princeton.edu. Archived from the original on 2010-02-11. Retrieved 2010-01-05.[self-published source]
  12. ^ "GCP Event registry". Archived from the original on 2010-01-21. Retrieved 2009-10-17.[self-published source]
  13. ^ "Gathering of a global mind". Archived from the original on 2008-02-23. Retrieved 2008-03-23.[self-published source]
  14. ^ Williams, Bryan J. (12 August 2002). "Exploratory Block Analysis of Field Consciousness Effects on Global RNGs on September 11, 2001". Noosphere. Archived from the original on 2010-01-08. Retrieved 2009-10-07.[self-published source]
  15. ^ "A disturbance in the Force...?". Boundary Institute. December 2001. Archived from the original on 2011-07-17. Retrieved 2009-10-07.[self-published source]
  16. ^ "September 11, 2001: Exploratory and Contextual Analyses". Archived from the original on 2008-05-09. Retrieved 2008-07-12.[self-published source]
  17. ^ Berman, A.S. (6 December 2001). "Did Sept. 11 events refocus global consciousness?". USA Today. Archived from the original on 2011-02-11. Retrieved 2010-01-05.
  18. ^ Scargle, Jeffrey D (2002). "Was there evidence of global consciousness on September 11, 2001?" (PDF). Journal of Scientific Exploration. 16 (4): 571–577. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved December 24, 2015.[unreliable source?]
  19. ^ Reed, J.D. (9 March 2003). "So just what makes the Earth move?". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2011-02-13. Retrieved 2010-01-05.
  20. ^ Kizilos, Katherine (28 April 2007). "Mind over matter". The Age. Melbourne. Archived from the original on 2011-02-11. Retrieved 2010-01-05.
  21. ^ Matthews, Robert (9 February 2009). "Does mind affect matter?". The National. Abu Dhabi. Archived from the original on 2009-03-15. Retrieved 2010-01-05.
  22. ^ Bancel, Peter A. (2017). "Searching for Global Consciousness: A 17-Year Exploration". Explore. 13 (2): 94–101. doi:10.1016/j.explore.2016.12.003. PMID 28279629.
  23. ^ "Roger D. Nelson". Archived from the original on 2011-05-30.
  24. ^ "Roger Nelson".
  25. ^ a b Roger Nelson at Princeton University (archived)
  26. ^ "Roger Nelson".
  27. ^ Shamah, David (23 December 2008). "Digital World: I have seen the future, and it's on the Web". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2009-10-07.[permanent dead link‍]
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