Psi (parapsychology)
Encyclopedia
Psi is a term from parapsychology
derived from the Greek
, ψ psi, 23rd letter of the Greek alphabet
; from the Greek ψυχή psyche, "mind, soul".
Bertold P. Wiesner, and first used by psychologist Robert Thouless in a 1942 article published in the British Journal of Psychology. Psi was argued by Thouless and Wiesner to offer a non-theoretical manner of referring to extrasensory perception and psychokinesis
, these terms being unjustifiably loaded with suggestions as to how the phenomena were caused or experienced.
and Charles Honorton
defined psi thus:
Similarly, according to the Parapsychological Association, psi can be
However, it has been pointed out by parapsychologist Carl Williams:
In popular culture, "psi" has become synonymous with psychic
and "psionic" abilities.
Parapsychology
The term parapsychology was coined in or around 1889 by philosopher Max Dessoir, and originates from para meaning "alongside", and psychology. The term was adopted by J.B. Rhine in the 1930s as a replacement for the term psychical research...
derived from the Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
, ψ psi, 23rd letter of the Greek alphabet
Greek alphabet
The Greek alphabet is the script that has been used to write the Greek language since at least 730 BC . The alphabet in its classical and modern form consists of 24 letters ordered in sequence from alpha to omega...
; from the Greek ψυχή psyche, "mind, soul".
Etymology
The term was coined by biologistBiologist
A biologist is a scientist devoted to and producing results in biology through the study of life. Typically biologists study organisms and their relationship to their environment. Biologists involved in basic research attempt to discover underlying mechanisms that govern how organisms work...
Bertold P. Wiesner, and first used by psychologist Robert Thouless in a 1942 article published in the British Journal of Psychology. Psi was argued by Thouless and Wiesner to offer a non-theoretical manner of referring to extrasensory perception and psychokinesis
Psychokinesis
The term psychokinesis , also referred to as telekinesis with respect to strictly describing movement of matter, sometimes abbreviated PK and TK respectively, is a term...
, these terms being unjustifiably loaded with suggestions as to how the phenomena were caused or experienced.
Types
Traditionally the term has had two sub-categories:- Psi-Gamma - Pertaining to paranormal cognition (ESP, remote viewing, etc.)
- Psi-Kappa - Pertaining to paranormal action (psychokinesis, etc.)
Definitions
Although Thouless and Wiesner were careful to offer psi as merely referring to certain paranormal activity worthy of study, it has come to connote the processes that somehow cause them, or a certain faculty of human psychology. In a 1994 paper in the Psychological Bulletin, Daryl J. BemDaryl Bem
Daryl J. Bem is a social psychologist and professor emeritus at Cornell University. He is the originator of the self-perception theory of attitude change, and has carried out research on psi phenomena , group decision making, handwriting analysis, sexual orientation and personality theory and...
and Charles Honorton
Charles Honorton
Charles Henry Honorton was an American parapsychologist.Honorton was born in Deer River, Minnesota on February 5, 1946....
defined psi thus:
The term psi denotes anomalous processes of information or energy transfer, processes such as telepathy or other forms of extrasensory perception that are currently unexplained in terms of known physical or biological mechanisms. The term is purely descriptive: It neither implies that such anomalous phenomena are paranormal nor connotes anything about their underlying mechanisms.
Similarly, according to the Parapsychological Association, psi can be
used either as a noun or adjective to identify paranormal processes and paranormal causation; the two main categories of psi are psi-gamma (paranormal cognition; extrasensory perception) and psi-kappa (paranormalParanormalParanormal is a general term that designates experiences that lie outside "the range of normal experience or scientific explanation" or that indicates phenomena understood to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure...
action; psychokinesisPsychokinesisThe term psychokinesis , also referred to as telekinesis with respect to strictly describing movement of matter, sometimes abbreviated PK and TK respectively, is a term...
), although the purpose of the term "psi" is to suggest that they might simply be different aspects of a single process, rather than distinct and essentially different processes.
However, it has been pointed out by parapsychologist Carl Williams:
Historically, the study of psi has been viewed as existing far outside the normal boundaries and concerns of 19th
- and 20th - century science. Whether proposing the possibility of contact with the dead or novel forms of
communication, books with titles such as Beyond the Reach of Sense (Heywood, 1974) and Beyond Reality (Rogo,
1990) establish psi as an object of scrutiny out of this world; and to many the study of psi and its existence are seen as existing in the Margins of Reality (Jahn & Dunne, 1987).
In popular culture, "psi" has become synonymous with psychic
Psychic
A psychic is a person who professes an ability to perceive information hidden from the normal senses through extrasensory perception , or is said by others to have such abilities. It is also used to describe theatrical performers who use techniques such as prestidigitation, cold reading, and hot...
and "psionic" abilities.
See also
- Extrasensory perception
- List of psychic abilities
- ParapsychologyParapsychologyThe term parapsychology was coined in or around 1889 by philosopher Max Dessoir, and originates from para meaning "alongside", and psychology. The term was adopted by J.B. Rhine in the 1930s as a replacement for the term psychical research...
- Psi (disambiguation)
- Psi (Cyrillic)Psi (Cyrillic)Psi is a letter in the early Cyrillic alphabet, derived from the Greek letter psi . It represents the sound /ps/, as in English naps...
Legend Ѱ - PsionicsPsionicsPsionics refers to the practice, study, or psychic ability of using the mind to induce paranormal phenomena. Examples of this include telepathy, telekinesis, and other workings of the outside world through the psyche.-History and terminology:...