The latest issue of Wired magazine includes a tiny snippet about a University of Colorado at Boulder research professor, Garret Moddel,whose work is showing some interesting results on the power of thought to influence matter.

The experiment involves a beam of light aimed at a glass slide and then measuring its reflection. Subjects are to mentally project the idea to increase the amount of reflected light.

Without anyone “thinking” about it, the amount of reflection is 8%.

With the subjects intention to increase the amount of reflection, it goes up to 8.005%.

In reverse, the subjects were also able to decrease the amount of reflected ligh. (Percentage unavailable.)

On one hand, this does sound somewhat trivial. It’s only .005% of a difference.

Is it no more important than other really weird bits of knowledge -  for example, due to the complex nature of gravity and time, technically, time passes at a different rate for someone on the 5th floor of a building than someone on the 1st floor.

But stacking this example up next to this research doesn’t really mean anything to me as far as dismissing it. It just shows how weird reality is.

I wish I would see this type of research funded from  different angles. What would happen if the subjects were placed at a distance? What would happen if there were walls or other physical objects placed in between the subjects and object? Does it make a difference if more people are involved? Less people? 1 person? 10 million? Male? Female? And what else can be influenced by thought?Can this research and the same results be duplicated by other scientists?

This experiment reminds me of another wherein which subject were able to influence the outcome of random number generators. It was only by a tiny amount, but, nevertheless, there you have it:  thought alone influencing matter, right? Doesn’t that count as telekinesis? If not, why not? And now here’s a second study purporting to show the same thing – what am I missing?

Click here for the original Wired Article. (it will open in a new window)