Garrett was seven years old when he went to a local Pizza Hut. It was a typical day that he describes. At 16 years old, he was told by his teachers to visit nearby businesses and request gift vouchers for the school. These vouchers could be used as prizes in a raffle. Garrett was with five other teens. They were just finishing speaking with the restaurant manager when Garrett felt his body flooded with shock. He felt cold and clammy, and had an overwhelming feeling that something had happened. He tried desperately to not cry in front of his peers.
It felt like I had just been told something horrible, the now 23 year-old man from the southwest of England said (his name was changed at his request). Garrett tried to distract himself from the feeling he described as grief, although I couldn't give you an exact description. He answered the phone. His mother answered the phone. Garrett had just arrived at the restaurant after his grandfather died suddenly from a heart attack on a cruise.
It is impossible to know how many people feel they have lost a loved one before they are told. However, it has been explored in every genre from Star Wars to Downtown Abbey and Kung Fu Panda 2. Maybe a relative of yours has a similar story to Garretts. Perhaps you dismiss it or treat it as family legend. Do you think there is any evidence that Garrett's emotion was more than a coincidence that humans can sense each other from afar? No. It is known that human minds are a collection of biases. These include false memories, grief hallucinations, confirmation bias, and grief hallucinations. There are many others who, despite feeling a shiver, were eating pizza, riding on a rollercoaster, or doing math homework, completely unaware that their loved one died.
It was like someone had rocked me physically. Grandad had died
Are these dismissals too fast? Too easy? Scientists claim that quantum physics can be used to explain paranormal phenomena, while others say this is absurd. Stories like Garretts can tell us a lot about who we are and what we don't know. What are we willing or unable to believe? What is the disconnect between what others claim to have experienced and what others claim is impossible.
Brian Josephson is the prototypical professor. He is distinguished by his white hair, which is held high above his head. A knit vest and glasses chain keep his specs safe. He was given the Nobel Prize in Physics in Physics in 1973 for his research on superconductivity. He used quantum mechanics later, while he was a Professor at the University of Cambridge.
Albert Einstein called quantum entanglement "spooky action from a distance" because it describes the phenomenon of two spatially separate particles influencing one another, even over long distances. Although the phenomenon is subatomic in nature, Josephson and other academics have suggested that quantum entanglement may explain phenomena such as telepathy or psychokinesis.
Dean Radin, parapsychologist and author Entangled Minds, Extrasensory Experiences In A Quantum Reality, states that there are many stories of crisis telepathy. These effects can be explained by entanglement. In the sense that the entanglement between photon pairs, as seen in the physics laboratory, is very fragile and lasts typically only a fraction of a second, it's not. We are still at the beginning stages of understanding entanglement.
Radin claims that quantum biology studies have shown that entanglement-type effects can be found in living systems. (Academics at Oxford have successfully entangled bacteria). He believes that the human brain may also have quantum properties. Radin says that if that is proven, it would be a matter-of-time before a physical mechanism can be developed for telepathy.
You can now put down your pen and send your letter to the editor. Telepathy is not something you need to explain. Telepathy has been proven impossible by many experiments. Peers regularly criticize Radin and Josephson. Royal Mail issued a set stamps in 2001 to commemorate the 100th anniversary the Nobel Prize. There was anger when Josephson, writing in an accompanying booklet, suggested that quantum physics might be able to explain telepathy. Academics called the claim complete nonsense and utter rubbish in this newspaper.
Robert Carroll, a philosophy professor and professional skeptical, wrote that Radins was written for non-scientists and would be enthralled by quantum physics references in Entangled Minds for The Skeptics Dictionary.
Garrett doesn't know what happened to Garrett on the day that his grandad died. But he knows it did. He believes in interconnectedness among people. He believes that if it happens to you, there is an underpinning acceptance of it.
Cassius Griesbach, a Wisconsin 24-year-old who lost his grandfather in 2012, shares this sentiment. Griesbach claims that he woke up on the night of his grandad's death and started to cry uncontrollably. He says it felt like something had just rocked him physically. A teenage Griesbach responded to his father's call moments later, saying that his grandad had passed away.
Griesbach does not blame anyone who is skeptical about his story. It is hard to believe that it could be a coincidence. But, Griesbach doesn't blame anyone for being skeptical. If it has to do with science in general, then I think that would be science we are not yet near enough.
Many people would disagree and argue that the social sciences have the answer. Jennifer Shermer, who had just moved from Kln, California to marry Michael Shermer, brought along a 1978 radio that her grandfather owned. Shermer failed to fix the radio and eventually gave up on it. The couple then put it in a drawer where it remained silent until they said their vows. The radio started playing a romantic song just as Jennifer was feeling the loss of her grandfather. The radio continued to play the song all night, until it finally stopped working on the next day.
Shermer says it was just one of many unusual experiences. Shermer is a science historian, professional skeptical, and author of The Believing Brain. From Spiritual Faiths to Political Convictions. How we construct beliefs and reinforce them as truths. Randomness and chance are important in life and the world. Shermer suggests that we are statistically more likely to have experiences such as Griesbachs or Garretts.
He says that there are billions of people around the world who have dozens of dreams each night. There is a good chance that someone will have a dream about someone dying. He argues that this is inevitable. However, we tend to ignore the times we sob or shiver and forget the times when people die.
Other prosaic explanations exist. Although Garrett's grandfather died unexpectedly, Griesbachs grandfather was admitted to hospital the week before his death. Griesbachs first thought when he woke up in the middle night was "It happened." He knew that his grandfather had passed. Is that really surprising considering he had been at his bedside for a week?
John Bedard, 36, was a Los Angeles resident who awoke abruptly the night after his parents' deaths. He was only 10 years old and was sleeping at a friend's house when he awoke. Sobbing, he called his brother. He called his brother, sobbing.
Yet, there were signs that something was not right much sooner. Although the sleepover was not planned, Bedard had gone to his friends to play as it got later and later. Nobody came to pick him. It was Sunday night, an unusual night for a sleepover. Bedard felt uneasy as he lay down to sleep.
These answers are not the only ones that exist, but explanations remain elusive. Rupert Sheldrake, a parapsychologist and biologist, was the one who first proposed morphic resonance. This is the theory that interconnections exist among organisms. According to him, the human mind is a network that extends beyond the brain's boundaries. This is similar to electromagnetic fields. He believes this explains why it is possible to tell when someone is looking at us or why we often think of them right before they call. The journal Nature has called the work of Shilkrakes heresy.
Quantum biology could one day explain effects such as telepathy
These things are not supernatural. He says that they are normal and not paranormal. He says that empirical studies are impossible to prove the existence of experiences such as Garrett's. It is impossible to ask someone to end their lives at a random time and see if they respond.
Shermer is not a Sheldrake enthusiast. Rupert Sheldrake, a biologist, is rumored to be uncovering a new force of nature that Einstein and others have missed. This is so unlikely. Josephsons refutation: People claim that science is always subject to revision but secretly believe certain things won't happen.
It doesn't matter what can or cannot happen. Garrett, Griesbach, and Bedard believe that something strange and unexplainable happened when they lost loved ones. These stories offer comfort at the most.
It is not something I can do to investigate. Griesbach states that the phenomenon doesn't even have a name. It would be best to validate people's feelings and allow them to grieve. People grieve when they have to deal with that. This is a time to be kind to someone.
