Abstract

Questions whether the power that enables people to influence the target system in a psychokinesis (PK) experiment is the same power as that which is used in voluntary movement. Despite obvious differences between the 2 types of movement, ways are noted in which the 2 processes resemble each other: They are both goal oriented, neither require conscious awareness of the means necessary for such an achievement, and both are bound up with the provision of feedback. It is argued that a better understanding of both voluntary movement and PK may be obtained by considering biofeedback control. Remarkable instances of biofeedback control over physiological process are described, along with a successful experiment (W. Braud, 1977) in which biofeedback became PK by coupling the feedback display to another person's body in place of the S's own body. Two possibilities for testing the theory, that the same basic means is used to control a PK target and to control the brain, are briefly outlined. (11 ref)