Rupert Sheldrake is a British scientist and author known for his controversial research in the field of parapsychology and unconventional theories. While Sheldrake has conducted studies related to various phenomena, including telepathy and morphic resonance, his claim about finding evidence for phone call precognition remains a topic of debate within the scientific community. Here is a brief article exerpt from CNN:
NORWICH, England (Reuters) — Many people have experienced the phenomenon of receiving a telephone call from someone shortly after thinking about them — now a scientist says he has proof of what he calls telephone telepathy. Rupert Sheldrake, whose research is funded by the respected Trinity College, Cambridge, said on Tuesday he had conducted experiments that proved that such precognition existed for telephone calls and even e-mails.
Each person in the trials was asked to give researchers names and phone numbers of four relatives or friends. These were then called at random and told to ring the subject who had to identify the caller before answering the phone. “The hit rate was 45 percent, well above the 25 percent you would have expected,” he told the annual meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science.
“The odds against this being a chance effect are 1,000 billion to one.”
One of Sheldrake’s experiments, often cited as evidence for phone call precognition, involved participants guessing who was calling them before answering the phone. The experiment reportedly showed a higher hit rate than would be expected by chance alone. However, it is essential to note that the findings have been met with skepticism and have not been widely replicated by other scientists.
Critics argue that Sheldrake’s experimental design had various methodological flaws, including potential biases and lack of proper controls. Reproducing his results in independent studies has proven challenging, leading many in the scientific community to remain skeptical of Sheldrake’s claims.
It’s worth noting that Rupert Sheldrake’s work has been criticized for lacking scientific rigor and for falling outside the mainstream scientific consensus. The scientific method requires rigorous evidence from multiple independent studies for any claim to gain wide acceptance. As such, many scientists remain unconvinced by Sheldrake’s research on phone call precognition.
Personally, I do not answer the call if I do not know who is calling, and I guess the point of it all is that you never know really. I never almost never guess who is never calling.
