Young Writers Society

I'm going to simply prompt the question: Do you believe in Psi Powers?

I wish to hear your opinions, and I'd like to know why others do, or don't believe in them; recently(out of nowhere), I've had a spiked interest in them.
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I do believe in Psi Powers. Psi Powers are a form of physical interaction originating in a mental state.Psi Powers and what not are a topic on my mind, and a complex one at that. I want to believe in them, but I do not have an exact reason to state just yet, and I am sure it's not a common thought amongst people, so I will give you all time to think.

If the brain is transmitting energy within itself, could there be a way to manifest that energy into a physical state? Or transmit that energy to another human being(telepathy)?

PS: I made a poll, because who doesn't like polls!

I feel like this is kind of like Santa Claus. When I was at that bordering age of too old and yet still young enough to believe in Santa, I talked myselfi nto believing in him just to keep a little magic in the world.
As authors, we live in our heads a lot, or at least I do, and even in realistic fiction things happen that aren't necessarily realistic if you know what I mean. I would like to think that there is a little mystery like this left in the world, and I'm not about to say there isn't. I would also like to say that there is a continent still left undiscovered, but I think that one is a bit too far fetched for the most open minded.
I think you need to have an on the fence choice on the poll since I, personally, won't swear to psi powers, but I won't say they are completely impossible.

I belive in Psi powers, but not the way most people do. I don't belive fortune telling works, or any of that nonsense, but I myself are what some would consider to be psychic. I can't see the future or anything like that but I am an empath. I catch other people's emotions like a disease. often times I'll cry just because I see another person crying, and all it takes to brighten my day is someone else being cheery. plus I'll often laugh at jokes I didn't even hear, just because everyone else is laughing and I catch it. so if you don't consider empathy a psi power, then no, I don't belive in them. but if you you do... nice to meet you, I'm a psychic.

Well, I study and read about things like this all the time but in truth there isn't/wasn't/and wouldn't ever be any proof that Psi powers are real or fake cause people fear what they can not explain (Salem witch trials) so if there is some different what is the first thing that most people do.......They experiment with it to see how much it can stand. So if someone had a power like that then they probably wouldn't show it too much. I have studied the 'Psychics' as they call themselves and figured out how they do their powers, All they do is use words that make it seem like they know stuff about you that no one else would like "Did you have a family member die?" (Which most everyone has at least one family member that died at some point) or "Have you lost a time keeping device?" (Which like the last question most people have lost a watch or something at some point in their life.) But with some others, You can take a poker deck that you brought yourself and shuffle it then they can tell you where every card in the deck is.

I am an utter skeptic, atheist and worshiper of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Naturally, I am intensely critical of "psi powers". Firstly, there is no evidence of their existence. The James Randi Educational Foundation is willing to give a million dollars to anyone who can, without trickery, perform a feat of a paranormal nature. May people have applied, but so far, no one has gone through with it. Ever. Here is the link: http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/jre ... anges.html

ShadowKnight said "If the brain is transmitting energy within itself, could there be a way to manifest that energy into a physical state? Or transmit that energy to another human being(telepathy)? "
Energy in the brain is either chemical ( Adenosine Triphosphate), or electrical impulses. "Manifesting" energy outside the brain is the stuff of cheap sci-fi flicks. It is physically impossible to biologically manipulate our surroundings mentally alone. I however, move things all the time with my brain. It sends impulses to my hand, which then facepalms at the fact that in this age of scientific discovery, people still believe in this sort of thing. If you can definitively prove to me that you have "psi powers", I will spend the rest of my days meditating on the top of a high mountain in the Himalayas. Till then, no luck.
As for psudiname, the ability to pick up on, and empathize with people's feelings is hardly psychic, although it is a valuable skill that you should be proud of. Most so called "psychics" use cold reading techniques or Barnum statements ( the forer effect). Look both of those up on wikipedia.
I urge all of you, leave the tepid waters of ignorance and cheap fiction behind. See what's really there.

If there's electrical impulses, couldn't you possibly interact with your subconscious and alter behaviors like breathing and heart rate, etc, and thus also increase your electrical impulses into an external energy?

ShadowKnight155: Nope, not possible.
Meditation techniques do allow you to control your breathing and heart rate. Interaction with one's subconscious is never direct (like a conversation between two parts of your mind) but may be possible. In any case, electrical impulses in the brain are never large enough to manipulate external objects, biologically alone. I guess if you hook your head up to an MRI, and run a program to do something every time the MRI shows a certain output, but that isn't really psychic power. Anything scientifically inexplicable manipulation of the external world with one's mind alone is definitely impossible.

It is possible to sense certain things from behind, like electronics that have been switched on or a person approaching, and some people generate unusually strong EM fields that interfere with electronics they come in contact with, but for the most part, the electrical impulses and EM field generated by the brain is too small to do any substantial work. In addition, air is too poor a conductor for electricity, which means that whatever electrical impulses are generated do not travel far.

If you look at fishes and other free-swimming animals, though, they make extensive use of the electrical impulses generated by their nervous system, and this is mostly made possible by how conductive water is and the presence of specially evolved organ systems whose purpose is to generate and/or sense changes in electrical fields.

Basically, the environment we live in doesn't allow for mind powers to exist as they are typically portrayed.

Anything scientifically inexplicable manipulation of the external world with one's mind alone is definitely impossible.

That argument is flawed. What you're basically saying is that "If science cannot explain something, that something cannot be possible."

Just because science cannot yet explain a phenomenon does not mean that phenomenon does not exist or is impossible. All science is based on observation of pre-existing phenomena. Without the phenomenon, there is no science; not the other way around.

Kyllorac, I didn't mean that science has to prove a phenomenon for it to take place, simply that no form of psychic power exists yet that science cannot explain.