GANZFELD EFFECT: HISTORY, WHAT IT CONSISTS OF AND CONSEQUENCES - PSYCHOLOGY - 2024

The ganzfeld effect, also called the ganzfeld experiment, is a technique used in parasychology to test the telepathy and extrasensory experiences of individuals. To achieve this, deprivation or limitation of the senses is required, to provoke the reception of information from other sources, generally images.

Although his study has now become popular, this experiment became known in the 1930s thanks to the German psychologist Wolfgang Metzger. This psychologist is one of the most important figures in Gestalt theory, a current that emerged in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century.

However, it is worth mentioning that some scholars on the subject point out that this technique lacks veracity due to the lack of preparation of the subjects, the conditions of the space used and the skepticism that revolves around telepathy.

History

The investigation of the altered states of the mind of man corresponds to a search that originates from ancient times, at the hand of the Greeks, and that extends to the time of the Tibetans.

However, the first studies on sensory perception and extrasensory experiences were introduced by means of the German psychologist Wolfgang Metzer, who raised the possibility that man was capable of reaching these states under certain conditions.

Since its inception, Metzger raised the importance of deepening the knowledge and internal experiences that man should have to achieve an understanding of the outside world.

However, it was in the 1970s when the first formal experiments on the subject were carried out in the hands of the American parasychologist Charles Honorton, in order to analyze dreams and discover if telepathy existed.

To achieve these objectives, Honorton used the ganzfeld effect, an experiment that consists in the deprivation or limitation of the senses of the determined subject.

Important facts

-The experiments began to be carried out in 1974 in different laboratories to verify the existence of extrasensory perception regardless of the environment in which it was carried out. These were continued until 2004.

-In 1982 Honorton presented an article that confirmed a success rate of 35%, which suggested the existence of extrasensory experiences.

-However, before the presentation of these results, the psychologist Ray Hyman pointed out a series of failures that, according to him, appeared during the process, thus altering the results.

-Both Honorton and Hyman studied these results separately in order to deepen their analysis. Hyman's hypothesis was subsequently confirmed, which required more controls during the experiment.

-A new process format was designed to avoid past drawbacks, identified by Hyman and Honorton.

-The results obtained in 1989 were more or less similar to the first obtained by Honorton. At this point, Hyman called on the community of experts and psychologists to carry out these experiments independently, in order to draw more precise conclusions on the matter.

-Despite the continuation of the processes and the intervention of a series of laboratories and scholars, the existence of telepathy, as well as other extrasensory processes, has not been fully verified in a conclusive way. In fact, some results are inconclusive or criticized for the lack of rigidity in the experiments.

What does it consist of?

The main objective of the ganzfeld effect is to check extrasensory perception. For this it is necessary to follow a series of steps:

-Have an empty room, which must be soundproof and dark. In some cases the investigator puts a red light on.

-Have a comfortable chair or bed so that the subject can lie down.

-Half a ping-pong ball and place each fragment over the subject's eyes.

- Subsequently, put on headphones that emit a smooth and continuous noise without interference.

In some cases, three people are needed to carry out the experiment:

-The receiver, who is in the room.

-The emitter, whose location will be in another space, away from the receiver.

-The researcher, whose function will be to review and monitor the results.

Phases

Phase 1

The recipient's senses will be limited for 15 or 30 minutes, in order to remain in a relaxed state, but not asleep.

Phase 2

The subject is able to relax without falling asleep. This is because he has trained for it from the first phase.

Phase 3

The sender will begin to see images that he will send telepathically to the receiver, while the researcher will record the reactions that are achieved at the time.

In the end, the receiver will have to identify which images were sent by the sender. At that time the researcher will have some decoys, in order to confirm the success or failure of the experiment.

critics

As noted above, some scholars have found flaws in the process, which has led to a series of criticisms in this regard:

-In the first experiments, not all the rooms were soundproof or completely empty, so they could affect the perception of the study subjects.

-The method of choosing the subjects was not carried out in a rigorous or methodical way.

-Those results considered successful rather question the veracity of the experimentation process. Telepathy is not fully confirmed due to flaws in the experimental design.

-It is not clear if the ganzfeld experiment will be a reliable process at some point.

Consequences

The objective of the ganzfeld experiment is to show the existence of telepathy and extrasensory experiences.

However, thanks to the fact that the subject is subjected to the limitation of their senses in the middle of a dark room, it is believed that it is possible that they present hallucinations and sensations that are not really happening.

These hallucinations and sensations will vary depending on the people who are part of this experiment. Some have even used this tool as a channel to verify that they are capable of feeling the effects of drugs when substances of this type have not been consumed.

In a video made by the Scam School, they test the possibility of having hallucinations through ganzfeld's experiment with the use of materials that can be found at home.

References

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2. Ganzfeld effect. Sensory Deprivation Effect. (sf). In Endocentrica. Retrieved: April 23, 2018. In Endocentrica de endocentrica.org.
3. The Ganzfeld experiment. (2016). In Tenerife Paranormal. Retrieved: April 23, 2018. In Tenerife Paranormal from Tenerifeparnormal.es.
4. This experiment shows you how to hallucinate without drugs. (2016). In Blasting News. Retrieved: April 23, 2018. In Blasting News of es.blastingnews.com.
5. Ganzfeld experiment. (sf). In Copro. Retrieved: April 23, 2018. In Copro de copro.com.ar.
6. Ganzfeld experiment. (sf). On Wikipedia. Retrieved: April 23, 2018. In Wikipedia at es.wikipedia.org.
7. Wolfgang Metzger. (sf). On Wikipedia. Retrieved: April 23, 2018. In Wikipedia at en.wikipedia.org.