There has been an interest in 'mind-over-matter' ever since the beginnings of psychical research. Early concepts allowed for some form other other-worldly agents responsible for most movement of objects. Today most parapsychologists who study this phenomena are in agreement that, for the most part, the outbreaks can be traced to living individuals, so-called "PK Agents".
The PK Agent (PKA) has traditionally been thought to be mostly pubescent, or have a personality that is suggestive of the period of puberty. Many outbreaks are highly spontaneous and reminiscent of the kinds of tirades witnessed during this generally trying time in peoples' lives. But is this concept of the Agent correct? And what other factors may be at play that enable the phenomena?
The PK Agent Redefined
More recent research including the work of Dr. William G. Roll, Dr. Barry Taff and Dr. Andrew Nichols to name a few, now suggests new aspects of the PK Agent, the process by which the Agent functions and the environment required for PK phenomena to occur.
It has long been suspected there are aspects to personality that naturally contribute to PK agency. One that has been frequently reported is the apparent presence of neural disorders in some agents. Significantly though, not all PK Agents show signs of such disorders. This suggests that while specific brain signatures may assist in locating some potential PK Agents, it is not a foolproof method for doing so.
Many PK Agents are goal-oriented. Some have dysfunctional family histories. Targets are often selected with an apparent regard for this history. Father and mother figures for example may be targeted while siblings are not. Those who are trying to help can often negotiate with the PK Agent in terms of potential targets to avoid damaging valuable instruments or delicate personal objects. Such negotiation is less successful if the PK Agent considers an individual as a threat or an impediment to an unfulfilled desire.
It is now believed there is both a psychological and a psychophysiological aspect to PK Agents.
The psychological aspect includes belief in or experience with the phenomena at some level of consciousness, and a need for the phenomena to manifest. The psychophysiological aspect is more complex; long-term data analyses indicate that there is likely a neural bias that is redirecting normal brain function and creating potentials that lead to PK behaviors. These potentials are measurable in some situations.
It is not completely understood yet as to how PK manifests. In other words, the physics of PK are not fully described. One of the most promising explanations, at least with respect to local PK Agents, is the "scanning beam" theory. This holds that a local PK Agent (as opposed to one distant from the site where activity occurs) continually emits a wave that interacts with physical objects causing movement or perhaps a disturbance in gravity potentials.
Psychokinesis and "Poltergeists"
Most so-called "poltergeist" phenomena is associated with some form of psychokinesis (PK). Spontaneous PK (RSPK) is the most often reported form of this functioning. However, there is another form of PK function, intentional PK (RIPK) which is also of interest when considering the general types of "poltergeist" phenomena.
RIPK is usually associated with healing, table tipping and levitations when physical explanations can be reliably excluded. However, intent may play a significant role in specific types of PK phenomena.
One interesting and replicable form of intentional PK has been RIPK at a distance, or remote RIPK otherwise formerly called 'remote intention'. This skill has been tested rigorously. While not yet significant in trials, successes are highly suggestive statistically.
If the remote RIPK agent is in fact this capable, we must consider that such an agent could be at work in at least some portion of reported PK cases that might initially appear spontaneous. This would explain why even an identified local PK Agent could be absent from a location and a slightly different activity occurs than the activity presented when the local PKA is nearby.
An alternative explanation, offered by Roll, to this apparent remote agency, is that the RSPK process may operate in two phases: an "initiation" phase that occurs when the local PK Agent is present in the near environment, and an "execution" phase when the target object(s) move at some later time, when the PK Agent is absent. It must still be explained how the execution phase trigger mechanism operates. There is a tantalizing similarity in this "execution" phase and in a potential requirement for Remote PK. So the two phenomena, while likely different in their details, may have more mechanistically in common than was previously believed.
Environmental Considerations
Most recently, the environment in which the events take place has been more carefully considered. A forty year study encompassing some 380 discrete cases of PK activity reveals that there are usually very high magnetic fields present, directly correllating field strength with the intensity of the observed PK phenomena. In other words, it appears that specific environments with high magnetic fields are conducive to PK outbreaks, especially of the spontaneous variety. Roll, Taff and others have suggested that there may be a gravitometric effect at work possibly mediated by the presence of the magnetic field. Zero-Point Energy (ZPE) has also been considered as a candidate to intermediate weak neural impulses producing observable movement of target objects.
The apparent requirement for the nexus of a local PK Agent with a suitable environment to produce phenomena suggests an interesting experiment. It should be possible to construct an environment where a demonstrated PK Agent can be introduced. It is predicted that this agent will be successful is targeting or moving objects only in the presence of high power magnetic fields, and should be less successful in the absence of these fields.
Summary
It is very probable there are various mechanisms to produce PK phenomena. We have considered the local PK Agent producing phenomena spontaneously and the remote PK Agent producing phenomena intentionally. The local PK Agent may need a high power magnetic field in order to produce large-scale phenomena, such as moving sofas and throwing people. This field may be intermediary rather than having a direct, energetic, target object impact.
Remote PK Agents may use a different mechanism through intention that produces extraordinarily similar phenomena from the perspective of the experient.
Future work should isolate behaviors and personalities of intentional and spontaneous PK Agents, determine the viability of controlling the phenomena as described, and focus carefully on the psychological, psychophysiological, environment and energetic aspects of the relevant PK models under consideration.
REFERENCES
1. Roll, William G., "Energetic Aspects of PK", (2007) Proc. of the Parapsychological Association2. Roll, William G., “The Poltergeist” (1972)
3. Taff, B.E. & Gaynor, K., “A new poltergeist effect," Theta, (1976)
