Garret Moddel

Garret Moddel
University of Colorado at Boulder
27 June 2008
Precognition & retro-psychokinesis:
Physical impossibility?
•  “A collapse of the foundations of physics”? [Michio Kaku,
Physics of the Impossible (2008)]
–  Violates causality, fundamental
ordering of cause & effect
•  Purpose of this talk
–  To resolve “impossibility” of retrocausation: bilking
–  Not to explain psychokinesis
Outline
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
Precognition
Retro-psychokinesis (retro-PK)
Compatibility with physics
The bilking paradox
Information entropy ⇒ resolution
Implications
Evidence for Precognition
•  Galvanic skin response in advance
of loud noise (Spottiswoode & May
2003)
•  EEG response in advance of light
flashes (Radin 2006)
•  fMRI images in advance of stimulus
(Bierman & Scholte 2002)
•  Many more (knowing which card will
be shown in advance, remote
perception of the future, etc.)
Evidence for Retro-Psychokinesis
•  Affecting pre-recorded
clicks on audiotape
(Schmidt 1976)
•  Affecting previously
recorded random-number
generator outputs &
random-mechanical
cascade results (Dunne &
Jahn 1992)
•  Many more (retroactive
prayer, etc.)
Compatibility with Physics: Why Significant?
•  Correctness
–  Are Kaku & others correct?
–  Should retrocausation be rejected out of hand?
•  Understanding
–  Does our current logic extend to retrocausation?
–  Can we model effect?
⇒ Begin to understand mechanism?
•  Limits
–  Where can we expect retrocausation to work?
–  Can we make use of it?
What Sort of Physics?
• 
• 
• 
• 
Newton’s laws: Causality?
Conservation of Energy
2nd Law of Thermodynamics
Quantum mechanics
What Sort of Physics?
•  Newton’s laws: Causality?
•  Conservation of Energy
–  Two types of psychokinesis (PK)
•  Macro-PK
–  Local
–  Forward causality
–  Energy transfer
•  Micro-PK
–  Non-local
–  Non-temporal: forward and retro-causality
–  No energy transfer: information/decision transfer
•  2nd Law of Thermodynamics
•  Quantum mechanics
What Sort of Physics?
•  Newton’s laws: Causality?
•  Conservation of Energy
•  2nd Law of Thermodynamics
–  Entropy (disorder) of closed system cannot
decrease
•  Quantum mechanics
The Paradox
•  Grandfather paradox
–  The Imprudent Traveler, by René Barjavel (1943)
–  Going back in time to kill one’s grandfather before he
met one’s grandmother
–  Unnecessarily vicious
–  No evidence for this sort of retrocausation
The Paradox
•  Grandfather paradox
–  The Imprudent Traveler, by René Barjavel (1943)
–  Going back in time to kill one’s grandfather before he
met one’s grandmother
–  Unnecessarily vicious
–  No evidence for this sort of retrocausation
•  Not all-or-nothing process
•  Lottery
–  Yesterday winning number of lottery chosen by random
process
–  Today you decide you would like to be the winner
–  Use retroactive psychokinesis (retro-PK) to affect
yesterday’s result
General “Bilking (Intervention) Paradox”
•  Event B caused by later event A
Event B
Event A
time
•  After B occurs, block A
Event B
•  Event B then bilked out of its cause
Event A
Bilking Your Knowledge
•  Case 1: No knowledge of
lottery result before using
retro-PK
–  ?
Knowledge before
using retro-PK
Knowledge after
using retro-PK
?-?-?-?-?-?
8-9-15-18-27
Bilking Your Knowledge
Knowledge before
using retro-PK
•  Case 1: No knowledge of
lottery result before using
?-?-?-?-?-?
retro-PK
–  No bilking problem
•  Case 2: Know result in
advance
2-9-12-21-27
–  ?
Knowledge after
using retro-PK
8-9-15-18-27
8-9-15-18-27
Bilking Your Knowledge
Knowledge before
using retro-PK
•  Case 1: No knowledge of
lottery result before using
?-?-?-?-?-?
retro-PK
–  No bilking problem
•  Case 2: Know result in
advance
2-9-12-21-27
–  Total bilking: impossible
•  Case 3: Partial knowledge
27-?-?-9-?
–  ?
Knowledge after
using retro-PK
8-9-15-18-27
8-9-15-18-27
8-9-15-18-27
How to Avoid Bilking: Information Entropy
•  Entropy has two forms:
–  Thermodynamic
–  Information
•  Express quantitatively
–  How surprised you are to learn that intended
outcome has occurred: “surprisal”
•  If you know little about outcome beforehand
–  Surprisal, uncertainty & information entropy is large
–  Possibility of retro-PK is large
Surprisal, Information Entropy & Psychokinesis
•  Can define “surprisal” quantitatively
 1 
Surprisal = I(An ) = log 2 

 p(An ) 
•  Uncertainty = Information entropy = average surprisal
(famous Shannon formula)
€
n
 1 
Entropy = H(A) = ∑ p(Ai ) log2 
i=1

 p(Ai ) 
•  Maximum retro-PK possible is proportional to
information entropy
€
Implications
•  Retrocausation compatible with
 Newton’s laws
 Conservation of Energy
? 2nd Law of Thermodynamics (logic)
•  Logic & bilking paradox ⇒ conditions for retrocausation
Not all-or-nothing process
Greater knowledge of previous outcome
⇒ smaller the information entropy
⇒ less effect agent can have
•  Bilking paradox disappears if PK limited by uncertainty
(information entropy ~ noise)