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

•  After B occurs, block A

•  Event B then bilked out of its cause

Event B Event A

time

Event B Event A

Bilking Your Knowledge

•  Case 1: No knowledge of lottery result before using retro-PK

–  ?

8-9-15-18-27

Knowledge before using retro-PK

Knowledge after using retro-PK

?-?-?-?-?-?

Bilking Your Knowledge

•  Case 1: No knowledge of lottery result before using retro-PK

–  No bilking problem

•  Case 2: Know result in advance

–  ?

8-9-15-18-27

Knowledge before using retro-PK

Knowledge after using retro-PK

8-9-15-18-27

?-?-?-?-?-?

2-9-12-21-27

Bilking Your Knowledge

•  Case 1: No knowledge of lottery result before using retro-PK

–  No bilking problem

•  Case 2: Know result in advance

–  Total bilking: impossible

•  Case 3: Partial knowledge

–  ?

8-9-15-18-27

Knowledge before using retro-PK

Knowledge after using retro-PK

8-9-15-18-27

8-9-15-18-27 27-?-?-9-?

?-?-?-?-?-?

2-9-12-21-27

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

Surprisal =

•  Uncertainty = Information entropy = average surprisal (famous Shannon formula)

Entropy =

•  Maximum retro-PK possible is proportional to information entropy

€

I(An ) = log21

p(An )

€

H(A) = p(Ai)i=1

n

∑ log21

p(Ai)

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)