Excellent electronic music composer Kim Cascone points us to a new article about the Global Consciousness Project, an always, er, thought-provoking scientific experiment to determine whether digital random number generators located around the world can be affected by human consciousness alone. From the RedNova article:
The machine apparently sensed the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Centre four hours before they happened – but in the fevered mood of conspiracy theories of the time, the claims were swiftly knocked back by sceptics. But last December, it also appeared to forewarn of the Asian tsunami just before the deep sea earthquake that precipitated the epic tragedy.
Now, even the doubters are acknowledging that here is a small box with apparently inexplicable powers.
'It's Earth-shattering stuff,' says Dr Roger Nelson, emeritus researcher at Princeton University in the United States, who is heading the research project behind the 'black box' phenomenon.
'We're very early on in the process of trying to figure out what's going on here. At the moment we're stabbing in the dark.' Dr Nelson's investigations, called the Global Consciousness Project, were originally hosted by Princeton University and are centred on one of the most extraordinary experiments of all time. Its aim is to detect whether all of humanity shares a single subconscious mind that we can all tap into without realising.
UPDATE: Thanks to all the BB readers who emailed to express their skepticism about the Global Consciousness Project. For example, Shannon Larratt points to this 2002 article from the Skeptic Report that critiques some of the "global consciousness" speculations. Link
